Northrop Grumman RQ-73 SHEPARD

DARPA's SHEPARD (Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration) program is the direct successor of the XRQ-72A Great Horned Owl (GHO) effort, which allegedly flight-tested a small UAV with hybrid electric propulsion. SHEPARD has been around since about 2021, and in June 2024, DARPA announced that a demonstrator would be built under the designation XRQ-73A. Prime contractor is, as it was for GHO, Northrop Grumman, with major work performed by their subsidiary Scaled Composites. The XRQ-73A will be a bit larger than the XRQ-72A, with a projected weight of around 570 kg (1250 lb). The objective of SHEPARD is to build a hybrid electric powered vehicle in a size and configuration, which is close to an operational long-endurance UAV.

Image: DARPA

XRQ-73A

DARPA's notional image of the XRQ-73 shows a flying wing with a planform somewhat similar to the XRQ-72A, but without the latter's winglets. The most notable difference is the absence of the external shrouded propellers, but no details about the XRQ-73's actual propulsion mechanism have been announced. The first flight is planned for the end of 2024.

Photo: Northrop Grumman

XRQ-73A

Designation Note: The number 73 is out-of-sequence in the Q-series, but was obviously chosen to follow on from XRQ-72A.

Specifications

Detailed characteristics of the XRQ-73A are not yet available.

Main Sources

[1] DARPA: Meet DARPA’s Newest X-plane: XRQ-73
[2] The War Zone, Joseph Trevithick: Shadowy XRQ-73 Hybrid-Electric Stealthy Flying Wing Drone Emerges

Back to Directory of U.S. Military Rockets and Missiles, Appendix 2

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Last Updated: 10 July 2024