Northrop Grumman Reveals Bigger FirebirdA two-seat production derivative of Northrop Grumman’s secretly developed Firebird medium-altitude optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) demonstrator has begun test flights for an unidentified customer.
Flown by two Northrop test pilots, the OPV made its first flight from Mojave, Calif., on Nov. 12. Powered by a single Lycoming TEO-540E piston engine, the twin-boom configured aircraft climbed to 3,880 ft. and reached a maximum speed of 100 kt. during a short, 6-min. circuit.
Some 30% larger than the Firebird demonstrator unveiled in 2011, the production-ready variant is 35.5 ft. in length and has a wingspan of 72.2 ft. The second pilot position was added at the request of the customer, adding a new dimension to the concept of a purpose-designed UAV with the option of an onboard pilot.
The original single-seater version was designed to enable the Firebird to transit through commercial airspace as a conventional aircraft. According to Northrop, the addition of the second seat now gives users the option of a co-pilot and/or sensor systems operator position, while retaining the original goal of providing a low-cost platform for persistent surveillance.
If not being operated in piloted mode, the Firebird UAV is designed to be commanded by a ground station to operate in either line-of-sight (LOS) unmanned mode or beyond-LOS mode. “If you want to go farther [beyond LOS] the canopy comes off, the Garmin [pilot’s avionics] system comes out of the flight panel and an L3 satcom antenna goes in,” says Firebird Program Manager Jerry Madigan.
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