Already part posted in another thread [
http://www.pprune.org/military-aircr...ml#post7932645 ] but this thread is appropriate also.
Unmanned X-47B Readies for Final Touchdown By Jason Kelly – July 9, 2013
"By Capt. Jaime Engdahl | Program Manager, Navy Unmanned Combat Air System
"...In May, Sailors aboard USS George H.W. Bush worked X-47B operations for the first time and the world watched as they catapulted the aircraft from the deck with ease.
Throughout the next few days, we saw X-47B complete nine perfect touch-and-go landings on the moving carrier deck....
...Final X-47B shore-based arrested landings at Patuxent River were successfully completed in late June. Carrier suitability engineers put the aircraft through a series of very demanding tests, including hard landings and high speed arrestments, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were ready to land on a moving carrier deck. Both X-47B aircraft are now certified to conduct carrier flight operations, including catapults, arrested landings, flight deck taxi operations, maintenance and refueling....
...The revolutionary technologies that we have developed and proven in the harsh carrier environment including aerodynamics of a tailless aircraft, autonomous aircraft behavior, precision GPS navigation, and digitization of the aircraft carrier air traffic control procedures will truly impact the way we integrate manned and unmanned aircraft on carrier flight decks in the future.
While the X-47B itself is not intended for operational use, the UCAS program has developed the concept of operations and demonstrated the technology for follow-on unmanned carrier based aircraft. The program demonstrated the ability to seamlessly integrate unmanned systems into the carrier environment with only small incremental changes to the existing equipment and concept of operations."
Unmanned X-47B Readies for Final Touchdown