• Navy's twin stealth drone takes flight

    Northrop Grumman Corp.

    The availability of two X-47B unmanned aircraft enables the UCAS-D program to conduct a faster and more productive flight test program.

    By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    Two is better than one, especially when it comes to flight testing a stealth drone designed to take off and land from moving aircraft carriers at sea. The U.S. Navy announced today it has reached that milestone in its X-47B program.

    The second tail-less unmanned aircraft — named Air Vehicle 2 — took to the skies from Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 22 and flew a few racetrack patterns over Rogers Dry Lake at an altitude of 5,000 feet, said Northup Grumman, who is building the plane, in a news release.

    The first flight of the original X-47B took place in February. That aircraft successfully retracted its landing gear and flew in cruise configuration in September, allowing photographers to snap images that make the plane look like a UFO from a 1950s cartoon.

    Having a second plane will allow for the collection of more performance data and keep the program on development schedule, the aerospace company said. 

    Northrop Grumman Corp.

    The second X-47B demonstrator aircraft for the Navy's UCAS-D program completed its first flight on Nov. 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

    The computer-controlled unmanned aircraft takes off and flies a pre-programmed mission and then returns to base in response to mouse clicks from a mission operator. The operator monitors the flight, but doesn't actively control it remotely, as for other drones.

    One of the twin aircraft will transition to the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., by the end of 2011, to begin testing of precision carrier approaches, arresting landings and "roll-out" catapult landings, according to the release. 

    The tests will also include testing of recently installed guidance, navigation and control software that will enable the aircraft to land on a moving carrier deck, considered among the harshest aviation environments.

    The second craft will remain in California to continue envelop expansion flights, which are used to demonstrate the aircraft performance under a range of range, speed, and fuel-load conditions. 

    The first carrier launches are planned for 2013 and autonomous refueling demonstrations are slated for 2014. 

    More on Navy technology:

     

    John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

     

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  • Solar truck to sail from soccer fields

    Solar Ship

    This marketing image shows how an envisioned solar powered cargo ship could transport goods and services to regions of the world without roads, landing strips, and refueling infrastructure.

    By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    A new breed of solar-powered flying truck is envisioned that can take off from and land on soccer fields, allowing the delivery of goods and services to regions of the world where no roads lead and few planes can land.

    Fields big enough for a game of soccer are just about everywhere, reckons the team behind Toronto-based Solar Ship. The game is, after all, the world's most popular sport. It's played anywhere there's room to kick around a makeshift ball.

    The company is building a fleet of delta-shaped ships that are a hybrid between airships and airplanes. They're filled with helium gas, but not enough to lift them off the ground. Solar panels on their body generate electricity from the sun and provide the power to drive them forward and into the air.

    According to specifications, the ships can fly up to 1000 kilometers in a day under the power of the sun, haul up to 12 tons of cargo and reach a top speed of 85 kilometers per hour. The company recently announced the successful flight of its first prototype ship. 

    A selection of clips from Solar Ship's test flights of its early prototype hybrid aircraft.

    The video shows a helium-filled flying wing aircraft successfully taking off and landing. R&D continues to improve performance, attach solar panels and lightweight batteries. Further details on the status of the project are under wraps due to contractual obligations, a company representative told me.

    Solar powered airplanes are nothing new. For example, in 2010 an aircraft called the Solar Impulse completed the first 24 hour flight, a feat that proved aircraft can collect enough energy during the day to stay aloft all night.

    But the Solar Ship isn't really designed to compete against solar planes per se, which need a large runway to take off and land. Instead, they are more like delivery trucks designed to access areas with few roads, limited space to take off and land, and scant infrastructure to refuel.

    In this sense, the prime competitor is the helicopter, but the range of whirlybirds is limited due to fuel requirements. 

    A Solar Ship would have been helpful, for example, when the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti in 2010, Solar Ship CEO Jay Godsall told the Toronto Star.

    It took eight days, he noted, for aid to reach the city of Jacmel. Roads from the capital, Port-au-Prince, were blocked and the airstrip and fueling infrastructure in Jacmel were too damaged to accommodate supply flights from Miami, the closest U.S. city.

    "Nobody could land," Godsall told the paper. "If we could make a similar run, and do it here in Ontario, it would an irrefutable demonstration of our aircraft."

    We'll have to wait a while longer for that demonstration flight. In the meantime, check out the Solar Ship website and the video below to learn more about the concept.

    Solar Ship previews its first three commercial solar-powered aircraft that require no roads, no fuel, no infrastructure.

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    John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

     

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  • UFO-like drone hits cruise mode

    Christian Turner

    The X-47B, a stealth drone under development for the U.S. Navy, successfully retracted its landing gear and flew in its cruise configuration for the first time on Sept. 30.

    By John Roach, Contributing Writer, NBC News

    A stealth U.S. Navy drone — one designed to take off from and land on moving aircraft carriers at sea — successfully retracted its landing gear and flew in cruise configuration for the first time, engineers announced today. 

    The test flight at Edwards Air Force Base on Sept. 30 also helped validate the hardware and software that will allow the X-47B to land with precision at sea, among the harshest aviation environments known, said the drone's maker, Northrop Grumman.

    The tail-less plane is 38 feet long and has a 62-foot wingspan. In the images released today it looks like a UFO straight out of a 1950s cartoon. 

    The military is hoping unmanned aircraft will allow aircraft carriers to remain out of reach of land-based missile systems while they launch airstrikes and reconnaissance missions. 

    Northrop Grumman

    Earlier photo of X-47B, photographed from above while sitting on runway.

    First flight of the X-47B took place in February. The latest test flight is part of on-going "envelope expansion" flights used to demonstrate the aircraft performance under a variety altitude, speed and fuel-load conditions. 

    "Reaching this critical test point demonstrates the growing maturity of the air system and its readiness to move to the next phase of flight testing," Janis Pamiljans, vice president and Navy UCAS program manager for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector, said in statement.

    The aircraft will transition to Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Md., later this year for further land-based testing, and will move to at-sea demonstrations in 2013. By 2014, Northrop Grumman intends to demonstrate autonomous in-air refueling.

    More on Navy technology:

    John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com.

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