Originally Posted by
Dan Winterland
Why does it need a landing light?
The light is not so the UAV can see the carrier, it's so the LSOs can see the UAV when it's on the approach. While the LSOs can't "talk" the UAV down like they can a pilot, they can give it a wave off command if there's a foul deck, the arresting gear isn't rerigged, or there's some other problem necessitating a wave off. The light also provides illumination on the deck after landing, so the folks controlling the thing on the deck can see the guidance from the yellow shirt (plane director). On the deck the UAV is not autonomous and is always under direct control of an operator.