US defence company names unmanned spy plane after `GoldenEye`

James Bond movies have been the inspriation for many a strange thing, but Airline Newsdesk today reports that a US defence company is naming it`s new unmanned spy plane after Brosnan`s debut film.

Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation says that its GoldenEye-100 unmanned aerial vehicle has successfully completed its initial flight test programme. Flight testing began in September 2003 and all of the GoldenEye-100`s flights, including the first flight last fall, have been in fully autonomous control modes. The initial flight test programme validated the GoldenEye-100`s vertical takeoff and landing capability, thrust vectoring, long-duct acoustic suppression, torsionally disconnected wings, stability and control, hovering flight, waypoint navigation, operation in civil airspace, and ability to carry payloads.

Originally developed under DARPA`s Clandestine UAV programme, GoldenEye-100 is designed to carry a 22-pound payload, and is tailored for clandestine reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition missions. The lessons learned over the past nine months from the GoldenEye-100`s initial flight test programme are now being rolled into the GoldenEye-50 model.

Discuss this news here...