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Unmanned Boeing aircraft demonstrates battlefield capability
BY OUR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT
25 June, 2005: An unmanned Boeing X-45A aircraft has successfully finished its 52nd flight, demonstrating its ability in adapting to changing, realistic battle-time environments.
In the course of the test flight, a Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) X-45A left NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center soared to 29,000 feet and entered the base’s test range. During the mission, several simulated Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) emitters were activated. The unmanned Boieng plane on its own, set out its flight plan to stay out of the dangerous range of the simulated SAM sites. Constantly managed by the pilot-operator at the base station, the unmanned craft then attacked its simulated priority ground target, displaying the ability to suppress enemy air defenses. Afer conducting a simulated battle damage assessment, the X-45A returned home safely.
It was in 1988 that Boeing began its unmanned combat aircraft program. In 1999, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the US Air Force selected Boeing to craft two X-45A air vehicles and a mission control station under the J-UCAS Advanced Technology Demonstration Program.
“The X-45A has proven that it can autonomously react to a dynamic threat environment, while engaging a priority target,” said David Koopersmith, Boeing J-UCAS X-45 vice president and program manager. “Onboard planning and decision capabilities like these will make our next unmanned system, the X-45C, a highly survivable platform for the warfighter.”
The first X-45C will be completed in 2006, with flight-testing scheduled to begin in 2007. It will be 39 feet long with a 49-foot wingspan, cruise at 0.80 Mach at an altitude of 40,000 feet, carry a 4,500 pound weapon payload, and be able to fly a combat radius of more than 1,200 nautical miles. The software used and tested on the X-45A may be offered as a candidate for functionality in the development of the J-UCAS Common Operating System.
The J-UCAS X-45 program is the Winner of a 2005 Flight International Aerospace Industry Award. It is a Boeing/DARPA/Air Force/Navy effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value of an unmanned air combat system for the Air Force and the Navy. Operational missions for the services may include persistent strike; penetrating electronic attack; suppression of enemy air defenses; and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s biggest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St Louis, it's business is worth $30.5 billion. It provides network-centric system solutions to its internatioanl military, government, and commercial clients. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems; the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in sustainment solutions and launch services.
BY OUR TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT |
