news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Source: Privy Council No. 10

In fact, when I came up with this title, I couldn't help but wonder - what kind of thought process did the United States have when it developed a manned drone?

Screenshot of the report from the US "Power" website

The U.S. website "Power" said on the 9th that this out-of-the-box idea came from the U.S. military giant Northrop Grumman. The company's latest product, the Model 437 stealth drone, was recently exposed on social media for the first time. It may become the main model of the U.S. Navy or Air Force in the future. The report mentioned that the main appearance features of the drone are almost exactly the same as the concept map previously released by Northrop Grumman - except for the addition of a cockpit in the nose.

Even the US media admitted that the Model 437 drone prototype exposed this time was equipped with a pilot cockpit, which is "very strange for an advanced unmanned air combat aircraft."

According to the report, Northrop Grumman has previously withdrawn from the development of the next-generation fighter jet of the US Air Force. It is generally believed that the company will focus on the development of a new generation of "loyal wingman" drones that can cooperate with manned fighter jets in joint operations. The US Aviation Weekly also previously introduced that the Model 437 drone continues the company's previous stealth drone design and is expected to carry 4,000 pounds of fuel and fly continuously for 3,000 nautical miles at a cruising speed of Mach 0.8. The drone's internal bomb bay can be used to carry up to 1,000 pounds of limited payload, including two AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles or side-looking radar imaging sensors.

Model 437 stealth drone concept image

So far, things are still normal. According to the future UAV concept map released by the company, it uses a semi-trapezoidal fuselage, a mid-mounted swept wing, a dorsal air intake close to the rear of the canopy, a unique ridgeline around the fuselage and a V-shaped outward-inclined tail. These features have been verified on the Model 437 UAV prototype exposed this time, but the problem is that there is a cockpit on the nose of the aircraft, which is obviously prepared for the pilot, which is very strange - the location of the cockpit is very close to the dorsal air intake, which will obviously affect the air intake efficiency.

If a drone still requires a pilot to sit on it and fly it, can it really be considered a drone?

However, the report speculates that Northrop Grumman's move may have a deeper meaning. Currently, the US Navy and Air Force have their own unmanned wingman plans, and the total amount of future purchases may reach thousands. Such a huge military expenditure cake is naturally difficult for major US military giants to give up. Compared with Lockheed Martin, which is busy patching the F-35 fighter jets, and Boeing's multiple military aircraft are in trouble, Northrop Grumman currently has no other heavyweight military aircraft projects except the B-21 stealth bomber project, which is progressing smoothly overall, so it can devote enough energy to the field of unmanned wingman.

B-21 stealth bomber concept illustration

US media speculated that the US currently has many restrictions on where and how drones can be operated. The pilot-controlled mode can get rid of these restrictions, meaning that drones can fly wherever they are needed to conduct test flights or training. "It is not bound by typical drone airspace restrictions. It only needs to enter the designated airspace with a human pilot to conduct subsequent flight tests, which is a huge advantage."

For many flight test subjects, autonomous flight of drones is safer when the pilot can take over at any time and act as a safety backup. For example, the U.S. Air Force converted a retired F-16 fighter into an X-62 drone to test autonomous flight control systems, "which has been a huge success." The report speculates that if the Model 437 drone exposed this time is a special manned model developed for test flights, then it is likely that there will be an unmanned version without a cockpit. The original cockpit may be replaced by a closed fairing equipped with a satellite communication system, avionics equipment and additional sensors. With the rapid arrival of the era of highly autonomous unmanned tactical jets in the future, this may bring unique advantages to Northrop Grumman.

It is not unprecedented that drones and manned aircraft use the same platform design.

In addition, it is not ruled out that Northrop Grumman will launch an optional manned model based on the Model 437 UAV in the future. If the aircraft is approved by the Pentagon, the final purchase quantity will be as many as thousands. Such a huge production scale can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost. "A relatively cheap, subsonic, light tactical jet fighter with low detectability, excellent endurance, and almost complete commonality with unmanned aircraft may attract buyers' interest in the export market."