X-47B Hoisted On Aircraft Carrier Deck for Testing
The U.S. Navy’s new bat-winged experimental UAS has been delivered to an aircraft carrier deck to undergo handling tests aboard the ship.
The Navy said that sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman took delivery of the aircraft on Monday from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where it had been undergoing tests.Truman is the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft.
The X-47B is an experimental jet — that’s what the X stands for — and is designed to demonstrate new technology, such as automated takeoffs, landings and refueling. The drone also has a fully capable weapons bay with a payload capacity of 4,500 pounds, but the Navy said it has no plans to arm it.
The Navy has said it expects the X-47B to first land on a carrier by 2013, relying on pinpoint GPS coordinates and advanced avionics. The carrier’s computers digitally transmit the carrier’s speed, cross-winds and other data to the drone as it approaches from miles away.
The Navy said that sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman took delivery of the aircraft on Monday from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where it had been undergoing tests.Truman is the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft.
The X-47B is designed to fly farther and stay in the air longer than existing aircraft because it does not depend on a human pilot’s endurance. Navy fighter pilots may fly missions that last up to 10 hours.
There were two X-47Bs built under a $635.8-million contract awarded by the Navy in 2007. They were constructed behind a barbed-wire fences and double security doors at Northrop Grumman Corp.’s expansive facility in Palmdale.The X-47B is an experimental jet — that’s what the X stands for — and is designed to demonstrate new technology, such as automated takeoffs, landings and refueling. The drone also has a fully capable weapons bay with a payload capacity of 4,500 pounds, but the Navy said it has no plans to arm it.
The Navy has said it expects the X-47B to first land on a carrier by 2013, relying on pinpoint GPS coordinates and advanced avionics. The carrier’s computers digitally transmit the carrier’s speed, cross-winds and other data to the drone as it approaches from miles away.
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