Northrop/Grumman X-47B UCAS-D First Flight

[Max]

Soon to begin carrier trials

[DemonGeminiX]

I don't know, Max. Call me a purist, but I like the idea of ace pilots and dogfights and such. There just doesn't seem to be very much excitement involved in a UAV.

[Max]

I don't know, Max. Call me a purist, but I like the idea of ace pilots and dogfights and such. There just doesn't seem to be very much excitement involved in a UAV.

I agree to a point, but its the aerospace industry that has done this to itself and the country.

I cannot think of a modern aircraft or aerospace program that hasn't shafted the american tax payer with the astronomical prices they end up charging for their planes/vehicles.

In the real business world, when you compete for a contract, and then win that contract, you are legally obliged to honor it's terms. If you cannot or will not do so, there are automatic penalties leveled.

The aerospace industry does not have to abide by these rules. They win a contract with the pentagon, telling them what the product is, and what it will cost. These are companies with decades of experience in the field, and have no excuse not to factor in potential set backs and price increases. What they do is swoon the military brass with unrealist estimates, knowing full well they plan to charge much more than these contracts call for. The net result is that the military is at the point where they can't afford anything. This is the norm anymore in both military and space programes. The A-12 Avenger...canceled due to over-runs, the Venture Star spacecraft which was supposed to replce the shuttle fleet...canceled due to over-runs. The B-2bomber...eventually costing a billion dollars a pop, and reducing the order from hundreds to 21. The F-22...end cost doubled what Lockheed estimated, and cutting the order to less than 200 birds. The F-35...now almost 50% over cost causing the british to cancel their purchase of the STOVL version.Now the entire B variant could end up being dumped. The Orion space craft...another of Lockheeds ass-humping of tax dollars. Billions spend, and nothing to show for it...canceled as a primary space vehicle. Now in a few months american astronauts will have to hitch rides with the russians. That's beyond humiliating.

All this because the aerospace industry monsters like Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop etc... routinely rape the pentagon of money, many times never having any intention of delivering anything. They keep posting billions of dollars in profits each year, resulting in the cost of cutting edge aircraft being so ridiculous, that we are now forced to fight with UCAV craft because they are all we can afford to buy in large numbers.

Gates said he was going to reform the procurement procedures within the pentagon so this endless fraud could be stopped once and for all, but I'm not holding my breath.

We'll be fighting with pilotless robots from now on, because that's all america can afford.

Sorry...end of rant

[DemonGeminiX]

You wanna hear something funny?

I've been torturing all of those engineering firms for a job since 2005.

[Max]

You wanna hear something funny?

I've been torturing all of those engineering firms for a job since 2005.

Nothing wrong with that, mate. I have several good friends who work for some of these companies. These problems come from the suits in the board room, not the hard working men and women who turn design into reality. My contempt is for those who for decades have pulled this same stunt over and over, and now endanger the future of the warfighters ability to have the best of the best to work with. The mystery is why the pentagon has tolerated it for so long. That usually means that somebody's pockets are being lined to look the other way.

[AntZ]

There is so much of the B-2 in that design!

[DemonGeminiX]

There is so much of the B-2 in that design!

Of course there is. Northrop designed both this and the B2. The B2's low observable stealth technology is a major success in warplane design. Why not reuse a good thing?

But I still want pilots in that thing.

[Godfather]

I think the loss of manned pilots is stupid too. I would like to see real pilots protecting our skies and using their keen senses right on the battlefield... But if I'm being critical I have to ask why do I think that? Well... because Topgun and dozens of video games have made pilots bad-ass, Real-American Heroes. Like modern day Knights in flying suits of armor...

If you ask someone who had never seen or played jet-fighing , if it was a good idea to try and control the battlefield with planes that were manned by men and women safe on the ground with state-of-the-art cockpits, I imagine they'd all say "Of course it is"


Realistically it makes perfect sense to take a pilot, give him the controls and the same visuals but no more risk. No more pilots running short, no more training accidents killing fathers and sons, no more fear driving mistakes...


This part is a stretch and straight out of my imagination... but down the road, I would think this will allow for some insane pulls and turns that would liquefy a human... perhaps one of the greatest potential advantages is that the US Air Force can take those most capable of understanding and flying these planes. Not rooting out those incapable of handling G-forces may sound like would weaken squadrons... but it might actually allow for some brilliant pilots who otherwise would have failed.

[Max]

Recently the Pentagon put out feelers for what would be a 6th generation fighter. They wanted to see what the big aerospace boys had up their sleaves for taking it to the next level.

I was reading the request for proposal document, and it was pretty crazy. Directed energy weapons were required, and some pretty exotic capabilities. The real standout was the requirement for said vehicles to have the capability to either be piloted, or flown as a UCAV. The reasoning being what has been mentioned...that potential split second situation where an experienced pilot could make the difference between victory and failure. Such a vehicle could be sent remotely into heavily fortified areas, and not have to risk human life. Then it could also be send on broader air superiority lower threat missions with a pilot at the controls. They seem to be leaning towards a cockpit section that is modular. One variant would use a set up for remote operation equipment, and the other would be more of a standardized fighter cockpit for piloted missions. The best of both worlds, and you save money by building it around a single airframe. I'll be curious to see what comes off the drawing boards...especially from the skunk works and phantom works.

[Godfather]

Jeeze, the F-22 just finished production and the F-35 isn't even service and they're dreaming up the next gen Pretty cool

I've read the 2037 Bomber is looking like it could be unmanned as well. The 2018/Next-Gen bomber will almost certainly be manned, whatever it ends up being.

[AntZ]

Of course there is. Northrop designed both this and the B2. The B2's low observable stealth technology is a major success in warplane design. Why not reuse a good thing?

But I still want pilots in that thing.

My former company's parent company was a MAJOR supplier to the B-2 program. My wife and I represented the company at the Northrop and Pentagon hosted 10th. anniversary of first flight dinner and celebration at Edwards A.F.B. and at the B-2 plant in Palmdale. I even had the opportunity to meet and chat with Jack Northrop's son.