Developed and demonstrated within an eight-week period, the system is derived from the highly successful, reliable BQM-34 Firebee aerial target. The 36-minute flight, conducted Dec. 20, 2002, at an undisclosed Department of Defense test range, demonstrated autonomous navigation, payload carriage and payload deployment followed by successful recovery of the air vehicle.

"This project demonstrated both the versatility of the BQM-34 airframe and the fast reaction development capability in place at the company's Unmanned Systems facility in San Diego," said Al Nikolaus, Northrop Grumman's Firebee program manager.

"This was a team effort, integrating Firebee parts from all three military services built over a period of 30 years plus newly manufactured parts and modern, autonomous navigation systems," said Doug Fronius, Northrop Grumman's director for Targets programs.

The project was developed at the Integrated Systems sector's Unmanned Systems unit in San Diego. System modifications included integrating 1970s-era AQM-34L bomb rack-equipped wings with BQM-34S Firebee targets currently produced.

Large composite payload pods manufactured for Northrop Grumman by Grove Aircraft, El Cajon, Calif., were designed and integrated onto the air vehicle. In addition, a portable range safety flight termination system was integrated to allow system testing at a non-target test range facility.

Software was modified to provide fully autonomous mission capability, payload deployment and ground control station integration.

Finally, the system was tested "end to end" at the program's system integration center facility here.

The BQM-34 Firebee is a high-performance unmanned aircraft that has a proven track record in a wide variety of special operations and target configurations. The robust design has been readily modified many times over the years to support both ground and air launch mission requirements.

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