The Model 154 was launched by a DC-130 Hercules director aircraft, and recovered in midair by helicopter. The YJ97 was derived from a General Electric demonstrator engine designated the "GE1". The aircraft was powered by a General Electric YJ97-GE-3 turbojet providing 4,000 pounds (1,815 kg) thrust, with the engine exhaust mixed with cool air to reduce its infrared signature. The leading and trailing edges of the wings had inset triangles of a radar-absorbent material. It was built using a high percentage of plastic composite materials, which had a lower radar reflectivity than metal. The sides of the fuselage are sloped flat to deflect radar signals. A ground radar would need to be directly below the drone to detect it, but by the time it is detected, the aircraft is travelling away, which makes tracking difficult. The Model 154 had an engine on the top of the fuselage to reduce its radar cross-section and infrared signature as seen from below, as well as twin inward-canted tailfins to conceal the exhaust stream. Twenty-eight had been built, including 20 production models.ĭesign An AQM-91 under the wing of a DC-130 The project was highly secret, but on 4 August 1969 one of the prototypes failed and parachuted to ground inside the Los Alamos nuclear research complex during lunch hour. The Model 154 program lingered on for a few more years, but in 1973 all were put in mothballs, and scrapped a few years after that. Satellite reconnaissance capabilities had improved through the 1960s, leading to the first launch of the advanced KH-9 Hexagon satellite on 15 June 1971, which provided strategic intelligence without diplomatic consequences. In July 1971, President Richard Nixon began a diplomatic effort to build ties with China, and reconnaissance overflights were cancelled. However, by this time the need for the Model 154 had vanished. Testing concluded with the Model 154 exceeding its altitude requirements and proving almost invisible to radar. Flights were resumed, culminating in long-range evaluations in late 1971. Test flights were halted for a few weeks while procedures were reviewed. The Air Force released a statement that the aircraft was a "high altitude target". Unfortunately, it didn't land in a restricted area, and local newspeople were able to take and publish photographs of the aircraft. The project was highly secret, but on 4 August 1969 one of the prototypes failed and parachuted to ground inside the Los Alamos nuclear research complex during lunch hour. The test flights were conducted over the US Southwest. The name "Firefly" was resurrected from the early Model 147 program for the new drone, though it was also referred to as " Compass Arrow" after the program name. The basic design concept resembled that of the Model 136 Red Wagon drone that Ryan had proposed earlier in the decade, but which had been turned down in favor of a modified Firebees. Ryan won the competition in June 1966, and the new design was designated the "Model 154 / AQM-91A Firefly". The USAF was interested, and opened up a design competition, with Ryan competing with North American Aviation. After discussions with the CIA that went nowhere, Ryan pitched their advanced reconnaissance drone concepts to the Air Force in early 1966. Ryan pursued advanced drone concepts on a part-time basis. Such requirements spelled out a completely new design, not a modification of a target drone. US intelligence thus needed a long-range drone with a high degree of survivability. In particular, the Chinese nuclear development facility at Lop Nor was far out of reach of the Lightning Bugs, and was barely within reach of the Lockheed U-2 spyplane, which had become far too vulnerable to SAMs. The Ryan Model 147 Lightning Bug reconnaissance drone was enjoying success in Vietnam in the early 1960s, but it lacked the range to fly deep into China and back out again. The Ryan AQM-91 Firefly was a developmental drone developed during the Vietnam War to perform long-range reconnaissance, especially into China.
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