Polecat
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.

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

Performance

References

  1. ^ "Farnborough picture: Lockheed Martin Skunk Works releases picture of secret Polecat UAV." Flight International. July 19, 2006. Retrieved July 12, 2013
  2. ^ "Aviation Week ShowNews Farnborough Day 4 E-zine Archived 2017-02-03 at the Wayback Machine." Aviation Week & Space Technology. July 20, 2006.
  3. ^ Butler, A. "Lockheed Unveils Secret Polecat UAV Design." Aviation Week & Space Technology. July 19, 2006.[dead link]
  4. ^ Trimble, S. "What Killed the Polecat?." Flightglobal.com. July, 2007.
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