US UAV and UCAV Technology

GTX said:
Only for you. Others understand it
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I'm aware of the definition. The article to my reading used the word "prime" as a classification of a company rather absolutely rather than the condition of a company in a particular contract or program. I consider it a poor choice of words. Your mileage may differ.
 

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Thanks for that; I definitely DID somehow miss that. Seems like a bit of a niche aircraft but still very interesting.
 
X-39 said:
Article is from 2020. but it went under everyone's radar, must have been COVID.
www.thedrive.com

Exclusive: Unmasking Northrop Grumman's XRQ-72A Great Horned Owl Spy Drone

The U.S. Intelligence Community led the development of this very quiet and high-efficiency unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
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thank you for posting x-39, wondering what happened there.

raw attached quiet EDFs, assuming, but they just are not very stealth... + what still appears to be near vertical surfaces are....well U know. UR tax dollars at work
 
Josh_TN said:
Thanks for that; I definitely DID somehow miss that. Seems like a bit of a niche aircraft but still very interesting.
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It's a much larger program than you might think. It's the largest program (in terms of $) that Scaled has ever done, as far as I can tell.

And there might be a photo of it (or its little brother) here on the forum and has been here for years.
 
quellish said:
It's a much larger program than you might think. It's the largest program (in terms of $) that Scaled has ever done, as far as I can tell.

And there might be a photo of it (or its little brother) here on the forum and has been here for years.
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After Great Horned Owl, there was Little Horned Owl. Low signature, smaller, runway independent. Boeing And Northrop built vehicles for it.

lho-x.jpg
 

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quellish said:
It's a much larger program than you might think. It's the largest program (in terms of $) that Scaled has ever done, as far as I can tell.
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Even than Model 324 / Scarab sale to Egypt where Scaled built the airframes? I would have thought that would be significantly above everything else due to the c. 50 numbers vs c. 1 for every other Scaled programme.
 
red admiral said:
Even than Model 324 / Scarab sale to Egypt where Scaled built the airframes? I would have thought that would be significantly above everything else due to the c. 50 numbers vs c. 1 for every other Scaled programme.
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I do not know the amount for the Scarab contract, but yes this was almost definitely larger.
 
Ok, so according to this article, at some point plans were laid to further develop "Great Horned Owl" into an stealthy UCAV, I wonder if these panned out.

DARPA Aims To Build Bridge Across Technology’s 'Valley Of Death' | Aviation Week Network

X Prime programs would fill the gap between experimental X-planes and Y-plane prototypes.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
The Defense Department’s advanced research agency is exploring the X Prime concept with two different projects. One is the Shepard program (for Series Hybrid-Electric Propulsion Aircraft Demonstrator) to develop an efficient hybrid-electric system and integrate it into an innovative aircraft design that includes essential operational considerations and mission system components.
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“Shepard is taking a pure X-plane, the Great Horned Owl, which was a great demonstration of a capability for hybrid-electric propulsion but wasn’t something you can use in the battlespace,” Leahy said. “We’re going to wrap a new skin around it to give it the survivability that it needs. And we’re going to try to demonstrate we can do that quickly.”
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Great Horned Owl was an early-2000s Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) program to develop an ultraquiet, high-efficiency unmanned aircraft with ducted-fan hybrid-electric propulsion. According to information first obtained by The War Zone, the project resulted in the XRQ-72A flying-wing UAV design developed by Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites.
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X-39 said:
Ok, so according to this article, at some point plans were laid to further develop "Great Horned Owl" into an stealthy UCAV, I wonder if these panned out.

DARPA Aims To Build Bridge Across Technology’s 'Valley Of Death' | Aviation Week Network

X Prime programs would fill the gap between experimental X-planes and Y-plane prototypes.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
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General Atomics isnt wasting time...
breakingdefense.com

General Atomics developing hybrid-electric engine for stealthy 'MQ-Next' drone design - Breaking Defense

“We believe that GA is going to pioneer a completely new way to propel airborne air breathing [vehicles]," said Mike Atwood, the firm’s senior director of advanced programs.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com

We are working on hybrid electric propulsion,” Atwood said. “We believe that GA is going to pioneer a completely new way to propel airborne air-breathing [vehicles]. That will be unveiled in the coming years, but it is a completely disruptive technology. It uses a hybrid electric system where it’s basically a Tesla Model S and an RQ-170 got together and you have a fully electric aircraft” capable of traveling greater distances.

“The key to this design is [a] heavy fuel engine, driving very efficient generators and motors. And that way we can get fairly low [fan] speeds, get really good efficiency,” Alexander said. “So, this is game changer right here. This is a low-pressure ratio fan, so it’s a little tricky and we got to be careful with it. But we believe once we nail this, get the thrust out of it and installed weight, then that’ll drive that aircraft” to new lengths.

Specifically, Alexander said, the company expects the stealthy MQ-Next design to have 60 hours endurance, without needing to be refueled — a long-distance, long-on-station capability that he specifically noted would “help you cover the South China Sea.” In addition, the design should be able to take off from a 3,000 foot rough runway, meaning if it does need refueling, it could do so at the kind of small bases being looked at under the Air Force’s agile combat employment concept.
 

X-Plane Surge Fueled By DARPA Strategy Revamp | Aviation Week Network

A two-decade trend of failed X-plane projects at the agency appears to be reversing, with a recent switch to a scaled-down approach producing results.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com

Wow! It was clear that this was a obscure program compared to the afromentioned below with.. well.. literally zero PR coverage, but built already? Let's keep in mind that unlike GA Hybrid/electric flying wing, this is an entirely separate design from NG SG-1 submission, thus tailored for different missions and unrelated to MQ-XX initiative I presume?
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USAF is looking for information regarding engines in the 3000-8000 lb thrust class as part of the CCA program. Also the traits they are most interested in are range, speed, and short take off capability...with speed and take off indicating they are looking for something with somewhat of a greater thrust:weight compared to currently available UAVs.

www.thedrive.com

Future Air Combat Drone Performance Focus Areas Emerge

The USAF revealed areas of greatest performance interest for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft as it starts looking for engines to power them.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
 
A handful of documents pertaining to the GHO (Great Horned Owl) program, plus the LHO (Little Horned Owl) logo.
 

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The Air Force awarded contracts to five companies to design and build Collaborative Combat Aircraft that can fly autonomously alongside manned platforms, a spokesperson confirmed. They are:

  • Boeing
  • Lockheed Martin
  • Northrop Grumman
  • Anduril
  • General Atomics
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www.airandspaceforces.com

The 5 Firms Selected to Build the Air Force's Fleet of Autonomous CCA

The Air Force has selected Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Anduril, and General Atomics to work on the CCA program.
www.airandspaceforces.com www.airandspaceforces.com
 
There is something weird with this news: wasn't it something already aknowledged to the public? I posted it here as it surfaced in my news feed but then had to scratch my head. What's going on?
 
TomcatViP said:
There is something weird with this news: wasn't it something already aknowledged to the public? I posted it here as it surfaced in my news feed but then had to scratch my head. What's going on?
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Rumors in December, awards in January. Seems about right.

breakingdefense.com

EXCLUSIVE: 5 companies in early running for Air Force’s CCA drone wingmen - Breaking Defense

Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and startup Anduril are in play to field the Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft, Breaking Defense has learned.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
A recent study indicated that lower cost UCAVs, and more of them, is likely the preferred route. This seems to deviate from the recent statement that a CCA might cost 1/3 of an F-35, although that figure was given as more of an absolute ceiling. A previous game last year (that unfortunately cannot locate) involving another group had the same take away: they opted for more and cheaper UAVs, many of them disposable or at least expendable, rather then more reusable equipment.

www.defenseone.com

Robot wingmen vs. China: What a think tank’s wargame revealed about a key USAF concept

As the Air Force contemplates a range of price points, the tabletop exercise suggests cheaper is better.
www.defenseone.com www.defenseone.com
 

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