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Northrop Grumman unveils Pegasus naval UCAV demonstrator
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| 7 March 2001 |
MICHAEL SIRAK JDW Staff Reporter
Washington DC
Northrop
Grumman unveiled its Pegasus unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) design last
week. Officials said the Pegasus will reduce developmental risk to its naval
UCAV (UCAV-N) programme, which is set to enter its demonstration phase early
next year. The company's Integrated Systems Sector rolled out a full-scale Pegasus model on 26 February at the opening ceremony of its new Advanced Systems Development Center in El Segundo, California.
The kite-shaped Pegasus vehicle, at 8.46m long with a 8.44m wingspan, is built from composite materials. It uses Pratt & Whitney Canada's JT15-D 5C engine.
The actual Pegasus should be completed in mid-year, after which the company will conduct a series of 12 flight tests at the US Navy's Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, California, to prove carrier-suitable aerodynamic flight qualities. Testing is expected to begin in the last quarter of the year and conclude by year-end, at the same time the UCAV-N programme enters second-phase development.
Knowledge gained from the Pegasus test programme will benefit the design of the second-phase UCAV-N demonstrator, the company says. "We feel that from our Pegasus experience, we will be able to come back in our simulation labs and develop a better, more refined system," said Randy Secor, company UCAV-N programme manager. UCAV-N engineering and manufacturing development could begin around 2008, Secor said.
Last year, the navy and US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Northrop Grumman a phase-one contract. This involved trade studies, analysis and initial design of a UCAV system that could meet unique navy performance requirements in carrying out suppression of enemy air defence, deep-strike and surveillance missions (Jane's Defence Weekly 9 August 2000). Boeing is pursuing a second UCAV-N concept under a similar contract.
Pegasus programme manager Dave Mazur said the flight tests will focus on demonstrating low-speed handling qualities, compatibility with carrier landing systems, simulated arrest with a hook on board the vehicle as well as a new, open-architecture avionics vehicle management system that could be applied to other future air systems.
The flights will involve "typical" navy carrier-type landing approaches with 4º flight slope and 16ft/sec rate of descent, Mazur noted. The Pegasus will utilise the navy's developing Shipboard Relative Global Positioning System (GPS), the service's next-generation carrier-landing capability.
"We are very excited about this capability," he said of the new GPS system, noting it can determine the position of an aircraft within 20cm, which allows for very tight landing dispersion on a carrier.
Although the Pegasus vehicle has "an exceptionally stealthy design", Mazur said its design is not being built to stealth standards. Overall, Northrop Grumman is spending about $35 million of its own funds on Pegasus. The company decided last July to pursue the project following extensive tests.
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| Artist's impression of the demonstrator (Source: Northrop Grumman) |