Tag Archives: NAVAIR

Navy Zeroes Out Fire Scout Buy, Future of Program Unclear

Navy Zeroes Out Fire Scout Buy, Future of Program Unclear

An MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle takes off from Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu on Oct. 31, 2013. US Navy Photo

An MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned aerial vehicle takes off from Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu on Oct. 31, 2013. US Navy Photo

The Navy has abandoned its plans to buy 17 additional Northrop Grumman Fire Scout rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the next five years as part of its Fiscal Year 2015 budget submission. Read More

Navy's UCLASS Could Be Air to Air Fighter

Navy’s UCLASS Could Be Air to Air Fighter

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) on Nov. 9, 2013. US Navy

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) on Nov. 9, 2013. US Navy

Could the U.S. Navy’s future Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft have an air-to-air role? The service’s director of air warfare Rear Adm. Mike Manazir posed that it could during a Dec. 20 interview with USNI News. Read More

Navy: Congressional Oversight Will Not Slow UCLASS Program

Navy: Congressional Oversight Will Not Slow UCLASS Program

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 13 1980. US Navy Photo

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 13 1980. US Navy Photo

The Fiscal Year 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) will not force the U.S. Navy to restructure its Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft program, service officials said. Read More

X-47B Will Pair With Manned Aircraft in Testing Later This Year

X-47B Will Pair With Manned Aircraft in Testing Later This Year

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator conducts a touch and go landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). US Navy Photo

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator conducts a touch and go landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy plans to take the Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft out to sea onboard an aircraft carrier this summer to test how well it operates together with manned aircraft around the ship and on the flight deck. Read More

Navy's F-35C Completes Landing Tests Ahead of October Sea Trials

Navy’s F-35C Completes Landing Tests Ahead of October Sea Trials

Navy F-35C test plane CF-3 successfully catches a wire during testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Lockheed Martin Photo

Navy F-35C test plane CF-3 successfully catches a wire during testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Lockheed Martin Photo

The U.S. Navy’s carrier-based version of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is nearing October sea trials after completing shore-based testing at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, to ensure compatibility with shipboard arresting gear. Read More

Debate Continues Over UCLASS Requirements

Debate Continues Over UCLASS Requirements

The X-47B on the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Nov. 10, 2013. US Navy Photo

The X-47B on the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Nov. 10, 2013. US Navy Photo

The requirements for the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) aircraft program might not be settled just yet. Read More

Navy Shifts Plans to Acquire a Tougher UCLASS

Navy Shifts Plans to Acquire a Tougher UCLASS

The X-47B

The X-47B on the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Nov. 10, 2013. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy appears to have shifted its position on the requirements for its next generation carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Navy officials told USNI News.

Instead of developing the planned Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) to only conduct operations in uncontested airspace, the service will instead pursue a design that can be adapted over time to operating against higher threat levels.

Read More

Navy Restarts X-47B Carrier Testing

Navy Restarts X-47B Carrier Testing

A X-47B lands on Nov. 10 onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). US Navy Photo

A X-47B lands on Nov. 10, 2013 onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy has a begun a second set of sea-trials for its Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aircraft onboard the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) about 60 nautical miles off the Virginia coast.

Read More

NAVAIR's Unmanned Shakeup

NAVAIR’s Unmanned Shakeup

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 13 1980. US Navy Photo

X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May, 13 2013. US Navy Photo

The U.S. Navy is realigning its carrier-based unmanned aircraft programs under one office at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), USNI News has learned.

Read More