An artist’s concept of a proposed Lockheed Martin UCLASS design. Lockheed Martin Image
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – The first operational unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to be used on the Navy’s aircraft carriers needs to be developed with a “joint perspective,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said during a Keynote speech at WEST 2015 on Tuesday. Read More
X-47B tail number 501 flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 17, 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
PENTAGON – The Navy has pushed its planned fielding date for its carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) from 2020 to 2022 or 2023, a Navy budget official told reporters in a late Monday afternoon briefing on the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request to Congress. Read More
An artist’s concept of the Lockheed Martin’s bid for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS). Lockheed Martin Image
A previous version of this post misstated the chairman of the Defense Acquisition Board. It is Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall, not vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld. Winnefeld chairs the Pentagon’s Joint Requirements Oversight Council.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The review of the Pentagon’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) portfolio that stalled the acquisition of the Navy’s first operational carrier-based UAV has completed its early phase, the Navy’s chief acquisition official said on Wednesday. Read More
X-47B UCAS. Northrop Grumman Photo
If the Navy can get the resources, it plans to test an aerial refueling capability on its experimental carrier-launched unmanned aerial vehicle, the X-47B, as early as next year, Naval Air Systems Command officials told USNI News on Tuesday. Read More
X-47B tail number 501 flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 17, 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
The 2015 compromise defense bill, released on Wednesday, imposes restrictions on funding for the Navy’s planned production carrier-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over concerns the platform would lack sufficient stealth, survivability and weapons payload, according to the bill’s language. Read More
Navy’s unmanned X-47B conducts night flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Aug. 21, 2014. US Navy Photo
The final request for proposal (RFP) for the Navy’s planned carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has been delayed pending a review of the service’s information, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) portfolio as part of the service’s budget process this fall, Navy officials told USNI News on Friday afternoon. Read More
The Navy’s unmanned X-47B lands aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) on Aug. 17, 2014. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy’s move toward developing a carried-based unmanned combat aircraft might eventually afford the service the ability to strike targets at long-range, but there are ethical and legal questions that linger should the Pentagon develop a fully autonomous system. Read More
X-47B tail number 501 flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 17, 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is “on the precipice,” of releasing a final restricted request for proposal (RFP) for its surveillance intensive unmanned carrier-based air vehicle (UAV), NAVAIR’s head of unmanned aviation told reporters on Sunday in Norfolk, Va.
An artist’s concept of General Atomic’s Sea Avenger UCLASS bid taken from a display monitor. US Naval Institute Photo
The Navy seems to have shifted its concept for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) for a third time in as many years part of the most confusing and misunderstood aviation acquisition programs in the last decade. Read More
X-47B conducts its first night flight April 10 over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. on April, 10 2014. US Navy Photo
The Navy is pushing back a planned request for proposal (RfP) for its carrier-based unmanned aerial strike and surveillance aircraft pending a review of a controversial set of requirements by the Office of Secretary of Defense (OSD), defense officials told USNI News on Monday. Read More
