Video: The first unmanned Loyal Wingman aircraft

A Boeing-led Australian industry team has presented the first unmanned Loyal Wingman aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force.

The aircraft, which uses artificial intelligence to extend the capabilities of manned and unmanned platforms, is the first to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years. More than 35 members of Australian industry are supporting prototype work across four Australian states. It is Boeing’s largest investment in an unmanned aircraft outside of the United States.

As the first of three prototypes for Australia’s Loyal Wingman Advanced Development Program, the aircraft also serves as the foundation for the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (ATS) being developed for the global defense market.

The Boeing ATS will provide a disruptive advantage for allied forces’ manned and unmanned missions. It will:

• Provide fighter-like performance, measuring 38 feet long (11.7m) and able to fly more than 2,000 nautical miles.
• Integrate sensor packages onboard to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, tactical early warning missions and more.
• Use artificial intelligence to fly independently or in support of manned aircraft while maintaining safe distance between other aircraft.

The Loyal Wingman prototype now moves into ground testing, followed by taxi and first flight later this year.

Armed unmanned aircraft a threat to US military in near future

U.S. forces will be increasingly threatened by reconnaissance and armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the near future, the U.S. Army said in contract documents released Thursday. [Full story]

Receive DCNewsroom email alerts, subscribe here.

Air Force orders three Global Hawk drones

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a $114 million advance procurement contract in preparation to build three more RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft systems and associated sensors. The intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft allows military commanders to receive high-resolution imagery, survey vast geographic regions and pinpoint targets on the ground.

This contract provides for advance procurement of three Block 30 aircraft, including three enhanced integrated sensor suites, three airborne signals intelligence payload (ASIP) and two ASIP retrofit kits to be installed on previously purchased aircraft. The work under this contract is expected to be completed in 2015.

The Global Hawk can remain airborne for more than 30 hours at high altitudes while gathering multiple types of intelligence data. Combined with Global Hawk's ability to fly for long periods at altitudes up to 60,000 feet, the aircraft's 12,300 nautical mile range makes the system ideally suited to take on many different ISR missions.

The system has logged more than 100,000 flight hours and has been used over battlefields in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. The system has also supported ISR efforts following the devastating earthquakes that struck Haiti and Japan.

In addition, NASA has been using Global Hawks for scientific and environmental research, recently flying over two hurricanes in September as part of a broader project studying how tropical storms develop over the Atlantic Ocean.

Receive DCNewsroom email alerts, subscribe here.

Navy contract RFP for first unmanned flight aboard aircraft carrier

The U.S. Navy's Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program will release a request for proposal "soon" for the first operational unmanned vehicle that will launch and recover from an aircraft carrier. [Source: Federal Business Opportunities]