Boeing has clarified its plans to conduct co-ordinated flights between its X-45A unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) demonstrator and a Lockheed T-33 UCAV surrogate in mid-year. The event will precede a co-ordinated flight test of two X-45As; a key goal of the UCAV warfighting concept.
The forthcoming test will involve both the X-45A and T-33 being controlled in co-ordinated flight by an operator on the ground, with the safety pilot in the manned aircraft being "hands-off" during the flight. The evaluation forms part of a "crawl, walk, run" build-up, says X-45A test and operations manager Mike Harlan. If successful, Boeing "will go to the 'no kidding' two UCAV test", says Harlan.
Initial inter-vehicle communications tests began in mid-February. Early tests will involve multiple air vehicles controlled from the ground during co-operative flights and co-ordinated tests where they will autonomously follow the same mission plan, with an operator exercising positive control.
Boeing on 20 March dropped an unguided bomb from the X-45Aand is poised to release a precision-guided small smart bomb at around Mach 0.67 and 35,000ft (10,670m) over the Edwards AFB test range in California.
The company has already tested in flight a four-step safety system that prevents inadvertent weapons release: a cancel attack message; an instruction to disarm the weapon; physically closing the weapons bay doors; and a command telling the vehicle that it is no longer in an attack mode. "That was a huge confidence builder for us," says Harlan.
Source: Flight International
