Message posted by Steve Hauser on September 30, 2000 at 15:58:04 EST:
The 9/25/00 issue of Aviation Week states that there will be a "hidden competition" between the recently revealed Boeing UCAV and a classified Skunk Works UCAV. The Skunk version is reportedly "small enough to be carried under the wing of a manned fighter before being launched." The article states that the Skunks are working on a complementary black UAV for bomb damage assessment and other reconnaissance, which is being designed as a "high-speed, penetrator aircraft" capable of survival at low altitude. One may also assume LMSW is working on a new manned silver bullet stealth plane to deliver the UCAV. Reportedly the black UCAV deal had been awarded to Northrop but was given to Lockheed at the last moment so that each contractor would have its hands on some UCAV work. The article goes on to recount the genesis of such UAV/UCAV programs in the mid-1980s National Reconnaissance Office's Advanced Airborne Reconnaissance System (AARS) competition between Boeing and Lockheed. Lockheed's entrant, codenamed "Quartz" (likely the origin of the unmanned "Q" plane some have referred to, i.e., Phil Patton in his book, "Dreamland"), beat out the Boeing entrant. Quartz's wingspan approached 200' and it was designed to have intercontinetal range and modular payload pods including a pilot's capsule, at a cost of some $500 M/copy. No working model was ever produced. The program was scaled down to a $200 M/copy version, which also was too expensive, so in 1992 Quartz was laid to rest. A $150 M/copy version was then proposed, known as the Tier 3 UAV. Echo on the expensive part. The program was then split into the Tier 3- (Darkstar) and Tier 2+ (Global Hawk) components at a target of $ 10 M/copy. Gloabl Hawk is the sole survivor, but one may assume tbat the Skunks are applying their expertise gained through Quartz to their current black UAV. All from AWST.
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