X-45A FINISHES ITS FIRST TEST UNMANNED FIGHTER TAXIS ON EDWARDS RUNWAY.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - In a program aimed at keeping pilots away from high-risk missions, a tailless, unmanned fighter plane completed its initial low-speed taxi tests in preparation for a first flight in 2002. By rolling under power on an Edwards Air Force Base runway, the Boeing X-45A showed it could operate itself with preprogrammed commands and also could accept direction from a remote station. Additional taxi tests, all being done at NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L. at Edwards, will be conducted in early 2002. The program aims to prove computer-controlled aircraft can perform high-risk missions such as the destruction of enemy anti-aircraft missile sites. X-45As would be programmed to fly autonomously, but ground controllers could change the aircraft's mission in flight. The Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. government agency administered by the Department of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of). , or DARPA DARPA: see Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) The name given to the U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency during the 1980s. It was later renamed back to ARPA. , have invested $191 million in developing the X-45A. Boeing is investing $21 million of its own money in the effort. ``The unique partnership among DARPA, the Air Force and Boeing on this program is helping to push back the frontiers of unmanned systems and provide more effective and affordable tools for the war fighter,'' said Col. Michael Leahy, the program manager. The X-45A is a tailless, 27-foot-long airplane airplane, aeroplane, or aircraft, heavier-than-air vehicle, mechanically driven and fitted with fixed wings that support it in flight through the dynamic action of the air. with a 34-foot wingspan, smaller than an F-16 fighter. It weighs 8,000 pounds and can carry 3,000 pounds of weapons. Two X-45A aircraft will be used for flight tests at Edwards for a period of about three years. The first X-45A will be used to test basic flying qualities with and without weapons. Two X-45As will be used together in tests simulating missions against radar and air defense targets. The Air Force is interested in unmanned attack aircraft for two reasons - they can be used to take on dangerous missions, freeing pilots from potential harm, and they are expected to be cheaper to produce and maintain than manned fighters. The robot aircraft could be produced for the Air Force at a cost of about $10 million each, approximately one-third the cost of a manned-fighter's production. X-45As would be designed to be disassembled and stored in a small container for as long as 10 years. Up to six of the aircraft could be transported inside a C-17 cargo plane cargo plane n → avión m de carga cargo plane n → avion-cargo m cargo plane cargo n → . CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV edition only) Boeing's unmanned X-45A can operate with preprogrammed commands or be directed from a remote station. NASA Dryden Flight Research Center |
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