| The Industrial Base
Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector has rolled out its concept
demonstrator for the Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) program, the
X-47A Pegasus. The small, stealthy, jet-powered aircraft is expected
to make its first flight in November 2001 at the Naval Air Weapons Station
in China Lake, Calif.
The Pegasus, rolled out at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave,
Calif., has been moved to Northrop Grumman's Advanced Systems Development
Center in El Segundo, Calif., for system checkouts.
The tailless, kite-shaped X-47A measures 27.9 feet long and has a wingspan
of 27.8 feet. Six control surfaces, including two elevons as well as
two upper and lower surfaces for directional control, will be used to
guide the aircraft in flight. The UCAV--powered by an off-the-shelf 3,500-pound-thrust
JT-15D turbine engine--will be controlled by computer keyboard.
Northrop Grumman, which began Phase I development of the X-47A in July
2000, set a goal of producing the vehicle in 12 months and flying the
demonstrator in 18 months. Company officials anticipate a three-month
flight program that will include 12 "flight days." The X-47A is not stressed
to perform arrested landings.
The results of the X-47A test program will be incorporated in the $12
million development program--funded jointly by DARPA (Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency) and the Navy--of the similar X-47B N-UCAV,
which will demonstrate the feasibility of using a UCAV as a carrier-based
aircraft that is available for "first day of the war" missions such as
surveillance, strike, and the suppression of enemy air defenses. No air-to-air
role is currently envisioned for the N-UCAV.
The X-47B design will be scaled up from that of the X-47A; the X-47B
will be powered by a turbofan engine that will enable it to carry a 4,000-pound
payload. The aircraft's endurance will be an estimated 12 hours.
The X-47B will be equipped with an open-architecture avionics system--designed
by BAE Systems--and will use the JPALS (Joint Precision Aircraft Landing
System) with its shipboard relative global positioning system (SRGPS)
to land within 20 centimeters of a desired touchdown point. One control
station will be able to handle four UCAVs simultaneously.
The X-47B also will be equipped with dual-wheel main-mount landing gear
from a naval aircraft such as the A-6 Intruder (no longer in service)--the
X-47A is too small to accommodate dual-wheel gear.
The X-47B will incorporate technologies developed for several other
programs such as the RQ-4A Global Hawk UAV, the RQ-8A Fire Scout VTUAV
(vertical-takeoff UAV), the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet strike fighter, the
E-8 Joint Surveillance and Targeting System aircraft, the E-2C Hawkeye
radar warning aircraft, and the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.
Pratt & Whitney officials have announced the company's intention
to compete for the contract to produce the turbofan for the UCAV.
First flight of the X-47B is envisioned for late 2003 or early 2004.
During the Phase III EMD (engineering and manufacturing development)
phase of the program, which will begin by 2007, the aircraft will conduct
arrested landings and catapult launches at a land facility and later
will make actual carrier launches and landings. Carrier operations--including
safe deck handling as well as launch and recovery--present the greatest
challenges in the UCAV program. Northrop Grumman officials estimate
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that the manning level of an aircraft squadron could be cut in half through
the use of UCAVs.
The X-47 is in competition with a Boeing Phantom Works-designed UCAV
demonstrator. Both demonstrators will continue testing through Phase
II of the UCAV program, which is scheduled to begin in January 2002.
Avondale Industries Launches
Final Bob Hope-Class T-AKR
The seventh large, medium-speed roll-on/roll-off ship built by Northrop
Grumman's Avondale Industries has been launched and named for an Army
master sergeant awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Vietnam
War.
T-AKR 306 was christened the USNS Benavidez in honor of Master Sgt.
Roy P. Benavidez, a native of Lindenau, Texas, who died in 1988. Benavidez's
widow, Hilaria Benavidez, the ship's sponsor, christened the ship in
the traditional manner--with a bottle of champagne. Their daughters,
Denise Benavidez Prochazka and Yvette Benavidez Garcia, served as matrons
of honor; their son, Noel Benavidez, was a guest of honor.
Vice Adm. Gordon S. Holder, commander of the Military Sealift Command
(MSC), was the principal speaker at the christening ceremonies at the
Avondale shipyard in New Orleans, La. Also speaking at the 21 July ceremonies
were Maj. Gen. Kenneth L. Privratsky, commander of the Military Traffic
Management Command; Rear Adm. Dennis G. Morral, program executive officer
for expeditionary warfare at the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA);
Capt. David J. Vogel, NAVSEA's supervisor of shipbuilding, conversion,
and repair in New Orleans; Jerry St. Pé, CEO of Northrop Grumman
Ship Systems; and Avondale President Thomas M. Kitchen.
On 2 May 1968, Benavidez voluntarily led the emergency extraction of
a 12-man Special Forces reconnaissance team that encountered heavy opposition
in an area controlled by the North Vietnamese army. While carrying wounded
team members to helicopters, he was critically wounded but continued
to lead the rescue operation, gathering survivors into a defensive perimeter,
distributing water and ammunition, safeguarding classified documents,
and assisting the wounded. His efforts were credited with saving the
lives of at least eight soldiers. The Distinguished Service Cross initially
awarded to Benavidez was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which
was awarded to Benavidez in 1981 by President Ronald Reagan.
The 950-foot 62,069-ton USNS Benavidez has a cargo capacity of approximately
400,000 square feet, and is capable of carrying up to 1,000 military
vehicles as well as containers and other cargo. The ship is designed
to rush heavy military supplies to U.S. troops deployed to crisis areas
overseas.
Defense Industry Notes
* General Dynamics Land Systems has been awarded a $712 million Marine
Corps Systems Com- mand contract for the SDD (systems development and
demonstration) phase of the AAAV (Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle)
program.
* Northrop Grumman's Ingalls Shipbuilding has been awarded an $81 million
Naval Sea Systems Command contract for materials and subassemblies for
LHD 8, the eighth Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.
* The Avondale Alliance, led by Northrop Grumman Avondale in New Orleans,
La., has been awarded a $113.2 million Naval Sea Systems Command contract
for advance procurement of long-lead materials for the fifth and sixth
San Antonio-class landing platform dock ships. The Alliance includes
Bath Iron Works (BIW), Raytheon Electronic Systems, and Intergraph Corporation.
In related developments, fabrication of the Mesa Verde (LPD 19) began
in July at BIW's shipyard in Bath, Maine, and fabrication of the New
Orleans (LPD 18) is scheduled to begin in February 2002 at Avondale's
New Orleans shipyard.
* Four Mk54 Lightweight Hybrid Torpedoes--designed by Raytheon's Naval & Maritime
Integrated Systems--have completed a successful series of firings from
a support ship at the Nanoose Underwater Test Range in British Columbia,
Canada, Raytheon officials said. Each torpedo successfully acquired a
simulated submarine target during the tests, the officials said, then
transitioned to the terminal homing and attack mode.
* Raytheon's Naval & Maritime Integrated Systems unit has delivered
the Mk2 Mod 0 version of the Ship Self-Defense System (SSDS) to the Navy
for installation on board the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
The SSDS will use track data from CEC (Cooperative Engagement Capability)
systems to provide automatic defense against antiship cruise missiles
by coordinating the actions of the Rolling Airframe Missile, the SeaSparrow
missile, and the SLQ-32 electronic countermeasures system.
* Northrop Grumman has taken delivery of a second prototype of the RQ-8A
Fire Scout VTUAV (vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle)
from Schweizer Aircraft Company, which manufactures the airframe. The
prototype is scheduled to begin flight tests by the end of 2001. The
next Fire Scout, the first EMD (engineering and manufacturing development)
vehicle, is scheduled to begin testing in February 2002.
Sikorsky Flies First
MH-60R Test Aircraft
The first test-article MH-60R Seahawk helicopter--built by Sikor-sky
Aircraft--has completed its basic flight acceptance trials, including
engine power checks and auto-rotation and vibration checks. The aircraft--a
remanufactured SH-60B fitted with a new Lockheed Martin "glass" cockpit,
a new cabin with a strengthened floor, and high-speed machined parts--will
have flight-test instrumentation gear installed at Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, Md., before being transferred to Lockheed Martin Systems
Integration in Owego, N.Y., for the installation and test of mission
systems such as radar, electronic support measures systems, the Integrated
Self-Defense Suite, tactical displays, and a dipping sonar. Two prototype
MH-60Rs already are being evaluated at Patuxent River by the Naval Air
Warfare Center's Aircraft Division. Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin will
provide three more test MH-60Rs in 2001; those will be followed in 2002
by five low-rate initial production MH-60Rs, all remanufactured from
SH-60Bs. The Navy recently decided to restructure the MH-60R program
so that, beginning in 2003, all subsequent deliveries will be new-build
aircraft rather than remanufactured SH-60B/F aircraft. The MH-60R is
a redesignation of the SH-60R that went into effect on 25 May 2001. The
MH-60R--which will fly from aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers,
and frigates--will carry out the roles currently performed by the Navy's
SH-60B, SH-60F, and HH-60H helicopters. "The successful flight of the
first test aircraft brings the MH-60R one step closer to production," said
John Wakefield, vice president for Sikorsky's Maritime Helo Product Line. "This
aircraft will provide the Navy with enhanced capability to perform undersea,
antisubmarine, antisurface, and anti-air warfare missions," he said.
Boeing's X-32B Program
Concludes Flight Tests
Boeing's X-32B STOVL (short takeoff/vertical landing) concept demonstration
aircraft for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program has completed an
additional series of test flights after accomplishing its government-defined
test requirements--including a takeoff roll of less than 550 feet--and
has concluded its flight test program. The X-32B logged 57 flights in
a 40-day period--including 30 flights in an eight-day period--at Naval
Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Boeing test team flew five sorties
on the final day of flight test, including a supersonic flight by Marine
Corps Maj. Jeff Karnes of the Naval Strike Aircraft Test Squadron. Karnes
executed a short takeoff, transitioned into conventional flight, broke
the sound barrier, transitioned back to the STOVL mode, and made a low-speed
landing. Royal Navy pilot Lt. Cdr. Paul Stone took the X-32B on its final
flight. "The plane performed beautifully throughout flight test," said
Dennis O'Donoghue, chief STOVL test pilot at Boeing. "All three pilots
were extremely impressed with its stability, handling qualities, and
unprecedented sortie rate."
O'Donoghue noted that the Boeing direct-lift system--designed by Rolls-Royce--enables
the pilot to "simply push a button and switch the thrust from the cruise
nozzle to the lift nozzles in one second and at any power setting." Frank
Statkus, vice president and general manager of Boeing's JSF program,
praised the Pratt & Whitney/Rolls-Royce propulsion system. "The engine
has been rock steady in all aspects of flight operations, including both
the physical interaction with the airplane and functional integration
with the flight control system," Statkus said. The X-32B is now hangared
at Patuxent River, where it will be available for the JSF program's engineering
and manufacturing phase.*
Lockheed Martin X-35B
Completes Flight Testing
The Lockheed Martin X-35B short takeoff/vertical landing (STOVL) concept
demonstration aircraft for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program competition
has completed its flight test program. The X-35B "completed all concept
demonstration program objectives, and has generated all required flight-test
data," company officials said. The X-35B completed 14 short takeoffs,
18 vertical takeoffs, 27 vertical landings, and five aerial refuelings--and
broke the sound barrier on five occasions--during its test program. "The
Lockheed Martin JSF test team made a promise and kept it, including fielding
a demonstrator aircraft that is representative of the one we have planned
for production," said Tom Burbage, executive vice president and general
manager of the company's JSF program. "That means fewer expensive development
hurdles to clear and a more seamless transition into the program's next
phase, Engineering and Manufacturing Development. ... With the X-35B,
we also proved that our revolutionary STOVL propulsion system, with the
shaft-driven lift fan as its centerpiece, is reliable and durable, and
offers profound performance advantages over legacy STOVL systems."
While piloted on 20 July by Marine Corps Maj. Art Tomasetti, the X-35B
became the first aircraft in history to execute a short takeoff, a level
supersonic dash, and a vertical landing in a single flight, company officials
said. Tomasetti executed an automatic short takeoff at 80 knots, converted
to the conventional flight mode, climbed to 25,000 feet while accelerating
to Mach 1.05, conducted a series of tests, converted to a STOVL mode,
decelerated to a hover at 150 feet above the ground, and landed vertically.
BAE Systems test pilot Simon Hargeaves repeated the feat in a similar
flight on 26 July, climbing steeply by using the afterburner and achieving
Mach 1.06 at 25,000 feet. In a later flight, Hargreaves executed a 60-knot
takeoff in 500 feet, transitioned to a sustained hover, executed a 360-degree
turn, and landed vertically at a weight of more than 34,000 pounds.
The X-35B is now hangared at the Lockheed Martin facility in Palmdale,
Calif.
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