US Navy launches X-47B drone from aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush

[Donger]

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news...w-bush05152013

A drone the size of a fighter jet took off from the deck of an American aircraft carrier for the first time Tuesday in a test flight that could eventually open the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft from just about any place in the world.

The X-47B is the first drone designed to take off and land on a carrier, meaning the U.S. military would not need permission from other countries to use their bases.

"As our access to overseas ports, forward operating locations and airspace is diminished around the world, the value of the aircraft carrier and the air wing becomes more and more important," Rear Adm. Ted Branch, commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic, said after the flight off the Virginia coast. "So today is history."

The move to expand the capabilities of the nation's drones comes amid growing criticism of America's use of Predators and Reapers to gather intelligence and carry out lethal missile attacks against terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

Critics in the U.S. and abroad have charged that drone strikes cause widespread civilian deaths and are conducted with inadequate oversight.

Still, defense analysts say drones are the future of warfare.

[ChiefRocka]

I worked on this baby for a year. Took wayyyyy to long to get to this point.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by notorious

I hope one of these doesn't land in hostile territory. We would have just given our stealth techonology away.......

That's already happened with the Sentinel that "landed" in Iran.

[Sorter]

Originally Posted by ChiefRocka

I worked on this baby for a year. Took wayyyyy to long to get to this point.

That's ****ing crazy

[Donger]

Originally Posted by ChiefRocka

I worked on this baby for a year. Took wayyyyy to long to get to this point.

You work at Pax?

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Sure, for 10 or 20 years, then the Chinese have it, then 10+ years after that everyone has it.

Obviously we need to maintain our military superiority, but this isn't some magic bullet that will make us an invincible military superpower. WE ALREADY ARE, at least insofar as conventional warfare is concerned.

But we're already aware of the limitations of military superiority... It doesn't stop terrorists. It doesn't let us reshape the world in our image. etc. ad infinitum.

So who claimed any of that?

[Barret]

Question, Have they tested landing on an Aircraft Carrier as of yet? Launching I think would be easy, it is the landing part that is a lot more difficult, even for Human pilots.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Barret

Question, Have they tested landing on an Aircraft Carrier as of yet? Launching I think would be easy, it is the landing part that is a lot more difficult, even for Human pilots.

No. They've practiced non-carrier trap landings at Patuxent though.

[HemiEd]

Hard to duplicate the rolling and pitching of a carrier deck, but with the current technology I doubt it is too big of an issue.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by jiveturkey

Got it.

The folded position is used for storage and transport.

[crossbow]

Originally Posted by Trivers

Excellent use of those dollars.

Now if we can get drones with lasers (last month's new military advance), no one will consider going head to head with the USA. Suicide.

Never forget what happened to the western Roman Empire.

Or sharks with lasers on their heads would be better.

[ChiefaRoo]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Sure, for 10 or 20 years, then the Chinese have it, then 10+ years after that everyone has it.

Obviously we need to maintain our military superiority, but this isn't some magic bullet that will make us an invincible military superpower. WE ALREADY ARE, at least insofar as conventional warfare is concerned.

But we're already aware of the limitations of military superiority... It doesn't stop terrorists. It doesn't let us reshape the world in our image. etc. ad infinitum.

I don't get all this Chinese Military Technology syndrome. Listen, there are a lot of Chinese people but their culture and thought process is all monkey see monkey do. They haven't invented a radical new technology since gun powder.

All those photos of parked gee whiz equipment their Govt. spits out doesn't prove anything.

You guys forget about the Russians who have proven themselves to be much more ingenious from a technological innovation standpoint. They are as much or more of a concern than the Chinese.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

I can just imagine our fighter pilots fighting from inside what looks like a flight simulator, flying drones in combat and simply dominating the skies...

Why bother? Have the computer run everything with the "pilots" standing by until its time to release the warbird.

[Kylo Ren]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I wonder if that guy is called the LSO now, or something similar? In the video, the flight deck sailer directing the movement of the plane positioning for the catapult, just like we always did, was looking where the fuselage canopy would be, with a pilot behind it.

An LSO is a landing signal officer. Those guys, obviously, do more than land the aircraft. I think they are considered "pilots". "...the flight deck sailor directing the movement of the plane..." is simply called a Director. I was one back in '88 - '89.

[Donger]

First touch and go:

[IMG][/IMG]

[Spicy McHaggis]