DARPA awards Boeing $9M to further develop Phamtom Swift

a reply to: FlyersFan

If Boeing ends up getting a contract to build these, then yes it will be built by American's, somewhere in America.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: Psynic

Agreed. With something like THIS and Lockmart's FUSION REACTOR PROJECT an all electric drive system powerful enough to keep an aircraft in the air for long periods of time might not be that far fetched.

Do you remember when the navy announced they would be putting rail guns on subs?

The announcement was hastily retracted soon afterwards.

I wonder whether the new 'Enterprise' EDestroyer uses this new technology as opposed to the conventional turbine generator of the official press releases?

a reply to: Psynic

I'm not sure. It's possible I suppose. The think about the rails guns is that, like huge capacitors, they require vast amounts of electrical power to be stored and then quickly discharged all at once. So what ever can generate the most amount of electricity in the quickest amount of time to recharge the bank for another shot would be the way to go for naval rail guns.
It would also have to be rugged enough to survive long duration blue water missions.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: Psynic

I'm not sure. It's possible I suppose. The think about the rails guns is that, like huge capacitors, they require vast amounts of electrical power to be stored and then quickly discharged all at once. So what ever can generate the most amount of electricity in the quickest amount of time to recharge the bank for another shot would be the way to go for naval rail guns.
It would also have to be rugged enough to survive long duration blue water missions.

The USS Zumwalt has electric drive and is designed to be the first naval platform for a rail gun.

en.paperblog.com...

I believe the "ruggedness" issue has been addressed.

originally posted by: 12m8keall2c

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Wondering what the purpose of this little craft is going to be.

With a required ability for the end product to carry 10,000-12,000 pounds, I'd have to think they want to arm it in some form or fashion

???

Hmmm?

Aerial rail gun?

wasting taxpayers money on large scale drones that carry machine guns, bombs,rockets,lasers and spy on you with camera's. Looks like the model on terminator. Pretty soon they'll be flying around asking to scan your tatoo because you not in the work camp and running around.

My bad SM didn't see your thread.

Any idea what the projected speed is? Also interested what sort of missions this will be used on, I can see a ton of uses. Any idea just how high this thing will be able to hover?

a reply to: Domo1

No worries mate.

I believe the full scale airframe is projected to be in the 400+ mph range, which is pretty good for a craft that has helicopter like abilities.
As for max. altitude, I would think that is should be a shade better than helicopters in straight and level flight as it has higher forward momentum and larger wing lifting surfaces than a helo. In hover mode I'm guessing no better than a traditional helo.
I see the mission similar to the Firescout or K-Max's. It could also be usefull in the hands of SOF's.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: Psynic

Agreed. With something like THIS and Lockmart's FUSION REACTOR PROJECT an all electric drive system powerful enough to keep an aircraft in the air for long periods of time might not be that far fetched.

I'm thinking more Tesla power than Fermi.

I only mentioned submarines and rail guns because, when the combination appeared in the news, I was baffled at such a delirious announcement by the USN. It coincided with the miraculous rise of Zen electric cars and explosion into the stock market, followed by it's immediate disappearance from the electric vehicle industry and partnership with Lockheed for something described at the time as, an aircraft on-board electrical generator.

The theory is, 'Zen Motors', who were rumoured to have made a breakthrough in electric vehicle propulsion were bought off by the MIC/API.

The USN later explained the over-enthusiasm and retraction of the 'Rail Guns on Subs' project as a realization that a sub would be giving up stealth by surfacing to fire a railgun. What I could never understand was where they were going to get that much EXTRA electricity on an existing boat? There was talk of using 2 or 4 (can't remember) of the missile launch tubes to accommodate the gun and it's related systems (?) They seemed to 'be beside themselves with excitement', prematurely releasing evidence of a watershed moment in electrical generation, very strange for the USN.

The other synchronous event that tied in to the heady days after this new energy device was 'discovered', was the contract to build the USS Zumwalt, the first, supposedly, 'all-electric warship, and a much more logical platform for a rail gun than a converted boomer.

This, admittedly thin, chronological line of events is what I'm speculating on for the possibility of a 'Unity Plus' breakthrough.

Without some sort of new, undisclosed, power source, NOT dependent on fossil fuel or fusion, I don't think the Phantom can ever be anything more than a proof of concept demonstrator, without any "real" plane ever to be forthcoming.