Northrop Grumman 2-Seat Firebird Makes First Flight

Nov 13, 2012 No Comments by

With temperatures hovering around zero, there were few witnesses around Mojave (Calif.) Air and Space Port early on Sunday morning to see a new two-seat production derivative of Northrop Grumman’s secretly-developed Firebird make its first flight.

The optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) is a 30-percent bigger version of the medium-altitude unmanned air vehicle demonstrator first revealed by Northrop in 2011. The second seat has been added at the request of a mystery buyer, an order from whom has kicked off an initial low-rate production run of two per year for the next five years.

For the complete story by Guy Norris of Aviation Week, click here.

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Mike Harbour

About the author

Online Editor I've been around airplanes since I was a kid. That's when my uncle, a professional pilot, showed me how to fly his Cessna 177 Cardinal. l later became a writer and editor, so covering the exciting and ever-changing aviation industry -- which I've been doing in Flight Journal's Flybys since the late '90s -- was a natural fit.
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