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| Science & Technology |
| Lockheed Pitches UQ-2 or RQ-X for Future Spy Missions |
| 2015-08-29 |
| Six decades after it unveiled the U-2 Dragon Lady, Lockheed Martin Corp. is pitching a replacement spy plane called the UQ-2 or RQ-X. The world's largest defense contractor recently discussed the idea with reporters at its Skunk Works advanced projects facility in Palmdale, California, which birthed not only the U-2, but also the SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft, F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack plane and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet. The so-called UQ-2 or RQ-X, as the design is known within the company, would still carry many of the same sensors as the U-2, utilize the same F118 engine and fly at 70,000 feet, but it would feature a new low-observable body and have more endurance, according to an article by James Drew, a reporter for Flight Global. "Think of a low-observable U-2," says Scott Winstead, Lockheed's U-2 strategic development manager, told the publication. "It's pretty much where the U-2 is today, but add a low-observable body and more endurance." The hardest part for the company may not be developing the technology, but convincing Air Force officials and lawmakers of the need for it. The Air Force plans to retire its fleet of more than 30 U-2s in fiscal 2019, a move that's estimated to save some $2 billion over a decade. In its place, it plans to fly the RQ-4 Global Hawk drone made by Northrop Grumman Corp. Lockheed has already successfully convinced U.S. officials to delay the planned retirement of the U-2 -- a plane that has already outlasted the SR-71, another once meant to replace it. Indeed, military leaders have praised the unmatched performance of the Dragon Ladies even while trying to retire them. Last year, for example, top Air Force officials acknowledged that the proposed drone replacement for the U-2 was still years away -- and only then with key sensors and cameras cannibalized from the aircraft. When asked why the Air Force couldn't get new cameras for the Global Hawk Block 30 drones, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer said, "it would be cost prohibitive," according to an article by my colleague Richard Sisk. Spencer didn't give cost estimates, but said the solution was to "unbolt the sensor on the U-2 and bolt it onto the Block 30." A month later, Army Gen. Curtis "Mike" Scaparrotti, commander of U.S. Forces-Korea, told lawmakers that the U-2 gives better early warning of a potential attack from North Korea than the Global Hawk Block 30 unmanned aerial vehicle. "In my particular case, the U-2 provides a unique capability that the Global Hawk presently does not provide," he said, according to another article by Sisk. Yet even if Lockheed is able to convince military officials of the need for a new high-altitude, long-endurance airplane, it would have to do the same with lawmakers who can't agree on a way to roll back automatic spending caps that threaten the defense budget. |
| Posted by:Vast Right Wing Conspiracy |
| #3 I've watched a few of them taxi :-) |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-08-29 16:11 |
| #2 |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2015-08-29 16:09 |
| #1 F-35 programme and overruns likely consumed much of the developmental budget, but no one mentions it. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-08-29 07:50 |