US Tests New X-47B Drone On Gerald R. Ford Aircraft Carrier

The US Navy is in possession of one of the most powerful drones known to man, and it has the potential to be launched from one of the most, if not the most, powerful aircraft carriers on Earth, the USS Gerald Ford. We're looking at the X-47B drone, a project that has cost over 1 billion dollars to produce. Now this drone is operational and ready for action. Considering the current world climate, it may well be called into service very soon. Let's take a closer look. But before we get started, if you enjoy this video and would like to see more just like it, remember to give us a like and subscribe to Military World to get more sent straight to your notifications. In recent years, the US Navy has been investing heavily in unmanned aircraft, and the X-47B represented the pinnacle of this development. It was developed by the US Navy as part of the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration, or UCASD, program. The purpose of this program is to develop and demonstrate which fighter-sized tailless unmanned aircraft can be launched from US Navy aircraft carriers, just like the US Navy's most recent flagship carrier, the USS Gerald Ford. The X-47B is based on the Pegasus X-47A. This was developed as a joint US Air Force and US Navy program, which was called JUCAS. This project started in 2001. The program was financially backed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with the engineering giants Northrop Grumman given the role as the main contractor. However, in February 2006, this development program was cancelled in favor of separate UAV development programs by the Air Force and Navy respectively. The development of the X-47B, which had started in June 2005, was temporarily paused due to the cancellation. The US Naval Air Systems Command then reached out to Northrop Grumman directly for the construction and demonstration of two X-47B aircraft under the Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator program in August 2007. The UCASD program was set out to create a pathway for developing potential future carrier-compatible unmanned systems without massive risk. This program is very much a collaborative involvement with companies that include Rockwell Collins, Goodrich, Lockheed Martin, Parker Aerospace, Honeywell, GKN Aerospace, General Electric, Wind River, Dell, Hamilton-Sunstrand, Pratt & Whitney, Eaton, and Moog. But it's Northrop Grumman that's the lead contractor when it comes to the X-47B. Two completely remote jet-powered X-47B aircraft were built under the UCASD program. These two demo vehicles are for the most part identical. These were built to accommodate various kinds of sensors for reconnaissance, intelligence, and surveillance and have space for weapons systems. However, the payload is not installed on the demo units. The initial launch of the X-47B was completed by October 2009. This included structural proof testing. The first vehicle was dubbed Air Vehicle 1, or AV-1. This was transferred to Edwards Air Force Base for flight testing in the summer of 2010. The second aircraft, named AV-2, joined it for testing the following March. The first flight test of the UCASD was conducted in February 2011. Following this, the first catapult launch of the aircraft was conducted at an onshore catapult facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River at the end of 2012. The USS Harry S. Truman was chosen to perform the first at-sea test phase in December 2012, which involved a series of deck handling trials. The X-47B was also tested for launching, operating, and recovering capabilities in a Navy carrier operable area of 50 nautical miles. The carrier launch, recovery, and deck handling tests were all completed by the end of 2012. The drone has met some very notable program goals in May 2013. The system became the first unmanned remote aircraft to be successfully catapulted from the deck of an aircraft carrier when it was launched from the USS George H.W. Bush on the Atlantic Ocean. Soon after the launch, the X-47B UAV was transferred over to a second pilot, who electrically flew her across the Chesapeake Bay back to base at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, where the pilot landed her on a simulated carrier deck. Over the initial decade of X-47B development, the U.S. Navy spent upwards of $1.8 billion on the two X-47B prototypes. The X-47B was integrated into the U.S. Navy carrier's operations alongside manned aircraft in the summer of 2014. The aircraft's primary test program was then completed in May of the following year. Further to this, the strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft successfully completed its maiden autonomous aerial refueling demonstration with an Omega Air KC-707 tanker in April 2015. The aircraft is a tailless and unmanned aircraft for stealth and to avoid loss of life. The X-47B measures over 38 feet long with a wingspan of over 62 feet. The shape of the aircraft has been specifically designed to avoid radar or low observable relevant requirements. The design of the X-47B includes a very defined triangular shape to match the popularity of drone designs in general. There are no obvious vertical surfaces present on the aircraft making it a true flying wing design in the same way as the Northrop Grumman B-2 stealth bomber. The power plant, which we'll review later, is buried within the fuselage and aspirated via a shallow duct along the forward fuselage spine. The engine exhausts its waste through a specially designed port at the rear of the airframe. As there's no pilot, more internal volume can be used for specialized mission equipment, armament, fuel stores, avionics, and subsystems. The undercarriage is able to be retracted and made up of two single-wheeled main legs joined by a twin-wheeled nose leg. As this aircraft is designed for carrier use, several key qualities have been integrated into the design of the X-47B, including folding wings for storage, corrosion resistance to counter the effects of the sea, and a reinforced undercarriage with a rester hook. Stealth is incorporated into both the aircraft's design and its operating systems. The operations of the computer-controlled X-47B UCAS are smart and its flight control system is completely autonomous. The navigation of the system is controlled by a hybrid global positioning system and vision-based system. The flight path is pre-programmed before launch, and then its operations are monitored by a mission operator who oversees the flight. The UCAS is equipped with a variety of sensors to help with its flight, which include electro-optics, infrared, synthetic aperture radar, inverse SAR, ground moving target indicator, electronic support measures, and maritime moving target indicator sensors. The UCAS-D features both probe and drogues of the U.S. Navy and boom receptacle mechanisms of the U.S. Air Force to allow autonomous air refueling. The X-47B has thrust provided by a Pratt & Whitney F-100 PW-220U engine and exhaust system. Pratt & Whitney has a long history with X-47B's designers, Northrop Grumman, and the F-100-220, the F-16 variant of Pratt's F-100 family, offered 15,000 pounds of thrust without afterburning. This is exactly what the UCAS demonstrator needed. This engine has never been used on an aircraft carrier before, so using an engine like this might appear risky. But the F-100's origins meant that operational concerns like gas ingestion tolerance from steam catapults and other nearby aircraft had been factored into the design process since the beginning. There was a huge amount of confidence that the F-100 PW-220U would have the margins needed to operate safely. Successful tests on the USS Harry S. Truman and the USS George H. W. Bush have shown this to be the case. The engine allows the aircraft to have a high subsonic speed of approximately Mach 0.45 and a range of approximately 2,100 nautical miles. If needed, the aircraft can fly to a maximum altitude of 40,000 feet. Since the initial testing of the X-47B, there's a new aircraft carrier in service that represents the best the U.S. Navy has to offer. The USS Gerald R. Ford is the first new aircraft carrier the U.S. has designed in over 40 years. Although it looks like a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, there are many features that make it unique. A new nuclear plant, the ability to generate nearly three times the amount of electrical power, innovative advanced arresting gear, and the electromagnetic aircraft launch system. Now, it seems like the X-47B and this state-of-the-art aircraft carrier could be the perfect match where modern warfare is increasingly being fought more remotely and the geopolitical state of the world becomes ever more complex. No doubt this new drone will be ready for action when the time comes. What are your thoughts on the X-47B? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video don't forget to give us a like and subscribe to Military World to get our latest videos straight to your notifications.