X-47B engages tanker to prepare for refuelling test

The X-47B UCAS-D on 15 April connected with the fuel probe of a refuelling aircraft in flight, the US Navy (USN) announced on 16 April.
The X-47B connected with an Omega Aerial Refueling Services K-707 tanker, but did not receive fuel during the test. The effort marked a final preparation for an actual in-flight refuelling of the UCAS-D.
In that final test the X-47B is expected to use a new optical sensor to guide its fuel probe into the tanker aircraft's drogue.
janes

Anglo-French UCAS project gets underway with contract

The British and French governments have agreed to a massive contract to develop an Anglo-French unmanned combat air system. The contract, aims for an operational UCAS by the 2030s.
Six European companies will collaborate on the project: BAE, Dassault, Thales France, Selex ES, Rolls-Royce and Safran. The goal is to deliver two different national designs, which will then lead to a joint Anglo-French UCAS capable of strike and ISR missions. The project will begin with a joint feasibility phase that will determine the direction of future work.
c4isrnet

France, UK To Sign Memo Kicking Off Combat Drone Study

Britain and France plan to sign a memorandum of understanding for the study of a combat drone, bringing their air forces closer to an advanced fighter program.
On July 15, during the Farnborough International Airshow, Defense Ministers Philip Hammond and Jean-Yves Le Drian are due to sign the agreement to launch a two-year feasibility study for the high tech combat drone.
The unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS) study is seen as a step toward preparing a successor to the Rafale and Typhoon fourth-generation fighters starting around 2035.
defensenews

Taranis UCAS may use vectoring thrust

BAE Systems' Taranis unmanned combat air system demonstrator is designed to defeat new counter-stealth radars, and may use thrust vectoring as a primary means of flight control and an innovative high-precision, passive navigation and guidance system, an AW&ST analysis indicates.
Taranis is a blended wing-body shape with no tail surfaces, all-aspect stealth. The demonstrator may be designed so that functional weapon bays and sensors can be installed for a follow-on program.
aviationweek

X-47B completes round of carrier tests

The U.S. Navy has finished another round of carrier tests for the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator. The UAV demonstrated deck handling, carrier landings in high winds, and control systems.
The tests, which took place Nov. 9-19, also marked first time two X-47Bs operated at sea at the same time. While one UAV operated around the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, another conducted flights between ship and shore.
The Navy will continue testing of the X-47B through fiscal 2014.
navytimes

UCAS X-47B centennial flight

The X-47B (AV-2) conducted the 100th flight for the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program on Sept. 18. The Navy UCAS program successfully completed all objectives for the carrier demonstration phase with the X-47B in July.

X-47B Completes Second Carrier-based Arrested Landing

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completed its first carrier-based arrested landing on board USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) off the coast of Virginia July 10.

navy.mil

Navy UCLASS to carry 1,000 pounds over 2,000 miles

The U.S. Navy is working on a radar-evading, armed, jet-propelled, highly autonomous drone warplane able to take off of and land on the pitching deck of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as early as 2018.
Known by the UCLASS the new drone will be the first pilotless warplane with the same bombing abilities as today’s manned jet fighters.
It’ll be stealthy. It’ll carry lots of sensors and ordnance over long distance. It’ll be expensive.
Thanks to an internal Navy document obtained by the U.S. Naval Institute’s news blo, The requirements document lays out what are called “key performance parameters” that the UCLASS drone is supposed to meet.
For starters, UCLASS will be deployed aboard the Navy’s flattops in groups called “orbits.” By Air Force standards, a drone orbit includes three or four aircraft plus the control station and 100 or more human operators. The Navy expects each orbit to cost $150 million, according to the leaked document.
The new killer drone must be able to fly 2,000 miles without in-air refueling in a “lightly contested” environment — that is, against modest enemy defenses — and destroy a target on land or sea using two 500-pound GPS-guided bombs.
By comparison, the Super Hornet can carry 4,000 pounds worth of bombs plus self-defense missiles only 500 miles without refueling, but is able to fight its way through heavily contested air space. The F-35C also carries two tons of weapons plus missiles but can fly 600 miles on internal fuel and through heavy defenses.
In short, the UCLASS will more than triple the striking range of the carrier more cheaply than current planes — although with fewer bombs and with less ability to survive against a determined foe.

medium

UCAS Misses A Flight Due To GOES Failure

Carrier-based flight trials of the U.S. Navy’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator (UCAS-D) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush were briefly brought to a halt last week due to an unlikely frequency-sharing issue between the air vehicle and officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is trying to fix a problem with a faulty weather satellite.

Amy Butler-aviationweek

X-47B Accomplishes First Ever Carrier Touch and Go aboard CVN 77 'USS George H.W. Bush'

The Navy's X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) has begun touch and go landing operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) May 17.The various launch and landing operations of the X-47B on the flight deck of George H. W. Bush signify historic events for naval aviation history. These demonstrations display the Navy's readiness to move forward with unmanned carrier aviation operations.

navy.mil

The Navy's X-47B Drone Has Taken Off From a Carrier For the First Time

One of Northrop Grumman's star Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator successfully catapult launched from the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush just off the Maryland coast. This marks the first time the X-47B, or any UAV for that matter, has ever taken off from a carrier at sea.
gizmodo

X-47B UCAS-D, Back on Land

Yet another update on the US Navy's X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator - this time unashamedly because I like this picture released by Northrop Grumman.

Northrop says deck trials of X-47B air vehicle AV-2 on the USS Truman from Nov 27 to Dec 17 demonstrated the ability to maneuver the fighter-sized unmanned aircraft on the flightdeck using a wireless handheld controller. Tests included maneuvering the aircraft up to the catapults, taxiing over the arresting cables and moving up and down the elevator.

"The X-47B deck trials proved convincingly that the design and operation of the aircraft are fully compatible with the rhythm and operational requirements of the carrier flight deck," Mike Mackey, Northrop's UCAS-D program director is quoted as saying. Tests proved the aircraft can operate in the hostile electromagnetic environment of a carrier, he adds.

Graham Warwick-aviationweek

First X-47B UCAS catapult launch

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) carried out its first land-based catapult launch Nov. 29 from Patuxent River.

alert5

X-47B unmanned test aircraft hoisted aboard ship for first sea tests

One of two Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft was barged down from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and arrived on Nov. 26 at Norfolk naval base, Va., where it was promptly hoisted aboard the aircraft carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75). This marks the first time one of the stealthy aircraft has been on board a ship.

blogs.defensenews

X-47B hoist on board USS Harry S. Truman

A X-47B was hoisted on board aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman on Nov. 26. The unmanned aircraft will test carrier deck handling aboard Truman next year.

alert5.com

navair.navy