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US Navy X-47B Robot Fighter Jet Completes First Phase Of Testing
Forbes ^ | 29 June 2012 | Peter Murray

Posted on 06/29/2012 2:10:51 PM PDT by moonshot925

The Navy’s robotic fighter just got one step closer to earning its wings. The X-47B, an unmanned stealth attack jet, has completed the first major phase of flight testing on its way to become the first aircraft to be able to land and take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier –completely autonomously.

After its first successful flight on February 4, 2011 at Edwards Air Force Base – a short, 29 minute jaunt to 5,000 feet – the X-47B has now climbed to as much as 15,000 feet. The testing, which concluded on May 15, ran the jet through multiple maneuvers that are essential for using an aircraft carrier as its base of operations including extending and retracting a tail hook needed to catch the carrier’s arresting wires upon landing and “touch-and-go” landings.

The testing is a continuation of the Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program, a collaboration between the Navy, Northrop Grumman, which built the aircraft, and the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center.

The next phase of the program will be carried out at the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Maryland, to where the X-47B has already been transported (causing some locals to wonder if they’d seen a UFO).

(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: drone; navy; ufo; x47b
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1 posted on 06/29/2012 2:11:00 PM PDT by moonshot925
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To: moonshot925

2 posted on 06/29/2012 2:15:25 PM PDT by freedumb2003 (Guns Walked -- People Died -- Holder Lied -- Obama Golfed (thanks, Secret Agent Man))
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To: moonshot925
Not to be confused with the XB-47:


3 posted on 06/29/2012 2:18:44 PM PDT by DuncanWaring (The Lord uses the good ones; the bad ones use the Lord.)
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To: moonshot925

57 mile range? What’s the flight time, thirty minutes?


4 posted on 06/29/2012 2:21:33 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Remove all Democrats from the Republican party, and we won't have much Left, just a lot of Right.)
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To: moonshot925

...and then Skynet became self-aware...


5 posted on 06/29/2012 2:22:38 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: moonshot925

I bet the ADA will still require a 36 inch door and and handicapped toilet


6 posted on 06/29/2012 2:23:03 PM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom)
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Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: Norm Lenhart; F15Eagle

Skynet went online and became self-aware on 19 April 2011.

14 months ago............

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator)


8 posted on 06/29/2012 2:33:48 PM PDT by moonshot925
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To: moonshot925

Yea but there’s no date on the pix so .....

maybe? ;)


9 posted on 06/29/2012 2:43:20 PM PDT by Norm Lenhart
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To: DoughtyOne

Wiki entry for the X-47B quotes the range at 2,100 miles. That’s more realistic.


10 posted on 06/29/2012 2:44:37 PM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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To: DoughtyOne

I saw that to. Even with inflight refueling it will spend more time behind a tanker than on mission.


11 posted on 06/29/2012 2:47:54 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (Never believe anything in politics until it has been officially denied.)
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To: moonshot925

Awesome, I really like it, but a attack aircraft is not a fighter. Fighters go up against other aircraft, attack aircraft hit ground targets.

A few A-10s shot down Iraqi helicopters in Desert Storm, but generally A (attack) aircraft don’t fight other aircraft.


12 posted on 06/29/2012 2:55:14 PM PDT by Alas Babylon!
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To: moonshot925

Cool. Can’t wait for the Supreme Drone Fleet Commander to use it against us.


13 posted on 06/29/2012 2:55:27 PM PDT by cld51860 (Oderint dum metuant)
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To: DoughtyOne

2,100 miles would appear to be a ferry range, BTW. I’m guessing combat radius is half that.


14 posted on 06/29/2012 3:15:35 PM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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To: DoughtyOne

The only thing I can think of is perhaps it has to take off and land with almost empty tanks, and they fuel once it gets in the air. Doesn’t make much sense, except for weight savings on the landing gear.


15 posted on 06/29/2012 3:26:43 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: Tallguy

These are the future IMO, especially if they can be built less expensively. If you have 100 of them and they can be controlled by one person and they operated semi-autonomously, who cares if they are as big as barns on a radar? A fleet of 10,000 would be formidable.


16 posted on 06/29/2012 3:30:53 PM PDT by The Antiyuppie ("When small men cast long shadows, then it is very late in the day.")
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To: The Antiyuppie

Another Freeper suggested a while back that the Navy’s new LHA’s are going to be able to carry a bunch of these X-47’s along with a reserve in environmentally sealed containers. They’ll be able to surge these puppies from a small flight deck.

Only thing is you’d have to add arresting gear to the LHA’s deck configuration. So I’m not sure about the validity of what I was told.


17 posted on 06/29/2012 3:40:46 PM PDT by Tallguy (It's all 'Fun and Games' until somebody loses an eye!)
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To: Alas Babylon!

I was quoting the Forbes article title.

You worked at the PAVE PAWS early warning radar station in Cape Cod???

That’s awesome.

What was it like?


18 posted on 06/29/2012 3:44:56 PM PDT by moonshot925
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To: Tallguy

There you go. That’s more like it. Thanks.


19 posted on 06/29/2012 5:54:11 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Remove all Democrats from the Republican party, and we won't have much Left, just a lot of Right.)
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To: Alas Babylon!

http://vnafmamn.com/Skyraider_vs_MIG17.html


20 posted on 06/29/2012 5:56:36 PM PDT by norton
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