Northrop Grumman X-47B

Background

The X-47B project began under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) as part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program, and subsequently became part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The Navy selected Northrop Grumman's X-47B as its UCAS-D demonstrator after the J-UCAS program was terminated in February 2006. The demonstrator was built to be the same size and weight as the projected operational craft, with a full-sized weapons bay capable of carrying existing missiles. The X-47B prototype rolled out from United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, on 16 December 2008.

Flight testing began with the first flight of Air Vehicle 1 (AV-1) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on 4 February 2011. A second demonstrator, AV-2, conducted its maiden flight on 22 November 2011. The two X-47Bs performed so consistently that preliminary tests ended after 16 flights.

In May 2013, an X-47B launched from the USS George H.W. Bush, marking the first time a UAV was catapulted off an aircraft carrier. On 10 July 2013, an X-47B conducted the first ever arrested landing of a UAV on a carrier at sea. The program included demonstrations of autonomous inflight refueling with a probe and drogue, and integration with manned aircraft operations.