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Northrop Grumman unveils new intel aircraft

SAN DIEGO — Defense giant Northrop Grumman on Monday unveiled its Firebird aerial system built to accommodate multiple cameras, communications relays and other sensors that will enable it to multitask — and even be controlled simultaneously by multiple controllers.

Firebird, a 5,000-pound aircraft with a 65-foot wingspan, features an internal modular payload with a universal, “plug and play” interface that can support multiple sensors including high-definition video cameras and infrared imagery for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, company officials said in a public announcement about its new aircraft system.

“In the field today, it’s very common to fly multiple platforms, multiple systems...in order to conduct all types of (operations),” Rick Crooks, Firebird program manager with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in San Diego, said Monday in an interview. “All of that infrastructure is complicated. It’s costly. It requires a lot of personnel to maintain and support.”

Firebird, developed with Scaled Composites, the aerospace design firm founded by famed engineer Burt Rutan, is flying at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., as part of an ongoing demonstration project with the Army, Crooks said. The company will operate Firebird at the upcoming “Empire Challenge,” an annual ISR demonstration run by U.S. Joint Forces Command and held at Fort Huachuca May 23 to June 3.

Firebird is designed for both manned and unmanned flight that is interchangeable, so it can be flown like an airplane or controlled like a drone, Crooks said.

Although it is powered by a general aviation engine, Firebird’s wide wingspan makes it akin to a high-performance glider, Crooks said. Unmanned, it will be able to provide “persistence presence,” flying up to 40 hours — depending on payload. “It combines speed with glide capability,” he said, noting it can reach altitudes of 25,000 to 30,000 feet and fly 80 knots as it loiters for ISR missions or up to 200 knots in high-speed dashes. It has a multi-fuel system that uses aviation gasoline and motor gasoline and an electronic control system that enables efficient fuel burning, he added.

Crooks said Firebird’s first flight came in February 2010, just one year after Northrop Grumman met with Mojave, Calif.-based Scaled Composites with the idea of building a manned and unmanned system.

A government demonstration held in October 2010 provided “excellent feedback” and led to the ongoing demonstration with the Army, said Crooks. The Firebird system also has applicability for potential non-military users, including federal agencies as well as the commercial market, he said.

The company has not said what it estimates will be the per-system cost. “The objective here is to make it a very cost-effective solution,” Crooks said. “Our objective is to make the capability available to the warfighter immediately.”