From the Skunk Works, a New Polecat Emerges

Lockheed Martin caused a stir July 19 by disclosing the existence of a new, high-altitude UAV demonstrator that appears geared toward USAF’s development of a modern long-range strike system. The P-175 Polecat, a product of the famed Lockheed “Skunk Works,” came into the open at the Farnborough Air Show. “This UAV is an effort to better understand the flight dynamics of a tailless unmanned air system in support of our ongoing research and development work for the US Air Force’s future Long Range Strike Program as well as to field the next generation of structural composite concepts,” said Frank Cappuccio, Lockheed executive VP. He said the system was developed in just 18 months with Lockheed money and advances the state of the art in low-sonic-boom and various materials. The Air Force has been tasked with fielding a new bomber by 2018.