Polecat
A picture of the Lockheed-Martin Polecat released at the Farnborough Airshow in 2006
Role	Unmanned aerial vehicle Type of aircraft
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.

Design and development

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]

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 0
• Capacity: 1,000 lb (450 kg) of weapons or sensors
• Wingspan: 90 ft 0 in (27.44 m)
• Gross weight: 9,000 lb (4,082 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Williams FJ44-3E turbofan engines, 3,010 lbf (13.38 kN) thrust each

Performance

• Endurance: 4 hours
• Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (20,000 m)