X-47B Pegasus UCAV-N
As the small UCAV aircraft were being demonstrated for the first time, the tactical environment was changing. In Operation Enduring Freedom, both the Air Force and the Navy experienced very long transit times associated with air combat in a remote region. Crews found themselves flying thousands of miles just to get to the combat zone. In addition, the Defense Department was becoming ever more aware of the hazards of anti-access threats – those enemy capabilities which might prevent the establishment of either land- or sea-based tactical units in a threatened region. One result was evolution of the Air Force UCAV design to provide more range and persistence in the battle space.
The Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin team was the first to release its vision of a carrier capable UCAV to meet the Navy’s need. The “cranked kite” design shows its clear ancestry to the X-47A Pegasus, with the addition of winglets to improve low speed handling and endurance of the vehicle. Weighing in at over 42,000 lbs with 4,500 lbs of weapons payload, it defines the larger end of the then-current J-UCAS family of vehicles.
In May 2003 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has issued Northrop Grumman Corporation's Integrated Systems sector an undefinitized contract modification worth up to $160 million to produce and demonstrate a minimum of two full-scale X-47B unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAV). The X-47Bs will demonstrate the technical and operational feasibility of using a UAV to conduct U.S. Navy missions from an aircraft carrier. Northrop Grumman will also demonstrate how a UCAV can be used to satisfy U.S. Air Force mission requirements.
The award is a modification to the company's current Phase IIA UCAV agreement. It marks the beginning of Phase IIB of the Naval UCAV advanced technology effort. Over the next 90 days, Northrop Grumman will develop a detailed cost and development schedule for the program, which is expected to run through 2006.
This award further strengthens Northrop Grumman's partnership with the Department of Defense in developing UAVs that can perform critical surveillance, suppression of enemy air defense and strike missions. Lessons learned from our successful X-47A Pegasus, Global Hawk and Fire Scout programs give us the experience to deliver and successfully integrate a high reliability UCAV solution for today's network-centric battlefield.
Under terms of the agreement, Northrop Grumman will adapt its current X-47B UCAV design to accommodate a consolidated set of Navy and Air Force science and technology objectives. The common objectives include a combat radius of 1,300 nautical miles with a payload of 4,500 pounds, and the ability to loiter for two hours over a target up to 1,000 nautical miles away. In addition to developing the air vehicle and its autonomous control system, the contract also calls for development of a UCAV mission control system.
The focus of Phase IIB of the Naval UCAV program is to design, develop and integrate a UCAV demonstration system that can demonstrate the critical and enabling technologies, processes and system attributes (TPSA) relevant to operations on and around an aircraft carrier. These TPSAs include development of a robust air vehicle; shipboard integration; deck operations; carrier air space operations; command, control and communications suitable for a carrier environment; human-systems interface suitable for a carrier environment and reliable, repeatable catapult takeoff and arrested landing performance.
The X-47B team completed its System Requirements Review in 2004, at which time it planned to see first flight in 2006.
On 18 August 2004 the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Sector, Unmanned Systems, San Diego, Calif., a $1,037,274,437 other transaction for prototypes agreement for the next five years of the X-47B portion of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) demonstration program. Under the newly awarded agreement, the Northrop Grumman team will conduct a five-year effort to design, develop and demonstrate a minimum of three full-scale, flight-worthy air vehicles and three mission control systems. The system will include integrated sensors, communication, navigation equipment and low observability features, along with a common operating system to meet mission capability objectives established by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy.
The targeted missions encompass suppression of enemy air defenses, penetrating surveillance in denied enemy airspace, and precision strike -all from both land and aircraft carrier bases. The system’s objectives include an air vehicle combat radius of 1,500 nautical miles with a weapons payload of 4,500 pounds, electronic warfare support and an integrated synthetic aperture radar. The vehicles are designed to survive in a high threat environment and feature beyond-line-of-sight network connectivity for global operations. This effort will culminate in operational experimentation and an assessment that will explore the capabilities of the X-47B in realistic mission scenarios.
Northrop Grumman Corporation used a series of low-speed wind tunnel tests to successfully validate the aerodynamic design of the X-47B unmanned combat aerial vehicle it is developing for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) Concept Demonstration Program. The tests, which used a high-fidelity scale model, were completed ahead of schedule on 22 September 2004. They were conducted at Northrop Grumman's low-speed wind tunnel in Hawthorne, Calif. as part of the company's $1.04 billion contract for the operational assessment phase of the J-UCAS Concept Demonstration Program. The test data gathered from more than 750 test runs confirmed the excellent low-speed stability and control characteristics of the X-47B design. These characteristics are fundamental to X-47B's success in an aircraft carrier environment that requires frequent catapult launches and arrested recoveries.
The low-speed tests were the first in a series of wind tunnel tests planned under the J-UCAS operational assessment program to characterize the X-47B's low and high-speed flight dynamics and to assess its overall flight performance.
Northrop Grumman heads a team that includes Lockheed Martin Corp., Palmdale, Calif., and Pratt & Whitney Military Engines Division, East Hartford, Conn. X-47B flight demonstrations will begin in 2007 at a West Coast test site followed by catapult launches and arrested landings planned to occur at Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Md.
