It’s a great time of progress in the era of unmanned flight.
From December 2012 to July 2013, the Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) X-47B broke multiple historic records. During three at-sea periods over that eight month period, X-47B conducted a total of 16 precision approaches to the carrier flight deck, including five planned tests of X-47B wave-off functions, nine touch-and-go landings, two arrested landings and three catapult launches.
During this time, another Navy unmanned program also reached an historic milestone with the successful completion of the first flight of the MQ-4C Triton. Formerly known as Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) Unmanned Air System (UAS), the Triton is the latest in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft platforms. The UAS is noted for its impressive ability to stay airborne for lengthy periods — up to 24 hours at a time — in maritime environments at 60,000 feet altitude.
X-47B: Onward and Upward
Despite X-47B’s record-breaking success, there had been some talk of retiring the aircraft.
However, on Aug. 13, NAVAIR released a statement to the contrary: “Upon further review of the successful UCAS-D demonstration efforts, the Navy has decided to postpone the retirement of the X-47B system as it assesses potential opportunities for further land- and sea-based testing and verification efforts.”
The Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) program continued to improve technology, participating in multiple test scenarios which were specifically designed to improve the software to benefit the future fleet of UCLASS systems. One such scenario was the autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) test held on Aug. 28 at Patuxent River’s Calspan facility.
According to NAVAIR, the AAR program uses similar digital messaging and navigation processes that have been demonstrated by the UCAS-D team aboard the aircraft carrier. The AAR test was designed to assess the functionality of final X-47B AAR systems and navigation performance, as well as to test the government tanker refueling interface systems.
Prior to the test, X-47B’s navigation, command and control, and vision processor hardware and software were installed on a Calspan Learjet aircraft while a government-developed refueling interface system and tanker operator station were installed on an Omega 707 tanker aircraft.
The testing consisted of initial ground and taxi tests, followed by a series of flights using the surrogate aircraft equipped to fly autonomously behind an Omega K-707 Tanker. The testing also featured end-to-end AAR concept of operations with a complete autonomous rendezvous, approach, plug, and safe separation utilizing X-47B software and hardware installed in the Lear surrogate aircraft. Data gleaned from the demonstration will be used to assess system performance for multiple AAR refueling technologies, validate the AAR procedures and concepts, and support further development of future unmanned systems.
On Sept. 18, X-47B celebrated another milestone with the successful completion of its 100th flight at Patuxent River, Md.
This accomplishment was topped off by the honor of becoming the first-ever U.S. Navy product to receive a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award since the awards began in 2005. In an announcement released Oct. 9, Popular Mechanics explained that X-47B was chosen because of its safe carrier landings, and also because of its potential impact on future technology, which “… may lead to more accurate autopilot systems in private and commercial aircraft, as well as safer self-driving cars.”
X-47B also had the distinction of being featured on the November cover of the magazine, which hit newsstands on Oct. 15.
“The entire team is honored to be recognized with this award. It’s exciting and quite unique to have an organization such as Popular Mechanics recognize our efforts and capabilities,” said Navy former UCAS Program Manager Capt. Jaime Engdahl.
The end of 2013 saw a reunion of “Salty Dog 501” and “Salty Dog 502” for the first time since July. According to NAVAIR, the two UAVs worked side-by-side in a carrier environment – marking another first for the X-47B demonstrator project – to participate in tests aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) on Nov. 9.
The X-47Bs, which are based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, took turns operating in the vicinity of the Roosevelt and conducting flight operations between ship and shore off the coast of Maryland.
The aircraft took part in tests which included deck handling, carrier approaches and landings in off-nominal wind conditions, digitized ship systems interfaces, and concept of operations development.
Program Manager for Unmanned Carrier Aviation Capt. Beau Duarte said that X-47B was tested in “winds of higher magnitude and differing directions than seen in previous detachments,” which resulted in “more stimulus provided to the aircraft’s guidance and control algorithms and a more robust verification of its GPS autoland capability.”
During this test phase, X-47B carried out 26 total deck touchdowns, including 21 precise touch-and-goes and five arrested landings. Additionally, the aircraft completed five catapults, along with five commanded and two autonomous wave-offs.
Though the X-47B itself will not become a permanent part of the Navy’s fleet of aircraft, the Navy will continue to conduct further land and carrier based testing to mature unmanned technologies and refine concept of operations to further inform future unmanned carrier requirements. Navy aviation officials are planning for an Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) fleet to become operational by 2020. On August 14, the Navy awarded four $15 million contracts to Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo.; General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Poway, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Corp., Palmdale, Calif.; and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., El Segundo, Calif. to create competing preliminary designs for the UCLASS Air Vehicle.
Duarte said that the team will continue to refine the concept of operations to fully demonstrate the effective integration of unmanned carrier-based aircraft within the current carrier environment to reduce technical risk for the follow-on UCLASS.
The X-47B program continues to garner praise; on Mar. 6 of this year, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration team, whose members include both Navy and Northrup Grumman personnel, was selected as a recipient for Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine’s prestigious Laureate Awards during a ceremony held in Washington, D.C.
The X-47B UCAS team was recognized for its work in the Aeronautics and Propulsion category, more specifically, their successful demonstration of the “tailless, full-size Unmanned Air System (UAS) in the carrier environment,” which marked an important first in naval aviation.
"This award is a well-deserved recognition for the X-47B team and underpins the historical significance and dedication of the hundreds of civilian, military and industry teammates who were instrumental in executing the technical achievements required to operate the first-ever carrier-capable UAS," said Rear Adm. Mat Winter, who oversees the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons.
The Navy will continue to operate the X-47B into 2015.
Triton: Strategy is my name, surveillance is my game
Equipped with advanced de-icing and lightning protection systems, 360-degree Field Of Regard radar sensors, including Electro-Optical/Infrared sensor, Automatic Identification System receiver and Electronic Support Measures and the AN/ZPY-3 multi-function active-sensor (MFAS) radar system, the Triton can provide persistent surveillance out to 2,000 nautical miles and cover up to 2.7 million square miles of ocean and littoral areas per mission. The aircraft can also easily descend through cloud layers to gain a closer view of ships and other targets at sea and track ships by gathering information on their speed, location and classification.
The Navy’s Program of Record (POR) calls for 68 MQ-4Cs to be built. MQ-4Cs can also work in conjunction with the P-8 Poseidon. According to NAVAIR, the unmanned aircraft will be dispersed in five strategic locations around the world, and Triton operators will distribute real-time data to fleet units to support surface warfare, intelligence operations, strike warfare and search and rescue. The UAS is expected to act as a continuous source of information to maintain the common operational and tactical picture of the maritime battle space as well as to provide combat information to operational and tactical users such as the Expeditionary Strike Group, Carrier Strike Group and the Joint Forces Maritime Component Commander.
The UAV successfully completed its first flight last year on May 22 from Palmdale, Calif. MQ-4C’s maiden voyage took place in a restricted airspace, controlled by ground-based Navy and Northrop Grumman personnel. The 80-minute test flight saw the UAS climb to 20,000 feet altitude.
On May 29, NAVAIR announced that Paul Weinstein, an electronics engineer supporting the Common Standards and Interoperability (CSI) program office at Patuxent River, had launched an image quality lab in 2012 that will help determine how to effectively employ Triton’s sensors and radars and potentially other manned and unmanned systems. This initiative is estimated to save the Triton program several hundred thousand dollars.
Weinstein said that “without this capability at Pax River, the Navy would have to rely on NGA [National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency] to perform sensor testing, at a cost of more than $150,000 per evaluation. It would also take more than a month to return the analysis to the team. By having the lab at Pax, each test is virtually free and it takes less than one week to turn around the data to the test team.”
According to NAVAIR, image analysts usually perform this function, but the evaluation proved that test engineers can analyze images and make effective mission-planning decisions. The image-quality lab team is responsible for evaluating the MQ-4C’s EO/Infrared (IR) and Synthetic Aperture Radar sensors; the first imagery evaluation was conducted after data became available from Triton’s first flight.
Triton’s star continued to rise as Northrop Grumman announced on Nov. 3 that the aircraft had passed a “key” test.
When the structural strength of Triton’s wing, provided by Triumph Aerostructures’ Vought Aircraft Division, was subjected to a load that was 22 percent heavier than the Navy’s requirement, it was found to have “no failures or unacceptable deformations.”
The news release stated that this is “a key capability that will allow the aircraft to descend from high altitudes to make positive identification of targets of interest during surveillance missions.”
There are plans to conduct flights tests simulating various fuel loads on the wing, as well as a fatigue test of the entire frame, beginning in 2017.
On March 21, NAVAIR released a statement announcing the completion of MQ-4C’s initial envelope expansion after 13 test flights. This process entails the flight test team pushing the aircraft to more demanding speeds and altitude at different gross weights.
According to Northrop Grumman’s Triton Program Director, Mike Mackey, “Completion of envelope expansion will allow the test team to prepare for installation and further testing of Triton’s surveillance sensors.” The test flights lasted 9.4 hours at altitudes of up to 60,000 feet and included doublets – maneuvers designed to test the aircraft’s ability to recover from turbulence.
Though MQ-4C Triton gained fame in 2013, its system isn’t exactly new to the UAV game. According to NAVAIR, the Navy originally acquired two Air Force RQ-4A Global Hawk aircraft, known as the BAMS-Demonstrator (BAMS-D), to gain experience in operating large unmanned aircraft and to develop tactics and doctrine for the Triton program.
As such, BAMS-D, which is controlled from Patuxent River, recently entered its sixth year of deployment and has racked up more than 10,000 flight hours as of December 2013 in support of operations in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility.
“This was originally intended to be a six-month concept demonstration,” said Capt. Jim Hoke, program manager for the Persistent Maritime Unmanned Aircraft System program office (PMA-262), who oversees the BAMS-D program. “Six years later, the tempo of operations and demand for products from BAMS-D has remained steady and the deployment has been extended indefinitely.”
Like the MQ-4C, the demonstrator is operated by both Navy and contractor personnel, can fly at altitudes up to 60,000 feet for a duration of 24 hours, and provides intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the fleet.
On Sept. 6, the Navy awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman to increase BAMS-D surveillance flights by providing maintenance, operations and other support services to enable the aircraft to fly 15 missions per month, up from nine missions per month in previous years — an impressive 50 percent increase.
The Triton will continue to benefit from BAMS-D’s data collection. According to Mike McDaniel, current Triton test director and former BAMS-D test director, the “speed of delivery, combined with the enormous quantity of information collected on each flight, has made BAMS-D invaluable to the fleet.”
This year has also seen accolades for members of the Triton UAS team. During an awards ceremony held in Patuxent River, Feb. 19, Rear Adm. Winter awarded Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Awards to Charles Lowe, Bob Mroz, Brian Wasel and Jeff Sappington for their contributions to the development of the Triton. This award is the third-highest civilian employee honor in the Department of the Navy for service and highly beneficial contributions.
According to NAVAIR, testing on the MQ-4C Triton will continue, with initial operational capability expected to occur in 2017.
As this article went to press, X-47B completed its first night flight.