KillerBee, under development as a multi-mission, joint-service family of scalable UAVs, was designed to provide surveillance and force protection for military bases, shipping lanes, borders or convoys. The version demonstrated for the Air Force has a 9-foot wingspan and carries electro-optical and infrared sensors.

The demonstration took place at the Air Force's UAV Battlelab at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, and was supported by the 98th Range Wing at the Nevada Test and Training Range.

"The most impressive part of the demonstration was the flight of the UAV," said Lt. Col. Douglas Larson, chief of the Combat Applications Division at the UAV Battlelab. "It was amazing how quickly it climbed to altitude. It was very evident this bird could carry a lot more payload. Couple this with its inherent low-observable design, and I think we have a platform that could be used for several Air Force missions."

"The two-day demonstration illustrated the value KillerBee will bring to the fight," said Bill Walker, Northrop Grumman's director of business development for the KillerBee program. "We demonstrated our ability to launch and recover the aircraft without a runway, provided real-time video, displayed low-altitude flight and the potential for autonomous long-endurance operations."

The network-capable KillerBee UAV will ultimately offer users the option of operating numerous aircraft to relay voice and data across great distances, in addition to the intelligence gathering mission. This concept will provide unprecedented situational awareness as multiple KillerBees work together to form a robust, tactical UAV system.

Northrop Grumman and Swift Engineering, its principal teammate, are developing the KillerBee to meet a broad range of needs in the needs of the Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps., U.S. Navy and the Department of Homeland Security.

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