Australia 's Loyal Wingman/UCAV

linky

A large drone designed for electronic warfare, which could eventually carry bombs, will be publicly unveiled today after being secretly developed with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Key points:

The drone is the first combat aircraft designed and developed in Australia in more than 50 yearsThe cost of the project has not been revealed, but it is believed to be Boeing's largest investment in drones outside the USOnce fully developed, the drone could eventually be exported to other nations, sources said

The unmanned system is roughly the size of a traditional jet fighter and was quietly developed in Brisbane by aerospace giant Boeing, in collaboration with the RAAF and the Defence Department.

Makes you wonder what's happening behind closed doors back home, eh?


Looks like it borrows heavily from the McDonnell Douglas JSF effort...

pic ... errr, graphic

The demonstrator is being developed under the Loyal Wingman Advanced Development Program, which is being supported by A$40 million ($28.5 million) over four years in Australian government funding and A$62 million from Boeing—its largest investment in an unmanned-aircraft program outside the U.S.

The 38-ft.-long aircraft has a stealthy chined fuselage, lambda-planform wing, caret inlets and butterfly tail and is powered by a single commercial turbofan—an unspecified light business-jet engine. The ATS is designed to fly independently or in tandem with manned platforms, using artificial intelligence to maintain a safe distance between aircraft.

Performance details are sparse. The ATS has a range of 2,000 nm and the ability to keep up with the types of platforms with which it will team, such as the RAAF’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet combat aircraft and electronic-attack EA-18G Growlers, and its commercial-derivative airborne-early-warning E-7A Wedgetails and maritime-patrol P-8A Poseidons—all of which are Boeing-built.

"Allies around the world are looking for ways to maximize and extend their [force] structures. Autonomous systems and some of the technologies behind them can make more of a game-changing leap in affordability and quantity, to complement their existing fleets,” she says. Boeing sees low cost, both as a vehicle and as a system teamed with manned platforms, as an inherent advantage

AW&ST

More and pretty CGI and a full scale mockup at AW&ST

a reply to: RadioRobert

certainly a nice looking aircraft.

MDD-JAST for comparison...

a reply to: RadioRobert

Doesn't look very stealthy, I guess that is not a big concern with an unmanned aircraft.

a reply to: LookingAtMars

I can't do another RCS by photo discussion. I'm way over quota.

a reply to: RadioRobert

Lol, I am guessing that means you think it is stealth? I don't need any details why

a reply to: LookingAtMars

There are varying degrees of everything, and a lot of things can't be simply "seen". The A-12 ATA "looked" stealthy, but throws a large spike fore and aft because of the trailing edge. Not ideal... Also what works well in one band, may not work at all in another. And what works really well might get tossed because of issues that involve needing to fly (thrust, drag, weight, lift). So there is a hash of compromises wrestling in every "stealth" aircraft. "Stealth" doesn't have a lot of practical meaning without a broader context. Compared to what? In what bands? Etc

Posted at SPF:

a reply to: RadioRobert

That makes sense, thanks for the info.

Stealth doesnt make you totally invisible (unless your the F117).It just reduces the detection range.

All I could say when this broke was "holly sh*t!!" before picking my jaw up off the floor. I had heard NOTHING about this development effort till now. Zaph did you know about this? There was some talk early last year about a teeming effort between Canberra and Boeing but it didn't sound this ambitious. And I'm betting they were and are a lot further along than they have let on. ABC news article

Rogoway and co just put an updated article up on The Drive which contains some extra pics and info. Seems impressive as an effort considering Australia was actively coerced/turned off designing aircraft over the last 50+ years. Seems the penny is starting to drop in Canberra and Washington too. Funny, I mentioned the possible need for Australia to start developing the need to design and produce advanced systems like this only a few weeks back on a thread here. Seems I might have been predicting the future after all. Cant wait to see some harder numbers on the performance specs, costs, in service times and purchased numbers. I dont usually get excited at all about aviation these days. This just piqued my interest level back up.

originally posted by: Blackfinger
Stealth doesnt make you totally invisible (unless your the F117).

a reply to: RadioRobert

real pick here

in.reuters.com...

loyal wingman has been know about for a while

i always thought the minotaur project to be more interesting

a reply to: thebozeian

About this specific aircraft, no. But I've heard quiet whispers of programs similar to Loyal Wingman without any real details. Minotaur and a few other programs from some years ago quietly went away, but were seen testing after you stopped hearing anything.

a reply to: Zaphod58
With our extensive coastline and interior to monitor it makes sense.We do have quite a small Air Force.
RAAF Numbers

a reply to: Blackfinger

I did not realise the f35 numbers had been upped .

originally posted by: Blackfinger
a reply to: Zaphod58
With our extensive coastline and interior to monitor it makes sense.We do have quite a small Air Force.
RAAF Numbers

Regarding our coastline and its approaches..I assume you haven't heard of JORN..?
sorry for the bump.

a reply to: mortex
Blackfinger is more than aware of JORN. He was arguing from the point of view of leveraging off our relatively small combat aircraft numbers to continental size. Seeing is one thing but not wholly useful if you cannot prosecute. Loyal wingman help with that, a lot.

originally posted by: thebozeian
a reply to: mortex
Blackfinger is more than aware of JORN. He was arguing from the point of view of leveraging off our relatively small combat aircraft numbers to continental size. Seeing is one thing but not wholly useful if you cannot prosecute. Loyal wingman help with that, a lot.

G'day tb. I used to be a fan of Jindalee 30 years ago. I have changed my mind. It worked well before digital satellites. Early warning was fine back then but now we're talking seconds, not minutes.

JORN is obsolete now. It is an over the horizon radar.


My thoughts,

bally

a reply to: bally001
Bally, JORN is FAR from obsolete and has received programmed updates. It has major advantages over satellites in many areas, like constant surveillance that even a large network of satellites cannot easily provide. It is also resistant to blinding and works in bandwidths that allow it to see things that line of site radar cannot. It isn't perfect and has disadvantages, but as a tool in a layered surveillance network it is highly useful and still very much relevant. And we are one of a very few nations to have not only fielded it but developed it as well, rather than just buying it off the shelf, so we understand it from its technology base up.