DARPA requested design studies for a stealth fighter from Boeing, General Dynamics, Grumman, McDonnell Douglas and Northrop in 1974. Small design contracts were awarded to Northrop and McDonnell Douglas in early 1975. Later that year also Lockheed was allowed to participate at its own cost. In September 1975 Northrop and Lockheed were chosen to design a small prototype aircraft in Phase I. After RCS tests of 1/3 scale models between December 1975 and January 1976 Lockheed was awarded a contract to build two flying prototypes in Phase II under the code name Have Blue in April 1976. The first Have Blue aircraft made its maiden flight on 1 December 1977 from the Groom Lake AFB. The first aircraft was lost on 4 May 1978 and the second on 11 July 1979. Lockheed was awarded a contract to build five FSD aircraft under the code name Senior Trend in November 1978.
The Northrop proposal resembled the Have Blue in many respects. Both used flat faceted surfaces to deflect radar waves away from the aircraft and had twin inward canted vertical tails. The Nortrop aircraft used a single dorsal inlet just aft of the cockpit for two jet engines buried deep in the airframe with shielded exhausts. It had more sweep on the leading than on the trailing edges, and was designed primarily for a low frontal RCS at the cost of the rear aspect.
The Carter Administration cancelled the B-1A supersonic high altitude penetration bomber in June 1977 in favour of cruise missiles. At about the same time the Air Force conducted, under the code name Saber Penetrator, a design study that envisioned a new bomber specifically designed to penetrate Soviet airspace. The aircraft would utilize the most advanced technology available and need not be in service until 1990. The resulting ATB program was initiated in 1978 to produce a high/medium altitude penetration bomber. The Lockheed/Rockwell proposal for the competition was code named Senior Peg and the Northrop/Boeing/LTV proposal Senior Ice. General Electric and Pratt & Whitney competed separately for engine development contracts. The Northrop/Boeing/LTV N-14 design was awarded a $7.3 billion development contract on 20 October 1981 under the code name Senior C. J. The contract covered six Engineering, Manufacturing and Development airframes and two static-test articles. General Electric was chosen as the engine manufacturer.
The ATB program was highly secret, unclassified information amounting to the fact that Northrop, Boeing, LTV and General Electric were the main contractors, 132 were to be built, and the aircraft incorporated low-observable technology. The B-2, as the ATB was later designated, was intended to replace the B-1B as a penetration bomber during the 1990s, and the B-1B would then in turn replace the B-52 as a cruise missile carrier. In 1983 the Air Force decided that the B-2 should be able to attack also from low altitudes, which forced a major redesign of the aircraft and increased costs by over $1 billion. Computers were used extensively in the design and manufacturing of the B-2. The first YB-2A prototype made its maiden flight on 17 July 1989. In the early 1990s Northrop and E-Systems proposed a recon variant of the B-2A as the RB-2A with a recon payload in a heavily modified weapons bay. A SIGINT variant was also proposed as the EB-2A.
The Lockheed/Rockwell Senior Peg proposal was a flying wing with a single sawtooth trailing edge like the initial Northrop vehicle, but smaller. Apparently it featured a V-tail at the end of a boom projecting from the rear fuselage. It was a faceted design resembling the Have Blue, as Lockheed could not then analyze curved shapes with its computer programs.
The Air Force first identified the need for an F-15 replacement in November 1981, and awarded concept definition contracts to 7 aircraft manufacturers in September 1983. Formal ATF request for proposals was issued in September 1985. The program was code named Senior Sky. In April 1986 the Navy agreed to consider a variant of the ATF dubbed NATF as a replacement for its F-14 and in late 1988 a program office was set up at WPAFB. Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics and Northrop/McDonnell Douglas were chosen to built two prototypes each for the demonstration/validation phase in October 1986. The YF-23 made its first flight on 27 August and the YF-22 on 29 September 1990. Prototype flying ended at the end of 1990. The F-22/F119 combination was chosen for production on 23 April 1991. The NATF requirement was cancelled in early 1991.
In 1981 the Army requested design concepts for a reconnaissance, attack and air combat helicopter under the LHX program. The LHX was intended to lead to a family of helicopters, some 5,000 of which would be acquired to replace the UH-1, AH-1, OH-6 and OH-58. Initially, Bell and Hughes responded. After McDonnell Douglas absorbed Hughes, it teamed with Bell to develop a joint proposal. Boeing and Sikorsky announced teaming in June 1985, by which time the Army requirement had reduced to 2,096 helicopters, the UH-1 replacement being dropped. The demonstration/validation phase request for proposals was issued in June 1988. Boeing/Sikorsky LH First Team and Bell/McDonnell Douglas LH Super Team participated. In 1990 the Army requirement was further reduced to 1,292 examples with an option for 389. The Boeing/Sikorsky team was given a demonstration/validation contract for four (later reduced to two) prototypes designated YRAH-66 on 5 April 1991.
The Bell/McDonnell Douglas proposal featured Bell's 680 all-composite four-bladed rotor system and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter System's NOTAR (No Tail Rotor). The helicopter was to have had an all-composite fuselage, retractable landing gear, fly-by-wire flight controls and state-of-the-art crew stations.
The Navy launched the ATA program, designed to replace the A-6 with IOC in 1996, in February 1984. Proposals were submitted by Northrop/Grumman/Vought, Lockheed/LTV and General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas. In November 1984 the Navy awarded Concept Definition Studies contracts to Northrop/Grumman/Vought and General Dynamics/MDD. Demonstration/validation contracts were awarded in June 1986 to Northrop/Grumman/ Vought and General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas. The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas design was chosen for full-scale development as the A-12 in January 1988. Eight flight test and five ground test airfames were to be delivered under the FSD contract. The Navy originally planned to purchase 620 and the Marine Corps 238 aircraft at an unit cost of about $100 million. In April 1986, the Air Force agreed to consider buying 400 examples as F-111 replacements.
The key improvement of the A-12 over existing aircraft was to be stealth, which would be accomplished partially by internal carriage of ordnance. The A-12 was designed to fly faster and further than the A-6, carry a greater bomb load and be twice as reliable. Composites were used extensively in the aircraft's structure, but they did not result in anticipated weight savings. Some structural elements had to be replaced with heavier metal components, and the aircraft's weight exceeded design specifications by 30%. Problems were experienced with the complex Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar system and there were delays in advanced avionics systems.
Richard Cheney's Major Aircraft Review in April 1990 slowed the production rate and dropped the 238 Marine Corps aircraft from the original total buy of 858 aircraft. The Air Force buy was delayed from 1992 to 1998 and decoupled from the Navy project. In June 1990 the A-12 contractors subsequently revealed that the project was faced with serious engineering problems and a $2 billion cost overrun, which would delay the first flight by over a year, to the fall of 1991, and raise the unit cost substantially. The Navy finally terminated the contract for default on 7 January 1991. A full scale mockup and a crew station flight simulator had been constructed before cancellation.
The Navy's Notional Air Wing planned for 2010 was 24 NATFs, 24 MRFs, 14 A-12s, 5 EA-6B ADVCAPs, 5 E-2+, 10 S-3Bs, and 8 SH-60F/HH-60H. Both active and reserve air wings were to have been in this configuration.
After the cancellation of the A-12 and NATF, some consideration was given to an upgraded A-6, F-14 or F/A-18 as a replacement. But instead a new program called A-X (Attack-X) was initiated in January 1991. It was to provide the Navy and Air Force with a common strike aircraft to replace the F-14, A-6, F-111, F-117 and F-15E. Unit cost was estimated as $150 million as opposed to the $165 million of the A-12. The range, payload and stealth requirements were scaled back from those of the A-12, and the strike role was emphasized at the expense of the air-to-air mission. The aircraft was to have two seats and twin engines. IOC was planned for 2000-2004. Five teams, as Grumman/Boeing/Lockheed, Boeing/Lockheed/General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas/LTV, Rockwell/Lockheed, and General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas, were awarded $20 million contracts on 30 December 1991. A solicitation for Demonstration/Validation proposals was expected in late 1992, leading to a Dem/Val start in 1994 and EMD in 1996. In late 1992 Congress directed the Dem/Val phase to include competitive prototyping, and around the same time the program was redesignated A/F-X. IOC was expected around 2008, but the program was cancelled on 1 September 1993.
The Grumman/Boeing/Lockheed team proposed a scaled-down version of the F-22. The General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas team rehashed its A-12 design and the Boeing/General Dynamics/Lockheed team offered a development of the F-22.
The MRF program was initiated by the Air Force in 1991 as a relatively low-cost F-16 replacement. It was to be a single-seat, single-engine aircraft with a unit flyaway cost of $35 to $50 million. In addition to F-16s, the MRF could potentially also replace A-10 and F-18 aircraft. The program was put on hold in August 1992, and finally cancelled in early 1993.
Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk (Senior Trend)
Northrop Tacit Blue
Lockheed/Boeing RQ-3A Tier III- DarkStar
Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) Bird of Prey
Hughes AGM-129 ACM
Northrop AGM-137 TSSAM
Lockheed AGM-158 JASSM
For information on these (and lots of other) missiles, please refer to the excellent Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles by Andreas Parsch.
The Boeing RASV comprised a ground-based sled to accelerate the aircraft to takeoff speed on a conventional runway, and a delta-winged, piloted orbital vehicle. The RASV was designed to be constructed of conventional refractory metals such as titanium and Rene-41, with the cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants contained within the "hot structure" wing acting as a heat sink to cool the airframe and reduce weight. Powered by two modified SSMEs, the RASV attracted considerable attention from the Air Force, which invested $3 million in the project for technology development in the early 1980s.
Initiated by AFSC with one-year study contracts awarded to General Dynamics and Rockwell in 1981. Technology studies of small manned spacecraft based on two generic launch concepts: subsonic air launch and "staged" ground launch. Replaced by the Advanced Military Space Technology (AMST) program with a contract awarded to Boeing in January 1984 to determine key aerodynamic and performance parameters associated with air-launching a so-called AMST/TAV orbiter from a carrier aircraft.
Program begun in mid-1982. Stanley Tremaine coined the term “Transatmospheric Vehicle”, as the craft should be able to operate with equal efficiency both within the atmosphere and in space and be capable of transitioning from space into the atmosphere and back. Phase I of the TAV study began in May 1983 with Battelle Laboratories working with Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed, and Rockwell. McDonnell-Douglas submitted its own unsolicited TAV proposal. Phase I ended in December 1983 and resulted in 14 vehicle concepts. Phase II started in August 1984 with a twelve-month contract to Science Applications. In Phase II selected industry concepts were evaluated against alternative solutions such as advanced aircraft and the necessary technologies were further examined with emphasis on determining the military effectiveness of a TAV. The TAV was expected to be the size of a small airliner with a gross liftoff weight of 1 to 1.5 million lbs and using up-rated SSMEs for propulsion in the first generation. A TAV Project office was established in December 1984 under the direction of Lt Col Vince Rausch. By early 1986 the TAV program had been replaced by NASP with the entire TAV staff transferring into the NASP JPO.
A classified program begun in 1982 to determine the technical feasibility of a military aerospace plane. Requirements were for a sled-launched horizontal-takeoff / horizontal-landing single stage to orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle powered by a modified SSME with a two-position nozzle. Dry mass was to be 100,000-150,000 lb, takeoff mass 1,2-1,5 million lb with a 10,000 lb payload to a polar orbit from Grand Forks AFB. The craft was to have a turn-around time of 12 hours, be ready to launch within two hours of an alert and have 24 hours orbital capacity. AMSC concepts from Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas were hand-picked for further development with Rocketdyne and Air Products as propulsion contractors. The Boeing concept was the RASV vehicle. The McDonnell Douglas proposal was named the Global Range Mach 29 Aerospace Plane, or GRM-29A. It had a down-pointing SSME in the nose to cater for the runway requirements. The Lockheed Zero Length Launch TransAtmospheric Vehicle (ZEL-TAV) used a ramped takeoff with two solid boosters. By 1984 it had become clear that horizontal takeoff was inappropriate use of rocket power, and the program was superseded by Science Realm.
The program was initiated in 1984 as a follow-on to Science Dawn. In contrast to Science Dawn, which stressed horizontal takeoff, Science Realm investigated vertical takeoff SSTO designs, capitalizing on the high thrust-to-weight ratio of a rocket engine. During the program structural test articles were designed based on Science Dawn designs. The cost of Science Dawn and Science Realm together was about $20 million.
In 1986 Science Realm was followed by the Have Region program, to complement the ongoing air-breathing work in the NASP program. Main goal was to further develop structures and TPS to reduce risk. Under the program three prototype lightweight structures in scales from 40 to 100% were fabricated from exotic metals, primarily titanium and high-temperature superalloys, to evaluate near-term flight readiness. The cross-sectional structures with integral cryogenic tanks were tested in simulated ascent and re-entry conditions. In tests the Boeing concept was validated and the built but untested Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas designs were classified as partial successes. The test articles were within 3% of required SSTO design weights. Regardless in 1988 it was concluded that the materials developed for NASP were more promising. Total cost of Have Region was around $40 million.
In June 1983 DARPA initiated the classified Copper Canyon program to investigate the potential military applications of air-breathing hypersonic and single stage to orbit vehicles and technologies with Vince Rausch as project director. Tony DuPont’s initial design from 1983 originated from a NASA study into engine cycles and was a 50,000 lb “F-15 sized“ aircraft. Funded with $6 million for 1983, with Battelle Laboratories doing the main work and initial contracts for airframe work to Boeing, Lockheed and General Dynamics, and propulsion work to Marquardt and GASL. In mid-1985 the TAV group at the USAF Aeronautical Systems Center became aware of the work being done under Copper Canyon. The TAV studies and contractor designs had concentrated on rocket-based single stage to orbit vehicles rather than the air-breathing vehicles envisioned by Copper Canyon. Soon both groups were discussing a multibillion dollar effort to produce a single stage to orbit aircraft in collaboration with NASA and other DOD agencies to reduce the cost of access to space. In October 1985 the USAF ASC launched the Advanced Aerospace Vehicle (AAV) program to develop advanced hypersonic military aircraft. In December 1985 the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) program was born, a civilian led national effort to develop a single stage to orbit vehicle. NASP JPO was established in January 1986, and president Reagan announced the NASP in his first state of the union address in February 1986. Copper Canyon constituted Phase I of NASP program.
The objective of NASP was to develop two flight vehicles with air breathing propulsion from takeoff to orbit. Rocket engines were to be used for final orbital insertion and orbital maneuvers. Airframe, engine module and test facility RFPs were sent out in November 1985. In April 1986 the first design contracts for the NASP program were awarded. Contractors included Boeing, Lockheed, McDonnell Douglas, General Dynamics and Rockwell, with Pratt & Whitney and General Electric for propulsion research. Rocketdyne later contributed to NASP under its own funding. In October 1987, following Phase 2A evaluation, Lockheed and Boeing were dropped from the NASP program, alongside General Electric. Throughout the NASP program the Department of Defense had an 80% share of all money spent on the program. In 1989, during his first week of office as the Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney terminated the DoD NASP effort. A program review by the National Space Council recommended extending Phase 2 to 1993. In 1991, the National Team program approach combined the resources of the five contractors in a joint-venture partnership to develop a single X-30 concept. Upon completion of the Phase 2D technology development portion in 1993, the technological maturity was deemed not to be at the level required to justify a $15 billion investment to develop two X-30 aircraft in Phase 3, and the NASP was finally cancelled in May 1993.
| Return to main page |