The US Air Force has set aside $2 billion over the next several years to launch the accelerated development of a next-generation bomÂber that is almost certain to be unmanned and unlike anything on the ramp today. At the same time, the air force continues to evaluate manned vehicle technologies, such as a hypersonic spaceplane, that could be technologically feasible about a decade after the unmanned bomber is due to enter service in 2018.
Air force officials are confident full-scale development of an unmanned vehicle can start from 2008-10. The plan is to acÂcelerate air vehicle technologies under development for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems programme, but the Boeing X-45C and Northrop Grumman X-47B designs are considered inadequate for the new bomber requirement.
For propulsion, the air force is considering new engine concepts with variable cycles that can be efficient in subsonic and supersonic flight, says Gen Bruce Carlson, chief of Air Force Material Command, who briefed reporters at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
The unmanned vehicle would augment the USAF’s manned Boeing B-52, Northrop B-2 and Rockwell B-1 bombers, which are expected to remain in active service well beyond 2020. Last year, the air force flirted with a proposal for a manned regional bomber based on Lockheed Martin’s FB-22 concept, but this has been discarded (Flight International, 4-10 January 2005).
Flight International
Air force officials are confident full-scale development of an unmanned vehicle can start from 2008-10. The plan is to acÂcelerate air vehicle technologies under development for the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems programme, but the Boeing X-45C and Northrop Grumman X-47B designs are considered inadequate for the new bomber requirement.
For propulsion, the air force is considering new engine concepts with variable cycles that can be efficient in subsonic and supersonic flight, says Gen Bruce Carlson, chief of Air Force Material Command, who briefed reporters at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Florida.
The unmanned vehicle would augment the USAF’s manned Boeing B-52, Northrop B-2 and Rockwell B-1 bombers, which are expected to remain in active service well beyond 2020. Last year, the air force flirted with a proposal for a manned regional bomber based on Lockheed Martin’s FB-22 concept, but this has been discarded (Flight International, 4-10 January 2005).
Flight International
