Free Republic

Swarms of unmanned, robotic airplanes may one day form the first attack wave against enemy defenses, using technology successfully demonstrated at Edwards Air Force Base. These twin aircraft, more closely resembling big lawn darts than the traditional airplane, are matching versions of the experimental X-45A. Built by The Boeing Co., they are the first phase in the Air Force's contribution to the Pentagon's Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems program. The program is intended to demonstrate capabilities for unmanned air vehicles to work together in coordinated attacks against enemy air defense systems, working in areas deemed too dangerous for manned aircraft....

PALMDALE - The next generation of fighter aircraft took one step closer to reality Saturday in an Air Force Plant 42 hangar as aerospace officials celebrated their contribution to a revolutionary project. Northrop Grumman employees unveiled a center fuselage that will be used in the F-35 joint strike fighter, a stealthy, affordable, high-performance aircraft that will eventually grace the ranks of the Navy, Air Force, and Marines, as well as Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and the forces of other U.S. allies. "The world is going to see us today," said Janis Pamilgans, Northrop Grumman F-35 program manager....

Northrop Grumman Corp. and The Boeing Co. have finalized an agreement to team together to compete for development of NASA's planned Crew Exploration Vehicle. The vehicle is envisioned as the central human space-transportation system within NASA's Project Constellation, a broader organization of human and robotic space systems required for exploration of the Moon and beyond. Specific requirements for the CEV project will not be available until NASA makes its formal request for proposals in March. The agency will award contracts to teams to compete for the project in September, with a "fly-off" planned for 2008, said NASA spokesman Michael Braukus...

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...

LOS ANGELES -- In a bid to keep a European-designed helicopter from becoming the next Marine One transport for the president, United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX - News)'s Sikorsky Aircraft Co. said it will rely on U.S. companies to build its latest version of the chopper, pulling work from several international suppliers. Sikorsky, whose helicopters have carried all U.S. presidents since Dwight Eisenhower, will replace partners in China, Taiwan, Spain, Japan and Brazil on this particular version of its new S-92 helicopter. The international partners will continue to build large portions of the civilian version of the helicopter, Sikorsky said. Since...

Two examples of ground-breaking advancements in aerospace from the Antelope Valley have been honored by Popular Science magazine as this year's "Best of What's New." Burt Rutan's entry into the civilian space race, called Tier One, won the Grand Award in the space and aviation category. Also honored in that category was the Shaped Sonic Boom Demonstration, an effort by Northrop Grumman Corp. and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to lessen the strength of sonic booms created by supersonic aircraft. Consisting of the rotund SpaceShipOne spacecraft and the spindly White Knight carrier aircraft, Tier One is the latest endeavor...

<p>President Bush will attend a Republican rally in Louisville on Friday, an Indiana party official said yesterday.</p> <p>Bush apparently is planning a return visit to Louisville for Rep. Anne Northup of Kentucky's 3rd District, 4th District Republican candidate Geoff Davis and perhaps Mike Sodrel, the GOP challenger to Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana's 9th District.</p>