Posted on 08/20/2004 5:44:03 PM PDT by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - Northrop Grumman Corp. will build three unmanned X-47B aircraft and their associated systems under a $1 billion contract awarded Wednesday. The contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems demonstration program, intended to produce the technologies for unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering munitions.
The three vehicles will be assembled at Northrop's facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale. Company officials, however, do not foresee a large increase in employment at the site due to this contract, said Jim Hart, Northrop spokesman.
The X-47B is expected to begin flight test in 2007.
J-UCAS is a joint program with DARPA, the Air Force and Navy, joined by industry teams led by Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Co.
Northrop Grumman heads a team that includes Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Palmdale and Pratt and Whitney Military Engines Division.
"We're glad to be a part of the program, and we look forward to working with Northrop Grumman," said Dianne Knippel, communications manager for Lockheed Martin in Palmdale.
The X-47B system will include integrated sensors, communication, navigation equipment and low-observability features - commonly known as stealth - along with a common operating system to meet the needs of the Air Force and Navy.
Its missions include suppression of enemy defenses, surveillance in enemy airspace and precision strikes, all from both land and aircraft carrier bases.
The X-47B is a follow-on to Northrop's X-47A Pegasus aircraft, which conducted flight tests in February 2003. That aircraft was built under an earlier project to design an unmanned combat system for the Navy alone.
Last October, the Pentagon combined efforts to develop such systems for both the Navy and Air Force under one program headed by DARPA.
A second aircraft in the J-UCAS program, the Boeing-built X-45A, is undergoing flight test at Edwards Air Force Base.
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