보잉이 개발하고 있던 X-45C 계획이 공식적으로 폐기되었다고 합니다. 시점도 절묘하네요. 1998년부터 8억 달러를 들여서 개발한 X-45C 인도식이 직전에 이런 발표가 났다는군요. X-45C는 40,000 FT 상공으로 4,500 lb 의 폭탄을 장착한 상태로 1,300nm 을 날아가서 공격하는 무인기 입니다. 노드롭 그루만이 개발중인 X-47B와 경쟁해 왔는데, 공군용으로는 문제가 없지만 해군용으로는 결정적인 문제가 있습니다. X-45C는 활주로에서만 이륙이 가능하지만 X-47B은 항모에서 이륙이 가능하기 때문입니다. 공군용과 해군용으로 별도로 발주하는 것으로 알았는데, 공동 발주로 통합되었던것 같습니다. 얼마전부터 장거리 무인 폭격기와 관련하여 계획을 폐기한다는 얘기가 나돌긴 했는데 사실이 되었네요. X-47B만 살아 남는건지 아니면 장거리 폭격기 계획에 휘말려 X-47B까지 사라지는건지는 정확히 모르겠지만 여기에 나온 내용으로는 X-45C가 죽고 X-47B가 살아남을것 같습니다. " http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002838115_roboticplane02.html " Boeing's robotic plane: All ready, but homeless Boeing's first St. Louis-made X-45C, an unmanned robotic plane designed for the Air Force, is shiny and new, and ready to roll. But there's a problem. It has no place to go. The Pentagon doesn't want the X-45C. The Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems program, which included nearly $800 million to build three X-45C planes, officially has been scrapped. Boeing confirmed Tuesday that it had canceled a VIP ceremony scheduled this month to mark the delivery of the first X-45C to the Air Force. In a recent interview, at a time when Boeing was still planning its ceremony, a Boeing executive said the end of the Air Force's X-45C program doesn't spell the end of the plane. "Programs come and go," said Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing's St. Louis-based defense business. "But if you have the right capabilities, you're going to be OK over the long haul." He said Boeing, which has more than 300 employees in the Puget Sound region also working on the program, will compete and try to win the contract for the Navy's aircraft carrier-based unmanned aircraft program. Its chief competitor probably will be Northrop Grumman, which had been competing for the Air Force contract with its robotic plane, the X-47. However, the Northrop unmanned vehicle may have the advantage in the Navy competition, because it was designed from the start to land on an aircraft carrier, whereas the X-45 could land only on a runway. Boeing said it believes the X-45C's technology can be crafted to meet the Navy's concept for using robotic planes to gather intelligence and conduct long-range surveillance and reconnaissance missions from aircraft carriers. Last month, the Pentagon's Quadrennial Defense Review, a top-to-bottom analysis of how defense resources are allocated, concluded that robotic planes will play a bigger role in the U.S. arsenal. The Pentagon's fiscal 2007 budget includes $907 million for robotic planes, a 23 percent increase over the 2006 budget. Boeing's unmanned plane program started in 1998. The X-45A, a precursor to the X-45C, flew several dozen test missions, including the dropping of a precision bomb. The first X-45C was slated for delivery for ground testing this year in California. The first flight was supposed to happen next year. A Boeing spokesman said he didn't know how far along production of the second X-45C in St. Louis had come. The X-45C was designed to knock out enemy air-defense systems, complementing the role of traditional fighter jets. It was designed to fly at 40,000 feet and carry 4,500 pounds of weapons while conducting combat missions deep into enemy territory. Boeing hoped it would begin full production of the planes sometime in the next decade. For now, it's back to the drawing board. "These programs have been restructured and canceled and resurrected a half dozen times over the last couple of years," Albaugh said. "And I think we'll be in good shape as these programs get reconfigured." Information from Seattle Times aerospace reporter Dominic Gates is included in this report.