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TACIT BLUE was one of the most successful technology demonstrator programs in Air Force history, meeting all program objectives and most low observable and sensor performance goals.
In field trials at Indian Springs, near Nevada's Nellis Air Force Base, a Predator fired a laser-guided Hellfire missile that destroyed a stationary target. An Air Force spokeswoman at Nellis confirmed the second phase of the tests were completed just weeks ago, when Predators fired laser-guided Hellfire missiles against moving targets.
Thomas J. Cassidy Jr., GA Aeronautical Systems' chief executive, would not discuss details of the Predator's Hellfire field tests, except to say the tests "have been pretty successful across the board." The armed drone tests were pushed by the Air Force's "Big Safari Program," a secretive agency renowned for its ability to rapidly modify aircraft to meet specialized military needs.
"Big Safari is not one of the Pentagon's black programs," said defense analyst John Pike, referring to the military's most-secretive projects. "But it is a dark shade of gray."
Fully funded by Boeing, the Bird of Prey project costs $67 million. A subsonic, single-seat technology demonstrator, the aircraft completed 38 test flights as part of its flight-demonstration program. Its first flight took place in fall 1996. Bird of Prey has a wingspan of approximately 23 feet and a length of 47 feet, and weighs nearly 7,400 pounds. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C turbofan engine, the Bird of Prey has an operational speed of 260 knots and a maximum operating altitude of 20,000 feet.
DARPA study
The study was initiated and led by Ken Perko, who had recently come to DARPA from the RPV System Program Office (SPO) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). Perko requested White Papers from five companies - Northrop, McDonnell Douglass, General Dynamics and Grumman. The study asked two questions:
* What were the signature thresholds that an air vehicle would have to achieve to be essentially undetectable at an operationally useful range?
* What were the capabilities of each company to design and build an aircraft with the necessary signatures?
Fairchild and Grumman did not express any interest in the study. The General Dynamics response emphasized countermeasures and had little substantive technical content regarding signature reduction. Northrop and McDonnell Douglass (MD) responded indicating a good understanding of the problem and some capability to develope a "reduced-signature" air vehicle. McDonnel Douglas was also the first to identify what appeared to be the appropiate RCS thresholds. In late 1974 DARPA awarded Northrop and McDonnell Douglass contects of aproximatly $100,000 each to conduct further studies. These initial studies were classified "Confidential", the lowest of three major levels of security classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. In the spring of 1975, DARPA used McDonnell Douglass's values (confirmed by Hughes radar experts) as the goals for the program, and challanged the two participants to find ways to achieve them.
On May 4, 1978, (the 36th flight) Have Blue prototype number 1001 was landing after a routine test flight when it hit the ground excessively hard. Rather than risk skidding off the runway, Park pulled the aircraft back into the air, and went around. As he did, he retracted the landing gear. Park did not know that the right landing gear had been bent by the impact. When he lowered the gear, the T-38 chase pilot, Col. Larry McCain (the base commander) radioed that the right gear was jammed. Park made several attempts (including hard landings) to shake the gear back down again. The fuel supply was running low and there was no time for additional attempts. As Park climbed to 10,000 feet, one of the engines flamed out from fuel starvation. Once the other engine quit Park knew he would only have 2 seconds before the aircraft went out of control. Park radioed "I'm gonna bail out of here unless anyone has any better ideas." Although Park departed the aircraft successfully, he hit his head on the headrest and was knocked unconscious. Unable to control his parachute during descent or landing, he was still unconscious when his limp body hit the desert floor. Park's leg was broken, he suffered a concussion, and his mouth was filled with dirt as the parachute dragged him across the desert in a strong wind. By the time paramedics reached him, his heart had stopped. The paramedics were able to revive him, and he survived, but was forced to retire from flying. The aircraft reportedly came down like a falling leaf, wobbled around, lost control, went inverted, and went straight in. The Have Blue aircraft was destroyed in the crash. The wreckage was secretly buried somewhere on the Nellis test range complex.
Originally posted by ghost
In order to complete this Research Project, We (as a team) need to create a report of what we have found! I need everyone's help to do this. Currently there are six of us on the team, and the project has six Main Goals! To try to divide up the work,
: FredT, your article on more NSA stuff you mentioned CSS. I retired from NSA in 2001 and I can tell you that CSS is NSA. The offical designator is NSA/CSS. Dirnsa, Director NSA is a 2 star and his deputy is a civilian. Dirnsa is alternated between the different braches of services, Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines.
Jrsdls
DARPA study
The study was initiated and led by Ken Perko, who had recently come to DARPA from the RPV System Program Office (SPO) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB). Perko requested White Papers from five companies - Northrop, McDonnell Douglass, General Dynamics and Grumman. The study asked two questions:
* What were the signature thresholds that an air vehicle would have to achieve to be essentially undetectable at an operationally useful range?
* What were the capabilities of each company to design and build an aircraft with the necessary signatures?
Fairchild and Grumman did not express any interest in the study. The General Dynamics response emphasized countermeasures and had little substantive technical content regarding signature reduction. Northrop and McDonnell Douglass (MD) responded indicating a good understanding of the problem and some capability to develope a "reduced-signature" air vehicle. McDonnel Douglas was also the first to identify what appeared to be the appropiate RCS thresholds. In late 1974 DARPA awarded Northrop and McDonnell Douglass contects of aproximatly $100,000 each to conduct further studies. These initial studies were classified "Confidential", the lowest of three major levels of security classification: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret. In the spring of 1975, DARPA used McDonnell Douglass's values (confirmed by Hughes radar experts) as the goals for the program, and challanged the two participants to find ways to achieve them.
On May 4, 1978, (the 36th flight) Have Blue prototype number 1001 was landing after a routine test flight when it hit the ground excessively hard. Rather than risk skidding off the runway, Park pulled the aircraft back into the air, and went around. As he did, he retracted the landing gear. Park did not know that the right landing gear had been bent by the impact. When he lowered the gear, the T-38 chase pilot, Col. Larry McCain (the base commander) radioed that the right gear was jammed. Park made several attempts (including hard landings) to shake the gear back down again. The fuel supply was running low and there was no time for additional attempts. As Park climbed to 10,000 feet, one of the engines flamed out from fuel starvation. Once the other engine quit Park knew he would only have 2 seconds before the aircraft went out of control. Park radioed "I'm gonna bail out of here unless anyone has any better ideas." Although Park departed the aircraft successfully, he hit his head on the headrest and was knocked unconscious. Unable to control his parachute during descent or landing, he was still unconscious when his limp body hit the desert floor. Park's leg was broken, he suffered a concussion, and his mouth was filled with dirt as the parachute dragged him across the desert in a strong wind. By the time paramedics reached him, his heart had stopped. The paramedics were able to revive him, and he survived, but was forced to retire from flying. The aircraft reportedly came down like a falling leaf, wobbled around, lost control, went inverted, and went straight in. The Have Blue aircraft was destroyed in the crash. The wreckage was secretly buried somewhere on the Nellis test range complex.