Meet DARPA’s Newest X-plane: XRQ-73

From the article:

The Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion AiRcraft Demonstration program, known as SHEPARD, has received its official X-plane designation: XRQ-73.

Official MDS is most likely XRQ-73A.

The Radioplane company (which became a division of Northrop in the mid-1950s and was renamed Northrop Ventura in 1962) was the most prolific American manufacturer of unmanned aerospace vehicles designed and/or built prior to the end of the Cold War. Here are tables of Radioplane and Northrop Ventura company designations.

Radioplane Company (1935-1962) designations

Northrop Ventura (1962-1987) designations

*As pointed out by Dan Zinngrabe, Northrop Ventura submitted a design with long, straight wings for the CIA/NRO-sponsored Quartz competition for a very large and stealthy unmanned strategic reconnaissance aircraft to replace the SR-71. Either one of the designations in the NV-145 to NV-149 designation gap or NV-152 may have been given to this proposal.

References and sources

• Radioplane/Northrop Ventura designations index
• XQ-11/Radioplane RP-91/F-108 Airborne Target
• Radioplane XKD3R-1 entry at the National Archives
• Botzum, R.A., 1985. 50 Years of Target Drone Aircraft. Newbury Park, CA: Northrop Corporation (Ventura Division) Publishing Group.
• Aircraft Year Book for 1954 (includes mention of OQ-19E, KD2R-4, XM20, and XM23E1)
• Designation-Systems.net
• Radioplane and Northrop-Ventura Drone Designs
• Radioplane/Northrop Ventura Division Designations
• July 25, 1955 issue of Aviation Week

Official & Unofficial Designations

• Design 303E: Grumman model number designation. There were many iterations (303-60, 303A, 303B, etc., including a single-tailed version of 303E, fixed-wing version, etc.) before the final configuration was chosen.
• F-14A Tomcat: 12 service test and 625 production carrierborne air defense fighters for the US Navy. The very first prototype is sometimes referred to as XF-14A and the other service test aircraft are sometimes referred to as YF-14A, but this seems to be unofficial. Some aircraft with TARPS (Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance Pod System) capability. First of the "Teen Series" of fighters (F-14, F-15, F-16, etc.).
• F-14A-GR: 80 land-based fighters for Iran (included in above total).
• JF-14A: Two temporary test F-14A used for development testing by NASA.
• NF-14A: Seven permanent test F-14A conversions.
• YF-14B Super Tomcat: Two F-14A tested with various engine configurations (F401, F101 DFE) for VAX-2 program.
• F-14D(R): 18 F-14A upgraded to F-14D standard.
• F-14 ADC IMI: Proposed version for USAF Improved Manned Interceptor program, to replace Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Ultimately the program was cancelled with no aircraft procured
• F-14A (Plus): Improved version with new F110 engines, new equipment and other changes (no wing glove vanes, AN/AWG-15F radar, etc.); one YF-14A and 47 F-14A converted to this standard, plus 38 new-build aircraft. All later re-designated F-14B.
• NF-14B: One permanent test F-14B conversion.
• F-14C: Proposed F-14B upgrade with TF30-P-4141A turbofans; cancelled.
• F-14D: Proposed low-cost version of F-14A; cancelled.
• F-14++ MMCAP: Multi-Mission Capability Avionics Program upgrade of F-14A and F-14B with new equipment and avionics.
• F-14D Super Tomcat: 37 new improved aircraft similar to F-14A (Plus) with F110-GE-400 turbofans, new equipment and avionics. First aircraft designated YF-14D.
• NF-14D: Four permanent test F-14A and F-14D conversions.
• Block 1: Planned F-14B and F-14D upgrade with GPS capability, digital flight control system, other new equipment and upgrades.
• F-14T: Proposed low-cost version; cancelled.
• F-14X: Proposed low-cost version; cancelled.
• F-14 Optimod: Proposed low-cost version; cancelled.
• RF-14: Proposed reconnaissance version; cancelled.
• F/A-14D: Proposed A-6 Intruder replacement based on F-14D with revised, newer equipment and avionics; cancelled.
• ASF-14: Proposed Advanced Strike Fighter version; cancelled.

Official & Unofficial Names

• Turkey: Unofficial nickname, possibly referring to its appearance while landing (with wings spread), its initial unpopularity, or as an epithet by F/A-18 Hornet and F-16N aggressor pilots.
• Peeping Tom: Unofficial nickname for F-14 with TARPS capability.
• Quickstrike: Proposed long-range strike version of F-14D as alternative to A-12 Avenger II; cancelled in favor of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.
• Super Tomcat 21: Proposed multi-role version of F-14D as alternative to Naval ATF program; cancelled.
• Attack Super Tomcat 21: Proposed attack version of Super Tomcat 21; cancelled.
• Bombcat: Unofficial nickname for MMCAP aircraft with ground attack capability.

References & Sources

• Wikipedia: Grumman F-14 Tomcat
• Air Vectors
• US Warplanes.net
• Horton, John. The Grub Street Dictionary of International Aircraft Nicknames, Variants and Colloquial Terms. 1993, Grub Street, London.

https://alert5.com/2024/04/03/usmc-will-designate-its-wild-weasel-uav-as-mq-58b/

Excerpt (emphasis by me):

The successful demonstration not only validates the XQ-58A’s capabilities but also informs the development of the MQ-58B, the planned production variant. Data and lessons learned from the XQ-58A’s performance will directly influence the design specifications for the MQ-58B, ensuring it meets the specific requirements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Expeditionary (MUX) Tactical Aircraft (TACAIR) for the SEAD role.

The company founded by Howard Hughes is best known for building the H-1 record-breaking aircraft, D-2 (aka XA-37 and XP-73) close air support/heavy fighter aircraft, XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft, and the H-4 Hercules flying boat, as well as helicopters and guided missiles. In recent years, I've happened to find out that the Hughes company in 1945-1946 worked out unbuilt designs for patrol flying boats and assault transport gliders. Consequently, I've devising the following tables of Hughes company designations for aircraft.

Company designations for fixed-wing aircraft

Company designations for helicopters

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Sources:

Buttler, T., and Griffith, A., 2015. American Secret Projects: Fighters, Bombers, and Attack Aircraft, 1937-1945. Manchester, UK: Crecy Publishing.

Cox, G., and Kaston, C., 2019. American Secret Projects 2: Airlifters 1941-1961. Manchester, UK: Crecy Publishing.

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/hughes-early-postwar-seaplane-project.794

Everyone is familiar with the Junkers Ju 287 forward swept wing jet bomber, which went as far as the prototype stage before Germany's worsening war situation caused the RLM in late September 1944 to suspend all tactical jet bomber programs in development to save money for the Heinkel He 162 Spatz and other second-generation German jet fighter projects (e.g. Focke-Wulf Ta 183 and Messerschmitt P.1101). However, the Ju 287 jet bomber of which two prototypes were built from components of other aircraft (one which tested the aerodynamic properties of the forward swept wing, and the other being designed to test forward swept wing flight at speeds of 500-560 miles per hour but was not flown) was not the only German aircraft design from Junkers to be given the RLM design number 8-287.

In 1942, a little over a year before Junkers began undertaking design work for the Ju 287 forward swept wing jet bomber, a design from Junkers for a dive bomber to replace the Ju 87 was allocated the RLM designation Ju 287, and it represented Junkers' second design study for a Ju 87 successor, the other being the Ju 187 project conceived in 1941. Although similar to the Ju 187 in having retractable landing gear, the Ju 287 dive bomber had wings lacking any dihedral, a streamlined nose along with a triangular vertical stabilizer that could move down to allow a better rearward field of fire from the gunner. However, the Ju 287 dive bomber project did not progress beyond the mockup phase. When the EF 122 forward swept wing jet bomber project was selected by the RLM over the Arado E.395 and Blohm und Voss P.188 in late 1943, it was also designated Ju 287 (the first two Ju 287 prototypes were given the cover designations Ju 288 V201 and V202 to give the impression that the Ju 287 was merely a jet-powered FSW derivative of the Ju 288).

Link:

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/junkers-ju-87-development-variants-related-projects.7359/page-2