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Naval
Defense Industry News - USA |
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| Boeing
Demonstrates Autonomous Ship-based Capability of H-6U Unmanned Little
Bird Rotorcraft |
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The
Boeing Unmanned Little Bird H-6U successfully performed 14 autonomous
takeoffs and landings from a ship during flight tests in July, a significant
milestone for a medium-size vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned airborne
system (UAS).
For the tests, conducted from a private ship off the coast of Florida,
Boeing integrated a commercial-off-the-shelf takeoff-and-landing system
with Unmanned Little Bird's automated flight control system. Two safety
pilots were aboard the optionally piloted aircraft to maintain situational
awareness and to be able to take control of the aircraft, though that
was not required. The aircraft accumulated 20 flight hours with 100
percent availability. |
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Boeing Unmanned Little Bird H-6U during tests off the coast of Florida
(Picture: Boeing)
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"Unmanned Little Bird performed flawlessly,
proving not only its reliability as a mature platform but its adaptability
for various missions and continued innovation," said Debbie Rub,
Boeing vice president and general manager of Missiles and Unmanned Airborne
Systems. "By successfully demonstrating this maritime capability,
we are able to provide warfighters with a critical unmanned solution
to meet their missions."
Introduced in 2004, Unmanned Little Bird is a variant of the highly
successful MD-500 series helicopters, which have accumulated 14 million
flight hours over five decades. Unmanned Little Bird benefits from this
legacy, demonstrating numerous capabilities on a platform that is affordable
to own, operate and maintain.
The aircraft's missions include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance;
precision cargo resupply; weapons delivery; and manned-unmanned teaming.
In addition, Unmanned Little Bird continues to be used as a technology
demonstrator, rapidly prototyping new capabilities for multiple platforms.
Unmanned Little Bird is one of Boeing's many C4ISR capabilities that
provide a seamless flow of information -- from collection to aggregation
to analysis -- for customers' enduring need for situational awareness.
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