X-47B unmanned test aircraft hoisted aboard ship for first sea tests

[SpArK]

X-47B unmanned test aircraft hoisted aboard ship for first sea tests (videos and photos)​

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Covered in protective wrapping, the X-47B sits on a barge before being hoisted aboard the aircraft carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) at Norfolk naval base on Nov. 26. In the background is the amphibious assault ship USS WASP (LHD 1). (U.S. Navy photograph)
One of two Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator aircraft was barged down from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and arrived on Nov. 26 at Norfolk naval base, Va., where it was promptly hoisted aboard the aircraft carrier USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75). This marks the first time one of the stealthy aircraft has been on board a ship.

TRUMAN was fitted during a recent overhaul with gear and software to operate the X-47B, the first jet unmanned strike aircraft designed for carrier operation. Extensive carrier deck handling tests will be run before flying operations take place later this winter.

The carrier will undertake three weeks of tests with the X-47B, both in port at Norfolk and underway along the Atlantic coast. Engineers and sailors will use a hand-held control display unit to control the aircraft moving along the carrier’s deck.

TRUMAN is scheduled to deploy to the U.S. Central Command region early in 2013.

 

[Oldman1]

Awesome videos!

X-47B UCAS wireless ground handling demo - YouTube

 

[EagleEyes]

I am sure it will be fun to fly this thing.

 

[Kesang]

Look like B-2

 

[Setting]

What is the Range of it?

 

[Esc8781]

 

[Esc8781]

 

[Esc8781]

You might ask yourself, "Who in the world is that yellow shirt signaling?" It is an unmanned system afterall, right? What is the point if the operator is that green shirted guy (not that kind of green shirt) right next to the yellow shirt. That was exactly the question on my mind last week when i first noted all the pictures and video put out by the US Navy as the X-47B was driving all over the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75).

Well, it turns out all that work is part of teaching the UCAS-D to read and understand the hand signals of the Yellow Shirt. Yes, that guy in the green on video is the human engaged pilot, but there is a learning process underway by which the unmanned aircraft is learning how to taxi around an aircraft carrier autonomously based on the hand signals of the yellow shirt.

Ready to watch the video again? Pretty cool IMO.

Watch very closely in this video (and check out others for more examples) and you will see how very deliberate the yellow shirt is with his signals, indeed he stays very steady and is being very deliberate with every motion. This is an example of yet one more in a long list of very interesting, intricate processes being developed as the Navy moves toward flying advanced computers without pilots strapped to jet engines off aircraft carriers.

As one pilot noted to me today, what this video is actually showing is a two way conversation on the flight deck.
Posted by Galrahn at 12:00 AM

Information Dissemination: Talking to Robots on the Flight Deck
X-47B Unmanned Combat Air Systems (UCAS) Demonstrator - YouTube