Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced the design and construction of the Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration (SHEPARD) vehicle. The uncrewed air system developed for DARPA recently received its official X-plane designation of XRQ-73.
Built in collaboration with Scaled Composites, a Northrop Grumman subsidiary, the XRQ-73 SHEPARD is a DARPA "X-prime" program leveraging hybrid electric architecture and component technologies to quickly mature a new mission-focused aircraft design with propulsion architecture and power class for the Department of Defense.
| Contact details from our directory: | |
| Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems | Airframer |
| DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency | Airframer, Research/Consulting Services, Technical/Eng/Scientific Studies |
| Scaled Composites LLC | Flight Testing, Tooling, Design Services, Prototyping, Research/Consulting Services, Final Assembly, Simulation Services |
| Related aircraft programs: |
| Northrop Grumman SHEPARD X-Plane |
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