Mock-ups of competing X-45C and X-47B go on display as international interest grows
Boeing and Northrop Grumman chose Farnborough to unveil full-scale mock-ups of their competing Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) demonstrators, as international interest in the concept gathers momentum.
The UK is in government-to-government talks on possible participation in J-UCAS, including potential investment in the demonstration phase and representation in the joint programme office, says George Muellner, Boeing senior vice-president for air force systems. UK involvement in the Joint Strike Fighter began in a similar way.
Boeing has begun assembly of the first X-45C, with a first flight planned for mid-2006. Northrop Grumman's larger X-47B is scheduled to fly in October 2006. Each company is building three J-UCAS demonstrators for a joint US Air Force/Navy operational assessment to run from 2007 to 2009.
The mock-ups highlight the companies' different approaches to J-UCAS. The X-45C design is focused on the USAF priority missions of suppression of enemy air defences, electronic attack and strike, while the folding-wing X-47B has its origins in the navy's requirement for carrier-borne persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
All three X-45Cs will be in air force configuration, says Steve Teste, Boeing J-UCAS business development manager. "We are still looking at the navy configuration." The first X-47B will be equipped with the USN probe aerial-refuelling system, while the other two will have the USAF's refuelling receptacle, says Scott Winship, Northrop Grumman J-UCAS programme manager.
The demonstrators will be equipped with synthetic-aperture radar payloads for the operational assessment. The choice is between two available active-array radars - the Boeing F/A-18E/F's Raytheon APG-71 and Lockheed Martin F-35's Northrop Grumman APG-81 - says Winship.
Northrop Grumman hopes to conduct an actual carrier landing with the X-47B, assuming successful completion of the operational assessment, says Winship. The company is proposing to build 12 additional air vehicles during the development phase, which could begin in 2010, with the US Air Force and Navy each projected to procure 150 units.
Winship says the first software blocks for the J-UCAS common operating system (COS), to be developed by a consortium of Boeing, Northrop Grumman and a yet-to-be-selected integrator/broker, will be introduced during the operational assessment in 2008. The controversial COS will enable interoperability between the different J-UCAS vehicles and manned aircraft.
Source: Flight International
