UK Stealth spy plane

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n_kitson

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This, from the BBC. Link<br /><br />It probably should be in Free Space, but to avoid the political noise I'm posting it here where it will be truly appreciated.<br /><font color="yellow"><br />Covers come off UK spy plane <br />By Paul Rincon <br />BBC News science reporter <br /><br /><br /><br />Images of the UK's first prototype stealth surveillance aircraft have been unveiled. <br />The unmanned vehicle, which has been built by BAE Systems, is known as the Corax, or as the Raven. <br /><br />The Corax bears some resemblance to a cancelled US military spy plane called DarkStar, analysts have said. <br /><br />Jane's International Defence Review said the unmanned aircraft "indicated a new direction in combat vehicles for the UK's armed forces". <br /><br />Bill Sweetman, the magazine's aerospace and technology editor, said Corax could represent one member of a family of stealthy aircraft based around a similar central body but using different outer wings optimised for different missions. <br /><br />"If you look at that Corax shape, it's very reminiscent of something that's designed to fly fairly high, fairly slow and have quite a long endurance. It looks rather typical for a surveillance aircraft," he told the BBC News website. <br /><br />"But if you take those long outer wings off and put on shorter swept wings, you have a somewhat faster aircraft that would be more of a penetrating strike platform." <br /><br />Future plans <br /><br />The US and British armed forces believe these pilotless planes will play an increasingly vital role on 21st Century battlefields. <br /><br />The UK has reportedly scrapped plans for a future manned combat aircraft and is working closely with the US on "Project Churchill". <br /><br /><br />This is an effort focused on combining ideas about the command and control of unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) from 2015 onwards. <br />The Corax prototype has been built to investigate t</font>
 
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skyone

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Interesting....US air force is cancelling its own J-UCAS program. In other words, x-45 and x-47 <img src="/images/icons/frown.gif" /><br />Bomber fleet, U2, B1 and tankers also taking hits....all to free up mulla to buy a few more F-22. Bizzare.
 
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john_316

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It looks like an X-45 body with F-22 like wings.<br /><br />Good for BAE I guess as they are tryign ot drum up more business both in Europe and the USA.<br /><br />But I still think Boeings X-45C program is on track for some real UCAV work soon.<br /><br /><br />Make you think doesn't it? Is it possible we have had some of these drone projects in Black Ops 10-15 years prior to the release of these UAV's to the public as new designs.<br /><br />I mean I think they should or could have had 100+ drones already built if they were a Black Program and not all transparent like they seem to be.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /><br />
 
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CalliArcale

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<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Interesting....US air force is cancelling its own J-UCAS program.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Are you sure about that? Last I heard, it was still alive and well. It's a joint program by DARPA, the USAF, and the US Navy. Boeing and Northrup Grumman are the two primes; it's a competitive program, like Raptor or JSF. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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jschaef5

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"the aircraft appears to be a small-scale demonstrator powered by a commercially available model aircraft jet engine "<br /><br />OH NO!! they are going to bomb us with model airplanes!!!<br /><br /><br />...anyways, I think its good that the world is going towards unmanned planes now. The less humans involved in war the better, in my opinion. Now we just need to start making unmanned soldiers to fight for us. And then war won't have to be about casualties, but more about who has better technology/money to build the best/most robots. I don't know if we will ever get this far but planes are a possible starting point down that road. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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yurkin

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That looks hot.<br /><br />Its hard to get scale though from that picture.
 
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robotical

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Calli-<br />It was just reported last week. Although I've been left somewhat confused by the different reports. I'm not sure if it has been canceled or if its cancelation is simply going to be recommended. This article says it has been canceled:<br /><br />http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002079.html#comments <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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SpaceKiwi

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<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>... And then war won't have to be about casualties, but more about who has better technology/money to build the best/most robots. I don't know if we will ever get this far but planes are a possible starting point down that road.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />A reduction in the need to fight wars would be a preferrable scenario but, given that's never gonna happen, I guess you could do the same with tanks and battlefield artillery? Anything that removes humans from harm's way has to be a overall plus.<br /><br />Of course, the illogical extension of such a policy would be future wars being decided by a particularly hard-fought game of Risk. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>
 
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CalliArcale

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Interesting news, robotical. Thanks. I'll see what I can find out through my industry contacts; that's quite a surprise to me. I suppose it shouldn't entirely be -- there have been a number of similar surprises recently as various projects get eaten by the Budget Monster. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>
 
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davf

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Says the guy who was launching drones before a bunch of the people in here were even born... lol
 
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