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By Michael Sirak
The Air Force is exploring the option of converting some of the Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-117A Nighthawk stealth strike aircraft that it otherwise plans to retire in the next several years to unmanned attack platforms, according to service and industry sources.
"We are looking at that," a senior Air Force official told Defense Daily. "There may be some niche areas in which you can address certain target sets and take some risks unmanned that you would not take manned."
The concept is in its infancy and Air Force officials cautioned that it may never gain traction to go beyond an idea on paper. Nonetheless, the service did ask Lockheed Martin to provide information on the modifications that would be necessary to convert a portion of the Nighthawk fleet, as well as the notional costs and timelines associated with the effort.
Neither Air Force nor Lockheed Martin officials would reveal the details of the company's proposal. Lockheed Martin declined an interview. But Diane Knippel, spokeswoman for the company's 'Skunks Works' Advanced Development Programs division, confirmed that the company did provide this information at the Air Force's request.
"We think it is a viable option," she said, adding that the company considers it a "great alternative."
Cost savings are not expected to be the driving factor in opting for unmanned Nighthawks, the Air Force officials indicated, meaning that other factors would have to sway the decision.
"The reason that we want to retire [the F-117] is because of the cost of operating it," said the senior Air Force official. "If we 'unman' it, we don't save any of that cost."
"You would have to look at the [concept of operations]," noted Col. Wesley Cockman, a former F-117 pilot, who now works in the Air Staff office that coordinates Air Force requirements with the Joint Staff. "What is the return on investment?"
The Air Force's FY '07 budget request to Congress proposes terminating its involvement in the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems program, under which it, together with the Navy, was pursuing Boeing [BA]'s X-45 and Northrop Grumman [NOC]'s X-47 unmanned combat air vehicles (Defense Daily, Feb. 9). Instead, as articulated in the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, the service intends to apply the technologies...