The X-45A was the first modern unmanned aerial vehicle designed specifically for combat strike missions. The X-45A first flew in May 2002. The stealthy, swept wing jet is fitted with fully retractable tricycle landing gear. It is covered with a composite, fiber-reinforced epoxy skin. The fuselage carries two internally housed weapons bays. The F124-GA-100 engine is equipped with a notched air intake and a two dimensional yaw-vectoring nozzle exhausts. Although initially managed by Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), in October 2003 the U.S. Air Force and Navy consolidated the X-45 and X-47 programs and the "Joint" UCAS team was created.

This X-45A, Air Vehicle #1, accomplished several aviation firsts during its testing program. Among them were the first autonomous flight of a high performance combat capable UAV; the first weapons release from an autonomous UAV; and with air vehicle #2, the first autonomous multi-vehicle coordinated flight. Only two X-45A scaled-down technology demonstrators were built and flight tests were successfully concluded in August 2005.

Transferred by the U.S. Air Force

SPECIFICATIONS

Span: 10.31m (33 ft 8 in)

Length: 8.03m (26 ft 5 in)

Height: 1.13 m (3 ft 7 in)

Weight (empty): 3,629 kg (8,000 lb)