Navy carriers prepare for X-47B unmanned aircraft arrival next year

Air traffic controllers aboard USS Harry S. Truman receive training and provide fleet feedback on Navy Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration software during recent carrier sea trials. (U.S. Navy photo)

NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — The Navy is one year away from landing its first unmanned jet aircraft aboard a carrier after completing the most recent round of surrogate tests aboard USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

In early July, members from the Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) carrier integration team engaged in extensive software testing aboard Truman to validate the concept of autonomous UAV operations around an aircraft carrier and prepare for the X-47B unmanned aircraft’s arrival on a carrier next year.

“Demonstrating our concept of operations and making sure the Carrier Segment is performing as advertised is a huge milestone for the program,” said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, Navy UCAS program manager. “The crew, equipment, and program team performed exceptionally well during all planned test events and the Harry S Truman is ready for our next phase of X-47B testing.”

Last year, the team conducted surrogate testing aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) with a manned F/A-18 to evaluate ship systems, avionics systems and early versions of the unmanned vehicle software. The team is now back at sea aboard Truman with the F/A-18 aircraft, testing precision landing performance with the latest X-47B software and hardware configuration.
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