The objective of the joint DARPA/Air Force Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Advanced Technology Demonstration
(ATD) program is to demonstrate the technical feasibility for a UCAV system to effectively and affordably prosecute 21st
century lethal strike missions within the emerging global command and control architecture. The operational UCAV system is
envisioned as a force enabler that will conduct Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) and strike missions in support of
post-2010 manned strike packages. This SEAD/Strike mission will be the first instantiation of an UCAV vision that will evolve
into a broader range of combat missions as the concept and technologies mature, and the UCAV affordability potential is
realized.

The Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle vision is an affordable weapon system that expands tactical mission options for
revolutionary new air power as an integrated part of a system of systems solution. The UCAV weapon system will exploit the
design and operational freedoms of relocating the pilot outside of the vehicle to enable a new paradigm in aircraft affordability
while maintaining the rationale, judgment, and moral qualities of the human operator. In our vision, this weapon system will
require minimal maintenance, can be stored for extended periods of time, and is capable of dynamic mission control while
engaging multiple targets in a single mission under minimal human supervision. The UCAV will conduct missions from ordinary
airfields as part of an integrated force package complementary to manned tactical and support assets. UCAV controllers will
observe rules of engagement and make the critical decisions to use or refrain from using force.

The initial operational role for the UCAV is a "first day of the war" force enabler which complements a strike package by
performing the SEAD mission. In this role, UCAVs accomplish preemptive destruction of sophisticated enemy integrated air
defenses (IADs) in advance of the strike package, and enable the attacking forces by providing reactive suppression against the
remaining IADs. Throughout the remainder of the campaign, UCAVs provide continuous vigilance with an immediate lethal
strike capability to prosecute high value and time critical targets. By effectively and affordably performing those missions the
UCAV system provides "no win" tactical deterrence against which an enemy's defenses would be ineffective, thereby ensuring
air superiority.

As a member of a tightly coupled system of systems, the UCAV will work cooperatively with manned systems and exploit the
emerging command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) architecture to
enable successful achievement of campaign and mission level objectives. Intelligence preparation of the battlefield will provide
an initial mission/threat database for mission controllers. Controllers will exploit real-time data sources from the theater
information architecture to plan for, and respond to, the dynamically changing battlefield. The UCAV will penetrate enemy
IADs and external systems such as the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD) will stimulate potential targets. Sensor cueing
and off-board targeting can be provided by national systems or airborne assets in real time and/or UCAVs may be part of
multi-ship Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) targeting architectures. The system will create superior situation awareness by
leveraging the many sources of information available at both the tactical and theater levels.

Such a UCAV weapon system has the potential to fully exploit the emerging information revolution and provide advanced
airpower with increased tactical deterrence at a fraction of the total Life Cycle Costs (LCC) of current manned systems. The
government envisions a UCAV Operational System (UOS) air vehicle with unit cost less then one-third of the Joint Strike
Fighter, and reduction in total life cycle of 50-80% compared to a current tactical aircraft squadron.

A variety of cost and weight penalties are associated with the presence of a human pilot, including constrained forebodies, large
canopies, displays and environmental control systems. The aircraft's maneuver capabilities are limited by the pilots physiological
limits such as g tolerance. Removing the pilot from the vehicle eliminates man-rating requirements, pilot systems, and interfaces.
The UCAV offers new design freedoms that can be exploited to produce a smaller, simpler aircraft, about half the size of a
conventional fighter aircraft. Weighing about one-third to one-fourth of a manned aircraft, at 10,000 pounds they would weigh
two to three times more than a Tomahawk missile.

Typically 80 percent of the useful life of today's combat aircraft is devoted to pilot training and proficiency flying, requiring
longer design lives than would be needed to meet combat requirements. Without the requirement to fly sorties to retain pilot
proficiency, UCAVs will fly infrequently. A reduced maintenance design with condition based maintenance, minimized
on-board sensors, reduced fluid systems, maintainable signature, and a modular avionics architecture will reduce touch labor in
the fashion of commercial aircraft.

Advances in small smart munitions will allow these smaller vehicles to attack multiple targets during a single mission and reduce
the cost per target killed. The Miniaturized Munitions Technology Demonstration (MMTD) goal is to produce a 250-pound
class munition effective against a majority of hardened targets previously vulnerable only to 2,000-pound class munitions. A
differential GPS/INS system will provide precision guidance, and smart fusing techniques will aid in producing a high probability
of target kill.

It is anticipated that the UCAV designs developed under this program will incorporate previously developed advanced
technologies that require special security protection. The contractor teams must have the appropriate background, expertise,
and facilities necessary to utilize those advanced technologies during all phases of the ATD. The Government has determined
that the only U.S. corporations meeting all the requirements necessary to lead these teams are Boeing, Lockheed/Martin,
Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon Systems. The Government will therefore conduct a limited competition procurement with
these four corporations with the intent of awarding multiple Section 845 agreements. The total estimated value for the
two-phased UCAV ATD Program is $120M through FY 2002.