Phantom Ray UCAV

Here are a couple of photos of Boeing's new Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle, the Phantom Ray.

The Phantom Ray project, called "Project Reblue" ( a play on Have Blue, the F-117 Nighthawk project designation) is being developed by Boeing Phantom Works, based on the earlier X-45C prototype. It was unveiled on May 10, 2010 and will be undergoing tests for the next several months or years. It is envisioned as the first of a new type or aircraft and may handle missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, hunter/killer, and autonomous aerial refueling.

These pics show the Phantom Ray being carried on a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft from St. Louis on December 13, 2010 during a test flight. The 747 will carry the Phantom Ray to Dryden Flight Research Center in preparation for its first flight.

General characteristics

• Crew: None (UCAV)
• Length: 36 ft (11 m)
• Wingspan: 50 ft (15 m)
• Max takeoff weight: 36,500 lb (16,556 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × General Electric F404-GE-102D

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 0.85
• Cruise speed: 614 mph (534 kn; 988 km/h) ; Mach 0.8
• Range: 1,500 mi (1,303 nmi; 2,414 km)
  
• Service ceiling: 40,000 ft (12,192 m)
  

Airship drones

Awhile ago, I posted about the "Beast of Kandahar" in The Giant Blimp of Kandahar, which was suspected to be a long endurance, reconnaissance UAV. I found this pic a few days ago, and it seems to be the same aircraft. They both have a triple tail fin and similar overall shape. At the time, I guessed that it was a prototype or scale model of the Lockheed Martin LEMV. The caption just named it as the Persistent Surveillance System.

The earlier photo had no sense of scale, so I was pleased to get a closer look at "the Beast". As we can see, it is a pretty large maybe 40 feet or more, but that is much less than the reported 200 feet of the LEMV. Lockheed has understandably not released very much info on the LEMV, but they have hinted that it will be a UAV capable of staying aloft and using multiple technology to find and identify enemies. We can certainly assume it has powerful daylight, Nightvision and thermal cameras. It also might mount a magnetic anomaly detector for looking for IEDs or submarines or so forth, but that is just a blind guess on my part. It could also be used for things such as intercepting radio and satellite phone signals, or as a booster to send friendly communications. The one thing I am pretty sure of is that we will see more like it in the future.
Well, I don't really have any more info. I just thought it was a neat picture.

I can't tell, but I think this is not the same aircraft. Seems the nose and fins are shaped differently. But I felt bad for such a bare bones post, so I figured I would treat you, my beloved readers, to the fruit of a 3 second Bing image search. You are welcome.

UAVs- MQ-8 Fire Scout

By now, most everyone in the world has some knowledge of Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs). They are talked about on the news, especially the news dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan and the war against Al Qaeda and the Taliban going on there. The UAV that is most well known is the Predator, a fixed wing, propeller driven, remote control airplane on steroids. What some people have yet to realize is the fielding of large numbers of different types of UAVs has fundamentally changed the way wars are and will be fought. The UAV revolution will be just as important as the advent of combat aviation in WWI or the massive changes in tactics and strategy of helicopter warfare in the Vietnam War.


On to today's subject, the Northop Grumman MQ-8 Fire Scout UAV. While the Department of Defense has been using unmanned vehicles for quite some time, most were used as aerial targets or close (ish) range reconnaissance, target acquisition, and battle damage assessments. With the technology boom of the 1990's UAVs began to change from what some might call expensive and marginally useful toys to weapons of war in their own right. The Fire Scout is being developed to function as a multi-role UAV, capable of performing reconnaissance, situational awareness, and precision targeting support. This includes mounting weapons on the stub wings such as the Hellfire missile, which has been used to a great effect from helicopters and Predator UAVs, the Viper Strike laser guided weapons, and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) which is an updated, laser-guided version of the 70 mm folding-fin rocket, which many in the Army feel is very well suited to modern combat, especially in built up areas. The MQ-8 also has a very capable sensor suite, with options to have some or all of the following: a day/night scope with laser target designator, a mine field detection system, a synthetic aperture radar with the ability to track moving targets, and more. The Fire Scout was designed to be controlled over a data link derived from RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV, operating over a line of sight to a distance of 172 miles. The control system was to be fitted onto a ship, or could be carried on a Humvee vehicle for U.S. Marine and Army service.



Fire Scout, as a rotor winged vehicle, brings some new capabilities that UAVs have not had in the past. The ability to take off and land virtually anywhere is an amazing leap forward. Older fixed wing UAVs were often caught in giant nets suspended off the side of a ship. Obviously, this is probably not the easiest or most efficient way to do things and sometimes caused the vehicles to be damaged or lost. The Fire Scout has already demonstrated its ability to land on the deck of a moving ship, the USS Nashville, which was a first for the US Navy, and probably the world. Mobility and maneuver are some of the most important facets of war, one of the only things more important is timely intelligence. The Fire Scout will increase them all.


As the technology of UAVs has continued to evolve, military scientists, strategists, and planners have found new roles for the UAV to explore. Modern war, especially in an urban area, is very high tempo and for the soldier or Marine on the ground, that can often mean a lot of firing. Resupply in years past was a Jeep or truck with some crates on the back, driving from the rear up to the front lines. As the US Military has shrunk in size considerably in the last 50 years and conflicts have become more unconventional, supply lines are increasingly under attack. And if you can't go through it, over it is an option as well. One possible function of the Fire Scout is that of a emergency resupply vehicle. Now it will be much easier to support small units, operating far from friendly areas and supply dumps. It can take a load of up to 200 pounds of supplies, which is a significant amount of bullets and beans. Fire Scout is expected to have a range of at least 125 miles and to be able to operate up to 20,000 feet. Imagine this, a small detachment of soldiers are occupying a vital mountain peak in Afghanistan, providing intelligence. The enemy wants them out of there and launches an assault on their position. How long can they stay up there? Well, they certainly won't last long without help. The Fire Scout could fly in, drop a package with ammunition, medical supplies and water and food, all without risking a single life. A flight of three could come in and two could provide cover from the air for the third. This is a game changer, folks. The MQ-8 has been undergoing the normal testing and evaluation for a few years now and is expected to be fielded by the Navy aboard the USS McInerney in 2009.

The Giant Blimp of Kandahar

I have caught a couple of Internet reports in the last of weeks about a large white blimp that has been flying over the Afghan city of Kandahar.

"Many people believe it's a spy blimp that can see through walls to look at our women," -- Ghulam Ghami


What could be it is a scale model technology demonstrator for Lockheed Martin's LEMV, the long endurance, multi-intelligence vehicle.

The LEMV is being designed to meet the need for a vehicle capable of staying on station for dozens if not hundreds of hours while accomplishing a variety of intelligence, reconnaissance and technical support missions. It will orbit the battlefield at around 20,000 feet for up to three weeks without coming down. It will be 250 feet long and house all sorts of spy gear.
I would expect high resolution cameras, infrared cameras, motion detectors, and radars. Other equipment and sensors such as magnetic anomaly detectors and chemical sniffers might also be mounted on such an aircraft in the future. It will takeoff from a short runway. The LEMV will be a hybrid airship, s heavier than air with a semi rigid hull. It will have gas compartments to get some of its buoyancy and belly mounted turbines to help launch it into the air.


So far the info is that Lockheed has not yet built a LEMV, but it has completed and tested a half sized model called the P-791, which flew in 2006. Reports state that this blimp is lit up at night and it is obviously quite visible in the daylight, and one might expect more stealth out of a spy ship. This could also be any other type of weather balloon or something, but I find it is more interesting to imagine what something might be. Plus, we have been spending enough money on this stuff to get some benefits.