Sierra Nevada Completes CDR for 5th gen fighter simulating target

Until recently, there has not been a lot of targets simulating the latest generation of fighters for the US military to take potshots at in order to test the latest weapons against. The need should be obvious: the Chinese J-20 alone would be reason enough, but also the J-31, Dark Sword, Shadow Star, H-20 and, possibly, the Su-57 and PAK-DA all add to the need to test American weapons against the 5th gen.

In steps Sierra Nevada:



They just completed their Critical Design Review for the 5th Generation Aerial Target on June 20th, 2018.

The airframe is 95% carbon fiber and the target incorporates two afterburning jet engines. The first flight is intended for spring 2019.

www.flightglobal.com...

Fighter sized too it seems with twin afterburning engines. Just imagine if that thing has an internal payload bay what a modified version could do.

They blow it up?
On purpose?

Or is it "Bang, you're dead."
"Nuh uh, you missed. Neener neener."

a reply to: Phage

Yes. It beats blowing it up accidentally.

a reply to: Phage

Yup. It's called a target for a reason.

a reply to: Zaphod58

I see your point.

But you missed my funny edit.

a reply to: thebozeian

Might become rather expensive since you'd have to put in all the avionics and such for that. This is ... just a target.

a reply to: anzha
Oh I see, you mean as expensive and as difficult as this? Which is after all derived from ... just a target.

a reply to: thebozeian

That is a low end UCAV. If you are going to make something that has the properties of a 5th gen fighter, you really ought to exploit those properties and that means expensive sensors and avionics.

a reply to: anzha

I find it interesting they're building at Tehachapi. That airport is a crap hole that just got lit up by the FAA last year.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Probably because its very, very cheap to rent space there.

a reply to: anzha

That's about the only advantage to it. God that airport sucks.

a reply to: anzha
Sorry I should have been clearer. I'm not suggesting you take this drone and turn it into a 5th Gen, you are right it would be expensive. However it has some of the properties of a 5th Gen but is probably missing a lot of the advanced technology like an EA capable AESA, DAS etc. What it will have is LO and quiet signatures that make it harder to find and intercept, almost certainly those traits are why it has been developed. I think that given the lineage of the Kratos Valkyrie/XQ-58A it is quite feasible to convert this drone into a similar Loyal Wingman type with basic or relevant sensors and data links. The advantage I see here is that with a pair of afterburning engines it will be capable of a fast dash speed which can be useful when ingressing or egressing close to a target. That is not something I believe the Valkyrie has. I may be wrong but on what little info we have seen it could be bigger than the XQ-58A, therefore has potential for greater payload and range. This would be a longer range heavier payload compliment to Valkyrie, not a competitor.

a reply to: thebozeian

The drone is about 12.2m (40ft) long and has a 7.3m wingspan, sitting less than a metre off the ground. It is designed to be launched and landed using a conventional runway, and has a maximum gross weight of 4,350kg (9,600lb) with full fuel.

“Max gross [weight] was supposed to be about 13,000lb,” says Amacher, noting the prototype is substantially underweight.

The lightweight aircraft is designed to sustain up to +7.5g and -2g. It should be able to reach Mach 0.95, have a flight endurance of 1.5h and a maximum operating altitude of 40,000-45,000ft.

www.flightglobal.com...

Light weight and very short range.

a reply to: anzha

Looks a bit like a Colonial Viper.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Cue theme music.

As much as I liked Lorne Green, I think Olmos was a better Adama. Perhaps it was the cheeziness from the original that I couldn't take anymore. When I was a kid, I loved it, but hadn't seen it for years. When the new series came out, I went back and ... yikes.

a reply to: anzha

The yikes is how it withstands the test of time. I have the box set that has it all, including 1980.

Something I had a small hand in.