An F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the Salty Dogs of Strike Aircraft Test Squadron (VX)23, tests the Joint Precision Approach Landing System (JPALS) aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71). US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy has completed the initial development of the Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS), Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) officials told USNI News. Read More
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
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.
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.
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on July, 10 2013. US Navy Photo
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has promised to work closely with the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces to address their concerns about the service’s Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program, according to an Oct. 17 letter obtained by USNI News. Read More
The following is a Oct. 17, 2013 letter from Secretary Ray Mabus to Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) in response to questions raised by members of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee on the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. Read More
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.
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
