Breaking news
US Navy Turns UCLASS Combat UAV Program into CBARS Aerial Refueling UAV.
| 2016
X-47B successfully completes the first autonomous aerial refueling demonstration over the Chesapeake bay on April 22 2015. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy) |
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The
United States Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and
Strike (UCLASS) program was to develop an autonomous aircraft carrier-based
unmanned combat aerial vehicle to provide an unmanned intelligence and
strike asset to the fleet. UCLASS was succeeding to the Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstration (UCAS-D) program which produced the Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator aircraft. The X-47B performed launches and recoveries from US Navy aicraft carriers at sea in 2013 and 2014. Northrop Grumman demonstrated last year that X-47B could be refuelled in the air. According to early rumors, CBARS could retain some of the ISR mission sets originally planned for UCLASS, but for sure will lose its combat and strike abilities. Link to X-47B UCAS-D Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator technical datasheet |
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