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A Video History of the X-47B UCAS-D Naval Unmanned Aircraft System

One of my biggest obsessions recently has been UAV’s, and the X-47B in particular.  As incredible as I find UAVs it is even more incredible to me that the Navy has pursued an aircraft like this.  Naval aviation just carries so many unique attributes that I never thought they would even be interested in this technology.

After two and a half years of development the Navy recently achieved arguably the biggest milestone in making the UCAS-D a reality.  On July 10 they successfully performed an arrested landing on an aircraft carrier with the X-47B on board the USS George H.W. Bush.  When I saw the video, which can be found below, the only thought I had was, WOW!

Maybe it is just the nature of aviation, but it seems like they continue to make advances where other industries crawl along at a snail’s pace.  This is the type of technology that really sparks innovation in the world.  Like many technologies we may not fully appreciate its impact until far into the future, but there is no doubt it will have a tremendous impact.

The Navy has a great timeline of events on their website describing the development process, and Northrop Grumman, the lead developer, gave a nice description of the first arrested landing in their press release.  More information about previous milestones can be found here, here, and here.

But, if all you want is some high quality video footage, that can be found below.

July 24, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

X-47B Performs First Ever Catapult Launch for a UAV from USS George H.W. Bush

The X-47B leaving the carrier deck for the first time. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis/Released)

The X-47B leaving the carrier deck for the first time. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis/Released)

The Navy’s UCAS-D, X-47B, took another huge step forward in its development today and I had to at least mention it because it is a pretty pivotal day in the future of aviation.  I have previously written about the X-47B performing simulated aerial refueling, as well as its first arrested landing on ground, but today it took a major step forward when it performed its very first catapult launch from the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Planes have been landing on ship decks for over 100 years, and today the USS George H.W. Bush was the first carrier to see a plane take off without a person actually in it.  It really leaves me kind of speechless to think about that.

Aviation has always been a breeding ground for innovation, and the Navy has often been heavily involved with that.  Personally I thought carriers were the one place we may never see a UAV, but I have definitely been proven wrong.  It is interesting how my views on UAVs have changed in less than a year.

I wrote that first article about the refueling a little over a year ago, and I was relatively skeptical about where UAVs would actually go, but now I am willing to believe they can do just about anything.  Next up on the agenda for the X-47B is to make an arrested landing on a moving carrier, which they are planning to attempt in the next few weeks.

May 14, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

X-47B UCAS-D Performs First Arrested Landing

There are a few things that I have become completely obsessed with recently in aviation.  One of the biggest ones is the development of UAVs.  There are so many amazing new technologies and new applications that we haven’t even considered yet.  How about using them on aircraft carriers?

It is hard enough for a pilot in the seat to land on a carrier, so how good will a computer do?  Only time will tell, but the Navy is getting one step closer.

Northrop Grumman has been working with the Navy on developing the X-47B, an Unmanned Carrier Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D).  The first flight took place a little over two years ago on land, and then over this last weekend it performed its first arrested landing, also on land.  According to NavalDrones.com this is leading up to carrier flight tests that are scheduled to start later this month on the USS George H. W. Bush.

 

 

NavalDrones.com has a great collection of videos of the X-47B that follow its development from the beginning.

It will be interesting to continue to follow the development of this and other carrier-borne systems.

May 6, 2013 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Northrop Grumman Highlights Global Security Capabilities at Singapore Air Show 2012

LONDON — Feb. 7, 2012 — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will highlight a wide range of its global security capabilities and programmes at the Singapore Air Show, including airborne early warning and control systems, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), fire control radars and infrared countermeasures.

The air show is Asia’s largest aerospace and defence event and one of the world’s top three air shows. It takes place from 14-19 Feb. at the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC) located near Changi Airport. The Northrop Grumman Chalet is No. CD01.

“Our customer base across Southeast Asia is extremely important to us. Singapore is a key market, one in which we have considerable capabilities and a wide range of products to offer,” said Bill Schaefer, sector vice president of business development for the company’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Northrop Grumman’s technology leadership and proven capability in many areas, including airborne early warning and control and aerial surveillance, are well matched to meeting the region’s growing defence and security needs.”

The company will feature its family of Q-4 High Altitude Long Endurance aircraft such as the MQ-4C Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System (BAMS UAS), and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye.

Based on the combat-proven RQ-4 Global Hawk UAS, the BAMS UAS is a versatile maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system to support a variety of missions while operating independently or in direct collaboration with fleet assets. When operational, BAMS will play a key role in providing commanders with a persistent, reliable picture of surface threats, covering vast areas of open ocean and littoral regions, significantly augmenting the use of other manned assets to execute surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye programme couples a newly designed electronically scanned radar with a matching suite of sensors, avionics, processors, software and displays to provide the most technologically advanced command and control capability available worldwide. The AN/APY-9 radar with a two-generation leap in capability is the backbone of this aircraft and provides greater flexibility and significantly improved detection and tracking over all terrains. To date, Northrop Grumman has delivered seven E-2Ds to the U.S. Navy. The programme is on track for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation in 2012 and Initial Operational Capability in the U. S. Navy fleet in 2015. An E-2D tactical work station will be available to demonstrate the capabilities and functionality of the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye for military and civilian applications.

The company’s industry-leading Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) programmes will also be featured. A model of the corporation’s newest AESA fighter sensor, the Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), will be on display. SABR is designed as a retrofit for existing Block 52 and previous F-16 aircraft and is scalable to fit other aircraft platforms and mission areas.

Northrop Grumman is the world leader in airborne fire control radar. As the world’s sole supplier of fire control radars for fifth-generation fighters, the company supplies the AESA fire control radars for the F-35 and F-22. In addition, a range of sensor systems will be highlighted, including directional infrared countermeasures; AN/APR-39B(V)2 suite of integrated sensors and countermeasures; the LITENING advanced airborne targeting and navigation pod; and the electro-optical Distributed Aperture System through the F-35.

As a principal and founding member of the F-35 industry team led by Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman is responsible for the design and production of centre fuselages for all three variants of F-35 aircraft: conventional takeoff and landing; short takeoff, vertical landing; and a carrier variant. Northrop Grumman completes the F-35 centre fuselages – the core structures around which the aircraft are built – at its Palmdale, Calif., facility.

Additionally, the company produces the aircraft’s communications subsystems; develops mission systems and mission-planning software; leads the team’s development of pilot and maintenance training system courseware; and manages the team’s use, support and maintenance of low-observable technologies.

Other capabilities that will be featured are the company’s state-of-the-art Electronic Support Measures system and Early Warning Self Protection that are currently part of the U.S. Navy P-8A airborne maritime patrol programme. The S-Band long-range AN/TPS-78 mobile radar system will also be highlighted.

Northrop Grumman has well established relationships with Singapore and other countries in the region, and has been supporting a number of defence and civil programmes there for more than 20 years. The company has offices across Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region: Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, New Delhi and Canberra.

An online media kit containing brochures, photos and videos of featured programmes can be found at: http://www.northropgrumman.com/singapore/ .

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

February 12, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Simulate Aerial Refueling For Carrier-Borne Platforms

Being a flyer myself, I am not too interested in being replaced by machines.  I think it is very cool the things that they can do with remotely piloted aircraft, or whatever they are calling them these days, but for now I see them as much as an air hazard as anything.  Talk to me after I retire and I may change my song.

That being said, I still find the whole field very interesting, and Northrop Grumman and the US Navy are working to take UASs to the next level.  They are working towards autonomous aerial refueling for these up and coming aircraft.

Aerial refueling is an essential aspect of the effectiveness of most aircraft in the military arsenal, so for UASs to reach the next level of usability they are going to need that ability.  These early simulations are the first steps in making that a reality for the developmental X-47B.

While the simulations did not involve any real transfer of fuel, they are hopeful to achieve actual refueling by 2014.  Leading up to that milestone is successfully demonstrating the X-47B’s ability to safely operate from an aircraft carrier including launch and recovery.

I am not naive enough to think that these platforms will go away.  I believe that quite the opposite will happen, and I’m okay with it.  There are plenty of missions out there that can be effectively accomplished by airframes with no people on-board.

But, there are also plenty of missions that need to be taken care of by pilots who are physically in the cockpit.  Computers and technology can do amazing things, but no matter how hard they try they will never replicate the abilities of the human mind.

January 27, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.

Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy Test Autonomous Aerial Refueling for Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration

“These tests are a critical step toward proving that the X-47B can perform autonomous aerial refueling using either the Navy’s probe-and-drogue refueling technique or the U.S. Air Force’s boom/receptacle approach,” said Carl Johnson, vice president and UCAS-D program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Future unmanned systems will need to use both refueling techniques if they plan to conduct longer range surveillance or strike missions from the carrier.”

Northrop Grumman, U.S. Navy Test Autonomous Aerial Refueling for Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration

Surrogate Testing With Learjet Validates Flight Control Algorithms, Vision Systems That Will Enable Autonomous Refueling Operations

January 26, 2012

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla., Jan. 26, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Navy have successfully completed a series of flight tests to demonstrate technology that could help extend the operating range and flight duration of future carrier-based unmanned systems.

The flight tests, completed Jan. 21 in St. Augustine, proved the functionality of the hardware and software that will enable the X-47B unmanned aircraft to demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) in 2014.

The AAR activity is part of the Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. Northrop Grumman is the Navy’s UCAS-D prime contractor.

“These tests are a critical step toward proving that the X-47B can perform autonomous aerial refueling using either the Navy’s probe-and-drogue refueling technique or the U.S. Air Force’s boom/receptacle approach,” said Carl Johnson, vice president and UCAS-D program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. “Future unmanned systems will need to use both refueling techniques if they plan to conduct longer range surveillance or strike missions from the carrier.”

The AAR tests were conducted by a Northrop Grumman/Navy team using Calspan Corporation’s (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) Variable Stability Learjet as the X-47B surrogate aircraft, and a K707 tanker provided by Omega Air Refueling (Alexandria, Va.). The tests included simulated flight demonstrations of both boom/receptacle and probe-and-drogue aerial refueling techniques. No fuel was exchanged between the aircraft during the test events, however.

The Learjet surrogate was equipped with real or functional equivalents of the navigation systems, flight control processor and vision system that the X-47B will use to conduct refueling operations. The aircraft contained no refueling receptacle or refueling probe. The K707, which is nearly identical in size and shape to an Air Force KC-135, was equipped with a Navy style refueling drogue only.

For each simulated refueling event, the Learjet/X-47B surrogate was piloted to a rendezvous position approximately one nautical mile from the tanker. Then the pilot transferred control of the aircraft to the X-47B’s autonomous flight control processor, which controlled the Learjet during the test event.

During a typical refueling event, the tanker operator or a mission operator on the ground commanded the Learjet to fly, in sequence, to each of the major positions associated with aerial refueling: (1) the pre-tanking observation point off one wing of the tanker; (2) the refueling contact position behind the tanker; and (3) the post-tanking “reform” position off the other wing of the tanker.

“These flights demonstrated empirically that an unmanned system can conduct aerial refueling operations with accuracy and precision,” said Pablo Gonzalez, program manager for Northrop Grumman’s UCAS-D AAR program. “The aircraft never gets tired, and it responds exactly the same way to operator commands every time.”

“The X-47B will use a hybrid GPS/vision-based relative navigation system in conjunction with its autonomous flight control system to establish and maintain a precise distance between tanker and the receiver aircraft,” he added.

The Northrop Grumman/Navy test team plans to conduct additional AAR surrogate testing using the same aircraft when flight-qualified versions of the relevant X-47B hardware and software become available.

The UCAS-D program plans to demonstrate in 2013 the ability of the tailless, autonomous, low-observable relevant X-47B demonstrator to safely operate from a Navy aircraft carrier, including launch, recovery, bolter and wave-off performance, followed by the autonomous aerial refueling in 2014. The program also plans to mature technologies required for potential future Navy unmanned air system programs. For the latest X-47B news and information, please visit www.as.northropgrumman.com/products/nucasx47b/.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

January 26, 2012 I Written By

I'm Dave and I am a proud Avgeek. It goes way beyond liking airplanes. It is a passion that cannot be subdued.