Article Review of: "A Drone Has Never Linked Up With a Tanker Until Now"

The Navy has achieved a major milestone in the field of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) on Thursday April 15^th 2015. In the airspace above the Chesapeake Bay, a Northrop Grumman X-47B UAS autonomously linked up with a Boeing 707 aerial refueling tanker. This achievement signifies a technological step that could possibly completely redefine the capability of UAS forever. Today, UAS are often lauded for their long endurance and ability to maintain eyes on the target for periods of time that manned aircraft could only dream of. By adding the ability to aerial refuel, we can keep UASs in the air for possibly weeks, not just days. For manned aircraft, crew endurance, hunger, and sleep are the limiting factor that limit mission durations. For UAS, once aerial refuel removes fuel as the limiting factor for mission duration, the the only thing holding the system back from unlimited missions is the mechanical limitations of continuously moving parts inside the system. With todays engineering and advancements in material and structural design, the future mission length of UASs could be weeks or even months.

The aerial refuel of the X-47B UAS was not the Navy’s first big step forward in terms of UAS technology. In 2013 the X-47B was the first large UAS to successfully land and take off from an aircraft carrier. This, in and of itself, was a major achievement, because combined with the range of the X-47B, the ability to launch from any where in the ocean makes it’s reach even more impressive. Now, combined with aerial refuel, the system is quickly becoming one of the most versatile unmanned systems that isn’t unclassified to the public.  Not only does the successful landing on an aircraft carrier represent a huge step forward in capability, but it also represents a huge step in safety. One of the most dangerous missions for a Naval aviator is landing on a carrier. To have a system that is completely automated, which demonstrates computer precision, could not only help save lives, but could be the key to saving millions or even billions of dollars worth of equipment that is lost during failed carrier landings or launches.

One point to note in this testing is that the UAS being used is the X-47B, which by the nature of the X in its nomenclature indicates that this system is not a future production line aircraft. The X stands for experimental, and this system has no future in combat, it’s merely a test bed to work through the technological problems like carrier landings and aerial refuel. The Navy has been working with multiple contractors such as General Atomic, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing to try to figure out what the next operational UAS of this kind will be. At the time a C variant of the X-47B is being discussed at the highest level which will be called the UCLASS, which stands for the Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike System. The Navy is concerned with the limited capabilities of current UAS platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper or the MC-1 Predator because these systems are inherently land based and most often flown in areas where friendly forces have air supremacy. Due to the fact that the Navy operates in an inherently expeditionary environment, the idea of only needing surveillance or air to ground capability does not provide the force with what they need most. In a carrier group, advanced aerial denial operations are key to protecting the fleet. Also air-to-air capability will become an essential capability if we ever go to war with a power that has a more advanced air force. 

The X-47B represents the most advance UAS technology that the Navy has. The ability to protect a carrier group, reach out and touch land based adversaries, and maintain a constant eye on the enemy is the key to the future of Naval UAS. I am excited to see how UAS technology will increase efficiencies, save lives, and make carrier operations safer. I fully support the use of UAS in Naval aviation and carrier operations and look forward to the future developments in this field.    

      

References:   

LaGrone, S. (2014, February 3). Several Reasons Why Aircraft Carriers Are Super Dangerous. Retrieved April 18, 2015, from http://www.popsci.com/blog-network/shipshape/several-reasons-why-aircraft-carriers-are-super-dangerous

Northrop Grumman. (2015). X-47B UCAS. Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/X47BUCAS/Pages/default.aspx

Trevithick, J. (2015, April 16). A Drone Has Never Linked Up With a Tanker Until Now. Retrieved April 17, 2015, from https://medium.com/war-is-boring/a-drone-has-never-linked-up-with-a-tanker-until-now-9453016469c5