New Polecat Stealth Drone

This is the new Stealth UAV that Lockheed Martin has just unveiled. It can fly at 60,000ft and is capable of breaking the sound barrier.

With a 90-foot wingspan and a tailless design, the "Polecat" UAV looks like a smaller version of the B-2 stealth bomber. And like the B-2, the drone has been built to be stealthy and sneaky. But the twin-engine Polecat is "90 percent composite materials, rather than metal," the L.A. Daily News notes. "The vehicle is also made from less than 200 parts," adds Aviation Week. "Adhesives are used rather than rivets, decreasing the amount of labor needed to construct it -- that approach also contributed to a lower radar cross section inherent in the design."

www.defensetech.org/

This drone is truly incredible & I cant wait to see it in action. It looks like something out of Stargate but it looks like money well spent.

On a side note, Lockheed is also making a tiny drone that will be similar in size & weight to maple tree seed & will be about 1.5 inches long and have a maximum takeoff weight of about 0.35 ounces. - The police force could really benfit from the above technology too.
This technology really has alot of places it could potentially be used. Especially in war-time scenario's.

Do you think its possible that one day all fighter/bomber planes will be unmanned? I know its better to have a person in the cockpit (And there will be alot of unhappy pilots) but if its no longer neccessary then why not build fighter planes that can be unmanned and controlled from a bunker 1000s of miles away. (I am baring in mind of course the billions already spent on the F-22)
With no human on board there would be no need to build life support systems saving weight and they could just concentrate on the engine and wing design??

Peace*

(Edit to include link)

[edit on 24-7-2006 by Zenem]

Already covered here

www.abovetopsecret.com...


dont remember it sayin anything about bein supersonic though.

Thanks, I gotta a bit of reading to catch up on.

Cheerz

I seriously doubt that design is capable of going supersonic. The big wingspan like that is anything BUT fast. The less wing sweep you have, the slower you go.

Please follow spanishcaravan's link

*closed*