Boeing A160 Hummingbird

The Boeing A160 Hummingbird (military designation: YMQ-18A) was an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) helicopter. Its design incorporated many technologies never before used in helicopters, allowing for greater endurance and altitude than any other helicopter.

The development of Hummingbird was initiated for DARPA by Frontier Aircraft in 1998. From 2003 both the US Army and the US Navy shared in funding the project. In May 2004, the company was acquired by Boeing and became integrated into Boeing Phantom Works and then into the Advanced Systems group of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Early A160s were powered by modified Subaru automotive engines, but newer versions used Pratt & Whitney PW207D turboshaft engines.

The A160 continued with developmental flight tests in 2010, but test flights had already demonstrated greater endurance, higher altitudes, more extensive autonomy, and greater payload.^{[compared to?]} The program had ambitious goals of a 2,500-mile (4,000 km) range, 24-hour endurance, and 30,000 ft (9,100 m) altitude. Flights were largely autonomous, with the aircraft making its own decisions about how to fly so as to meet certain objectives, rather than relying on real-time human control. The A160 achieved maximum speeds of over 140 knots (260 km/h), though endurance and altitude were its goals, not speed. The aircraft measured 35 ft (11 m) from nose to tail and had a rotor diameter of 36 ft (11 m).

The project was abandoned by the US Army in December 2012.

During the initial development of the A160 airframe and rotor system in 1999 to 2000, Frontier Systems simultaneously designed the Maverick vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) UAV as a testbed for avionics, software and flight control systems. The Maverick was a highly modified version of the Robinson R22 light civilian helicopter. By using a proven helicopter airframe, engineers were able to focus on developing systems that could be later transferred to the A160.

The Maverick program began in 1998, with the first flight taking place less than a year later in 1999. Although the R22 was a two-seat manned helicopter in its original configuration, the Maverick was significant for never having used a "safety pilot" (a human pilot riding on board and capable of recovering the aircraft in the event of a failure of the unmanned flight control system). Since much of the software and avionics systems were shared between Maverick and A160, Maverick remained in service long after A160 began flight operations. After acquiring Frontier Systems in 2004, Boeing halted most development of Maverick but it continued flying as a training asset and for reducing risk in technology development for the A160.

Four Mavericks were flown by the US Navy, carrying Wescam Electro-Optical/Infrared sensor system, possibly among other sensors. Since being acquired by the military, most Maverick operations are unpublicized.

March 2006 saw the completion of the Software Enabled Control program sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency(DARPA). With the help of researchers from UC Berkeley, MIT, and Georgia Tech, Boeing developed a variant of its Maverick UAV platform which became known as the Renegade UAV. This aircraft successfully performed various maneuvers and flew routes without real-time human input.