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20-626: Boeing developed the X-45 from research gathered during the development of the Bird of Prey . The X-45 features an extremely low-profile dorsal intake placed near the leading edge of the aircraft. The center fuselage is blended into a swept lambda wing, with a small exhaust outlet. It has no vertical control surfaces — split ailerons near each wingtip function as asymmetric air brakes, providing rudder control, much as in Northrop 's flying wings . Removing

40-522: A platform very similar to the B-2 Spirits '. The first of the three planned X-45C aircraft was originally scheduled to be completed in 2006, with capability demonstrations scheduled for early 2007. By 2010, Boeing hoped to complete an autonomous aerial refueling of the X-45C by a KC-135 Stratotanker . Boeing has displayed a mock-up of the X-45C on static displays at many airshows. The X-45C portion of

60-727: A proposal to the Navy for a carrier based demonstrator version of the X-45, designated the X-45N. The X-45N was Boeing's proposal to the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air Systems demonstration project . When it became known that the US Air Force would end funding to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System program (which included the X-45 and X-47 ), the US Navy started its own UCAS program. Requirements were defined over

80-447: Is an American black project aircraft, intended to demonstrate stealth technology . It was developed by McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in the 1990s. The company provided $ 67 million of funding for the project; it was a low-cost program compared to many other programs of similar scale. It developed technology and materials which would later be used on Boeing's X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle . As an internal project, this aircraft

100-635: Is an informal term used to describe a highly classified , top-secret military or defense project that is not publicly acknowledged by government , military personnel, or contractors. In the United States, the formal term for a black project is an unacknowledged special access program ( SAP ). Black projects receive their funding from the black budget . The US depends on private defense contractors to develop and build military equipment. The two most notable examples are Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman . The R&D department of Lockheed Martin

120-562: The chines , as used in other aircraft including the SR-71 Blackbird . This provided lift for the nose in flight. This configuration, which can be stable without a horizontal tailplane and a conventional vertical rudder, is now a standard in later stealth unmanned aerial vehicles such as the X-45 and X-47 , tailless aircraft which use drag rudders (asymmetrically used wingtip airbrakes) for yaw control. The aircraft, which had given

140-451: The Bird of Prey used a commercial off-the-shelf turbofan engine and manual hydraulic controls rather than fly-by-wire . This shortened the development time and greatly reduced its cost. (A production aircraft would have computerized controls.) The shape is aerodynamically stable enough to be flown without computer correction. Its aerodynamic stability is in part due to lift provided by

160-466: The Boeing–McDonnell Douglas merger in 1997. The first flight was in 1996, and 39 more flights were performed through the program's conclusion in 1999. The Bird of Prey was designed to prevent shadows and is believed to have been used to test active camouflage , which would involve its surfaces changing color or luminosity to match the surroundings. Because it was a demonstration aircraft,

180-451: The X-45A's first bombing run test at Edwards Air Force Base was successful; it hit a ground target with a 250-pound (110 kg) inert precision-guided munition. On August 1, 2004, for the first time, two X-45As were controlled in flight simultaneously by one ground-based pilot. On February 4, 2005, on their 50th flight, the two X-45As took off into a patrol pattern and were then alerted to

200-613: The X-45C prototype vehicle that Boeing originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program. The UAV was not aimed at any particular program or competition. Data from Airforce Technology, Boeing page General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Boeing Bird of Prey The Boeing Bird of Prey

220-702: The designation "YF-118G" as a cover, was made public on October 18, 2002. The Bird of Prey was put on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio on July 16, 2003. It is now on display at the museum's Modern Flight Gallery above their F-22 Raptor . Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Black project Black project

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240-474: The first F/A-18F , which has used it to perform tests of autonomous approaches. All autonomous approaches ended with a wave-off by design. This Super Hornet is expected to be able to hook the carrier's arrester cables autonomously by the 2009 timeframe, setting the stage for carrier-borne UAV operations. Boeing planned to develop and demonstrate an unmanned flying test bed for advanced air system technologies. The internally funded program, called Phantom Ray, uses

260-431: The other to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base , where it was inducted on November 13, 2006. The X-45A introduced yaw axis thrust vectoring . The larger X-45B design was modified to have even more fuel capacity and three times greater combat range, becoming the X-45C. Each wing's leading edge spans from the nose to the wingtip, giving the aircraft more wing area, and

280-482: The pilot and its associated facilities from the aircraft dramatically reduces the aircraft's cost. Ground-based pilots execute the higher level decisions, but the mechanical flying of the aircraft is autonomous. Boeing built two of the model X-45A; both were scaled-down proof-of-concept aircraft. The first was completed by Boeing's Phantom Works in September 2000. The goal of the X-45A technology demonstrator program

300-477: The presence of a target. The X-45As then autonomously determined which vehicle held the optimum position, weapons (notional), and fuel load to properly attack the target. After making that decision, one of the X-45As changed course and the ground-based pilot authorized the consent to attack the simulated antiaircraft emplacement. Following a successful strike, another simulated threat, this time disguised, emerged and

320-480: The program received $ 767 million from DARPA in October 2004, to construct and test three aircraft, along with several supplemental goals. The X-45C included an F404 engine. In July 2005, DARPA awarded an additional $ 175 million to continue the program, as well as implement autonomous aerial refueling technology. On March 2, 2006, the US Air Force decided not to continue with the X-45 project. However, Boeing submitted

340-456: The summer of 2006, and proposals were submitted in April 2007. The first flight of the X-45N was planned for November 2008, had Boeing won the contract. The contract was eventually awarded to Northrop Grumman's proposed naval X-47, thus ending the X-45 program. As of 2007, the software Boeing developed to allow the X-45N to land and takeoff autonomously on aircraft carriers had been installed on

360-598: Was not given an X-plane designation. There are no public plans to make this a production aircraft. It is characterized as a technology demonstrator. Development of the Bird of Prey began in 1992 by McDonnell Douglas 's Phantom Works division for special projects, at Area 51 . The aircraft's name is a reference to the Klingon Bird of Prey warship from the Star Trek television series. Phantom Works later became part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems after

380-473: Was subsequently destroyed by the second X-45A. This demonstrated the ability of these vehicles to work autonomously as a team and manage their resources, as well as to engage previously-undetected targets, which is significantly harder than following a predetermined attack path. After the completion of the flight test program, both X-45As were sent to museums, one to the National Air and Space Museum , and

400-491: Was to develop the technologies needed to "conduct suppression of enemy air defense missions with unmanned combat air vehicles." The first generation of unmanned combat air vehicles are primarily planned for air-to-ground roles with defensive air-to-air capabilities coupled with significant remote piloting. The X-45A had its first flight on May 22, 2002, and the second vehicle followed in November of that year. On April 18, 2004,

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