Truman Hosts X-47B Unmanned Aircraft Demonstrator for Carrier-Based Testing

[Buster]

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=70808

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The Navy hoisted an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator on board aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Nov. 26, in preparation for an unmanned aircraft's first, carrier-based testing.

A team from the Navy Unmanned Combat Air System program office (PMA-268) embarked Truman to conduct tests and demonstrations.

The X-47B, which boasts a wingspan of more than 62 feet (wider than that of an F/A-18 Super Hornet), will demonstrate seamless integration into carrier flight deck operations through various tests. During each demonstration, the X-47B will be controlled remotely via a hand-held control display unit (CDU).

Truman will be the first modern aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft.

Capt. Jaime Engdahl, N-UCAS program manager, said the X-47B's delivery aboard Truman was among the most historic moments in the program's history.

"This is a very important moment for the X-47B," said Engdahl. "The moment the aircraft set down on Truman's deck was the moment it officially met the fleet."

Cmdr. Kevin Watkins, N-UCAS's flight test director, agreed with Engdahl's sentiment.

"Bringing the X-47B aboard Truman is a big milestone for the program," said Watkins. "We've been testing the aircraft for the last several years and to finally put it on a ship is so exciting. If these tests are successful, they will prove that the future for unmanned aircraft is wide open."

Lt. Cmdr. Larry Tarver, Truman's aircraft handling officer, who helped coordinate the X-47B's on-load, said his Sailors are eager to participate in the aircraft's testing.

"It means a lot to our crew to be part of naval history," said Tarver. "We have Sailors who received additional training to safely move the X-47B and they are excited to play a part in its testing."

While technical challenges are to be expected when introducing the new system to a carrier's flight deck, Engdahl said he expects the tests to be successful citing strong teamwork between his team and Truman's crew.

"The support from Truman has been phenomenal and it's going to continue to take close cooperation between the carrier's Sailors and the UCAS-D team to make these demonstrations successful," said Engdahl. "To operate large, unmanned aircraft off of a carrier, from anywhere in the world, will be a key capability for the Navy after these tests are successful."

The X-47B test will be conducted over a three week period which will include in-port and underway demonstrations aboard Truman.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75), visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn75/.

[Trades]

Originally Posted by Buster

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=70808

Do you have a point or just thought this was neat and wanted to share?

[Bonhomme Richard]

Originally Posted by Trades

Do you have a point or just thought this was neat and wanted to share?

The "submitted without comment" posts are rather boring.

[Trades]

Originally Posted by Bonhomme Richard

The "submitted without comment" posts are rather boring.

I don't even see the possible context.

[Warfish]

Originally Posted by Trades

I don't even see the possible context.

Seems more of a Hampur/Off Topic thread than a Political Thread IMO.



Cool stuff tho.

[FF2®]

Thoughts?

[Mohegangreen]

Does it work with X Box or Playstation?

[Buster]

Originally Posted by Trades

Do you have a point or just thought this was neat and wanted to share?

Both.

This very neat and is a world event, imho.

[Buster]

Originally Posted by FF2®

Thoughts?

IMHO this maybe what will get the monkey off of the Pentagons back?

That monkey being the cost of building, maintaining Super carriers and their battle groups. The Aircraft carrier itself cost $9+ billion. That’s not counting aircraft, munitions, men, supplies and maintenance.

We are currently building a new one and have seven more planned.

[Buster]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011...-drone-refuel/

an older article about the same plane

The Navy’s X-47B killer drone is about to get a lot more lethal. Nine months after the 38-foot-long, bat-shaped flying robot took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California for its very first flight, the Navy has announced it will add an aerial refueling capability to at least one of the two X-47 prototypes sometime in 2014.

The decision to add refueling software and equipment was published on the federal government’s business opportunity website and first reported by InsideDefense. (Alas, the piece is behind a firewall.)

How big a deal is this? In a word, very.

After all, what makes the X-47B unique is the fact that it’ll be the first drone to perform one of aviation’s hardest maneuvers: taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier. And drones capable of taking on more gas in-flight could extend, by a huge margin, the range at which the Navy’s 11 aircraft carriers can strike land and sea targets. That in turn should help the expensive flattops avoid the submarines, strike planes, ballistic missiles and other defenses that nations such as China are building specifically to threaten American carriers.

The key to this range increase is the pilot. Or, more to the point, the absence of a pilot.

Limited by a human being’s endurance, a typical manned fighter can fly just 400 miles over the course of a few hours before it’s time to return to base. A flying robot can do much better, observes the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C. think tank. “A carrier-based [Unmanned Combat Air System] with an unrefueled combat radius of 1,500 nautical miles or more and unconstrained by pilot physiology offers a significant boost in carrier combat capability,” CSBA posited in a 2008 study.

“Indeed, with aerial refueling, a UCAS would be able to stay airborne for 50 to 100 hours — five to 10 times longer than a manned aircraft,” the CSBA study continued. “With multiple aerial refuelings, a UCAS could establish persistent surveillance-strike combat air patrols at ranges well beyond 3,000 nautical miles.” For those of you keeping track, that’s nearly 10 times the range of today’s carrier air wing.

The X-47, which the Navy wants by 2018, has been in development for nearly a decade by Northrop Grumman, builder of the Air Force’s long-range Global Hawk spy drone. After a series of test flights from land bases — including its first wheels-up cruise, depicted above — in 2013 the X-47B will head out to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington for additional trials, launching and landing from the carrier’s crowded, 1,100-foot flight deck.

The aerial refueling tests will follow the carrier trials. The X-47B will be fitted with both Navy-style refueling gear — a probe the refueling plane uses to “plug” into a basket suspended from the tanker — and the receptacle refueling equipment favored by the Air Force, which requires that the tanker plug its own probe into the receiving plane. Dual systems will allow the X-47B to sip gas from the Navy’s carrier-based F/A-18 tankers or the Air Force’s much larger KC-135s and KC-10s.

Not coincidentally, just last year Northrop scored a $33-million contract to outfit a Global Hawk as a tanker, with Air Force-style refueling gear. That means the Navy’s killer drone could someday find itself taking on gas from another flying robot. A robotic tanker could further boost the attacking drone’s range and, by extension, the striking power of the American fleet.

Video: Northrop Grumman

[Trades]

and so it begins...

seriously though it is pretty cool. Takes the humanity out of our side of the war though which many people could argue removes a lot of the deterrent for us getting involved. If robots do our fighting and American lives aren't directly at risk then why not attack?

And on the is it run via playstation or xbox that is neat factor...There is a video around too...

Sham II Syrian “Tank” Controlled by PlayStation Controller

By Edwin Kee on 12/11/2012 22:32 PST

What you see above is the Sham II, which is a 100% made in Syria vehicle that is constructed from the chassis of a car, and rebels have touted it to be a tank of sorts. Taking around a month of work for the design, it will in no way be able to stand up to the different kinds of modern day weaponry, but it sure puts some hope into the hearts of Syrian rebels. The designer Mahmud Abud from the Al-Ansar rebel brigade in the Aleppo region of northwest Syria claims that this fully-enclosed vehicle is made from light steel, measuring roughly four meters (yards) in length and a couple of meters across, and will come mounted with a 7.62 mm machinegun that is controlled from within the cabin.


The Sham II comes with five cameras, where three are located at the front, with one at the back, and another attached to the gun. The driver will manoeuvring the vehicle through viewing a display thanks to feedback from the cameras. A PlayStation controller is used to navigate the Sham II around. The Sham II (sounds like a Sham, if you get what I mean) will have metal walls that are 2.5cm thin, and can resist up to 23mm cannon fire, but it will be unable to handle a rocket-propelled grenade or tank fire, or course. The entire thing costs approximately $10,000.

[quantum]

One good comm jammer and your radio control toys are of limited value.

[PlumberKhan]

Such butthurt in this thread.




Sent from a phone using an app

[Jetworks]

Originally Posted by Buster

IMHO this maybe what will get the monkey off of the Pentagons back?

That monkey being the cost of building, maintaining Super carriers and their battle groups. The Aircraft carrier itself cost $9+ billion. That’s not counting aircraft, munitions, men, supplies and maintenance.

We are currently building a new one and have seven more planned.

Originally Posted by Buster

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011...-drone-refuel/

an older article about the same plane

But what plane refuels the refueler?

Really not sure why anyone would come down on the side of not wanting to keep our navy as dominant as possible. Just the logistic implications of living on a planet that is mostly water would seem to quash that kind of thinking.