Last Thursday, the U.S. Navy completed their first steam launch catapult with the X-47B pilot-less aircraft. The same catapult system is what will help this aircraft take off from aircraft carriers in the middle of the ocean.

After watching the video (below), it seems like the ground controllers were very happy with the successful launch. In addition, for a pilot-less aircraft,  the X-47B took off and landed flawlessly.

Take a look:

Un-manned aircraft and drones have become very popular in the military. Now that they can successfully take-off and land with the aid of slingshots, the sky (and ocean) is the limit for drones.

The X-47B has a wingspan of 62 feet, is only 10 feet tall,and weighs 14,000 lb (6,350 kg). The X-47B also has a cruising speed of 0.45 mach (342 mph), a range of just under 4,000 kilometers, and a service ceiling of 40,000ft.

The X-47B will make its first sea trials aboard the USS Harry S. Truman. Sometime in 2013, the U.S. Navy plans to catapult and recover the prototype aboard aircraft carriers.

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They literally turn the tide of battles and with the valuable intelligence and images they provide to command centres, have saved many soldiers, be it in the Middle East, Afghanistan or Eastern Europe.

Reconnaissance saves lives and in modern day war, going into an engagement without the intelligence from UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) drones, which are armed with sophisticated electronics for imagery and sensing, is like walking in blindfolded.

UAV drones and its impact would have taken on another dimension if the feasibility study done by Sandia National Laboratories and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation hadn’t been ended. Their project summary, which was obtained and published by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), indicates that scientists are checking out the possibility of nuclear-powered drones which will increase the operating time of drones by months.   Sandia however has since made the following statement: “Sandia is often asked to look at a wide range of solutions to the toughest technical challenges. The research on this topic was highly theoretical and very conceptual. The work only resulted in a preliminary feasibility study and no hardware was ever built or tested. The project has ended.”

Being a touchy area, the word “nuclear” was not mentioned in the project summary published by FAS.  But there are clear indications in the research summary that the researchers are working on power sources other than derived from petroleum products and that the primary source under investigation is nuclear.

The FAS points out at words used in the report such as “safeguards,” “decommissioning and disposal,” suggesting that the technology being considered is nuclear. Besides, Dr Steven B Dron, the lead investigator for the project at Sandia, is a nuclear propulsion expert, says FAS. Sandia hasn’t flatly denied FAS’s assumptions either.

The question was that in the quest for more surveillance time, is the army willing to take the nuclear risk, as there are possibilities of it becoming a “dirty bomb” if it happens to crash or be shot down over a rural area.

Then there is the possibility of the technology falling into the wrong hands. There have been instances when opposing forces have gotten their hands on drones and imagine if that drone happens to be one powered by nuclear technology. The consequences of such a technology falling into the hands of a rogue state could be disastrous.

The project would also likely to face opposition, both philosophical and political. So the likelihood of a nuclear-powered eye flying, rather permanently, over our heads will not happen in the near future.

Till thenThis project has ended, however others could surface, until then, the drones have to make pit-stops before going back to their peeping-tom duties.

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The unmanned aircraft sector seems to be coming of age in the U.S. military: This year’s announcement of the tiny “Hummingbird,” a tailless flying machine capable of reconnaissance and espionage, is now being followed up by Northrop Grumman’s contract to build two X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System fighter crafts for the U.S. Navy.   The first of the two planes has already successfully undergone its first three test flights, showing it’s capable of 7,500-foot altitudes and speeds of 200 knots (370 km/h). The other, referred to as the AV-2, is undergoing stress tests in the California assembly plant, where the craft’s already proven its ability to withstand taxing combat maneuvers and the forces involved in using an aircraft carrier as a runway.

“The proof tests validate the structural design of the aircraft, and give us confidence that we can operate this plane safely and reliably in all anticipated carrier environments,” said Janis Pamiljans, vice president of the Navy UCAS program for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector, in a statement earlier this week.

“In particular, we now know that AV-2 can handle the stresses, strains and dynamic loads associated with catapult launches and arrested landings on the carrier deck, and air-to-air refueling.” Though both of the crafts are built identically, the AV-2 will be fitted with aerial refuelling equipment. A lot of testing stands between now and the day they see use in the field, but Northrop Grumman plans to demonstrate an unmanned take-off from an aircraft carrier in 2013 and unmanned aerial refuelling in 2014.

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The defence and security company which develops and supplies weapons systems to countries such as the United States and Saudi Arabia, have taken one from the Dark Knight. And it doesn’t even seem like they put much effort into disguising the fact.

Hisham Awad of BAE Systems even stated “in all seriousness, we decided that we didn’t have a monopoly on inspiration, and if we saw something in a film that we thought might be a good idea, why not take a look at it and see if there’s something practical we can develop?”

Well, you know what they say. Amateur designers borrow ideas from others. Professional designers steal ideas from others.

The “Raider” is only one of seven new concepts recently released by the company, and though none have hit the prototype stage yet, the focus seems to be on creating unmanned vehicles that will allow for less troops on the front lines.

[SlashGear via BAE Systems]

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