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| Bird of Prey | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Role | Stealth testbed |
| Manufacturer | Boeing |
| First flight | 1996 |
| Retired | 1999 |
| Status | Experimental |
| Number built | 1 |
The Bird of Prey was a black project aircraft, intended to demonstrate stealth technology, developed by McDonnell Douglascitation needed. Funded by the company at a price of $67 million, it was a very cost-effective program (compared to many other programs of similar scale), developing technology and materials which would later be used on Boeing's X-45 UCAV. As an internal project, this aircraft was not given an X-plane designation.
There are no public plans to make this a production aircraft. It is characterized as a technology demonstrator.
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Development
Development of the Bird of Prey began in 1992 by McDonnell Douglas's Phantom Works division for special projects. The aircraft's name is a reference to the Klingon Bird of Prey warship from the Star Trek television series.1 Phantom Works later became part of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems after the Boeing–McDonnell Douglas merger in 1997.
The first flight was in 1996, and 39 more were performed through the program's conclusion in 1999citation needed. The Bird of Prey is rumored to have been used to test active camouflage, which would involve coatings or panels capable of changing color or luminositycitation needed.
While these are "un-confirmable" press rumors, the Bird of Prey was otherwise key in the development of a new kind of low-visibility camouflage. Areas that are usually lit most brightly (such as the horizontal flat surfaces over the wings and the top of the fuselage) were painted more darkly, and areas that are usually not quite as bright (such as the sides of the fuselage and other more vertical surfaces) were painted a lighter shade of graycitation needed. This reduced the overall contrast of the aircraft, making the whole shape appear to be one relatively even shade of gray. This made the Bird of Prey's features difficult to discern, and made it harder to see against the sky. These low-visibility ideas are currently in use in the F-22 Raptor.
The aircraft was made public on 2002 October 18, and was put on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio on 2003 July 16.
Design
Because it was a demonstration aircraft, the Bird of Prey used a commercial off-the-shelf turbofan engine and manual hydraulic controls rather than fly-by-wire. This shortened the development time and reduced the cost significantly (a production aircraft would have computerized controls).
The shape is aerodynamically stable enough to be flown without computer correction, a characteristic not found in other modern fighters or stealth planes, such as the F-16 or the F-117. Its aerodynamic stability is due to the same mechanisms found in canard aircraft such as the VariEze, the lift normally generated by the canards being provided by the chines (which therefore keeps the nose from sinking). This configuration, which can be stable without a horizontal tailplane and a conventional vertical rudder, is now a standard in modern stealth UAVs such as the X-45 and X-47, tailless aircraft which use drag rudders (asymmetrically-used wingtip airbrakes) for rudder control.
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: approximately 47 ft 0 in (14.30 m)
- Wingspan: approximately 23 ft 0 in (7.00 m)
- Height: ()
- Max takeoff weight: 7,380 lb (3,350 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5C , 2,900 lbf (12.9 kN)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 260 knots (482 km/h)
- Service ceiling 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
References
- ^ USAF Museum literature
External links
- "Boeing Unveils Bird of Prey Stealth Technology Demonstrator," Boeing press release.
- "Now you see it, now you won't: Boeing lifts the veil on stealthy Bird of Prey", Jane's International Defence Review article mentioning Bird of Prey's daylight stealth capability
- GlobalSecurity.org
See also
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Related development
Comparable aircraft
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 19 December 2008, at 21:40.
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