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Phantom Ray will pick up where the UCAS program left off in 2006 by further demonstrating Boeing’s unmanned systems development capabilities in a fighter-sized, state-of-the-art aerospace system. The Boeing UCAS program began with the X-45A, which successfully flew 64 times from 2002 to 2005. Those flights included a demonstration exercise with two X-45A aircraft that marked the first unmanned, autonomous multivehicle flight under the control of a single pilot...] ...Currently planned Dec. 2, the Air Force Flight Test Center’s B-52 will carry the X-51A to 50,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean then release it. A solid rocket booster from an...

Boeing's sleek fighter-size Phantom Ray stealth jet will make its first flight by year's end. This unmanned airborne system (UAS) is designed for a variety of warfighter roles ranging from reconnaissance and surveillance to aerial refueling, electronic attack and hunter/killer missions. The 36-foot-long aircraft, which will serve as a test bed for advanced technologies, was rolled out May 10 at the Boeing Defense, Space & Security plant in St. Louis, Missouri. With its 614 mph (0.8 Mach) cruising speed, operating altitude of 40,000 feet and 50-foot wingspan, the 36,5000-pound Phantom Ray advances the state of the art for unmanned aircraft....

Boeing Monday unveiled its fighter-sized Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft, which is scheduled to fly in December. "We are on a fast track, and first flight is in sight," Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, said in a news release, noting that the program just started two years ago. Phantom Ray, which evolved from the X-45C program, is designed to be a test bed for advanced technologies and support such missions as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses, electronic attack, strike and autonomous aerial refueling, Boeing said. The Phantom Ray is 36-feet long, with a 50-foot wingspan,...

COULD this footage be proof that aliens are among us? The startling film has been leaked on the internet and UFO watchers reckon it could be proof of a government cover-up. The mystery craft looks far from threatening as it flanks the supersonic F18 fighter above the skies of the US. oof that aliens are among us?

January 17, 2006: The U.S. Department of Defense has decided to make the next generation heavy bomber an unmanned aircraft. The Department of Defense also wants the new aircraft in service by the end of the next decade, some twenty years ahead of schedule. At the same time, the current combat UAV program (J-UCAS, run by the air force and navy) is to be changed as well. The current X45 project will be split up, with the air force and navy allowed to develop a shorter range combat aircraft to suit their particular needs. These will be bombers, with some...

Over today's battlefields, unmanned aerial vehicles such as Global Hawk and Predator are already showing their usefulness in gathering information for planners on the ground and, in limited situations, delivering weapons on targets. The battlefield of tomorrow may see even more of these unmanned weapons systems, delivering initial strikes on well-defended targets and capable of working in teams and reacting and adapting to changing circumstances - all on their own. That scenario is the ultimate goal of the Pentagon's Joint Unmanned Combat Air System, or J-UCAS, a program intended to develop and prove the technologies necessary to field such weapons...

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....

PARIS, June 14, 2005 — The Boeing [NYSE: BA] X-45A J-UCAS (Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems) program received the prestigious Flight International Aerospace Industry Award for 2005 in the category of Missiles and Military Aviation. Held in conjunction with the Paris Air Show, the awards cover twelve categories representing military and commercial aerospace. Darryl Davis, program manager during the majority of the X-45A flight test program, and now vice president of Boeing Global Strike Solutions, accepted the award on behalf of the Boeing/DARPA/Air Force/Navy J-UCAS team. “We met the challenge to develop an autonomous unmanned aircraft capable of handling complex...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Two unmanned jets being developed as a robotic combat system made a coordinated flight under the control of a single pilot-operator, Boeing researchers said Tuesday. Sunday's joint flight marked the first time such a feat was accomplished, according to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis. The X-45A jets took off four minutes apart from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, joined up above the test range and flew formations that involved autonomous maneuvering to hold their positions relative to each other. Both jets then landed on a common...

EDWARDS AFB - A century after the first airplane flew with a pilot on board at the controls, a new generation of aircraft is emerging that removes the pilot from the vehicle altogether. These unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, are the next wave in military and commercial flight systems, performing tasks that are too dangerous, tedious, strenuous or otherwise unsuitable for manned aircraft. As it has been through its long history of flight test, Edwards Air Force Base is at the epicenter of this latest trend in aviation, using its unique combination of facilities and talent to further the field....

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 Boeing'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...

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...

A solar flare last Nov. 4 was at the time said to be at least X28 on a scale of intensity. That made it the strongest in modern times. And astronomers said at the time that it might have been stronger, but it saturated instruments on satellites used for analyzing the Sun's storms. Solar flares are intense outburst of solar radiation that include X-rays and are often accompanied by ejections of charged material in giant clouds. Now researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand say the flare was an X45. (All X-flares are major, and the larger the...

Marking 100 years of man's success in conquering the skies, 2003 saw milestones for both what has been done and what is yet to come. Celebrations throughout the year culminated in the Dec. 17 anniversary of the Wright brothers' first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., a feat which set in motion changes that are still being felt and improved upon today. In the century since that flight, worldwide air travel has become common; space travel has moved from science fiction to reality; and air power has altered warfare. Although the Centennial of Flight marked a success, the year...

In celebration of the past, the Air Force chief of staff got an eyeful of the present and future of flight at the world's premier flight test facility. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper visited Edwards Air Force Base on Nov. 22 as part of a Centennial of Flight celebration. The event featured aerial demonstrations and static displays of many of the current and future aircraft in the Air Force arsenal, and hosted members of the Eagles, distinguished aviators who have advanced the world of aerospace. "What we have here is the trace of history, a bloodline of...

Microwaving Saddam: New weapons likely to see combat Prototypes could paralyze Iraqi militarySpace-age warfare may be used in attack against Baghdad regimeEd Blanche Special to The Daily StarSaddam Hussein may be in for a shock - literally - after telling US President George W. Bush to do his worst in the looming war against Iraq. It seems possible that his command network will become the first target of high-power microwave (HPM) weapons, probably carried by cruise missiles or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These squirt pulses of high-frequency energy that can knock out electronic and communications systems in milliseconds, scrambling computer...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 9/14/02 BREAKING: Beit Lahia, Gaza - Premature Explosion Takes Terrorists, BREAKING: Karachi 5 Al Qaeda taken, 2 put down, BREAKING: Pakistan: Ramzi Binalshibh captured, BREAKING: Palestine Islamic Bank with sniper - taken, BREAKING: Rachel's Tomb sanctified, BREAKING: Sicily arrests 15 Al Qaeda, What really happened on 9/11/2002 - who honored the victims and who said there would be more, Lebanon: Wazzani River diversion, Jakarta Islamic hate, Qiantangjiang River, X-45 ===================== Turkey =================== In Turkey, at the Incirlik air base. heroes fly EA-6B Prowlers (radar jammers) over the No-Fly Zone in northern Iraq...

GOTTA SEE THIS -- TECHNOLOGY, PREPARATION,PERPS and HEROES 7/13/02 BREAKING NEWS - Action and Preparation during the War for Enduring Freedom, Allies seeking Information and Freedom; Posturing ===== TECHNOLOGY ====== In California, Boeing's X-45 Unmanned Combat air vehicle was revealed 7/11/02 at Edwards Air Force Base. The X-45 has been aloft at least twice, and will transport autonomously 3,000 pounds of munitions + At Boeing, stay tuned for the fuel-efficient bat-shaped Blended Wing Body 450 passenger subsonic transport. No more tube and conventional wings. This is a 3% scale model mounted for static force tests at Langley ======= PREPARATIONS ========...

    Unmanned fighter plane performs first flight   11:28 24 May 02 Will Knight   An experimental remote-controlled fighter jet developed by the US military has performed its first test flight. The flight tested the X-45's flight stability and remote control system. If fully developed, the X-45 would allow fighter pilots to raid enemy targets and engage in airborne combat from the comfort of a base on the ground. The X-45 reached a speed of 361 km/h (Photo: DARPA) Colonel Michael Leahy, X-45 program manager at the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), says: "Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles (UCAV) will...