X-47B Follows Carrier Launch With Touch-and-Go Flights

The X47B completes a touch-and-go landing on an aircraft carrier. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis.

By Brett Davis



Following up on its historic launch from an aircraft carrier, the X-47B conducted touch-and-go landing operations aboard the carrier USS George H.W. Bush on 17 May.



"This landing, rubber hitting deck, is extremely fulfilling for the team and is the culmination of years of relative navigation development. Now, we are set to demonstrate the final pieces of the demonstration," says Don Blottenberger, the UCAS-D Deputy Program manager.



The aircraft, one of two demonstration vehicles built by Northrop Grumman, has demonstrated carrier-style arrested landings at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., but hasn’t yet tried one on a carrier deck. That will come later this year, according to the UCAS-D program.