Boeing’s Phantom Ray uninhabited aircraft test bed last month successfully completed low-speed taxi tests in St. Louis, according to company officials. They are now preparing to ferry the aircraft to Edwards AFB, Calif., for more taxi tests before entering a six-month flight-test program. “Phantom Ray did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Craig Brown, Boeing’s Phantom Ray program manager, of the low-speed taxi tests, in the company’s release. These tests were the first for the Phantom Ray following its rollout in May. Phantom Ray is Boeing’s name for the completed X-45C prototype that the company developed under Defense Department sponsorship during the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System program. It will travel to Edwards on top of one of NASA’s modified Boeing 747s that ferry space shuttles. At Edwards, Phantom Ray will undergo high-speed taxi tests before making its first flight.
If the Air Force is in line for a big budget bump from President Donald Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget in 2027, the head of Air Combat Command said he would make aircraft spare parts his top spending priority—but cautioned that more money to buy parts won’t equal a…
