"This flight of the X-47B is the first time an
autonomous, carrier-capable unmanned system has
flown at Pax River," said Carl Johnson, vice
president and Navy UCAS program manager for
Northrop Grumman. "It's also a major milestone
for the program as the Navy/Northrop Grumman
team prepares the aircraft to enter carrier
suitability testing this fall, the last major
phase of testing before we begin carrier trials
in 2013."
Northrop Grumman is the Navy's prime contractor
for the Navy's UCAS Carrier Demonstration
(UCAS-D) program. The company designed and built
two X-47B demonstrator aircraft for the program,
which is managed by Naval Air Systems Command
(NAVAIR). During the flight, which
comprised two precision racetrack patterns over
the Chesapeake Bay, the aircraft reached a
maximum altitude of 7,500 feet and a maximum air
speed of 180 knots.
"This flight makes two critical points for the
Northrop Grumman/Navy Integrated Test Team,"
said Daryl Martis, Northrop Grumman's X-47B test
director. "It validates the performance of the
aircraft demonstrated during its initial flight
testing at Edwards, and it proves that we've
successfully implemented the command and control
structure required to operate the X-47B safely
from Pax River."
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