No Fins, No Pilot, No Problems! X-47B First Flight (With Video)
Saturday, February 5, 2011 at 05:36PM (all photos: Northrop Grumman)
(click pic to enlarge) Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAV first flight February 4, 2011
You could pretty easily miss the rather massive significance of the first flight of Northrop Grumman's X-47B yesterday. On one hand it just looks like another flying-wing military aircraft. That much it certainly is... but it's a whole lot more than that. The X-47B is an unmanned aircraft, and while that's fairly common these days, this one is not like your regular Predator-style. The X-47B is actually autonomous, meaning that there isn't a ground-based pilot sitting in a room somewhere acting as pilot, it's actually the programming and the onboard computers that are in control. And then, to take it all up one more notch, the intended purpose for this aircraft is to operate autonomously off of real aircraft carriers with the U.S. Navy. Now there's a challenge for ya!
It's also not like the Predator in that this is a turbofan powered machine that's capable of high-subsonic speeds. It also has a full size internal weapons bay, which technically makes it a UCAV, or Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle. Tho the actual role of this aircraft is still a little undefined, there's no doubt that it points to the day when we'll have completely unmanned aircraft operating from carriers at sea and fully capable of engaging in aerial combat. As seen in the video below, the first flight seems to have gone flawlessly, so it may be sooner rather than later that we see UCAV's on carriers.
(click pic to enlarge) X-47B on first flight conducted at Edwards Air Force Base, California
The test flight was conducted out of Edwards Air Force Base in California, and lasted for 29 minutes. It reached an altitude of 5,000 feet, speeds up to 240 knots, and as the video shows, it looked rock solid in the air. Apparently the touchdown was 60 feet ahead of the intended spot, which translates to catching the number 1 wire on a carrier. The fact that the flight test team was even attempting to hit a touchdown target on the very first flight would suggest a high level of confidence in the both the airframe and the flight control programming. It's also good to note that the touchdown was right down the center of the runway, as desired.
(click pic to enlarge) First ever landing of the Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAV
Overall, this accomplishment of a first flight of an autonomous jet aircraft roughly the size of a combat aircraft is huge. Naval aviation, which is celebrating its centennial this year, will never be same once aircraft like the X-47B reach operational service. In fact, I see no reason why this bold step forward won't open the door to more serious discussions of removing the pilots from commercial airliners. I haven't studied the state of the art in unmanned systems, but removing the active human component completely seems like a more logical solution to me than having someone sit in a chair in an office somewhere flying remotely. Oddly, I'm actually ok with the idea of eventually having an all-computer-controlled airliner. Watch the video of the X-47B first flight and then tell me what you think of taking the pilot out of airliners some day. I'm guessing that could make for a lively discussion!
Reader Comments (2)
I'll let someone else leave the flying to the computer. I know computers can enhance and are now used in aircraft systems but there is still the one thing the computer is missing. Self Preservation! lol
Tican- you've got an interesting point there : )