The Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator or PMTD is an
unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
(UAV) developed and produced by the Advanced Weapons and Missile Systems division of
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
as a test bed in order to further develop and flight test various UAV technologies. It has also been referred to as the Dominator. The PMTD weighs , has a wingspan and is powered by a single piston engine driving a
pusher propeller
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...
. It was first flown in April, 2006, at Vandalia Municipal Airport,
Vandalia, Illinois
Vandalia is a city in and the county seat of Fayette County, Illinois, United States. At the 2020 Census, the population was 7,458. Vandalia is northeast of St. Louis, on the Kaskaskia River. It served as the state capital of Illinois from 1 ...
.
Designed for either air or ground launch and high loiter times, the PMTD has the ability to operate completely autonomously. During its maiden flight, the UAV autonomously flew to 14 programmed locations, changed altitude four times, and met all programmed speeds. The initial set of flight tests focused solely on validation of the autonomous flight mode, while future tests will include sensor integration, weapon guidance systems, munitions dispensing systems and in-flight refueling.
EDO Corporation funded the development of the aircraft's composite airframe, while Boeing funded all the flight tests.
Just-in-Time Strike Augmentation (JITSA) is a
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
program proposal for
network-centric operations
Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advanta ...
to command the
battlefield from the
air using the
C-17 Globemaster III to launch large numbers of PMTD into the
battlespace.
USAF eyes large airlifter strike role
/ref>
See also
* Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...
* Joint Direct Attack Munition
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions. JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Global Pos ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Boeing military aircraft, Persistent Munition Technology Demonstrator
2000s United States experimental aircraft
Unmanned military aircraft of the United States
Single-engined pusher aircraft
Canard aircraft
Edo aircraft