Northrop Grumman is in talks with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on a proposal to revive flight tests of the X-47A Pegasus, an unmanned prototype combat air vehicle mothballed since making a first, wobbly flight in March 2003.
Pegasus is a precursor to the larger X-47B, which is due to fly in 2006 and enter operational assessment (OA) in 2007 for the DARPA Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) programme, which also will include Boeing's X-45C unmanned combat air vehicle.
Northrop Grumman is advocating a return for the X-47A as a risk reduction initiative for the X-47B. The proposal includes upgrading the A's dual-redundant flight control system to the triple-redundant standard required for the J-UCAS programme. "The rationale behind that is...it would demonstrate the triple-redundant system on a very similar vehicle, and that we could get some time in the air," says Northrop Grumman.
Michael Francis, DARPA's J-UCAS programme director, says no decision is expected until a cost-benefit analysis now underway is completed by May.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
