Posted on 08/09/2024 6:45:48 AM PDT by Red Badger
The Model 437, which was built by Northrop Grumman's subsidiary Scaled Composites, looks like the concept art aside from one very glaring detail.
The first images of Northrop Grumman’s Model 437, an advanced air combat drone that could potentially fill the requirement for the Air Force’s and/or Navy’s “loyal wingman” Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) programs, as well as those of allies, have hit social media. The relatively small tactical jet looks impressive and is very much in line with the concept renderings we have seen of it, aside from one major detail — it has a cockpit.
Yes, that’s right, the Model 437 prototype features a cockpit for a pilot. While this may seem extremely odd for what is supposed to be an advanced unmanned air combat aircraft, it actually makes some sense and it could give Northrop Grumman (NG) an advantage in the red-hot contest to provide hundreds, if not thousands, of highly autonomous drones to the USAF, as well as the Navy.
The images were taken by aviation photographer @Task_Force23 at Mojave Air And Space Port in California, which is the home of the famed Scaled Composites (SC) ‘bleeding-edge’ aerospace design house that is building the stealthy Model 437 prototype.
(@Task_Force23) When concept art was first unveiled back in 2021, the Model 437 was envisioned as working alongside manned aircraft collaboratively, both fighters and larger combat aircraft, including in an asset protection role for the latter. In our initial report on the concept design, which you should read for full context of this article, its general characteristics were stated as follows:
“With regards to the new Model 437 design, it is also expected to have a range of some 3,000 nautical miles when carrying a load of 4,000 pounds of fuel, and will be able to cruise at around 0.8 Mach, according to Aviation Week. The drone has an internal centerline payload bay that is designed to carry up to 1,000 pounds of stores or other systems, as well. The outlet said that a pair of AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM) or a side-looking radar imaging sensor were two possible loadouts.“
We don’t know if those design goals have changed, but they generally look copasetic with the aircraft in the pictures from Mojave Air And Space Port.
Initial Model 437 concept art. (Northrop Grumman)
A still frame from a Northrop Grumman ad that featured the nose of the Model 437. (Northrop Grumman)
The aircraft, which sports the registry N437VN (certified in January of this year, according to FAA data), features a bowless bubble canopy, a pointed nose with a semi-trapezoidal fuselage, mid-set swept wings, a long dorsal air intake that hugs the rear of the canopy, a distinct chine-line that wraps around the airframe, trailing-link landing gear, and a splayed v-tail adorned in a camouflage pattern. The aircraft also features a round exhaust and a long air data probe, which is customary for initial flight testing, is also visible on its nose. Once again, it looks very much like the Model 437 renderings, just with a bubble canopy. Overall, paired with its small size, it has a very futuristic, almost movie-prop-like look.
As we laid out in our initial report on the Model 437 concept art, this design clearly evolved from Scaled Composites’ Model 401 demonstrators, which themselves evolved, at least inspirationally, from the company’s ARES demonstrator. The Model 401 is also now touted as having the potential to be offered alongside the Model 437 in an unmanned production configuration.
The twin Model 401 demonstrator aircraft have been flying constantly for years now executing various testing duties, some of which are likely concerning the future of manned-unmanned teaming in tactical aviation. As such, by default, a ton of risk for the Model 437 has already been offset by the existence of the Model 401s and their testing operations.
But why build the Model 437 prototype, supposedly a highly autonomous drone, with a cockpit?
Model 401 demonstrator. (Scaled Composites)d
Here are the possibilities and our overarching analysis, which is subject to change as we learn more about the state of the program:
Having this initial prototype piloted drastically increases the potential for rapid flight test and development of the Model 437 airframe and concept. The advantages include just accessing airspace pretty much anywhere its owners and potential customers want it to go.
Unmanned aircraft are still quite restricted as to where and how they can operate. A pilot totally changes this massive bottleneck and means the aircraft can be flown wherever it needs to go, to participate in any developmental flights or training exercises, no matter how complex. It can do this unburdened by typical drone airspace restrictions and the need for chase aircraft that can be required in certain situations. Just ferrying to a different location while manned, so it can access airspace where it can fly as if it were unmanned aircraft, is a giant advantage.
For many tests, having a human onboard can accelerate the speed at which they can be accomplished. At its most basic, initial primary flight testing of the airframe will go far faster with a pilot at the controls. Overall, more risks can be taken when executing autonomous activities with a pilot there to take over and act as a safety backstop if needed. The X-62 is being used in this exact manner today and it has been highly successful in doing so. But that is an adapted F-16D that is running autonomy agents (software), not a near-production representative CCA-like airframe. This is a huge difference, especially considering one is actually looking to be bought in large quantities, while the other is a one-off test surrogate.
If the Model 437 prototype we are seeing is a dedicated piloted configuration, it’s very possible that NG and SC have another Model 437 prototype airframe in the unmanned configuration, or at least one under construction. Then there is the possibility that the aircraft we see is truly optionally manned.
When it comes to optionally manned flying machines, it would be very hard to argue that few companies have more experience with this concept than Scaled Composites. While the optionally manned Firebird surveillance aircraft never realized enough customer support to be put into production, it leveraged many years of know-how Scaled Composites had in the optionally manned space and condensed it into a streamlined, flexible package. If indeed the Model 437 prototype aircraft is optionally manned, or can be converted to unmanned configuration after primary flight testing, you can bet that parts of the Firebird’s DNA are woven into its design, and especially its onboard control and communications architecture.
That brings us to the question of could the Model 437 be intended to be optionally manned operationally, not just for testing, if it is at all?
The answer to that is probably no, but we really cannot say for certain. It’s worth remembering that NG says a production variant of the manned Model 401 is envisioned as being optionally manned, or at least be available in an unmanned variant that could work in conjunction with the Model 437 or on its own.
An optionally manned variant with the cockpit canopy being replaced by a fairing that can enclose satellite communications systems, avionics, and possibly additional sensors, would fit with SC’s past offerings. But still, we just don’t know if this is the intention. Getting in on the USAF and Navy CCA tenders is the real prize to be won here.
As for a strictly manned variant of this aircraft? That seems unlikely, but it is interesting to ponder. A relatively cheap, subsonic, light tactical jet with low observable characteristics, great endurance, and near total commonality with its unmanned counterpart is certainly an intriguing idea, and it would be remarkably similar to its ARES forebear, but we know of no formal requirement for such an aircraft. It could see some interest in the export market though, especially if great economies of scale thanks to its unmanned counterpart were to exist and the cost was able to be driven way down.
At this time we have no idea if the Model 437 prototype has flown before, either without being noticed from Mojave Air And Space Port or from a clandestine location, but considering it is being towed around at a public airfield in broad daylight, the latter seems less plausible. One would think NG and SC would make a major announcement of a first flight, but we just don’t know how the company intends to treat the aircraft in terms of program sensitivity at this time. We also don’t know if any contract is directly supporting this aircraft’s development or if it remains an entirely internally funded endeavor.
It’s worth noting that the Navy remains a wildcard in all of this. Northrop Grumman famously withdrew from the USAF’s high-profile manned Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter tender to focus on the Navy’s similar initiative. There is a fair chance this aircraft aims to fit the drone component of that initiative, at least in a carrier-capable, navalized form.
With CCA increment two on the horizon for the USAF, which could be massive in size, and the Navy still perusing its own CCA requirements, the emergence of this aircraft at this time makes sense. This is especially true as General Atomics and Anduril, who are competing for the first CCA production contract, are gaining steam with their very different CCA designs. Meanwhile Boeing and Kratos are also major contenders and Lockheed Martin is certainly deep in the same mix.
The bottom line here is that the Model 437 has accommodations for a human pilot is a major twist — one that could potentially give NG a unique advantage as the future of highly autonomous unmanned tactical jets fast approaches.
We have reached out to Northrop Grumman and Scaled Composites for comment. We will report back if we here anything of substance from them.
Converting a manned aircraft to an OPTIMALLY autonomous one is far more complicated than just slapping on a fairing where the canopy was. There are lots of complex, heavy systems that are needed to keep a pilot alive that can be eliminated. The article provides lots of good reasons why you need a pilot during the development program, but ultimately you need to get to a clean-sheet-of-paper design that is optimized for no pilot from the get-go. It'll probably take several generations of unmanned fighters to get to that point.
Maybe it’s to house a gimble or fluid mounted camera that can mimic human head movement so the ‘pilot’ sits safely in a simulator type cockpit and flies the plane remotely.
Insertions and retrievals. Another tool in the kit.
Could it be that they built this prototype with a cockpit so a test pilot could monitor it during flight? Just sit back and enjoy the ride but if the SHTF during test flights, then they take-over?
Most likely. And it could also be a prototype test bed for a new fighter............
Fighter pilot mafia wins out again.
agreed
They only used one pilot, Hanna Reitsch. She was the only one small enough to fit the space they made. If I recall, she made only one flight and identified the issue that was causing the buzz bombs to fly improperly.
True. This is from the Wikipedia article on the V-1:
Piloted variant
Fieseler F103R Reichenberg piloted V-1
Late in the war, several air-launched piloted V-1s, known as Reichenbergs, were built, but these were never used in combat. Hanna Reitsch made some flights in the modified V-1 Fieseler Reichenberg when she was asked to find out why test pilots were unable to land it and had died as a result. She discovered, after simulated landing attempts at high altitude, where there was air space to recover, that the craft had an extremely high stall speed, and the previous pilots with little high-speed experience had attempted their approaches much too slowly. Her recommendation of much higher landing speeds was then introduced in training new Reichenberg volunteer pilots. It was for this that she was awarded the Iron Cross First Class[52] The Reichenbergs were air-launched rather than fired from a catapult ramp, as erroneously portrayed in the film Operation Crossbow.[citation needed]
It had the appearance of a standard V1 with the addition of cockpit, ailerons, landing skids and flight instruments. The pilot would have been airlifted by either Heinkel He 111 or a Focke-Wulf Fw 200. After release, the pilot would start the pulse jet engine, select a target, set the controls then bail out. The chance of survival were considered very small, yet many pilots volunteered. Possibly 175 of these piloted V1s were converted at Darmesbury after initial development by Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS/German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight) at Ainring. When Hitler banned the use of the piloted V1, most converted models were scrapped. However, a few were captured by the Allied Technical Air Intelligence crews in Germany. At least one was sent to England, and two, possibly three, were sent to the US for inspection.[52]
Three different versions of the piloted FZG-76 were produced. The Reichenburg I was a one or two-seat unpowered glider intended for use as a training glider for pilot training. Reichenburg II was a single-seat FZG-76 fitted with a pulse jet power plant. A skid was fitted for dead stick landing to gain valuable flying experience. Reichenburg III was to be the operational piloted version of the V1, fitted with the amatol warhead in the nose.[52] The front windscreen had 75 mm thick bullet-proof glass for pilot protection. The V1 pilot’s kit consisted of parachute, helmet and life vest. A small case contained two small flares in a waterproof container.[53]
Agree. I think they will have different models and they will be two totally different animals.
Just the egress system for the piloted model would add complexity and cost.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_103R_Reichenberg
The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named Reichenberg, was a German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the Fieseler Fi 103). It was developed towards the end of the Second World War and was intended to be used as a human-guided bomb in likely-suicidal attacks against the advancing Allies.
It was proposed that a He 111 bomber would carry either one or two Reichenbergs beneath its wings, releasing them close to the target. The pilots would then steer their aircraft towards the target, jettisoning the cockpit canopy shortly before impact and bailing out.[15] It was estimated that the chances of a pilot surviving such a bailout were less than 1% due to the proximity of the pulsejet’s intake to the cockpit.[16][7]
No girls allowed.
It will be manned by a pilot and a dog.
The man is there to feed the dog, the dog is there to bite the man if he touches anything.
If it is supposed to perform close in air to air, that top mounted intake may be an issue.
I read decades ago that the intake is starved dutring high AOA maneuvers. Great for stealth, not so good for aerobatics.
It is for flight tests.
The wings on that model in the Scaled Composites drawing looks like it has a YUGE amount of dihedral.
They're working on a 'Bravo' version with a box office instead.
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