SECOND ROBOTIC BOMBER FLIES NATION DEVELOPING ITS FIRST UNMANNED COMBAT PLANE.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A second robotic bomber test plane has completed its first flight in a program aimed at reducing the need to send American pilots to attack dangerous targets.

The second unmanned combat air vehicle, or X-45A, made its first flight Thursday from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The airplane flew for just under 30 minutes, reaching a top speed of about 225 mph and an altitude of 7,500 feet.

``We're very excited about the second X-45A demonstration vehicle joining the flight test program,'' said Darryl Davis, Boeing program manager. ``Operating two aircraft in flight tests will validate the test points more rapidly and demonstrate the robustness of the system we're developing with our Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, and the U.S. Air Force team.''

The first X-45A first flew in May.

The two X-45A aircraft being flight-tested at Edwards are not intended for combat, but they are being used to test technologies for an unmanned combat air vehicle that Air Force officials want ready by the end of the decade.

The DARPA agency is developing unmanned combat aircraft with the goal of using them to find and destroy enemy anti-aircraft missiles, guns and radar.

The aircraft would fly themselves with preprogrammed computer mission plans, but ground controllers could interact and change the mission plan in flight.

This is the U.S. military's first unmanned aircraft being developed specifically for combat.

Other unmanned aircraft include the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk reconnaissance plane, which is also being tested at Edwards and has been used in Afghanistan, and General Atomics' Predator, a tiny reconnaissance jet that the CIA equipped with anti-tank missiles for attacking convoys and other targets in Afghanistan.

The two X-45As were built by the Boeing Phantom Works under a $256 million cost-share agreement with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force.

Each X-45A is about 26 feet long and has a wingspan of about 33 feet - about the same wingspan as an F-16 fighter but little more than half the length. It is designed to fly at altitudes up to 35,000 feet and at 600 mph.

The first X-45A vehicle has completed a total of five flights to date, with three flights executed in October.

Defense officials want to test the two aircraft together next year. Officials want to be able to demonstrate a coordinated attack against a target by the two aircraft, using dummy weapons.

The next steps after the X-45A flights will be the construction and flight-testing of three X-45Bs, as close as possible to the eventual production model of the unmanned combat aircraft.

The B models, now in design, are expected to be similar to the X-45As, but larger - a length of 32 feet and a wingspan of 47 feet.

The B models will be able to carry 2,000 pounds of weapons and fly at altitudes of 40,000 feet.

Unlike the A models, the B models will be capable of combat.

After testing the B models, program officials expect to be able to put the program into production.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color -- ran in AV edition only) A robotic bomber test plane flies just outside Edwards Air Force Base. Two of the unmanned X-45A combat planes are being flight-tested.