Showing results 1 - 10 of 18 for the search terms: j-ucas.
Results for "j-ucas"
Ride on the Ray: Boeing’s X-45 UCAVs
12-May-2010 12:07 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Boeing, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, Contracts - Modifications, Corporate Innovations, Design Innovations, Lobbying, New Systems Tech, People, R&D - Contracted, R&D - Private, Spotlight articles, Testing & Evaluation, Transformation, UAVs
X-45C, F/A18F, F-15E
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Riding to Dryden. (July 20/10)
In 1998, Boeing began a revolutionary development program: create an unmanned aircraft that was about the size of the USAF’s F-117 stealth fighter, with similar performance, better stealth, and better range. DARPA’s J-UCAS program launched Boeing’s X-45A and Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAVs), which went on to perform tests that included multiple UCAV flights, bomb drops, and other aviation firsts.
J-UCAS was effectively killed in 2006, though it went on to spawn the Navy’s UCAS-D competition. NGC’s X-47B Pegasus won, but the Pentagon’s back-and-forth over the USAF’s Next-Generation Bomber program will either create a big opening for UCAVs, or allow Boeing to lever new advances it makes in stealthy UCAV design for its bid. Not so coincidentally, Boeing is using company funds to put its X-45C back on track, as the “Phantom Ray”...
- Boeing’s X-45s
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
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Carrier UCAVs: The Return of UCAS
07-Feb-2010 12:04 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, GE, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, New Systems Tech, Northrop-Grumman, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Transformation, UAVs, United Technologies
UCAS-D concept
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Competition from the Predator family? (May 4/10)
In early 2006 the future of the J-UCAS program seemed uncertain. It aimed to create Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) for the USAF and Navy that could approach the capabilities of an F-117 stealth fighter. Boeing’s X-45C was set to face off against Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Pegasus, the program had demonstrated successful tests that included dropping bombs, and aerial refueling tests were envisioned.
J-UCAS was eventually canceled, but the technologies have survived, and the US Navy remains interested. A May 2007 non-partisan report discussed the lengthening reach of ship-killers. Meanwhile, the US Navy’s carrier fleet sees its strike range shrinking to 1950s distances, and prepares for a future with 11 operational carriers – but just 10 carrier air wings. Could UCAV/UCAS vehicles with longer ranges, and indefinite flight time limits via aerial refueling, solve these problems? Some people in the Navy seem to think that they might. Hence UCAS-D/ N-UCAS, which has received a major push in the FY 2010 defense review.
nEUROn UCAV Project Rolling Down the Runway
21-Jan-2009 11:56 EST |
Related Stories: Budgets, Contracts - Awards, EADS, Europe - France, Europe - Other, FOCUS Articles, Finmeccanica, Issues - International, Issues - Political, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Project Methodologies, R&D - Contracted, Testing & Evaluation, UAVs
Saab concept
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In November 2005 a Forecast International report on the future UAV market saw trouble coming for the proposed six-nation nEUROn Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) project. In the end, however, Sweden signed on and the project got rolling, with committed funding of EUR 535 million and counting. The French DGA (Délégation Générale pour l’Armement) procurement agency is acting as program executive.
The Neuron project joins Britain’s Taranis UCAV, Russia’s MiG SKAT, and the US Navy’s X-47 UCAS-D program as UCAV projects with fighter-substitution potential. The Neuron program’s goals are threefold, and DID also offers details concerning the envisioned platform, the program structure, and its schedule. Dassault Aviation has recently issued a program update….
USAF Wants a New Bomber By 2018… Or Does It?
09-Jun-2008 14:24 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Force Structure, Heavy Bombers, New Systems Tech, Pre-RFP, Project Methodologies
B-52H, B-1B & B-2A
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GOOD NEWS: 2006 saw a convergence of opinion within the USAF that a new long-range strike platform was needed. This is understandable given the B-52H Stratofortress fleet’s age (40-50 years), the B-1B Lancer’s internal power and electronics issues, both of these platforms’ low survivability against advanced air defense systems, and the B-2A Spirit stealth bomber’s very small numbers [21, of which 7-12 are generally operational]. The unmanned J-UCAS program, however, was seen as having inadequate range and payload [Boeing X-45C: 1,400 mile radius with 8 GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs]. The USAF decided that it wasn’t a solution and pulled out, stalling American UCAV development until the Navy chose to go ahead with the carrier-based UCAS-D.
In September 2006, Inside Defense reported that the US Air Force was responding to ongoing Congressional pressure with a proposed $5 billion initial investment over the next few years. Their goal was to develop a next-generation long-range strike platform by 2018, with a fly-off before final platform selection. Now the potential contractors are beginning to align – but will the fly-off still take place?..
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Aerial Refueling: Look, Ma, No Hands!
14-Aug-2007 20:06 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, DARPA, Events, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Sensors & Guidance, Specialty Aircraft, Transformation
AARD refueling
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DARPA does some quietly interesting things. The latest is an autopilot that lets an aircraft perform air-air refueling – one of the most challenging routine flight tasks outside of carrier landings – without pilot intervention. While impressive on its own, such systems have special relevance because they offer the promise of unmanned fighters that can remain aloft far longer than aircraft which require human pilots. The result would be far longer strike reach and persistence, two areas that will be critical to the US Navy’s ability to keep its carrier force relevant and effective through the next 3 decades. It’s no coincidence that the J-UCAS program, which is now the Navy’s UCAS-D, was a DARPA initiative as well.
The Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration program (AARD) aimed to demonstrate that unmanned aircraft can autonomously perform in-flight refueling under operational conditions. AARD uses precise inertial, GPS, and video measurements, combined with advanced guidance and control methods, to plug a refueling probe into the center of a 32-inch basket trailed behind a tanker. The test aircraft were a NASA F/A-18D Hornet with pilots on board for routine flight and safety backup, and a piloted 707-300 tanker (similar to the KC-135) from Omega Air Refueling Services. Each attempt was made from Edwards AFB in California across a range of turbulence conditions, the most challenging of which were characterized by up to 5 feet of peak-to-peak drogue motion. This approaches the limits of routine manned refueling operations – and that wasn’t all the AARD system was able to do….
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CSBA on Future US Naval Aviation: Unmanned, Too?
14-May-2007 10:53 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Issues - Political, Lobbying, Projections & Assessments, Think Tanks, UAVs, Warfare - Lessons
Concept: X-47B on Carrier
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From the non-partisan Washington Center for Strategic & Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) May 10/07 publication: “The Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration Program: A New Dawn For Naval Aviation?” [PDF format]
”...the combat reach of the 2020 carrier air wing will not have improved much beyond that of the mid-1980s air wing, which had trouble dealing with 1970s Soviet land-based anti-access/area-denial technologies. Perhaps more significantly, the CVW’s ability to establish persistent orbits at range will not have improved much beyond that of the 1950s… Said another way, will an operational strike system with limited tactical reach and persistence – one optimized for pulsed strikes against land targets at ranges out to about 450-475 nm – be able to tackle future operational challenges and threats that are likely to appear over the long term? The answer is: probably not…. As this short discussion suggests, then, there is a growing strategic imperative to increase the range, persistence, and stealth of the Navy’s carrier air wing. Indeed, failing to increase the CVW’s reach, endurance, and survivability risks the long-term operational and tactical relevance of the US carrier fleet.”
The Persistence Gap
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Along the way, their paper deals with a number of issues. The historic lack of interest in UAVs within the US Navy, which manifested as early as Vietnam. The choice of shrinking strike range for current US carrier groups, but greater strike density within that limited range. The emergence of land-based “surveillance-strike complexes” in other nations, designed to keep US carriers well outside of that range. International carrier plans. Not to mention a future in which the USA will have 11 operational carriers – but just 10 US Navy/ USMC carrier aircraft wings. This is followed by a look at the history of the J-UCAS unmanned combat air vehicle program to date, and recommendations for the future in light of emerging trends. Read the CSBA’s entire 39-page preliminary backgrounder, which serves as a lead-in summary for a forthcoming report.
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Popular Science on Area 51’s Aircraft
14-Sep-2006 11:57 EDT |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Design Innovations, Heavy Bombers, Materials Innovations, New Systems Tech, Rumours, Security & Secrecy, Specialty Aircraft, UAVs
“Aurora” concept
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“Area 51” in Nevada, USA has been the stuff of myth and legend. Known world-wide as the birthplace and testing ground of famous planes like the U-2 Dragon Lady, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, and other “black program” aircraft, it has also been the subject of wilder UFO rumours and speculation.
In the October 2006 issue of Popular Science, noted “black project” researcher Bill Sweetman pieces together “The Top-Secret Warplanes of Area 51.” It covers some of the projects he believes to be underway there, based on patent filings, budget holes, and unfilled niches in the USA’s arsenal. DID would caution readers that all of this is speculation; holes in the US arsenal could be real due to neglect or priorities, patent filings et. al. may well pertain to active programs and research related to the WALRUS, J-UCAS, HAA/ISIS and other less well-known but nonetheless public programs, etc. With that said, his article makes for interesting and entertaining reading. Sweetman’s most surprising conclusion? That the Mach 5-6 Aurora wave-rider aircraft (see extensive GlobalSecurity.org project & budget analysis) may be on again as a $9 billion program, possibly with global strike as well as reconnaissance capabilities.
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British CORAX UAV Joins UCAV Trend
24-Jan-2006 03:31 EST |
Related Stories: BAE, Britain/U.K., Europe - France, Europe - Other, IT - Software & Integration, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Transformation, UAVs, Warfare - Trends
British CORAX UCAV
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Defense Tech reports on BAE Systems’ CORAX Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV), an unmanned fighter with stealth features whose early models look somewhat like the USA’s Darkstar technology demonstrator. DefenseTech offers a quick background that draws on behind-the-wall material at Jane’s, explaining some of the key differences and where CORAX fits into the UK’s long term plans.
The program has been superseded by the Taranis project
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GKN Wins Key X-47B contract - But Will J-UCAS Survive?
16-Jan-2006 03:37 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Budgets, Contracts - Awards, Northrop-Grumman, Other Corporation, UAVs
X-47B’s reserved space
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B Pegasus is part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS), and the X-47B’s development program and capability requirements changes have been covered by DID before. The outboard wings of the aircraft are of composite, aluminum and titanium, while the center fuselage is aluminum. Now SpaceWar.com reports that GKN Aerospace has been confirmed as the producer for this combat UAV’s composite skins, covers and doors. They are also responsible for the design, tooling and manufacture of the outboard wing and the forward center fuselage section.
The outer wing and fuselage sections of the X-47B will be designed at GKN’s Nashville, TN Engineering Development Center. Tool design and tool management will be accomplished at GKN’s Engineering Development Center in Meridian, CT. The graphite composite skins, which will cover nearly 90% of the unmanned vehicles’ surface, will be manufactured at GKN Aerospace’s St. Louis, MO facility alongside the actuated doors for the vehicle, including the weapon’s bay, nose and main landing gear doors. Should the X-47B enter full production, the total value of the contract would exceed $500 million.
As DefenseTech notes, however, the entire J-UCAS robotic attack UAV program may be at risk in the forthcoming Quadrennial Defense Review. Will it be terminated, or will it be back? Time will tell.
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US Plans to Retire B-52s, C-21s, F-117 & U-2 for more F-22s
12-Jan-2006 14:53 EST |
Related Stories: Americas - USA, Budgets, Fighters & Attack, Force Structure, Heavy Bombers, Issues - Political, Official Reports, Specialty Aircraft, Transport & Utility
The end for the U-2?
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DefenseTech notes that a draft plan from the US Air Force plan (“program budget decision 720”) intends to retire the USA’s 33 U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, its 55 F-117 stealth fighters, 38 of its 76 C-21 Learjets, and about 40% of its B-52 bomber fleet between FY 2007-2011, in order to free up around $2.6 billion for the purchase of more F-22 Raptor fighters. The EB-52 SOJ [stand-off jammer] aircraft project would also be cancelled.
Some of these measures will be more controversial than others…
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