Navy Tests Drone And Manned Fighter Joint Operations
- 10 years ago
A test that was conducted this past weekend allowed a human pilot to fly right next to a Navy drone. Reportedly, this makes it the very first time a trained person and drone worked side by side in the same aircraft exercise.
A test that was conducted this past weekend allowed a human pilot to fly right next to a Navy drone. Reportedly, this makes it the very first time a trained person and drone worked side by side in the same aircraft exercise.
The test flight, which took place on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, involved two aircraft, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System and the Navy’s manned F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter.
The aim of the project was reportedly for both aircraft to take off within 90 seconds of one another and land on the carrier deck in the same timeframe. The testing was a success.
The drone is said to have ‘completed a series of tests, which included a catapult launch and arrested landing, which demonstrated its ability to operate safely and seamlessly with manned aircraft.’
In addition to that, the X-47B performed deck refueling operations and flight deck taxiing.
The jet-powered drone was built by Northrop Grumman Corporation. It comes with a weapons bay that has a payload capacity of 45 hundred pounds, but Navy officials say there are no current plans to weaponize it.
The X-47B is an experimental jet and the promising results of the first test mean future tests will be continued, with the ultimate goal of integrating unmanned carrier aircraft into the normal operations of the existing air wing.
A test that was conducted this past weekend allowed a human pilot to fly right next to a Navy drone. Reportedly, this makes it the very first time a trained person and drone worked side by side in the same aircraft exercise.
The test flight, which took place on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, involved two aircraft, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System and the Navy’s manned F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter.
The aim of the project was reportedly for both aircraft to take off within 90 seconds of one another and land on the carrier deck in the same timeframe. The testing was a success.
The drone is said to have ‘completed a series of tests, which included a catapult launch and arrested landing, which demonstrated its ability to operate safely and seamlessly with manned aircraft.’
In addition to that, the X-47B performed deck refueling operations and flight deck taxiing.
The jet-powered drone was built by Northrop Grumman Corporation. It comes with a weapons bay that has a payload capacity of 45 hundred pounds, but Navy officials say there are no current plans to weaponize it.
The X-47B is an experimental jet and the promising results of the first test mean future tests will be continued, with the ultimate goal of integrating unmanned carrier aircraft into the normal operations of the existing air wing.