X-47 Pegasus UCAV
Air-Attack.com > Military Systems > X-47 Pegasus UCAV
Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle - (Naval Version)
It's tailless, shaped like a kite and designed to be stealthy, It's Northrop-Grumman's unmanned X-47 Pegasus UCAV-N.
As of May 2003, DARPA had given Northrop-Grumman the green light to build 2 demonstration versions of the X-47B Pegasus which measure 27.9 feet long and have a nearly equal wingspan of 27.8 feet. The X-47Bs will demonstrate the technical and operational feasibility of using a UCAV to conduct U.S. Navy missions from an aircraft carrier.
Expected capabilities of the Pegasus include a combat radius of 1,300 nautical miles with a payload of 4,500 pounds, and the ability to loiter for two hours over a target up to 1,000 nautical miles away, an operational altitude of greater than 35,000 feet and a high subsonic speed.
The X-47B is planned to be capable for three primary missions; surveillance/reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) and strike and of course all the missions require stealth and consequent survivability.
Surveillance/reconnaissance: The X-47 will have passive and active sensor suites able to cover a large geographic area and have a long loiter time once over the target area.
Suppression of enemy air defense: The X-47 will be capable of defense stimulation, deception and neutralization as well as being remotely networked with theater and national sensor systems. Expect the plane to carry a complement of advanced SEAD ordinance and accurately target multiple enemies simultaneously.
Strike: The X-47 will be extremely survivable and will carry a complement of existing weapons, as well as a synthetic aperture radar and a state of the art electro-optical / infrared suite all the while being interoperable with current C4I systems.
Tests are currently on going at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake, California.
Information And Images From DARPA, Northrop Grumman and other websitesSpecial thanks to Intelgurl for writing this article for Air-Attack.com
Specifications
Images
X-47 A Images
X-47 B Images
