Navy to attempt 1st unmanned carrier landing

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by RWebb

carriers - that's fine; but the real fun part is to launch drones from submarines, or submersed emplacements

The USN is officially Bad-Ass when they launch one of those Dr. Evil penis missiles from a boomer.

[M.D. Holloway]

So what happened ?

[Jim Richards]

Navy Drone Makes First Aircraft Carrier Landing

[M.D. Holloway]

Ushering in a new age.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

Navy Drone Makes First Aircraft Carrier Landing

An X-47B plane nicknamed "Salty Dog 502" touched down on the USS George H.W. Bush, off the coast of Virginia, in a so-called arrested landing, a maneuver designed for making a quick stop on a flight deck.

Today's feat follows the success of X-47B's earlier tests at sea, including nine touch-and-go landings aboard the USS George H. W. Bush in May, in which the plane would touch down on the runway without coming to a full stop before taking off again. The plane, which is made by Northrop Grumman, also completed arrested landings on a mock flight deck on land ahead of today's milestone.

Thanks for the follow up article Jim Richards.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by RWebb

very big deal - without a pilot in the aircraft, you can design for a much, much higher performance envelope

you can also undertake missions w/o risking the life of an American

Until some bad guy hacks the software/communications... then our own weapons will be used against us.