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Also see: <a href="news_article1924.html">Unmanned F-35 in the works</a>
Lockheed Developing Unmanned F-35 Jet
(AP) WASHINGTON - Lockheed Martin Corp. has designed ways to convert its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter into a combat drone as part of a broad push into robot technologies, company officials said Tuesday.
Lockheed hopes to become as famous for its drones as Northrop Grumman Corp. and privately held General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., the companies behind the well-known Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles. At a Washington press briefing, Lockheed executives regaled reporters with the company's range of related research.
"We're in the business and we probably have been less aggressive than we should have been," said Richard O'Lear, vice president for unmanned aerial systems.
In recent years, Lockheed has devoted 30 percent to 40 percent of its aeronautics investment to unmanned systems, said Frank Mauro, Lockheed vice president for advanced systems development. He said the company now is making up for its previous single-minded focus on the F-35 program, a $276 billion initiative to replace thousands of aging fighters around the world.
The sensors developed for the Joint Strike Fighter have a range of potential drone applications, he said. Also, the company's Skunk Works unit has been working over the past two years to design an F-35 that doesn't need a pilot.
This work isn't part of Lockheed's fighter development contract, Mauro said, but the company now has a blueprint in case the Pentagon comes calling.
Lockheed expects an unmanned F-35 would cost roughly the same as a standard plane with a pilot, he said.
The company has envisioned that two piloted fighters could be accompanied by four unmanned fighters without the full suite of high-tech sensors.
"Those are basically external bomb carriers," Mauro said.
Also see: <a href="news_article1924.html">Unmanned F-35 in the works</a>