In the trenchesNavy drone lands on ship without human assistance
A U.S. Navyexperimental drone has executed several landings on the USS George H.W. Bush, marking an advance in robotic aviation. The drone calculated, without human assistance, how fast to approach the ship, when to put its wheels down, and when to hit the brakes.
A U.S. Navyexperimental drone has executed several landings onto the USS George H.W. Bush, marking an advance in robotic aviation.
This short video shows the X-47B drone landing smoothly on the aircraft carrier. The Washington Post reports that this is the culmination of an 8-year, $1.4 billion program to test the possibility of using long-range drones on aircraft carriers.
“What you saw here is the first of the next generation of naval aircraft and the amazing capabilities it will give us,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, told reporters on the ship.
In May the drone was able to take off from a ship, but officials believed the landing would be the hardest goal to achieve due to the confined space of the ship and unpredictable weather and wind conditions at sea. In addition to the landing, the flight marked the first time a military drone flew for an extended period of time without any human direction.
The drone took off from the Patuxent Naval Air Station in Maryland and flew 140 miles to the ship. The crew waived off the ship on its first attempt to land as part of the test, then ordered the drone to try again, which it did perfectly.
Other military drones, such as the Predator and Reaper used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), are operated by a human pilot using a joystick and issuing commands over a satellite link.
The X-47B used a flight path determined by humans on the ground, but when it came to the landing, the drone calculated, without human assistance, how fast to approach the ship, when to put its wheels down, and when to hit the brakes.
The landing was a success, but Navy officials say that it will be a few more years before drone will be able to operate normally on aircraft carrier ships. The X in the drones name stands for experimental, and this specific drone was only built to attempt to land on the ship. The drone, which was built by Northrop Grumman, will be retired at the end of the year.
Officials told the Post the carrier drones will most likely be used for surveillance mission and mid-air refueling, although the drones will likely be able to carry missiles if needed. It can stay airborne for more than a day.
Despite the allure of the advancing technology, Greenert said the Navy would still need manned aircraft, and the drones would represent just one component of a carrier’s air wing.
