Futuristic fighter-sized UAV called Phantom Ray to provide Boeing with a test bed for advanced unmanned vehicle technologies
ST. LOUIS, 10 May 2010. The Boeing Co. in St. Louis is introducing a fighter-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) called Phantom Ray as a test bed for advanced unmanned vehicle technologies, Boeing officials announced today.
The delta-wing Phantom Ray UAV is designed to support potential missions that may include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; electronic warfare; strike; and autonomous aerial refueling.
Key Phantom Ray suppliers include General Electric-Aviation (propulsion and power distribution), Honeywell (brake system), Woodward-HRT (flight control actuation system), Crane Hydro-Aire (brake controls) and Heroux-Devtek (landing gear).
The UAV testbed will begin taxi tests this summer, and will fly for the first time in December, followed by as many as nine additional flights over about six months. Phantom Ray, which evolved from the X-45C program, is one of several programs in the Phantom Works division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. Phantom Works uses rapid prototyping initiatives to design, develop and build advanced aircraft and then demonstrate their capabilities.
“The initial flights will take Phantom Ray through its paces for the flight test profile. Beyond that, the missions and systems tested will be determined by future warfighter needs,” said Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing.
For more information contact Boeing Phantom Works online at www.boeing.com/bds/phantom_works.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
