‘We’re leading the pack’

Two sleek, stealthy aircraft are majestically poised on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., ready to take to the skies. Nicknamed “Stingray 1” and “Stingray 2,” what distinguishes these Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems X-45A vehicles from other aircraft at the base isn’t just their futuristic, Hollywoodesque look. It’s that they will revolutionize the future of flight and warfare.

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Boeing brainpower creates technology that changes future of flight

It seemed an impossible goal: Create software and a network of systems for an unmanned aircraft that can engage in highly complex, yet-to-be-determined combat missions. But Boeing people, thanks to their brainpower and teamwork, have developed a software system for the Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems X-45 program that will dramatically alter the future of flight.

A dedicated team of systems engineers, software designers, mission planners and test pilots, among others, took on the challenge. Within a short time frame they created and tested software implementing a range of critical elements that enable combat mission management and planning.

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A UCAV test pilot’s perspective

Mark Witsken, a Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Unmanned Aerial Vehicles high-performance test pilot and a captain in the California Air National Guard, joined Boeing in 2003 after having served four years as a United Airlines pilot and nearly 10 years in the U.S. Air Force. As an X-45A test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., he told Boeing Frontiers what it’s like to “fly” an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). He also shared his personal perspectives about the future of flight.

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Unmanned vehicles and ‘Stealth’

The plot of the new movie “Stealth” focuses on an unmanned combat air vehicle that goes out of control. Here’s a look at what UAVs do in the film—and what real-life unmanned combat aircraft, such as the Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) X-45, can do.

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