Robot Plane Drops Bomb in Successful California Test, Boeing Says

AP ^ | 4/18/04

[Brian Mosely]

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A robotic plane deliberately dropped a bomb near a truck at Edwards Air Force Base on Sunday, marking another step forward for technology the U.S. military hopes will one day replace human pilots on dangerous combat missions.

Under human supervision but without human piloting, a prototype of the Boeing Co.'s X-45 took off from the desert base, opened its bomb bay doors, dropped a 250-pound Small Smart Bomb and then landed.

The inert bomb struck within inches of the truck it was supposed to hit, Boeing said, adding that had the bomb contained explosives, the target would have been destroyed.

"It's absolutely a huge step forward for us. It shows the capability of an unmanned airplane to carry weapons," said Rob Horton, Boeing's chief operator for the mission. "From the video, you see the weapon going down and a huge cloud of dust and the truck shaking around."

The X-45A was preprogrammed with the target coordinates and used the satellite-based Global Positioning System to adjust its course.

Horton, who was sitting 80 miles from the target, authorized the drone to drop the bomb, which was released from 35,000 feet as the plane flew at 442 mph.

The military sees such aircraft taking part in its most dangerous missions, such as bombing enemy radar and surface-to-air missile batteries, in order to clear the path for human pilots.

The Y-shaped, tailless plane has a 34-foot wingspan and weighs 8,000 pounds empty. It is the first drone designed specifically to carry weapons into combat.

Other robotic planes, including the Predator spy drone currently being used in Afghanistan, have been modified to carry weapons.

Boeing hopes to build hundreds of the X-45 planes, which would cost $10 million to $15 million each.

AP-ES-04-18-04 1928EDT

[tanknetter]

Is that bomb the limits of its capacity? Or were they testing other capabilities -- such as being able to deliver a bomb to a specified target, which is somewhat irrelevant to the mass of the bomb (except in its descent phase)?

People need to keep in mind that the X-45 is an "X" plane and is designed to test bleeding edge technology that will eventually, be put into production machines. Asking why it doesn't carry more bombs is roughly the equivalant of asking why Chuck Yeager's X-1 didn't carry any guns ...

[saxxa]

R. and D. ,.....always cost a lot of money at first ......if it works , it will be money very well spent.....the more we pump out , the less expensive the will be to build , add on the upgrades they will recieve through there carrer....just like the patriot missle , the sindwinder , the B- 52 !!!!!...lets hope this new weapons system puts a damn good hurting on our enimies......GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS , OUR PRESIDENT , AND OUR GREAT NATION.

[DakotaGator]

What does this gain us over, say, a cruise missle?

Why, this way the U.S. Air Force continues to exist (little inter-service kidding here)!

Actually, I suspect flexibiity is the big difference. This aircraft probably will be able to carry many different types of ordnance. That would be great for both the strike planners and the human pilots.

[arielb]

well the warhead of a cruise missile isn't very powerful and it can't hover around waiting for targets

[Kozak]

Why does it take such a large plane to drop a small bomb? 15 million? Is it gold plated?

It's a TEST. The actual bombload of the thing is 3,000 lbs. Pretty good considering the aircrafts weight is only 8,000 lbs. The price is cheap when compared to ny manned bomber.

[mtbopfuyn]

In #5, it appears to hold at least two bombs.

[DannyTN]

Are bombs cheaper or more powerful than the Hellfire?

[Eala]

Please, Please tell me Hollyweird or Malibu ain't there anymore!

I'd like to see an exemption made for the land occupied by Pepperdine University in Malibu....

[AGreatPer]

Whats next? Robot wives? Robot Husbands? Robot Kids (wait, I already got one of them).

[null and void]

Yes. Both.

[Southack]

We've currently spent $26 Billion for 23 F-22 fighters...which our Defense Department now wants to see supplimented or replaced by F/A-22 fighter-bombers or B-22 Bombers because we have no need for a new manned fighter.

That same $26 Billion would buy 1,733 of these unmanned bombers.

That fleet of unmanned bombers could swamp *any* air defense system of the world, especially if backed by manned American fighters and technical support aircraft.

We have the technology today to field thousands of these unmanned bombers. We can fly them in massive swarm waves anywhere on the planet, anytime, day or night, without risking a single bomber pilot.

Swarms of unmanned bombers. It's the wave of the future.

[RFEngineer]

"X-45 is an "X" plane and is designed to test bleeding edge technology that will eventually, be put into production machines. "

But you can push the envelope a lot harder with an unmanned X-plane. Risk to pilot is gone. Risk to vehicle because of pilot error is reduced.

Remember: Chuck Yeager busted his ribs the day before he flew Glamorous Glennis.....needed a broomstick to work the separation release lever. He severely jeaopardized the mission and could easily have made a smoking hole that day - he'll tell you himself he was just lucky. But then that is part of his rough-and-tumble appeal....

Test pilots doing things they shouldn't do have ruined more than a few prototypes, the lucky ones only ruined the plane.....the prototype YF-22 was one of those,.....that guy got real lucky too.

If there is a need for an X-45 vehicle, then it is quite likely to at least look like this X-vehicle.....standard, understood stealth shape, topside air-intake, no tail.

I'll bet they are working overtime to be able to get some "operational" test data in the middle east.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Guess again. Standard warhead for a TLAM is 1000 lbs of HE. They can also be armed with a 200 KT nuke.

[CIB-173RDABN]

Hello North Korea, are you listening?

[Lokibob]

Cheaper, more powerful, and do a different job. Bombs are used against a fixed target, like a building. The hellfire missile is designed to kill a tank even if it is moving.

[pointsal]

Will it fly up a Spanish PM's butt or tickle old fatso Chirac....just before it's cargo hits home?

[DefCon]

I guess there must be a way to determine or calculate the gps of a distant target from an obvservation post and transmit those coordinates to the drone loitering high above. Using gps makes weather/cloud cover irrelevant and at 35,000 feet, nobody even knows the thing its up there.
(at least in 'todays' war ... different story if the enemy has an airforce or sams)

But anyhow, like tanknetter and saxxa say, the X45 is there to test the technology and is likely nothing like the plane that will ultimately be deployed. This program is early in development.

[Kozak]

On the other hand, flying at 400 mph and 35,000 feet, is not 'terribly' risky for a manned flight.

Oh really? Would you feel that way with a mach 3 SAM coming at you? How about if a SU 27 is on your tail?

Right now the major rate limiting step in air power is that you first need to knock out the air defences. That ties up most of the stealth AC on the first few days of an air war. THEN you can go after the real targets. With a UCAV you multiply your force right away since you don't have to worry nearly as much about losses. It's only gear.

[Kozak]

I guess there must be a way to determine or calculate the gps of a distant target from an obvservation post,

Observer has GPS unit, knows where he is. Bounces laser off target, gets range and bearing. Computer calculates target coordinates based on above. Jdam programmed with coordinates, dropped from over head AC or UCAV. Boom. It's Miller time.

[DefCon]

"...fleet of unmanned bombers could swamp *any* air defense system of the world, especially if backed by manned American fighters and technical support aircraft...We have the technology today to field thousands of these unmanned bombers. We can fly them in massive swarm waves anywhere on the planet, anytime, day or night, without risking a single bomber pilot...Swarms of unmanned bombers. It's the wave of the future..."
- - -
That makes me to think of something even stranger...
fleets of thousands of super super cheap unmanned unarmed drones with intentionally designed high radar echoes as decoys to the manned 'real' attack wave that follows behind them.