X-47B updates and news

November 29th, 2012   Filed under: combat uav, drone, northrop grumman, predator uav, uav airplane, uav predator, UAV related, uavs, ucav, unmanned airplane, x-47b Add Comment
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Navy version of the X-47B UCAV
Source: mail2web.com

Hey everyone, today I’m going to bring you some updates on the X-47B UCAV. The first successful shore based, or on carrier deck, trial of the X-47B was in early November. The goal of the U.S Navy and Northrop Grumman is to make the X-47B capable of being operated from a hectic aircraft carrier deck. Northrop Grumman’s UCAS-D test director, Daryl Martis, reported that the CDU’s capability of controlling the crafts thrust as well as other functions such as roll break and stop is crucial for its ability to be flown from deck. “It will allow us to move the aircraft quickly and precisely into the catapult for launch, or out of the landing area following recovery. Both of these activities are essential to maintaining the rhythm of the flight deck.” (Martis 2012).

For operational purposes the deck operator and the director will stand one behind the other as the director via hand signals indicates where the craft should be moved to as the deck operator uses the CDU to carry out these operations.  The first shore-based catapults are scheduled for later this month, this test should help to prove  the CDU’s performance in an accurate (carrier deck) environment.     

Northrop Grumman’s X-47B

November 6th, 2012   Filed under: airplane, boeing, combat uav, government spending, northrop grumman, uav, uav airplane, UAV related, usaf, x-47b 2 Comments

The X-47B first flew in 2011 at Edwards Air Force Base in California, it began as a project for DARPA’s J-UCAS program but soon adopted the goal of becoming a carrier based unmanned air craft and is now part of the United States Navy Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration program. The Northrop Grumman X-47B is similar to the Boeing X-45, the original concept design being the X-47A Pegasus that first flew in 2003.
The aircraft is 38.2 ft in length and has a wingspan of 62.1 ft extended/30.9 ft folded. Its height is 10.4 ft with a maximum takeoff weight of 44,567 lb (empty weight of 14,000 lb). In 2000 the Navy gave contracts of $2 million to both Boeing and Northrop Grumman for a 15-month concept-exploration, with a specific goal in mind. The concept had to take into account the corrosive saltwater environment, launch and recovery on deck, integration with command and control systems, and operation in an aircraft carrier’s high-electromagnetic-interference environment, as well as the ability to perform reconnaissance missions.
Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

The Navy chose Northrop Grumman’s X-47B in 2006 after the J-UCAS program was cut and the navy began its own UAV program. The X-47B has an unrefueled range of over 2,000 miles (3,200 km), and an endurance of more than six hours. In November of 2011 the Navy announced that aerial refueling equipment would be added to one of the prototypes in 2014. After performing so consistently during the preliminary test flights, The X-47B will be used to demonstrate carrier launches and recoveries, as well as unmanned in-flight refueling with a probe and drogue.

May 2012, at Patuxent River, AV-1 began high-intensity electromagnetic interference testing to ascertain its compatibility with planned electronic warfare systems. The project was started out funded under a US$635.8-million contract awarded by the Navy in 2007. However, by January 2012, the X-47B’s total program cost had grown to an estimated $813 million.