Polecat | |
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A picture of the Lockheed-Martin Polecat released at the Farnborough Airshow in 2006 | |
Role | Unmanned aerial vehicle |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin Skunk Works |
First flight | 2005 |
Retired | December 18, 2006 |
Number built | 1 |
Developed from | Lockheed Martin X-44 (UAV) |
Developed into | Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel |
The Lockheed Martin Polecat (company designation P-175) was an unmanned aerial vehicle by Lockheed Martin. It was developed by the company's Advanced Development Programs division in Palmdale, California.
Designated P-175, the Polecat was funded internally by Lockheed Martin (as opposed to using United States Government funds) at the beginning of 2005. The prototype was unveiled at the 2006 Farnborough Airshow.[1][2] It was developed over a period of 18 months.[3]
On December 18, 2006, the aircraft crashed due to an "irreversible unintentional failure in the flight termination ground equipment, which caused the aircraft's automatic fail-safe flight termination mode to activate."[4]
General characteristics
Performance