In A First, Unmanned Navy Jet Lands On Aircraft Carrier

A Navy X-47B drone, seen here last month being launched off the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush, successfully landed on the ship Wednesday, a first. Steve Helber/AP
A Navy X-47B drone, seen here last month being launched off the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush, successfully landed on the ship Wednesday, a first. Steve Helber/AP

The U.S. Navy completed the first-ever landing of an unmanned aerial vehicle on an aircraft carrier today. The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air system landed on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush off the coast of Virginia. The X-47B is an experimental flying wing with a UFO-like profile.

“It isn’t very often you get a glimpse of the future,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says. “Today, those of us aboard USS George H.W. Bush got that chance as we witnessed the X-47B make its first-ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier.”

The Navy drone completed its first catapult takeoff from the same ship in May; it also tried carrier-style landings at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, catching a tailhook in a heavy cable in much the same way planes do on a carrier.

“By evolving and integrating new technology like the X-47B and the unmanned aircraft to follow,” Mabus says, “carriers will remain relevant throughout their 50-year lifespan.”

The X-47B has a wingspan of just over 62 feet, and a range of more than 2,000 nautical miles, the Navy says. It can fly at “high subsonic” speeds, with a maximum altitude above 40,000 feet.

Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Read original article

NPR News

KTOO is the NPR member station in Juneau. NPR offers its members radio and digital stories.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications