Northrop Grumman and U.S. Navy on May 4 conducted the first fly-in arrested landing of the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstra...
The test represents the first arrested landing by a US Navy unmanned aircraft.
It marks the beginning of the final phase of X-47B testing prior to carrier-based trials planned for later this month.
During an arrested landing, the incoming aircraft extends its landing hook to catch a heavy cable extended across the aircraft landing area. The tension in the wire brings the aircraft to a rapid and controlled stop.
The arrested landing test culminates more than three months of shore-based carrier suitability testing at Naval Air Station Patuxent River.
The testing included precision approaches, touch-and-go landings, and precision landings by the X-47B air vehicle.
For the arrested landing, the X-47B used a navigation approach that closely mimics the technique it will use to land on an aircraft carrier underway at sea.
"This precision, shore-based trap by the X-47B puts the UCAS Carrier Demonstration [UCAS-D] program on final approach for a rendezvous with naval aviation history," said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, the Navy's UCAS program manager. "It moves us a critical step closer to proving that unmanned systems can be integrated seamlessly into Navy carrier operations."
The X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft currently under development by Northrop Grumman as part of the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. Under a contract awarded in 2007, the company designed, produced and is currently flight testing two X-47B aircraft.
In 2013, these aircraft will be used to demonstrate the first carrier-based launches and recoveries by an autonomous, low-observable-relevant unmanned aircraft. The UCAS-D program will also mature relevant carrier landing and integration technologies.
Northrop Grumman's UCAS-D industry team includes Pratt & Whitney, Lockheed Martin, GKN Aerospace, Eaton, General Electric, UTC Aerospace Systems, Dell, Honeywell, Moog, Wind River, Parker Aerospace and Rockwell Collins.
A video of landing is available on YouTube at http://youtu.be/1Z2vpnbEbXc
For more info:www.northropgrumman.com/X-47B
