DARPA’s New Hybrid Electric X-Plane the Latest Uncrewed Aircraft for U.S. Defense
Northrop Grumman designed and built the XRQ-73 SHEPARD Hybrid Electric Uncrewed Aircraft System (UAS) X-Plane for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
Northrop Grumman Corporation recently announced the design and construction of the Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration (SHEPARD) vehicle. The uncrewed air system developed for DARPA recently received its official X-plane designation of XRQ-73.
The XRQ-73 SHEPARD is a DARPA "X-prime" program leveraging hybrid electric architecture and component technologies to quickly mature a new mission-focused aircraft design with propulsion architecture and power class for the Department of Defense.
"The idea behind a DARPA X-prime program is to take emerging technologies and burn down system-level integration risks to quickly mature a new missionized long endurance aircraft design that can be fielded quickly," said Steve Komadina, SHEPARD program manager. "The SHEPARD program is maturing a specific propulsion architecture and power class as an exemplar of potential benefits for the Department of Defense."
The Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration program, known as SHEPARD, sees its hybrid-electric uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) receive its official X-plane designation, XRQ-73. (Photo Credit: DARPA)
The DARPA team includes members from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Office of Naval Research (ONR), and U.S. warfighters.
The XRQ-73 aircraft will be a Group 3 UAS weighing approximately 1,250 pounds. First flight of the XRQ-73 is expected by year-end 2024.
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