from The DEW Line
Lockheed Martin is taking the wraps off its submission for
the US Navy's prospective unmanned carrier launched surveillance and strike
(UCLASS) aircraft at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space Exposition in Washington
DC.
According to Lockheed, the bat-wing stealth aircraft
formerly referred to as the Sea Ghost integrates proven technologies from
previous manned and unmanned developments. The company is stressing an open architecture design and the
"maximum reuse of hardware and
software."
As such, Lockheed's UCLASS proposal bears a strong family
resemblance to the company's RQ-170 Sentinel unmanned aircraft, which is being
flown by the US Air Force. Technologies from the F-35 programme have also been
integrated into the aircraft.
Lockheed says that its UCLASS submission would be adaptable
across the whole spectrum of military operations from counter-terrorism to
carrier-based strikes. "Enabling operations in any scenario - and in any
environment," the company says.
To operate into those disparate environments, the aircraft
will have "multi-spectral stealth, as well as emissions and bandwidth
management to defeat detection and enable mission success," Lockheed says.
The company also claims that its UCLASS design will reduce
manpower requirements because a single operator would be able to operate
multiple aircraft. In recent weeks the US Navy has announced its intention to
fund four companies to design new unmanned air vehicles for the UCLASS
programme. Boeing, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin and
Northrop Grumman "have credible, existing, comprehensive UCLASS design
solutions, and associated production capabilities and facilities" to design
UAVs through the preliminary design review phase, the USN says.
The pre-solicitation, announced on 26 March, is the first
step towards securing funding for the carrier-based strike and surveillance
aircraft. A full solicitation is likely to go out "in the summer timeframe,"
says the navy.
The first UCLASS aircraft are planned for production
beginning in fiscal year 2016, following a likely down select to a single
manufacturer.
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