Stealth drone lands on George HW Bush aircraft carrier in historic aviation first
(VIDEO) Last Wednesday, an X-47b drone touched down for the first time ever on the deck of an aircraft carrier, autonomously making one of the most complex maneuvers in aviation.
Drone X-47B makes aircraft carrier landing in historic first (Credit: US. Navy)
After 102 years since the first landing of a biplane on a war ship equipped with a platform, naval aviation entered a new era, as unmanned airplanes will integrate on their own in naval air operations before landing on the deck of giant ships.
“Today you could see the future”, said enthusiastically the U.S. Navy Minister Ray Mabus, who came aboard the aircraft carrier “George HW Bush” to attend the U.S. Navy premiere along with other senior officials.
Framed by two F-18 fighters during its flight from the Carrier Patuxent River, Maryland / East / air base, the X-47B drone, dubbed Salty Dog 502, landed on the aircraft carrier that was sailing off the coast of Virginia.
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Perfectly aligned with the aircraft carrier, the drone has autonomously made its descent and landing by adjusting constantly its position thanks to the constant communication between the GPS integrated in both the ship and the aircraft.
Unlike Predator or Reaper drones that are continuously remotely controlled, X-47B has exceeded in automation range: the operators have only set the flight path and left the drone fly on its own. However, the military experts monitored how the device evolves and changes “orders”.
X-47B is about 38 feet (11.4meter) long with a 62 foot (18.6 m) extended wingspan. The drone is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F100-220U turbofan, capable of a cruise speed of over Mach 0.9, and have a flying range of 2,100 nautical miles. X-47B has two built-in weapon bays for 2.5 tons of ordnance.
Video: X-47B drone autonomously lands on aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush