Craig Brown, Phantom Ray program manager for Boeing, comments that the “Phantom Ray did exactly what it was supposed to do.” Brown also said “It communicated with the ground control station, received its orders and made its way down the runway multiple times, allowing us to assess its performance and monitor the advanced systems on board.”

The tests were the first for the Phantom Ray following its rollout ceremony in May. Boeing now will prepare Phantom Ray to travel to Edwards Air Force Base, California, on top of one of NASA’s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. At Edwards, Phantom Ray will undergo high-speed taxi tests before making its first flight. The flight-test program will last approximately six months.

Dave Koopersmith, vice president, Advanced Boeing Military Aircraft stated that “The autonomous nature of this system is unique, so achieving this milestone speaks volumes about the technology and expertise of Boeing, the Phantom Works organization and the Phantom Ray team.”

Phantom Ray is designed to support potential missions that may include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; electronic attack; strike; and autonomous aerial refueling.

Boeing’s portfolio of unmanned airborne systems solutions includes the A160T Hummingbird, Integrator, ScanEagle, SolarEagle, Phantom Eye and Phantom Ray.

-planenews.com

Headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, Aurora Flight Sciences designs and builds robotic aircraft and other advanced aerospace vehicles for scientific and military applications.

John Langford, CEO of Aurora Flight Sciences, said “Aurora strives to provide a broad range of capabilities, high quality and value to our customers.” He adds “Our on time and on budget delivery of the wing is all the more impressive given that the wing was 12 percent under its weight allocation. This project continues our relationship with the Boeing Company.” Previous contracts include high altitude airframe design studies, pressure relief valves used on the International Space Station and ultra-high altitude propulsion testing services.

The wing is a 150 foot long, multi piece design made almost entirely of out-of-autoclave composite material. The wing is a modified version of Aurora’s Orion Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) wing. The Phantom Eye wing was designed by a team of engineers based in Aurora’s Manassas, Virginia Product Development Center.

The Phantom Eye wing was fabricated and tested at Aurora’s Columbus, Mississippi plant, an 88,000 square foot advanced composite manufacturing facility. The 100 percent limit load test thoroughly validated the design and construction, applying over 13,000 lbs of force. Deflections and strain levels measured during the load test matched or bettered the predictions.

-planenews.com