Forum: Drones

http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s ... ;item=1732

ST. LOUIS, May 3, 2011

The Boeing [NYSE: BA] Phantom Ray unmanned airborne system (UAS) successfully completed its first flight April 27 at NASA's Dryden Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

The 17-minute flight took place following a series of high-speed taxi tests in March that validated ground guidance, navigation and control and verified mission planning, pilot interface and operational procedures. Phantom Ray flew to 7,500 feet and reached a speed of 178 knots.

"This day has been two-and-a-half years in the making," said Darryl Davis, president, Boeing Phantom Works. "It's the beginning of providing our customers with a test bed to develop future unmanned systems technology, and a testament to the capabilities resident within Boeing. Just as follow-on tests will expand Phantom Ray's flight envelope, they also will help Boeing expand its presence in the unmanned systems market."

The flight demonstrated Phantom Ray's basic airworthiness, setting the stage for additional flights in the next few weeks. These company-funded flights will prepare Phantom Ray to support potential missions that may include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; electronic attack; strike; and autonomous air refueling.

"The first flight moves us farther into the next phase of unmanned aircraft," said Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing. "Autonomous, fighter-sized unmanned aircraft are real, and the UAS bar has been raised. Now I’m eager to see how high that bar will go."

Phantom Ray is one of several programs in Phantom Works, including Phantom Eye, that is part of a rapid prototyping initiative to design, develop and build advanced aircraft and then demonstrate their capabilities. Boeing's portfolio of UAS solutions also includes the A160T Hummingbird, Integrator, ScanEagle and SolarEagle.

A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is one of the world's largest defense, space and security businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world's largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $32 billion business with 66,000 employees worldwide.

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-20059 ... =cnetRiver

Unmanned Phantom Ray makes first flight

by Jonathan E. Skillings

Boeing said today that its Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft has flown on its own for the first time.

The prototype unmanned airborne system, which sports a striking flying-wing design, flew for 17 minutes on April 27, reaching a speed of 178 knots and an altitude of 7,500 feet. More flights will take place in the coming weeks, Boeing said.

"The UAS bar has been raised," Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing, said in a statement. "Now I'm eager to see how high that bar will go."

The debut flight took place at NASA's Dryden Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, following high-speed taxi tests in March. The flight test program is expected to last roughly six months.

The 36,500-pound Phantom Ray is 36 feet long, has a wingspan of 50 feet, and is powered by an F404-GE-102D turbofan engine. Eventually, it's expected to have a cruising speed of 614 mph, or 0.8 Mach, and an operating altitude of 40,000 feet.

Boeing formally introduced the Phantom Ray almost exactly a year ago. It will be using the aircraft, which the company says it's funding on its own nickel, as a test bed for future unmanned system technology. Eventually, the UAS could be used for a range of military missions including attack, surveillance, and autonomous aerial refueling.

Edwards AFB is also playing host to a similar UAS design from Northrop Grumman, the X-47B, which took its maiden flight there in February. That aircraft is being developed under a contract with the U.S. Navy, with the goal of getting an unmanned aircraft that can take off and land on an aircraft carrier.

Both the Phantom Ray and the X-47B have their roots in the discontinued Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program that brought together DARPA, the Navy, and the U.S. Air Force.

"Autonomous, fighter-sized unmanned aircraft are real," Brown said.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

Phantom Ray Completes First Flight At Edwards

Posted by David A. Fulghum at 5/3/2011 1:29 PM CDT

Despite the tight veil of security thrown over Boeing‘s Phantom Ray unmanned aircraft demonstration program, several industry officials say the stealth-shaped aircraft made its first flight at Edwards AFB, Calif. on Wed. April 27.

“Boeing conducted what appeared to be a successful 17-minute first flight and recovery,” said an observer at Edwards. “First turn was shortly after takeoff -- just over lakebed. The first 2 turns were surprisingly tight as commented by those observing near inner runway. Rest of flight other than final approach were too far away to see. Gear down for entire flight. The landing was observed to be air force style, flared.”

Boeing officials initially were only allowed to confirm that the flight had taken place. Phantom Ray is considered one of the “starting points” for a U.S. Navy Uclass unmanned, stealthy, carrier-based strike aircraft. However, other officials say a second flight is set for Thursday May 5.

After Aviation Week broke the news Monday of the first flight, Boeing released additional information. The first flight followed a series of high-speed taxi tests in March that validated ground guidance, navigation and control and verified mission planning, pilot interface and operational procedures. Phantom Ray flew to 7,500 feet and reached a speed of 178 knots.

Phantom Ray is one of four known low-observable unmanned reconnaissance or combat aircraft being readied for various programs.

The X-45C is the prototype vehicle for the Phantom Ray demonstration program. Another design, the tail-hook-equipped Avenger (Predator C) is the product of General Atomics. Both aircraft are expected to be involved in the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike project which is itself an offshoot of the Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration program. Northrop-Grumman’s X-47B made its first 29-min. flight from Edwards on Feb. 4. Lockheed Martin is expected to enter a design based on its experimental Polecat and operational, black world RQ-170 Sentinel.

Google Earth imagery shows that Lockheed Martin has continued to expand the proprietary facility at Yucca Lake, Nev. It was established for Polecat testing and it includes a hangar that accommodates a 65-ft. wingspan aircraft.

Not all these aircraft will fit the Uclass template. The Navy has to decide what’s feasible by 2018. The Avenger and RQ-170 are much smaller than the Phantom Ray and X-47B. The Avenger is thought to be the least stealthy of the designs.

In associated UAV events, the RQ-170 – sporting full-motion video capability since its return to Afghanistan operations last year – is thought to have participated in operations that led up to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S. special operations forces.

The Pentagon has been employing airborne hyperspectral sensors for a variety of missions. These technologies are being employed in Afghanistan and other areas including Pakistan. (AW&ST, April 11, p. 55)

“Our success was built on developing and confirming leads and information that in part relied on airborne ISR along the lines of what it took to terminate al Zarqawi in Iraq in 2006,” says a former intelligence specialist. “Remotely piloted aircraft were a big part of the development of the knowledge base that led up to this operation.”

An embargo was placed on any release of information about the Phantom Ray flight until the initial test data were analyzed and videos reviewed which could be completed by May 3-4. The Phantom Ray is a further development of the Phantom Works’ X-45C which has weapons designed to be the same size as Lockheed Martin’s manned F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The Phantom Ray airframe was carried from Boeing’s St. Louis facility to Edwards on Dec. 14 atop one of NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft where it was housed in the Dryden Flight Research Center.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/the-dewline/

PHOTO: F-35A haunts Phantom Ray 1st flight

By Stephen Trimble on May 3, 2011 9:48 PM

Boeing has released some very cool photos of the first flight of the Phantom Ray today, but none cooler than this one. A Lockheed Martin F-35A lurks in the background on the ramp at Edwards AFB, Calif.. The air force's present (manned fighters) meets perhaps its future (unmanned combat air vehicles).

Which one will see operational service first? My bet is on the Phantom Ray! Laughing

http://www.boeing.com/Features/2011/05/ ... 04_11.html

Phantom Ray makes first flight with Video

Story by Chris Haddox

Video by Randy Jackson

Phantom Ray, Boeing's fighter-sized unmanned airborne system, takes off April 27 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for it first flight. Phantom Ray reached a speed of 178 knots and an altitude of 7,500 feet.

Phantom Ray, Boeing’s fighter-sized unmanned airborne system (UAS), took to the early morning skies April 27 at Edwards Air Force Base in California for its first flight.

The 17-minute flight was deemed a success, and program manager, Craig Brown, celebrated this significant milestone with the Phantom Ray Team.

“We were confident it would fly and perform well,” said Brown. “It feels great to have this first one under our belt.”

Phantom Ray took off at 9:05 a.m. Pacific and climbed to an altitude of 7,500 feet above mean sea level to demonstrate basic airworthiness. The unmanned aircraft, operating autonomously, gracefully banked and turned as it completed its racetrack flight path over the dry lake beds at Edwards.

The picture perfect flight came four months after Phantom Ray arrived in California in December from St. Louis on the back of a NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to begin ground testing and high-speed taxi tests in preparation for its first flight. Phantom Ray was rolled out May 10, 2010, at a ceremony in St. Louis.

“It was a beautiful sight,” said Teri Finchamp, Phantom Ray’s manufacturing lead. “I’ve been part of this program since the beginning, and while I’ve imagined this day a hundred times, nothing can compare to actually seeing the Phantom Ray in the air.”

Brown, a former Air Force F-16 pilot, said first flight went as smoothly as the March taxi tests. “Watching it taxi and now fly, I think with the autonomy we’ve demonstrated we are definitely seeing the future of unmanned flight,” said Brown.

Phantom Ray will conduct additional flights in the coming weeks. It is one of several programs in Boeing’s Phantom Works division, including Phantom Eye, which is part of a rapid prototyping initiative to design, develop and build advanced aircraft and then demonstrate their capabilities. Boeing's portfolio of UAS solutions also includes the A160T Hummingbird, Integrator, ScanEagle and SolarEagle.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... again.html

PHANTOM RAY FLIES AGAIN

DATE:10/05/11

SOURCE:Flight International
By Zach Rosenberg

Boeing has announced the second flight of the Phantom Ray demonstrator.

The event took place on 5 May at NASA Dryden in California, said Phantom Works president Darryl Davis. "Both flights that we did on Phantom Ray achieved all their objectives," he added.

Boeing initially funded 10 flights of Phantom Ray to demonstrate the aircraft; further flights are contingent upon funding from government customers. "We had indicated we were looking for some government funding to proceed," said Davis. "We have been talking to a number of customers."

Though Boeing would not elaborate on what organisation is interested in the aircraft or why, the company has been "working it pretty hard" to find interested parties, and believes the advanced unmanned air vehicle is likely to find buyers.

Davis also hinted at future use as an advanced Boeing testbed for future advanced technology programmes. "We are looking at, could we use Phantom Ray to demonstrate some of the things a navy UCLASS [unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike aircraft] might do?"

The Phantom Ray is not designed to take-off and land from aircraft carriers, but the US Navy's UCLASS programme also includes an autonomous aerial refuelling demonstration.

ANYTHING made by Boeing is cool, but this is really cool.

Forum: Drones

Boeing Phantom Ray Completes 1st Flight