Navy to try first carrier launch of X-47B [View all]
Source: U-T San Diego
The Navy says it will make its first attempt on Tuesday to launch Northrop Grumman's futuristic X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System drone from an aircraft carrier. The vehicle, which was developed at Northrop's San Diego County plants, is scheduled to undergo a catapult launch from the carrier George H.W. Bush, on the East Coast. If successful, the launch could represent an important step toward eventually making drones part of a carrier's air wing.
Rear Adm. Mat Winter, the Navy's program officer for the X-47B, said online Monday that, "Controlled by a mission operator aboard the ship, the X-47B will execute several carrier approaches demonstrating its ability to operate seamlessly within the carrier environment before it flies over the Eastern Shore and lands back at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., where two demonstration aircraft have resided for the past year ...
"Over the coming years, we will heavily leverage the technology maturation, networking advances and precision navigation algorithms developed from the X-47B demonstration program to pursue the introduction of the first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft. This future system will provide 24/7, carrier-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and targeting capability, which will operate together with manned aviation assets allowing the opportunity to shape a more efficient carrier air wing."
Read more: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/may/13/northrop-drone/
Adios Carrier pilots! It was fun.
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