The X-47B is an unmanned combat air system carrier. Northrop Grumman is creating UCAS for the US Navy (USN). The demonstration phase for the strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft is currently underway. The X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstrator’s airworthiness was developed for an estimated $813 million.
The aircraft successfully completed its first test flight in Patuxent River, Maryland in July 2012. The X-47B is expected to enter active navy service in 2019. The X-47B UCAS was developed by the US Navy as part of the unmanned combat air system carrier demonstration (UCAS-D) program.
A fighter-sized tailless unmanned aircraft that can be launched from US Navy aircraft carriers is what the program seeks to build and test. The X-47B is a variation of the Pegasus X-47A, which was created in 2001 as part of the J-UCAS joint USAF and USN program. Northrop Grumman served as the program’s principal contractor, and DARPA provided funding for it. However, both military forces canceled the UCAS development program in favor of separate UAV development programs in February 2006. Following the cancellation, work on the X-47B, which had begun in June 2005, was temporarily put on hold.
In August 2007, the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for the development and testing of two X-47B aircraft for the program’s unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D). The UCAS-D program also intends to create a risk-free environment for the development of prospective future carrier-compatible unmanned systems.
Rockwell Collins, Goodrich, Lockheed Martin, Parker Aerospace, Honeywell, GKN Aerospace, General Electric (GE), Wind River, Dell, Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney, Eaton, and Moog are among the companies working together on the UCAS-D program.
Design and X-47B’s features The unmanned, tailless aircraft is 38.2 feet long and has a 62.1-foot wingspan. The aircraft’s form is intended to meet applicable standards for stealth or low observability. 4,500 lbs of weaponry may be stored in the weapons bay.
Intelligent and autonomous flight control are both features of UCAS. A hybrid global positioning system (GPS) vision-based technology manages UCAS’s navigation. A mission operator oversees the pre-programmed flight path’s operations. Electronic support measures (ESM), electro-optics (EO), infrared (IR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), inverse SAR, ground moving target indicator (GMTI), and marine moving target indicator (MMTI) sensors are all included in the UCAS.
For autonomous air refueling, the UCAS-D will have both probe-and-drogue mechanisms from the US Navy and boom-receptacle systems from the USAF.
A Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220U engine and exhaust system power the X-47B. The aircraft has a range of about 2,100 nm and a high subsonic speed of about 0.45M. The UCAS can fly up to 40,000 feet in the air. Under the UCAS-D program, two autonomous jet-powered X-47B aircraft were created. The hardware features and designs of the two demonstration vehicles are comparable. But just one is prepared to test aerial refueling operations.
They have room for armament systems and can handle many types of sensors for observation, intelligence, and reconnaissance. The demonstration units don’t have a payload fitted. By October 2009, the initial X-47B, including structural proof testing, had been finished. The aircraft, known as air vehicle 1 (AV-1), was sent to Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) in July 2010 for flight testing. In March 2011, the AV-2, the second aircraft, arrived at the station for testing.
In February 2011, the UCAS-D underwent its initial flight test. In November 2012, the Naval Air Station Patuxent River’s onshore catapult facility hosted the X-47B’s first catapult launch. In December 2012, the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75)’s deck handling trials for the first at-sea test phase were finished.
The aircraft will also undergo testing for its ability to launch, operate, and recover in a 50-nautical-mile radius around a military carrier. In December 2012, the carrier’s launch, recovery, and deck handling tests were finished. In April 2015, aerial refueling demonstrations took place.