Date: 28 Apr 2004
A Boeing X-45A unmanned combat aircraft made aviation history by releasing an inert (non-explosive) Global Positioning System-guided small smart bomb and hitting a ground target recently at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Range at China Lake in California (USA).
“For the first time, an unmanned combat system has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver precision weapons on target,” said Boeing Integrated Defense Systems’ president and CEO Jim Albaugh.
“Unmanned systems like the X-45 are well suited for high-risk missions like the suppression of enemy air defence and precision strike. Once fully developed, these systems will provide commanders with effective and affordable solutions that compliment and support warfighters on the ground, in the air or at sea.”
During the test an operator authorised release and, when the aircraft determined it was within range, the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) X-45A technology demonstrator dropped the guided 250-pound weapon from its internal weapons bay at 35,000 feet and 0.67 Mach (approximately 442 mph). The aircraft autonomously performed all manoeuvres, bay door operations and weapon-away release sequences under human operator supervision.
The next major milestone for the X-45 J-UCAS programme will be the demonstration of multiple-vehicle coordinated flight. That event will take place following a series of single-vehicle checkout operations and coordinated flights between an X-45A and a manned T-33.
The X-45C, a much larger version of the A model, is being built by Boeing IDS in St. Louis, with its first flight scheduled for mid-2006. The J-UCAS X-45 programme is a US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy/Boeing effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value of an unmanned air combat system for the US Air Force and the US Navy.
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