DefenseLINK News: Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul G. Kaminski yesterday approved the revised DarkStar High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program plan.

Memorandum: No. 265-M

Dec. 23, 1996

MEMORANDUM FOR CORRESPONDENTS

Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology Paul G. Kaminski yesterday approved the revised DarkStar High Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program plan. Under the plan, DarkStar air vehicle #2 will be modified for developmental flight test, with flights expected to begin in the summer of 1997. Two additional DarkStar systems (two air vehicles and associated payloads) will be built. The systems will be delivered in the summer of 1998, and will be utilized for user demonstrations. The revised program plan is a result of an independent review of the program following the crash of the first DarkStar air vehicle in April 1996. The review was conducted by an independent group of leading experts from government, industry and academia, and provided a detailed assessment of the entire DarkStar system and the programÕs processes and procedures. The review concluded that: (1) the contractor team understands the cause of the accident, (2) the DarkStar simulation now matches the data from the first and second test flights, and (3) the processes and procedures used in software development and test and system test have been significantly improved.