UCAS-D

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Computer graphics of the X-47B UCAS-D

With UCAS-D (Engl. Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator , dt. About a prototype unmanned combat aircraft ) is in the US a military program of the United States Navy for the development of supported , unmanned combat aircraft, so-called. Drones named. It was created at the beginning of the 21st century as part of the DARPA -J-UCAS program. The name is sometimes used synonymously for the only prototype built so far, the NGC X-47B .

Types

Following a tender, Northrop Grumman (NGC) was commissioned by the US Navy in 2007 to develop two test aircraft. Under the name X-47B UCAS-D , Northrop Grumman developed a first prototype by 2008 for use in particular on aircraft carriers . The approximately 12 m long and 19 m (folded 9 m) wide, single-jet X-47B has been in testing since 2009. In December 2009, about a year later, taxiing tests were carried out for the first time on the United States Air Force Base 42 (AFP 42) in Palmdale , California . The X-47B completed its maiden flight on February 4, 2011, the first land-based catapult launch took place on November 29, 2012. Taxiing attempts on the USS Harry S. Truman took place on December 9, 2012, followed by the first landing with a fishing system on a Land-based flight deck on May 4, 2013. The first catapult launch was on May 14, 2013 from the USS George HW Bush. The first successful carrier landing took place on July 10, 2013 on the same aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia. Trial tests in regular carrier service with full flight operations of conventional carrier aircraft are to take place in 2014/2015. Studies are already available for an X-47C which could carry a payload of 4500 kg with a span of 52 m. The X-47B is designed to carry two guided bombs such as the GBU-31 weighing a maximum of 2000 kg in the two weapon bays.

planning

The US Navy sees drones together with the Joint Strike Fighter as an essential part of their future carrier-based air force.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Description on the US Navy website
  2. ↑ Information and photos: Frank Morring: Taxi Tests for UCAS-D. In: Aviation Week & Space Technology. Jan. 11, 2010, p. 15, ( online ).

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