Rockwell HiMAT

The Rockwell RPRV-870 HiMAT (Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology) was an experimental, remotely piloted aircraft built for a NASA program aimed at developing technologies for future fighters. It tested features such as close-coupled canards, fully digital flight controls (including for propulsion), graphite and fiberglass composites, remote piloting, synthetic vision, and winglets.

Rockwell International built two examples. Their first flights occurred in 1979, and testing wrapped up in 1983, with a total of 26 flights between them.

The design team chose remote piloting because it was cheaper and safer than risking a pilot’s life, and it eliminated the need for an ejection seat. A pilot on the ground flew the aircraft from a remote cockpit, with control signals uplinked and telemetry downlinked to displays. The remote cockpit could show either nose-camera video or a 3D synthetic vision display called a “visual display.”

The HiMATs were launched from a B-52 Stratofortress at altitude. A TF-104G Starfighter chase plane carried backup controls that could take over if the ground pilot lost command. The aircraft were built from graphite-epoxy composites, which were as strong as metal but lighter and more flexible.

Advances in digital flight control from this project contributed to the Grumman X-29, and composite construction is now common on both commercial and military aircraft. The initial concept included a wedge-shaped exhaust nozzle with 2D thrust vectoring.

Operational history

The HiMAT was first shown to VIPs and media in March 1978. Soon after, it was trucked to the Armstrong Flight Research Center for flight testing.

The second aircraft arrived there on June 15. On March 16, 1978, the first HiMAT (RPRV 870) underwent its first fit check with the NB-52 Stratofortress, using the same method as the X-15 but with a purpose-built adapter. The first captive flight test, scheduled for July 11, 1979, was aborted due to telemetry and systems issues; it succeeded on July 20, and the first free flight was set for the following week.

That first free flight occurred on July 27, 1979, with NASA test pilot William H. Dana controlling from the ground. The aircraft met its objectives and landed safely near Edwards Air Force Base. Testing went smoothly until the fifth flight on July 8, 1980, when the ground pilot lost control and the backup pilot in the TF-104G took over.