The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has revealed the official designation of a next-generation X-plane it currently has under development.
The aircraft, now officially dubbed the XRQ-73, is part of DARPA’s Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration (SHEPARD) program, which the agency defines as an X-prime program.
SHEPARD program manager Steve Komadina said DARPA X-prime programs aim “to take emerging technologies and burn down system-level integration risks to quickly mature a new missionized long endurance aircraft design that can be fielded quickly.”
By utilizing existing hybrid electric architecture and other related technologies from earlier work completed in cooperation with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) Great Horned Owl (GHO) project, Komadina says the SHEPARD program will advance “a specific propulsion architecture and power class as an exemplar of potential benefits for the Department of Defense.”
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