Northrop Combat UAV Takes Flight; Carl Johnson Comments

Northrop’s X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System

Northrop Grumman announced Monday its X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator completed its first flight from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River on July 29.

The X-47B reached a maximum altitude 7,500 feet and flew at a speed of 180 air knots.

Carl Johnson, vice president and Navy UCAS program manager for Northrop, said the X-47B is the first autonomous carrier-capable UAS that has flown over the Patuxent River.

Johnson said the flight, which was initially announced in May, will give way to carrier suitability testing this fall and carrier trials by 2013.

As the Navy’s primary contractor for the UCAS-D program, Northrop worked with many industry partners on the project including Lockheed Martin Corp., GE, Hamilton Sundstrand, Dell and Rockwell Collins.

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