An artist’s conception of the Northrop Grumman RQ-180. Aviation Week Photo
Industry trade journal Aviation Week suggests that a new extremely stealthy long-range strategic unmanned intelligence surveillance reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft — the Northrop Grumman RQ-180 — not only exists but that it could be operational by 2015. Read More
An image of guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) following a collision with a BGM-74 target drone on Saturday. The impact area is circled. NBC 7 San Diego Image/U.S. Naval Institute photo illustration
Engineers with U.S. Navy are still tallying the damage caused when a 13-foot target drone punched a three to four foot hole in the side of guided missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville (CG-62) on Saturday, Navy officials told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
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.
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’s next generation rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) had its first flight on Thursday at Naval Base Ventura County at Point Mugu, Calif., according to a statement from the service. Read More
An artists conception of Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s 2009 bid for the Next Generation Bomber (NGB). Boeing Photo
Boeing and Lockheed Martin are joining forces in the competition to build the U.S. Air Force’s new Long-Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B), the two companies announced on Friday Read More
A X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on July, 10 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy is making plans that could extend the testing of Northrop Grumman’s X-47B into 2015 with possible new carrier tests as early as next month, USNI News has learned.
Last week the Navy issued a contract solicitation to extend the testing of the two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) — dubbed Salty Dog 501 and Salty Dog 502 — as part of the Unmanned Combat Air System demonstration (UCAS-D) program. Read More
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft is transported on an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo
Some potential builders of the Navy’s planned Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) are worried a shift in focus to the requirements of the program will negate years of private research into fielding the carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), according to a Sunday report in Flight.
The Navy undertook a non-traditional route in acquiring UCLASS. Instead of developing a list of requirements and holding a competition early in the program, the Navy instead waited to issue an outline for the aircraft’s requirements leaving companies to develop plans for the aircraft in a vacuum using their own funds for about three years. Read More
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B flies over USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May 14, 2013. US Naval Institute Photo
Some weeks ago, unmanned aerial vehicles passed a major pair of milestones. The Navy’s X-47B successfully launched from and then landed on board an aircraft carrier. Read More
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). US Navy Photo
The reduction in strike capability of the Navy’s next generation carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle was born of fiscal realities, said Dyke Weatherington, the Pentagon’s director of unmanned warfare and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Unmanned Systems 2013 conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Lt. Cmdr. Jeremy DeYoung and Naval Aircrewman 1st Class David Berber, both reservists attached to Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light (HSL) 60, demonstrate the MQ-8B Fire Scout flight simulator in 2012. US Navy Photo
As the Navy prepares to train operators for the bevy of planned unmanned aerial the service should consider creating an officer class specific to the unmanned aerial systems (UAS), said an analyst with Northrop Grumman at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International Unmanned Systems 2013 conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
