Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS-D

XB-70 Guy said:

flateric said:

X-47B with external fuel tank(s)

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Tank(s) would have to be attached after it was airborne - its landing gear legs aren't long enough for tank(s) to be attached on the ground...

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Ian33 said:

The fuel tanks are internal - replacing the weapons bay carry capability in order to keep the LO properties intact. I will of course find the article this came from as it was very informative.

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Maintaining the aircraft all-aspect low-observable characteristics, required special attention to details, uncommon in land-based aerial platforms. These included special coverage of the wing folding seams, designed in recessed tailhook and the low observable application, for the retractable refueling probe. Other features are utilizing simpler means, such as the installation of fuel links in the weapons bay, to carry two 600 gal. fuel tanks, which can be used for extended missions or mid-air refueling. With 1,200 galons of extra fuel on board, these unmanned aircraft could become popular aerial refuellers, relieving the Hornet pilot from this dull, but still highly precarious job.

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http://defense-update.com/products/u/ucas_d.htm

former admiral Tim Beard, Northrop's lead for X-47B carrier integration

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This is the guy I will quote next.

The demonstrator has bays for sensors and weapons, each of the latter sized to carry a 900kg (2,000lb) Joint Direct Attack Munition or six 150kg Small Diameter Bombs. That would give an operational N-UCAS, with its 12-14h unrefuelled endurance, the capability to attack 12 different targets on a single mission, says Beard.

The weapons bays could accommodate electronic attack, electronic intelligence or signals intelligence payloads, he says. Alternatively, each could house a 2,270litre (600USgal) fuel tank, allowing the N-UCAS to be used as a carrier-based aerial refuelling platform. "That gets the F-18 guys interested," says Beard

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So the Northrop carrier intergration head says internal tanks
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/01/25/221131/unmanned-aboard-northrop-grumman-aims-to-prove-ucas-can-operate-from-carriers.html

Damn...they should somehow fix their media dept. fantasies then

So what we see under the wings may in fact be just containers for the drogue and mechanisms for extending and retracting them?

So what's the story on the tailhook? It looks like it's recessed but uncovered? ???

Here's two X-47B shots - one without persons, one with for size comparison.

SP

sferrin said:

So what's the story on the tailhook? It looks like it's recessed but uncovered? ???

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Its going to have a flapped covering - I remember seeing some where the drawings.. I know 100% certain the mock ups doing the airshow circuits had flapped hooks so i'll have a look see.

Pictures links stolen from militaryphotos.net:
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/9389/chartan.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/9200/chartbm.jpg
http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9551/chartc.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4409/rear.jpg
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4312/flap.jpg
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8319/lightflash.jpg
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/9518/washout.jpg
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2082/sidesunset.jpg
Source: http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?178442-Naval-Unmanned-Combat-Air-System-Pics-and-video/page2

Anyone else notice that this image is mirrored? (look at the 'NAVY' on the side). The exhaust is really strange though (any one got any explainations about this at all?) for a low observable design.

Color corrected, flipped.

Ian33 said:

The exhaust is really strange though (any one got any explainations about this at all?) for a low observable design.

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Strange compared to what? (Boeing probably owns the kind on the X-36/X-45/Bird of Prey)

sferrin said:

Anybody know the latest on when the first flight might be?

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? I thought the first air vehicle of the pair had already flown? there was a debate about wether to ferry it via ground or let it fly across the US from one testing airfield to the other. Air International Magazine I belive had an article about it in 09 where Scott Winship wanted it flown and argued against the ground shipping.

As for strange exhaust, compared to everything! B-2, YF-23, X-45... here is why it looks strange to me as a casual observer (and yes I realise this is just a technology demonstrator not a finished article airframe, but to me still it looks out of place!)

Sorry it was Flightglobal that had the article.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/08/12/330952/auvsi-x-47b-ferry-flight-focus-of-flap.html

Northrop Grumman disagrees with a US Navy decision to not fly the first X-47B across the USA next year.

"I'm still planning on arguing with" Capt Martin Deppe, says Scott Winship, the X-47B's vice president and program manager.

On Monday, Deppe said the program has decided to truck the X-47B to Patuxent River NAS, Md., after completing nearly a year of flight tests at Edwards AFB, Ca.

Ferrying the tailless unmanned aircraft across the country in flight would be too difficult given US FAA airspace restrictions, Deppe said.

Winship acknowledged that Deppe has already made the decision, but he still thinks the program's goal should be to ferry the first X-47B vehicle over the country.

Both Winship and Deppe agree that the goal for the second X-47B vehicle, which starts flying in late 2010, should be to complete the cross-country flight from Edwards to Patuxent River.

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My bold text. This is why I have pesumed the first flights have been kept under wraps and what we are seeing is the test and starts of the second craft of the trio

Ian33 said:

My bold text. This is why I have pesumed the first flights have been kept under wraps and what we are seeing is the test and starts of the second craft of the trio

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No, they're talking about a year from now. X-47B will be doing a year of flight test at Edwards before moving to Pax. They're talking about the plan to move it to Pax in 2011-ish.

Some of the "strange" exhaust features you're pointing out are particular to NG's take on tailless control for this design. Lockheed, Boeing, and NG all have slightly different takes on how they implement fluidic thrust vectoring.

Are you sure that it's their answer to fluidic thrust vectoring, and not some strapped on nozzles from other program?

donnage99 said:

Are you sure that it's their answer to fluidic thrust vectoring, and not some strapped on nozzles from other program?

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Let's call it 75% sure. If I had not just migrated to a new laptop I may have references to NG work on fluidic TV nozzles around.

I just had a quick talk with my friend Alan Radecki, inhouse photographer at Northrop Grumman Palmdale, asking him if he was the only photographer there, and whether all the publicized shots were from him or not. Here is what he answered:

For UCAS, we brought in an outside photog, Chad Slattery, since he has some amazing lighting equipment that we don't have access to. Chad and I shot at the same time, so we got similar shots. Mine are mostly from ground level and use natural light, his are from a lift, and used his elaborate flash setup. He got the sunset head-on shot that's coming out on the new brochure, plus the overhead shots that are up on the website. It was fun working with him.

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Chad Slattery is a familiar name to most of us I believe, so you probably know whom he's talking about. Don't know about you all, but I find it nice to get that kind of insight!

Good reporting, Stephane!

Steve

from http://www.auvsi-seafarer.org/AUVSI_23_Oct_07_V1a.ppt

Interesting to see the composite skins which actually overlap at the joints (third picture)

AeroFranz said:

Interesting to see the composite skins which actually overlap at the joints (third picture)

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Those look like substantial gaps, not overlaps. Maybe 1/8-1/4" gap, to be filled by RAM during the finishing/paint stages?

correct! i need to stop posting before my morning coffee ;D

I thought the hybridized Northrop and Grumman logo on the right wing was a nice touch.

Pyrrhic victory said:

I thought the hybridized Northrop and Grumman logo on the right wing was a nice touch.

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Doh! For the longest time I looked at that and thought it was supposed to be some sort of shark logo, lol. Nice catch!

Wow! Congrats for noticing this! I had not realized... The end result is nice too, looking like a cross between a bird and a shark...

Photographer Jim Munaw caught the X-47B transfer to EAFB with the advantage of street lights.


More pics at: http://www.apsocal.com/index.php/topic,960.msg21637.html#msg21637

Hopefully Alan Radecki's photos will also be published soon.

wow, we're having a week load of pictures here

I'm curious as to why they didn't fold the wings?

because it's not the production frame yet?

Creative said:

I'm curious as to why they didn't fold the wings?

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Stress? If the wing is anything close to vertical when folded, that'd make for some serious drag driving down the road, maybe causing damage to the joint.

My money goes on some electrical cables going over the road.
--Luc

Where is it being transported from? Palmdale?

I really like that picture; the juxtaposition between one of the most advanced aircraft in the world in front of a gas station just seems sort of surreal. Maybe the title of this picture should be " Nighthawk..."

I find myself wondering how many people saw that and thought it was a movie or TV prop. Sort of a flip on the incident with the Hammerhead from Space: Above and Beyond.

The Artist said:

I find myself wondering how many people saw that and thought it was a movie or TV prop. Sort of a flip on the incident with the Hammerhead from Space: Above and Beyond.

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Not when its being driven from Plant 42 (Palmdale) to Edwards AFB. Gawkers along that route are used to sights of advanced combat aircraft.

^not to mention the number of spotters camping outside just to get quality shots

I don’t think spotters camp out at Palmdale. Plant 42 is a pretty big place and the aviation museum/park is on the opposite side to the highway. A quick check of google indicates that Mr Mumaw lives in Palmdale (well Lancaster which is the northern end of town) so probably works at or is keyed into the Palmdale/Edwards community. So he probably knew before hand that the 47 was being moved to Edwards so arranged to take the photo. Anyway this area is very much an aerospace community. Having the 47 being trucked down the road is probably pretty low down the list of amazing sights.

Why hasn't the X-47B flown as of yet? -SP

XB-70 Guy said:

Why hasn't the X-47B flown as of yet? -SP

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I recall they were having really bad vibration and acoustic problems with the exhaust - hence the temporary 'fix' unit they used. My monies on Boeing getting the Phantom ray into the skies way before the X-47B.

UCAS-D to Taxi Early Next Month
Nov 24, 2010

By Amy Butler, Guy Norris
Palmdale, Calif., Palmdale, Calif.

Northrop Grumman plans to perform the first high-speed taxi of its X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS-D) demonstrator by the first week of December as a prelude to first flight by year-end at Edwards AFB, Calif.

The taxi test will take the stealthy, single-engine UCAS to 120 kt., according to company officials.

Northrop Grumman and U.S. Navy officials passed the tailless, flying wing demonstrator for taxi tests at a flight readiness review early this month and are set to build up X-47B ground speeds over a series of trials that were due to begin at Edwards Nov. 19. These evaluations mark the culmination of almost two years of preparations since the rollout of the first air vehicle, AV-1, in December 2008.

Delayed by engine-related acoustic and starting issues as well as software complexity, the Navy’s first dedicated stealth aircraft since the canceled General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas A-12 was originally due to fly in November 2009. Following corrective actions and a rebalancing of the program toward carrier landings in 2013 rather than late 2011 as originally planned, Northrop Grumman UCAS-D Vice President Janis Pamiljans believes the bulk of the preparations are complete. Pending successful low-, medium- and high-speed taxi tests, Pamiljans says first-flight timing will likely be dependent only on good weather.

“First flight is just an event, even though it’s an aviation first,” says Pamiljans, stressing that the key priority remains landing on an aircraft carrier and proving that the UCAS-D can operate on and around it. This is a key confidence-building step in gaining widespread Navy support to buy a fleet of UCAS-type systems that can ultimately perform the stealthy strike mission intended for the A-12, but with the increased range and endurance of an unmanned aircraft.

In the run-up to taxi tests, Pamiljans says, “software is done; it’s wrapped, stamped and is in the aircraft.” The U4.3 vehicle management software used in earlier tests has been replaced with an improved U4.4 load for first flight.

The planned 22-min. first flight will be conducted at 4,000 ft. with the gear down, and the vehicle flying a racetrack pattern over the dry lakebed with standard-rate turns. The landing will be made back on the same runway used for takeoff, says Pamiljans, adding that the “key will be to get as much air vehicle management system data as we can.” The sortie will mark the start of a roughly 50-flight, year-long Block 1 envelope expansion test campaign at Edwards. Initial flight rate is expected to be once per week, rising to twice a week later in 2011.

Later next year, AV-1 will be transferred to the Navy’s test center at NAS Patuxent River, Md., and eventually hoisted onboard an aircraft carrier, says Pamiljans. The UCAS will then be maneuvered around the vessel as part of the program’s Block 2 carrier deck operations and handling trials test plan.

Assembly of the second X-47B, AV-2, is virtually complete, with initial powering up of the vehicle’s systems achieved for the first time early this month. In December, the aircraft will be transferred to a loads test rig for up to eight weeks of structural proof tests that will simulate carrier landing and critical flight loads, as well as check the structure for catapult and arrestment loads, fuel system integrity and control surface freedom under load.

As AV-2 is designed to test the increased dynamic environment of air-to-air refueling, the vehicle must meet Navy requirements for 2.4g maneuvers, against 2.1g for AV-1. Although Northrop Grumman designed both airframes with margin for 3g, the rig will test AV-2 to 130% of design limit load, well beyond the 115% load tested on AV-1. “So we will take it well beyond what the vehicle will see in flight tests,” Pamiljans explains. “The build of the aircraft hasn’t been a challenge at all; it has been the software build” that proved more thorny, says Todd Snedigar, Northrop Grumman’s UCAS production manager.

AV-2 incorporates nozzle structure design improvements to accommodate changes to deal with the acoustic issues from the X-47B’s single Pratt & Whitney F100-220U engine that contributed to delays to AV-1. Completion was also made easier by development of a spray-application process for a fire-suppression coating in the engine bay. On the first vehicle, the coating was applied by hand.

AV-2 will be transferred to Edwards in March for initial taxi tests and engine runs using the U4.4 software. Following electromagnetic susceptibility trials at the base’s antenna farm, AV-2 will begin full taxi tests, with first flight expected by the end of next year. For this milestone, the second X-47B will be loaded with U5.0 software, scheduled to be certificated in December 2011 after flight trials using a Boeing F/A-18 as a UCAS surrogate. This software, now being developed with a build-up approach initially involving test flights of a Learjet in flight simulator operated by Calspan Research behind an Omega Air Refueling Boeing 707 tanker, will be further refined using the F/A-18.

Incorporating guidance, navigation and communications protocols to interface with the carrier, as well as air-to-air refueling and full envelope control, the U5.0 software will guide the F/A-18 to the first carrier touchdowns in February and March 2013. When four completely autonomous traps have been accomplished, the similarly configured AV-1, by now also equipped with U5.0, will be cleared for its first carrier landing attempt.

Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman has submitted a proposal to the Navy to outline a flight-test plan for the so-called Block 6 portion of the program. It will include aerial refueling trials using AV-2, equipped with both Navy and Air Force refueling receptacles. These would take place in 2014 after carrier operations are complete. Pamiljans says that flight-test effort could include 40 sorties, but the company is hoping to keep the number down to reduce cost. During load-testing, AV-2 will be subjected to forces simulating those experienced during refueling operations.

Sounds good. We'll see... :