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The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration
unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircra ...
(UCAV) designed for
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...
, the X-47 project began as part of
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adva ...
's J-UCAS program, and subsequently became part of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered blended-wing-body aircraft capable of semi-autonomous operation and
aerial refueling Aerial refueling ( en-us), or aerial refuelling ( en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to an ...
. The X-47B first flew in 2011, and , its two active demonstrators had undergone extensive flight and operational integration testing, having successfully performed a series of land- and carrier-based demonstrations. In August 2014, the US Navy announced that it had integrated the X-47B into carrier operations alongside manned aircraft, and by May 2015 the primary test program was declared complete. The X-47B demonstrators themselves were intended to become museum exhibits after completing flight testing, but the Navy later decided to maintain them in flying condition pending further development.


Design and development


Origins

The US Navy did not commit to practical UCAS efforts until 2000, when it awarded contracts of US$2 million each to
Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
and Northrop Grumman for a 15-month concept-exploration program. Design considerations for a naval UCAV included dealing with the corrosive
saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...
environment, deck handling for launch and recovery, command and control system integration, and operation in an aircraft carrier's high-
electromagnetic In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
-interference environment. The Navy was interested in using UCAVs for reconnaissance, to penetrate protected airspace and identify targets for follow-on attacks. Northrop Grumman's proof-of-concept
X-47A Pegasus The Northrop Grumman X-47 is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The X-47 began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the United States Navy's UCAS-D program to create a carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Unlike the ...
, which provided the basis for the X-47B, first flew in 2003. The J-UCAS program was terminated in February 2006 following the
Quadrennial Defense Review The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was a study by the United States Department of Defense that analyzes strategic objectives and potential military threats. The ''Quadrennial Defense Review Report'' was the main public document describing the Uni ...
. The US Air Force and Navy proceeded with their own UAV programs. The Navy selected Northrop Grumman's X-47B as its unmanned combat air system demonstrator (UCAS-D) program. To provide realistic testing, the demonstrator was built to be the same size and weight as the projected operational craft, with a full-sized weapons bay capable of carrying existing missiles. The X-47B industry team included subcontractors
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...
,
Pratt & Whitney Pratt & Whitney is an American aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies). Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation (especially ...
,
GKN Aerospace GKN Ltd is a British multinational automotive and aerospace components business headquartered in Redditch, England. It was a long-running business known for many decades as Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. It can trace its origins back to 1759 ...
, Eaton,
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...
,
UTC Aerospace Systems UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) was one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The company was formed in August 2012 when parent United Technologies Corporatio ...
,
Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
,
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building automation, industrial automa ...
, Moog, Wind River, Parker Aerospace, Sargent Aerospace & Defense, and
Rockwell Collins Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...
. The X-47B prototype rolled out from
Air Force Plant 42 United States Air Force Plant 42 is a classified aircraft manufacturing plant owned by the United States Air Force in the Antelope Valley, about from downtown Los Angeles. It is also used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ...
in
Palmdale, California Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the Antelope Valley of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On August 24, 1962 ...
, on 16 December 2008. Its first flight was planned for November 2009, but the project fell behind schedule. On 29 December 2009, Northrop Grumman oversaw towed taxi tests of the aircraft at the Palmdale facility, with it taxiing under its own power for the first time in January 2010.


Flight testing

The first flight of the X-47B demonstrator, designated Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1), took place at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 4 February 2011. It first flew in cruise configuration with its landing gear retracted on 30 September 2011. A second X-47B demonstrator, designated AV-2, conducted its maiden flight at Edwards Air Force Base on 22 November 2011.. DefenseTech.org. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2011. The two X-47Bs were initially planned to have a three-year test program with 50 tests at Edwards AFB and NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, culminating in sea trials in 2013. However, they performed so consistently that preliminary tests ended after 16 flights.Dillow, Clay
"I Am Warplane"
''
Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
''. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
The Navy decided to have them demonstrate carrier launches and recoveries, as well as autonomous
inflight refueling Aerial refueling (American English, en-us), or aerial refuelling (British English, en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from ...
with a probe and drogue. In November 2011, the Navy announced that aerial refuelling equipment and software would be added to one X-47B in 2014 for testing; they also affirmed that the demonstrators would never be armed. In 2012, Northrop Grumman tested a wearable remote control system, designed to allow ground crews to steer the X-47B while on the carrier deck. In May 2012, AV-1 began high-intensity electromagnetic interference testing at Patuxent River, to test compatibility with planned electronic warfare systems. In June 2012, AV-2 arrived at Patuxent River to begin a series of tests, including arrested landings and catapult launches, to validate its ability to conduct precision approaches to an aircraft carrier. Its first land-based catapult launch was conducted successfully on 29 November 2012. On 26 November 2012, the X-47B began its carrier-based evaluation aboard the at
Naval Station Norfolk Naval Station Norfolk is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, that is the headquarters and home port of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Forces Command. The installation occupies about of waterfront space and of pier and wharf space of the Ham ...
, Virginia. On 18 December 2012, the X-47B completed its first at-sea test phase; it was remarked to have performed "outstandingly", having proved compatible with the
flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface on which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...
, hangar bays, and communication systems of an aircraft carrier. With deck testing completed, the X-47B returned to NAS Patuxent River for further tests. On 4 May 2013, it successfully performed an arrested landing on a simulated carrier deck at Patuxent River. The X-47B launched from the on 14 May 2013 in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, marking the first time that a UAV was catapulted off an aircraft carrier. On 17 May 2013, another first was achieved when it performed touch-and-go landings and take-offs from ''George H.W. Bush'' while underway. On 10 July 2013, the X-47B launched from Patuxent River and landed on the deck of ''George H.W. Bush'', conducting the first ever arrested landing of a UAV on a carrier at sea. It subsequently completed a second successful arrested landing on ''George H.W. Bush'', but a third attempt was diverted to the
Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk, VA, Norfolk. The facility is operated ...
in Virginia due to a technical issue. One of the UAV's three navigational sub-systems failed, which was identified by the other two sub-systems and indicated to the operator, who followed procedures to abort the landing. The Navy stated that the problem's detection demonstrated the X-47B's reliability and ability to operate autonomously. On 15 July 2013, the second X-47B, designated 501, was forced to abort another planned landing on ''George H.W. Bush'' due to technical issues. Officials asserted that the program only required one successful at-sea landing, though testers were aiming for three, while two out of four were achieved. The Navy continued flying the two X-47Bs through 2014, after it was criticised for prematurely retiring them. The Navy subsequently deployed the X-47Bs to carriers for three further test phases between 2013 and 2015, with the intent of demonstrating that UAVs could seamlessly work with a 70-plane carrier air wing. On 18 September 2013, the X-47B flew the 100th flight for the UCAS-D program. The program objectives were completed in July, which included a total of 16 precision approaches to the carrier flight deck, including five tests of wave-off functions, nine touch-and-go landings, two arrested landings, and three catapult launches. On 10 November 2013, testing continued on board the . During this phase, the X-47B's digitized carrier-controlled environment was tested, such as between the UAV and carrier personnel during launching, recovering, and flight operations. Trials on ''Theodore Roosevelt'' in 2014 were intended to test the UAV's ability to swiftly take off, land, and hold in a pattern among manned aircraft without disrupting carrier operations. It also used a
jet-blast deflector A jet blast deflector (JBD) or blast fence is a safety device that redirects the high energy exhaust from a jet engine to prevent damage and injury. The structure must be strong enough to withstand heat and high speed air streams as well as dust ...
on deck for the first time, enabling takeoff without impacting operations behind it. On 10 April 2014, the X-47B performed its first night flight. On 17 August 2014, it took off and landed on ''Theodore Roosevelt'' alongside an
F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...
, marking the first time a UAV operated in conjunction with manned aircraft aboard an aircraft carrier. The Hornet launched from the carrier, followed by the X-47B. After a brief flight, the X-47B touched down and immediately took off again to verify system behavior. After 24 minutes, the X-47B landed on the flight deck and taxied away to give the Hornet room to land. The demonstration met all test objectives, and marked the X-47B's fifth test period at sea, having completed eight catapult launches from a carrier, 30 touch-and-goes, and seven arrested landings aboard ''George H.W. Bush'' and ''Theodore Roosevelt''. Testing was successfully completed on 24 August 2014, with the X-47B completing five catapult launches, four arrestments, and nine touch-and-go landings; nighttime taxi and deckhandling operations were also performed for the first time. It met its objective of performing launches and recoveries at 90-second intervals with manned Hornets. In April 2015, the X-47B successfully conducted the world's first fully autonomous aerial refuelling with an Omega Air
KC-707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on December 20, 1957. Pan Am beg ...
tanker over the coast of
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. This marked the completion of all primary demonstration tasks required of it. In February 2016, the Navy decided to repurpose the X-47B from a surveillance and strike aircraft into a reconnaissance and aerial refuelling drone with "limited strike capability". The change followed a top-level review and restructuring of the now-defunct unmanned carrier-launched airborne surveillance and strike (UCLASS) project, with later budgets instead funding the
MQ-25 Stingray The Boeing MQ-25 Stingray is an aerial refueling drone that resulted from the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) program, which grew out of the earlier Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. The MQ ...
carrier-based aerial refuelling system (CBARS).


Costs

The project was initially funded under a US$635.8 million contract awarded by the Navy in 2007. By January 2012, the X-47B's total program cost had grown to an estimated $813 million."New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who's accountable?"
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
Government funding for the X-47B UCAS-D program was to run out at the end of September 2013, with the close of the
fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...
. However, in June 2014 the Navy provided an additional $63 million for "post-demonstration" development of the X-47B.


End of program

In February 2015, the Navy stated that the competition for private tenders for constructing the UCLASS fleet would begin in 2016, with the aircraft expected to enter service in the early 2020s. Reportedly, despite the X-47B's success in test flights, officials were concerned that it would be too costly and insufficiently stealthy for the needs of the UCLASS project. In April 2015, it was reported that the X-47B demonstrators would become museum exhibits upon completing flight testing. In June 2015,
United States Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the United States Department of the Navy, Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On Mar ...
Ray Mabus Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. (; born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus previo ...
stated that the X-47B program should continue but that Northrop-Grumman should not gain an unfair advantage in the competition for the UCLASS contract. In July 2015, the Navy stated that the X-47Bs would remain in flying condition rather than being converted to museum exhibits, allowing for a variety of follow-on evaluations. In January 2017, the first X-47B departed NAS Patuxent River, Md. for Northrop Grumman's manufacturing plant in Palmdale, Calif. In August 2017, Aviation Week published photos of a modified X-47B as a testbed for Northrop Grumman's MQ-25 bid. On 25 October 2017, the company announced its withdrawal from the MQ-25 competition, saying it would be unable to operate under the terms of the service's request for proposals. A modified Deck Handling System demonstration was planned, but efforts were suspended. One X-47B performed a required upkeep static engine run in spring 2019. The other remained stored in a hangar. The older X-47A Pegasus Air Vehicle was also kept in a covered open air hangar at the Palmdale plant, which the general public cannot enter.


Awards

In March 2014, the X-47B won the 57th Annual Laureate Award for "extraordinary achievements" in aeronautics and propulsion hosted by ''
Aviation Week ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', often abbreviated ''Aviation Week'' or ''AW&ST'', is the flagship magazine of the Aviation Week Network, a division of Informa. The weekly magazine is available in print and online, reporting on the aeros ...
''. On 9 April 2014, the
National Aeronautic Association The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...
selected Northrop Grumman, the United States Navy, and the X-47B's development team as the joint recipients of the 2013
Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is awarded annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been t ...
for excellence in aeronautic technology.


Derivative development

The Navy used software from the X-47B to demonstrate unmanned aerial refueling capabilities. On 28 August 2013, a Calspan-flown
Learjet 25 The Learjet 25 is an American ten-seat (two crew and eight passengers), twin-engine, high-speed business jet aircraft manufactured by Learjet. It is a stretched version of the Learjet 24. Development The first Model 25 flew on August 12, 19 ...
refueled from a
Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...
tanker while flying autonomously as a surrogate aircraft uploaded with the X-47B's technology. The test was to demonstrate that unmanned and optionally manned aircraft can have an automated aerial refueling capability, significantly increasing their range, persistence, and flexibility. Plans to further demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling were reportedly cut in the Navy's fiscal 2014 budget, but the X-47B nonetheless conducted a successful autonomous refuelling demonstration in April 2015. After the USAF made plans for a next generation bomber following the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review, Northrop Grumman proposed a variety of derivatives based on the X-47B, informally called "X-47C" by the company. One iteration was a bomber to have a
payload Payload is the object or the entity that is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of t ...
of of bombs, significantly exceeding that of the X-47A.https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/northrop-grumman-rq-180.20900/post-367179 Although Northrop Grumman estimated that the X-47C could enter service in 2018, the NGB program was shelved in 2010.


Variants

;
X-47A The Northrop Grumman X-47 is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle. The X-47 began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the United States Navy's UCAS-D program to create a carrier-based unmanned aircraft. Unlike the ...
Original proof-of-concept prototype with a wingspan, first flown in 2003. ;X-47B Demonstrator aircraft with a wingspan, first flown in 2011. ;X-47C Proposed larger version intended for the Navy's
UCLASS The Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) was a United States Navy program to develop an autonomous carrier-based unmanned combat aerial vehicle providing an unmanned intelligence and strike asset to the fleet. Aft ...
project or as an Air Force strategic bomber.


Specifications (X-47B)


See also


References


External links


X-47B UCAS page
an
media gallery on NorthropGrumman.com


The Future of Things The Future of Things (TFOT) is an online magazine covering diverse topics related to science and technology. The magazine was launched in 2006. History TFOT was founded by Iddo Genuth and co-founder Barak Raz in early 2006 and its beta version wa ...
. 20 January 2009.
"Could we trust killer robots?"
''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
''. 19 May 2012.
"I Am Warplane: How the first autonomous strike plane will land on aircraft carriers, navigate hostile airspace and change the future of flight"
''
Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
''. 5 July 2012.
"X-47B stealth drone targets new frontiers"
BBC Future. 19 December 2012. {{Stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft X-047B 2010s United States experimental aircraft Unmanned military aircraft of the United States Single-engined jet aircraft Blended wing body Tailless aircraft Carrier-based aircraft Unmanned stealth aircraft Scaled Composites DARPA Edwards Air Force Base Articles containing video clips Aircraft first flown in 2011 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear