One of These ‘Bots Will Be the Navy’s Next Killer Drone

The Navy's future robotic air wing is taking shape. On Tuesday, the sailing branch announced that it will pay four companies to hand over the technical specs for their various designs for the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike system (UCLASS), a stealthy, jet-powered killer drone meant to operate off an aircraft carrier and fly alongside the latest manned fighters. The move clears the way for the Navy to pick one of the four designs to form the backbone of one of the most ambitious drone efforts ever.

Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman all "have credible, existing, comprehensive, UCLASS design solutions," the Navy said in its formal announcement. The sea service wants each company to produce a working prototype for a competitive fly-off "to support fielding a UCLASS capability within three to six years," likely to occur in mid-2014. The Air Force is also considering buying whichever 'bot the Navy picks -- finally giving the Pentagon the stealthy, jet-poweredarmed drone of its dreams.

With potentially billions of dollars at stake -- not to mention the chance to shape the military's future aerial arsenal -- all four companies began working on their designs years ago. When the Navy picks its winner, probably in 2015, one of the following four designs, each with its unique strengths, will become America's next killer drone.
X-47B

Of the four killer drone candidates, Northrop Grumman's X-47B (pictured above) is the clear frontrunner. Since 2011, the 62-foot-wide batwing 'bot has been flying tests for the Navy under a $2 billion precursor program to UCLASS, one meant to prove that high-performance drones can function on carrier flight decks. The Navy is already familiar, even comfortable, with the X-47B. Colloquially, it calls the 'bot the "Iron Raven," a nod to the old Grumman Iron Works and how it seems to have a raven's beak when viewed in profile. In the second week of May, the Navy plans to launch the X-47B from the deck of theUSS George H.W. Bush in the Atlantic, marking the first time a robot has ever taken flight from a carrier at sea.

But the X-47B, a descendent of an earlier killer drone with its roots in the late 1990s, is possibly the least stealthy of the competitors, owing to Northrop's decision to build the drone big, thick and tough. Those qualities help it survive forceful carrier landings, but also make it a big target for enemy radars. Navy Capt. Jamie Engdahl, manager of the drone test program, described it as "low-observable relevant," a careful choice of words copping to the X-47B's relative lack of stealth.Spencer Ackerman contributed reporting.

Photo: Navy

Phantom Ray

A decade ago, Boeing's X-45A drone battled Northrop Grumman's X-47A, a smaller version of the X-47B, in a competition to provide the Navy and Air Force with new killer drones. But the Air Force unexpectedly backed out. The Navy rescued the X-47 for the UCLASS precursor test program, but the X-45 was left without a sponsor -- a shocking move to many drone developers, who praised the X-45's superior software.

Undeterred, Boeing quietly used its own funds to redesign, enlarge and improve the X-45. The resulting Phantom Ray, 50 feet from wingtip to wingtip, flew for the first time two years ago, showing off a thinner and potentially stealthier shape than its Northrop rival. (Some in the Navy have cheekily taken to calling the Phantom Ray the 'X-45C.') Boeing has declined to comment on the Phantom Ray's software-based control system, but if it's at all based on the X-45A's cutting-edge code, the new drone's real strengths could be under the skin.

Photo: Boeing


Sea Avenger
General Atomics cut its teeth manufacturing the mainstay Predator and Reaper drones for the Air Force and CIA. The jet-powered Avenger, unveiled in 2009, was intended to be a faster, stealthier follow-on. But the Air Force acquired just a handful of Avengers for testing, seemingly leaving the new drone in development limbo until the Navy's UCLASS initiative offered a way forward.

The 66-foot-wingspan Sea Avenger, as the carrier-compatible version is called, doesn't have the long lineage of the Northrop and Boeing drones, but it does boast one big advantage. General Atomics is planning to fit the new 'bot with advanced sensors, including a compact, ground-scanning radar and the same high-resolution cameras carried by the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Photo: General Atomics


Sea Ghost
Lockheed Martin's entry into the UCLASS competition is the most mysterious. True to its name, the Sea Ghost has been glimpsed only in concept art posted to the company's website last summer. The new drone appears to share the flying-wing shape of the Pegasus and Phantom Ray -- and is probably in the same size class with a wingspan of 50-60 feet.

But there's no doubt Lockheed can build a stealth drone. The only jet-powered, radar-evading unmanned aerial vehicle in frontline service anywhere in the world -- that we know of -- is Lockeed's unarmed, roughly 2003-vintage RQ-170 Sentinel. It's a safe bet that Lockheed's drone-building skills have improved considerably in the decade since the Sentinel first took flight.

Art: Lockheed Martin

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Thunderbird 2 flies again: The astonishing airship set to revolutionise haulage, tourism... and warfare

Thunderbird 2 flies again: The astonishing airship set to revolutionise haulage, tourism... and warfare
The Aeroscraft can carry three times more than the biggest military cargo planes over thousands of miles
Heavily backed by the U.S. military, it is now at the prototype stage and is set for its first test flight
It is capable of vertical take off and landing and doesn't even need a landing strip

A radical new kind of airship funded by the US military is about to make its first test flight - and it looks uncannily like the Thunderbird 2 craft from the classic TV show.

The Aeroscraft airship will carry three times as much as the biggest military cargo planes over thousands of miles, use a third of the fuel, and it doesn't even need a landing strip.

It could also have major implications for cargo haulage, and almost everything now laboriously transported across the planet's surface by boat, train and lorry could within years be carried through the skies, its makers claim.
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International rescue: The silver-skinned Aeroscraft prototype sits in its hangar, where green light reflecting from it makes it look uncannily like Thunderbird Two



A concept of the airship on the battlefield, where it could be used to transport tanks and soldiers directly onto the front lineCalifornia-based aviation firm Aeros, with heavy backing from the U.S. military, has been developing their revolutionary Aeroscraft for several years, and they say the airship is now in its final stages.

They have built a prototype which they hope will finally prove the concept works in practice and allow them to fine tune their systems.

At 77m (250ft) in length, it is just half the size of the final model, but has been built with the same rigid structure, flight control systems and landing gear.

Now all that needs to be done is for it to demonstrate the vertical take-off and landing that will make possible the point-to-point delivery features that will make it perfect for the commercial market.

The finished version of the Aeroscraft - expected to be ready in three years - will carry a payload of 66 tons at a speed of 120 knots, upto 18,000ft with a range of 3000 nautical miles.

That could revolutionise air transport, opening up remote areas where there is practically no other means of access.

It could carry relief supplies for victims in disaster areas, heavy oil-extraction equipment to northern Canada's tar sands, huge turbines to remote wind farms and, of course, heavy military equipment to battlefields worldwide.



Fill 'er up: At 77m (250ft) in length, the prototype Aeroscraft is just half the size of the final model, but has been built with the same rigid structure, flight control systems and landing gear



The 'skeleton' of the airship being built in California

The key breakthrough has been the development of an internal system for managing ballast.

Previous airships have been held back by the need to weigh them down or tie them up while cargo is unloaded, lest they are suddenly carried away on the breeze.

But the Aeroscraft's internal ballast management system gives its operators the ability to control the aircraft's buoyancy by compressing the helium inside its tanks to make it heavier than air and bring down to the ground.

Once cargo has been loaded, the airship can rise by re-releasing the compressed helium into its containment tanks, making it again lighter than air, then using turbo-prop engines to control its diretion.

Because of this revolutionary system, Aeroscraft needs no airfield to operate, only a cleared area large enough for it to vertically take off and land, and enough labour on hand to unload the cargo.



Limited: Conventional airships are held back by the need for infrastructure that can enable ground crews to fill them with ballast as they are unloaded to stop them from floating away on the breeze





Internal ballast: The Aeroscraft, by contrast, is able to control its buoyancy using an internal ballast management system which means it can land anywhere that there is space to touch down

Aeros's founder and CEO Igor Pasternak, 48, told Gizmag: 'The advantage is you don’t need ground infrastructure. You can fly anywhere, you can land anywhere, you don’t need any ballast, you don’t need any ground crew.'

The airship has long been known as a 'dream machine' for visionary inventors.

AEROSCRAFT FACTS

Top speed: 120 knots
Range: 3,000 nautical miles
Ceiling: 18,000ft
Cargo capacity: 66 tons

Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin built the first airship in 1900 as a weapon for Germany. The 'Graf Zeppelin' was developed by Dr Hugo Eckener, who flew it around the world in 21 days in 1929.

This powerful symbol of German might was adopted by the Nazis, who funded the creation of the largest airship yet, the Hindenburg.

However, on May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg burst into flames on a trip to the US, having been filled with patriotic German hydrogen instead of American helium.

But Ukrainian-born Mr Pasternak says that his design for a rigid airship is miles apart from the disastrous versions of the early 20th Century.

He told Gizmag: 'From the structure stand point, all of us are familiar with the Hindenburg and Zeppelin designs.

'This is different. We built a space frame that sits inside of the vehicle and around the frame we built a rigid cell. The function of the rigid cell is to have it work with the aerodynamic laws. It’s a very simple approach.

'It also allows us to build vehicles very rapidly. When you’re talking about the production of vehicles, you need the ability to build number of them in a short term and with the frames you can do this.'



The future: An artist's impression shows how the Aeroscraft might look as it picks up cargo from a distribution centre. Finished models will carry 66 tons over a distance of 3,000 nautical miles at 120 knots



The ship could also be used for major construction projects such as building large pipes, as it does not require a runway to land

The U.S. military has been a key player in the development of the Aeroscraft, with the Pentagon and Nasa giving Aeros a total of $36million towards its research.

'Without the initial funding of the Ministry of Defence it would not be possible to bring such a project to roll,' Mr Pasternak told FT Deutschland.

Accordingly, the first operational versions have already been earmarked for 'intra-theatre airlift', Defense Transportation Journal reports, with each carrying the payload of three C-130 transport planes, but with the fuel cost of just one.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2257201/The-astonishing-Aeroscraft--new-type-rigid-airship-thats-set-revolutionise-haulage-tourism--warfare.html#ixzz2H2XHWg1u
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