THE NORTHROP GRUMMAN X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) conducted its first carrier-based catapult launch from the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) off the coast of Virginia on 14 May. The milestone occurred at 11.18hrs local time. Following the launch the X-47B executed several planned low approaches to the carrier, demonstrating its ability to navigate precisely within the controlled airspace around the aircraft carrier. The UCAS-D subsequently transited across the Chesapeake Bay and control of the air vehicle was passed from a mission operator aboard the carrier to another located in the Mission Test Control Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, where the X-47B landed at the conclusion of the 65-minute flight. The X-47B subsequently began touch-and-go operations aboard the ship from 17 May. It will fly multiple approaches to the George H. W. Bush and additional shore-based testing will be conducted at Pax River in preparation for its first arrested landing at sea later this summer.
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