It's pretty stealthy.
Posted on 01/26/2008 1:39:15 PM PST by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. announced Friday that they will partner to pursue the Air Force's proposed Next Generation bomber, an effort that will include work in Palmdale.
Representatives of the two companies said they will partner to perform studies and system development efforts in anticipation of the Air Force's moving forward with the program in the 2010 budget, with an eye toward flying the aircraft as early as 2018. The collaboration will include work in advanced sensors and future electronic warfare solutions, including advancements in network-enabled battle management, command and control, and virtual warfare simulation and experimentation.
Lockheed Martin's executive vice president and general manager of Advanced Development Programs, commonly referred to as the "Skunk Works," said his company will conduct work on the program in Palmdale, Fort Worth, Texas, and Georgia.
"The combined technical strengths of Boeing and Lockheed Martin offer the best possible team to provide a new long-range capability to the USAF by 2018," Cappuccio said.
Darryl Davis, president of Boeing's Advanced Systems, said his company would conduct work on the program in its St. Louis, Seattle, and Southern California facilities.
A Lockheed Martin spokeswoman said it was too early to say how many Palmdale workers would be involved in the program or the type of technologies they would be developing.
The Skunk Works is noted for the secret development of aircraft that dramatically advanced aerospace technology - the F-117 stealth fighter, the 2,000-mph SR-71 Blackbird spyplane and the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
The Air Force has stated that it is looking at a manned, subsonic aircraft capable of carrying 14,000 to 28,000 pounds and with a range of 2,000 miles unrefueled. The Air Force is looking for a stealthy, all-weather aircraft capable of staying over a target area for extended periods of time.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
Didn’t they do the Aurora too? Oh wait, that doesn’t exist yet...
Knew about this 2 weeks ago because...I work for Boeing Socal.
Thanks for the article post.
Know some people on the Boeing PhantomWorks division and the things they think of simply are just amazing.
Will it be manned or a UAV? I have heard supposition that the B-2 was the “last manned bomber”.
Article says manned.
We’ll see!
OK...just read the entire article...sounds like it will be manned. Suprised.
Any cool Popular Mechanic type artist pictures on what they think it will look like?
I’m a sucker for those.
Yup —taking advantage of the technology gotten from Area 51 that was reverse-engineered :-)
Here ya go.
You be bad!
Thanks for taking it well...
Note Scaled Composites is part of N-R, I could see them making a scale RCS model as well as a Scaled Dem-Val aircraft if the contracts allow it. The problem is we will not see pictures of the winner and especially the looser for an awfully long time....
It's pretty stealthy.
Skunk Works! What history! What a country!
They have sign up sheets to work on the project in every political office in China. No background checks are necessary, the DNC has already done them for you.
Dead link.
Agent Molder was too slow. They already got there first.
Know some people on the Boeing PhantomWorks division and the things they think of simply are just amazing.
>Any cool Popular Mechanic type artist pictures on what they think it will look like?
I’m a sucker for those.<
A close buddy of mine who helped develop the first armed UAV to be used in Iraq and Afghanistan “hinted” that the “3rd” gen UAV they’re working on is “A.I” driven.
I then told asked him: “like Skynet? (Terminator)”...he just nodded.
Skunk Works and Phantom, the mothers of black project to develop something darker than black.
It would be fun if Northrop jumps in, making a “Team America” dream team, best of the best.
>>>It would be fun if Northrop jumps in, making a “Team America” dream team, best of the best.<<<
NOPE. Northrop is owned/managed by the Euros who own AIRBUS.
Keep it American.
Yeah, Edwards AFB, in the middle of a desert, was basically shut down because of snow. The 58 and 14 around Mohave were closed. The only hope for survival there is the gal that runs the diner on the left side as you turn right onto the 58 from the 14. She should be on the Food Channel.
Actually, it wouldn't.
The reason the Skunk Works did so well was they had a fairly small team all in one place. They could ignore most of the government procurement and corporate rules and just "get 'er done".
As soon as you start involving two companies, multiple locations and layers of management you will end up with design by committee.
All of the sly old foxes in aerospace would much rather have a smaller team run by one outstanding leader.
The real reason Lockheed and Boeing have teamed up is that their corporate managements decided that half a loaf is better than none. If they split the program now they will both win something. There will be no big winner, but no loser either.
If the government procurement guys were smart enough, they would forbid this teaming and make them compete. That is how you get an outstanding new airplane, instead of just a new airplane.
Subsonic, 14-28k lbs of bombs, 2k range?
It’s been done - B-50. Standard load, 20,000 lbs of bombs internal, plus hardpoints, combat radius, 2400 miles. Retired about 1965.
Need something bigger? B-36.
Use the now existing Delta ‘blimp’ - stealthy as all get out.
LoL!
“...shouldn’t we also be building some sort of cheap aerial bomb truck?...”
My sentiments exactly. We need a next generation B-52 that can carry out Arc Light strikes. I lke precision bombing but there will be times you just need carpet bombing capability.
Well then you just drop a bomb that disperses into bomblets from high altitude.
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