BOEING TO TEST ROBOT FIGHTER-BOMBER X-45A SHOULD BE READY FOR SPRING TEST.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - In a program that could lead to a fleet of unmanned Air Force fighter-bombers, Boeing is preparing for the first flights this spring of an aircraft called the X-45A.

The program is aimed at proving that computer-controlled aircraft can perform high-risk missions like destroying enemy air defenses. They would be programmed to fly autonomously, but ground controllers could change the aircraft's mission in flight.

``In the near future, many of the missions performed by manned aircraft will be performed by UCAVs (unmanned combat air vehicles),'' said George Muellner, vice president of Boeing's Phantom Works unit, which created the X-45A.

The first of two X-45A aircraft is going through ground tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in preparation for flight tests that will run for about three years.

``Our first aircraft will be flying sometime in the next couple of months,'' Muellner said. ``The second vehicle is in final assembly at St. Louis. It, too, will go to NASA Dryden.''

The Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have invested $131 million in developing the X-45A. Boeing is investing $21 million of its own money in the effort.

The robot aircraft could be produced for the Air Force at a cost of about $10 million each, about one-third the cost of producing manned fighters. The aircraft would also cost less to maintain.

They would be designed to be disassembled and stored in a small container for up to 10 years. Up to six of the aircraft could be carried inside a C-17 cargo plane.

The X-45A is a tailless, 27-foot-long airplane with a 34-foot wingspan, smaller than an F-16 fighter. It weighs 8,000 pounds and can carry 3,000 pounds of weapons.

The first X-45A will be used to test basic flying qualities with and without weapons. When the second aircraft becomes available, simulated missions against radar and air defenses are planned.

While officially Boeing is developing the Air Force plane, the trade journal Aviation Week reported that Lockheed Martin is developing a version small enough to be carried under the wing of a conventional fighter. The smaller craft would drop one or two bombs and then fly back to base on its own.

Lockheed Martin officials did not return calls seeking comment.

Muellner, who had been the Air Force's top weapon systems acquisition officer until his retirement in 1998, said he knows of no such competition but would not be surprised if Lockheed Martin was in fact developing an unmanned fighter.

Lockheed Martin had pursued both the Air Force program and a similar Navy program but was not selected by the Pentagon for either.