Message posted by on March 03, 2010 at 19:27:20 PST:
Passing on some information to the Regulars. Joerg, Peter, Hank, S. Douglass. I appreciate all the hard work you do! Obtained from the internet: Boeing Is Staying In The Game: Boeing plans to begin flight testing in December the stealthy uninhabited aircraft it announced last spring as the Phantom Ray, Boeing Phantom Works chief Darryl Davis said. Flying the Phantom Ray, based on the company's X-45C prototype, and using it as a testbed for stealth and other technologies will keep Boeing "a relevant competitor" for the long range strike aircraft, MQ-X next-generation remotely piloted vehicle, and Navy FA-XX fighter, he said. It will also keep Boeing's talent fresh if the Navy makes the next phase of its carrier-based unmanned aircraft program competitive. Davis said all the major airframers are trying to figure out how to keep their "skill mix" relevant during the current dearth of new programs. Still, he said, Boeing wouldn't be investing in areas like Phantom Ray "if we didn't think there were lots of places to use the technology." Boeing was originally expected to start taxi tests with its Phantom Ray stealth unmanned aircraft demonstrator this spring, but it only just got a piece of the airplane back from a classified program, so there will be a delay, Boeing Phantom Works president Darryl Davis said. The classified program was using Boeing's Phantom Ray stealth exhaust system in conjunction with a General Electric F404 engine, but the project wasn't connected with a new long-range strike system, Davis said, offering little else. Any guesses? Cheers!
The exhaust is "pretty expensive" and Boeing didn't want to fabricate another, so it decided to wait until the other project was concluded, he said.
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