Little Bird takes flight

Boeing has achieved a major milestone in the development of its Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) technology demonstrator by flying the aircraft unmanned for the first time.

Boeing demonstrated the capability at the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona, about 130 miles from the Boeing Rotorcraft facility where Boeing has tested the aircraft - a modified MD 530F single-turbine helicopter - over the past two years with a safety pilot on board.

The aircraft lifted off from a helipad, hovered briefly and flew a programmed armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission around the proving ground.

After the 20 minute flight, the aircraft returned to the helipad and landed within six inches of the planned recovery location. Prior to the fully unmanned demonstration, the ULB Demonstrator had flown more than 450 hours of engineering flight test time as a rapid prototyping platform, developing and integrating the sensors and systems necessary to create an operational unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).