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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.

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.