The huge X-45C full-scale mock-up standing in the static park may not be the real thing. But it signals a real and profound change in the way air warfare will be conducted in the future.
And the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (J-UCAV) technology demonstration programme that it represents has also undergone a transformation since it was launched.
"J-UCAV has evolved into a much more capable programme since 1998," Steve Teske, manager business development for Boeing Integrated Defence Systems, said in a briefing here on Monday.
X-45C is a bigger and more capable vehicle than the X-45A, now being used to complete the first stage of a significantly expanded programme. Assembly of the first of three airframes has begun, aiming for a first flight in late 2006.
"We need to get this into user hands as soon as we can get their views on the thrust of the programme and make any necessary adjustments as we move towards an operational capability."
The X-45A first flew in 2002 and has since been used to take the first steps towards demonstrating the use of UCAVs for key "first day of the war" missions: suppression of enemy air defences, electronic attack, ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) and strike.
A pair of X-45As are based at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre in California.
BRENDAN GALLAGHER
Source: Flight Daily News
