Boeing unveiled details of a secret project 10 years in the making: A new stealth technology demonstrator called Bird Of Prey. "Stealth Technology Demonstrator" means it is not designed to go into production, but a demonstration of what the tech can do. The Bird Of Prey is a small plane. An actual fighter aircraft based on the Bird of Prey would probably be a bit larger.
	Similar to UCAV: The Bird of Prey has a profile similar to the UCAV (Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle.) Boeing must be leveraging their technology for both UCAV and the manned Bird of Prey aircraft. The UCAV is an extension of the successful UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) concept. UAVs have been around for a long time, but they became more visible to the public during their usage in Afghanistan.
Armed UAV = UCAV The idea to equip a UAV with Hellfire Antitank missles (and to replace one of its cameras with a laser designator) was first conceived during U.S. operations over Kosovo in 1999 . Arming a UAV allows it to immediately engage a target of opportunity, rather having to relay reconnaissance info back to base for some other asset to carry out a strike (which might allow the target to escape.) One famous engagment of a Hellfire armed UAV against Taliban forces was during the failed attempt to help anti-Taliban leader Abdul Haq avoid capture inside Afghanistan. (Abdul Haq was attempting to rally internal support for the ouster of the fundamentalist regime. Haq was captured and executed shortly thereafter.) Bird Of Prey already obsoleted by UCAV?UCAVs may take on the bulk of the roles filled by fighter bombers, but there may be a need for a "mothership" to launch and recover the vehicles - perhaps a role for a large Bird of Prey? One limitation of Unarmed Air Vehicles is the problem of awareness of the environment around an aircraft. There are still limitations in what can be conveyed via remote sensors, versus actually being there. On the other hand, I expect UCAV vehicles will eventually outperform manned aircraft because they are lighter, and won't be subject to G-force limits governed by the physical limitations of a pilot's body. Fighter pilots will have to consider their future career prospects - whether they should assume the role of UCAV pilots, or whether that role will fall to skilled enlisted soldiers is an issue to be decided. There are many other thorny problems for fighter pilots created by the UCAV, such as "flight pay" (bonus pay for flying high performance aircraft into dangerous situations - will fighter pilots get the same extra pay for sitting safely in a bunker somewhere and flying a UCAV?), and "flying hours" (time spent actually flying is logged in the pilots record - and this total plays a big role in career advancement and promotion - will flying a UCAV count toward "flying hours"?) UCAV pilots will probably require less intensive training than required to train a fighter pilot, so the job could easily be assumed be other military personelle. This recalls a similar problem described years ago as a reason the Navy was not enthusiastic about Stealth technology based surface warfare ships. Although the combat potential is potentially devastating, many Naval officers are not excited about serving on smaller stealth vessels because the best path for career advancement is to serve on larger (non stealthy) ships like Cruisers and Aircraft Carriers (which may well go the way of the battleship if stealth tech catches on in Naval surface warfare they way it has in the Air Force.) Let's hope the military chooses usefulness over career interest when selecting future weapons systems! Already an industry standard??? One last tidbit: According to Boeing's press release, the Bird of Prey "was revealed because the technologies and capabilities developed have become industry standards, and it is no longer necessary to conceal the aircraft's existence."(!!!)

11:04:18 PM    comment