With their test phase completed, the design did not materialized into a formal UCAV contract order by the USAF which then saw Boeing attempting to sell its X-45 to the United States Navy (USN). The USN favored a competing design from Northrop Grumman (to become the "X-47"). As such, the X-45 program was ended and both of the original X-45A aircraft were handed to American museums - the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum of Washington, D.C and the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
The Boeing "Phantom Ray" became an offshoot of the X-45 work, its first flight being in 2011 with only one having been completed to date (2014).
The X-45A took on a most unique design form with its hard, clean lines, well-blended dorsal section, and swept mainplanes. The vehicle lacked any conventional tail unit (including vertical tail fins) and its turbofan engine was buried deep within the upper section of the fuselage - allowing the ventral side to remain flat. The single engine was aspirated at the front of the design by way of an intake and exhausted through a shallow port at the rear - the installation running nearly the full length of the aircraft. The undercarriage was wholly retractable and of a tricycle arrangement. Flight control was autonomous though pilots on the ground could input control if required.
Boeing engineers, at its famous "Phantom Works" location, completed two flyable X-45As and these were to represent a future, full-sized version still-to-come. General ground running and flight testing then led to ordnance drops which proved the machine sound on the whole. The pair of X-45s were sometimes flown together and showed their prowess in operating - autonomously and in conjunction with one another - when engaging simulated threats. They utilized their software for optimal approaches, interpreting the level of the threats, and resource management successfully. With their flying days over, the pair were then retired having flown dozens of flights.
Dimensionally, the X-45A held a running length of 26.5 feet, a wingspan of 33.9 feet, and a height of 6.7 feet. Its empty listed weight was 8,000lbs. A pair of long internal weapons bays were seated in the belly allowing for the carrying of JDAMs (Joint Direct Attack Munition) or similar guided drop bombs. The X-45A was outfitted with a Honeywell F124-GA-100 turbofan engine, giving it a maximum speed of 570 miles per hour (up to Mach 0.75) and a range of 1,500 miles. Its operational service ceiling was 40,000 feet.
Technical Specifications:
Manufacturer:
Boeing Company / DARPA - USA
Initial Year of Service:
2002
Production Total:
2
Crew:
0
Length:
26.57 ft (8.1 m)
Width:
33.79 ft (10.30 m)
Height:
7.02ft (2.14 m)
Weight (Empty):
8,003 lb (3,630 kg)
Weight (MTOW):
0 lb (0 kg)
Powerplant:
1 x Honeywell F124-GA-100 turbofan engine of unknown thrust output
Maximum Range:
1,491 miles (2,400 km)
Service Ceiling:
43,307 ft (13,200 m; 8.2 miles)
Rate-of-Climb:
0 feet-per-minute (0 m/min)
Hardpoints:
8 - 2 weapon bays with 4 in each - and provisions to carry combinations of:
Bombs: JDAM, Small diameter bomb
Armament Suite:
Precision-guided bombs across two internal weapons bays
Variants:
X-45 -
Base Series Designation
X-45A -
In 1999 Boeing was awarded a demonstration phase contract by DARPA and the USAF. Under the contract, Boeing Phantom Works completed two X-45A demonstrator air vehicles. The roll out ceremony of the first vehicle was in September 2001. The first flight was completed in May 2002.
Boeing Company in Seattle is the principle contractor responsible for the X-45 programme and is also responsible for the provision and implementation of the mission control aspects. Boeing in St Louis is responsible for the development of the air vehicle
A series of block 1 tests on both X-45A vehicles, including timing and positional navigation trials, autonomous taxiing and the integration of ground mission control elements, was completed in February 2003.
Block 2 testing, which began in March 2003, included integration of the unmanned vehicles with manned aircraft. By March 2004 the block 2 software build was completed and the first flight tests of the block 2 software were successfully completed. Block 3 testing includes mission replanning during flight, station keeping manoeuvres and the simulated deployment and dropping of inert weapons. Block 4 testing completed in August 2005, included the transfer of decision making to the air from the ground-based control station.
After the completion of the flight test program, both X-45As were sent to museums, one to the National Air and Space Museum, and the other to the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where it was inducted on November 13, 2006.
X-45B -
Full-sized form of the X-45A
 |
| X-45C from the side |
X-45C -
The X-45C has a larger payload performance (2,041kg), persistence and range envelope than the X-45B. The X-45C has a similar fuselage design to that of the X-45B but with a new wing design that gives the X-45C its distinctive arrowhead shaped profile. Boeing began assembly of the first of three X-45C demonstrators in June 2004 and first flight was in 2007, followed by a two-year operational assessment.The X-45C portion of the program received $767 million from DARPA in October 2004, to construct and test three aircraft, along with several supplemental goals. The X-45C included an F404 engine. In July 2005, DARPA awarded an additional $175 million to continue the program, as well as implement autonomous Aerial refueling technology.
On March 2, 2006, the US Air Force decided not to continue with the X-45 project. However, Boeing submitted a proposal to the Navy for a carrier based demonstrator version of the X-45, designated the X-45N.
X-45N -
The X-45N was Boeing's proposal to the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air Systems demonstration project. When it became known that the US Air Force would end funding to the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System program (which included the X-45 and X-47), the US Navy started its own UCAS program. Requirements were defined over the summer of 2006, and proposals were submitted in April 2007.
The first flight of the X-45N was planned for November 2008, had Boeing won the contract. The contract was eventually awarded to Northrop Grumman's proposed naval X-47, thus ending the X-45 program.
The software Boeing developed to allow the X-45N to land and takeoff autonomously on aircraft carriers has recently been installed on the first F/A-18F, which has used it to perform autonomous approaches. All autonomous approaches ended with a wave-off by design. This Super Hornet is expected to be able to hook the carrier's arrester cables autonomously by the 2009 timeframe, setting the stage for carrier-borne UAV operations.
Boeing planned to develop and demonstrate an unmanned flying test bed for advanced air system technologies. The internally funded program, called Phantom Ray, uses the X-45C prototype vehicle that Boeing originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy Joint-Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) program. The UAV was not aimed at any particular program or competition. However, Boeing may plan to use a design based on the Phantom Ray for the Navy's unmanned carrier-launched surveillance and strike (UCLASS) program.
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