Despite the setbacks, production is reported to have already begun at Boeing's Mesa, Arizona facility as of March 2010. Its formal US military designation will be "YMQ-18A" and the powerplant will be a Pratt & Whitney PW207D turboshaft engine.
Externally, the Hummingbird fields the same appearance as a conventional manned helicopter thanks to its largely unchanged shape from her Robinson R22 helicopter/Maverick UAV origins. The fuselage is smooth, tapered sharply at the front to form a nose cone and elegantly streamlined aft to form the bulk of the fuselage and empennage tail structure. The four-bladed main rotor sits close to the body atop the fuselage and just slightly ahead center. The undercarriage is made up of two retractable main landing gear legs (retracting rearwards) under amidships with a non-retracting tail wheel at the rear. The powerplant and gearbox are centered within the fuselage with the former aspirated by a pair of side-mounted intakes. The two-bladed tail rotor is set at the aft-most position on the aircraft, facing port side. A vertical tail fin is positioned under the empennage structure and holds the tail wheel. Payloads can be carried directly under the fuselage between the main landing gear legs. The Hummingbird sports a structural length of 35 feet with the main rotor showcasing a 36 foot diameter. Her maximum take-off weight is listed at 6,500lbs. Maximum cruise ceiling is expected to be 30,000 feet though, in its current configuration, the UAV's engine is rated at 20,000 feet. Maximum cruise speed is 189 miles per hour with a 2,589 mile range. Hover altitude is reported to be 20,000 feet.
Boeing claims that their Hummingbird can outperform most any capability inherent in modern helicopters found over the battlefield today. The UAV surpasses both the service ceiling (by some 10,000 feet) and loiter times (24 hours +) of that as showcased by contemporary rotary wing systems. Attention has also been given to the noise levels produced by the Hummingbird so that it promotes less of an audible presence than that of her larger conventional sisters. One of the unique facets of the Hummingbird is its self-adjusting rotor speed technology, allowing the operator to react to changing altitude conditions "on the fly". The rotors can have their revolutions per minute adjusted to supply an optimal rotation (lesser or greater) depending on external conditions, saving fuel in the process and maximizing the Hummingbird's time aloft. Boeing has aptly labeled this feature the "Optimum Speed Rotor" (OSR) system.
Much like a conventional helicopter, the Hummingbird can take off and land without the need of a runway and, unlike other UAVs, does not need a launch catapult or retrieval system. This quality makes her a positive addition to any mobile army fighting along a dynamic front, particularly those groups cut off from traditional battlefield resources. Precise control also assures commanders that the Hummingbird can resupply soldiers in just about any battlefield environment including mountainous regions and urban settings. The Hummingbird has also generated interest for ship-borne use on navy vessels in need of an active, high-altitude, long endurance "eye in the sky".
As of this writing (2012), the Hummingbird is still undergoing active development near Victorville, California. The United States Army (US Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate), US Navy (Naval Air Systems Command), US Special Forces, the US Department of Homeland Security and several foreign entities have shown an interest in Boeing's new and revolutionary rotary-wing UAV system.
In December of 2010, the US DoD (Naval Air Systems Command) formally announced a $30 million contract ($29,935,037) to Frontier Systems, Incorporated for the procurement of two Hummingbirds to support ongoing American military actions in Afghanistan. Deliveries are expected sometime after August of 2011.
In March of 2011, the US DoD (Army) formally announced a $14 million contract ($13,999,000) to Frontier Systems, Incorporated for the procurement of two upgrade packages concerning the YMQ-18A prototypes. This will bring the two units up to a "Block II" configuration.
In mid-2012, the Hummingbird product was halted by US Army authorities. In December of 2012, a review of the project left the A160 out of the US Army's long term plans.
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