Navy launches unmanned aircraft

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (WAVY) - A company launched an unmanned Navy aircraft Thursday in Maryland, set to be eventually used aboard the USS Harry S. Truman next month.

According to Naval Air Systems Command, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) was the Navy's first catapult launch of the pilotless aircraft. The launch Thursday ensured the X-47B could handle the "rigors of the unique and stringent aircraft-carrier environment."

Video of the X-47B launch.

"This test, in addition to the extensive modeling and simulation done prior to today, gives us great confidence in the X-47B's ability to operate on the flight deck," Navy UCAS program manager Capt. Jaime Engdahl said.

The X-47B is under development by Northrop Grumman under a 2007 contract awarded to produce two of its kind by 2013. 

"We are breaking new ground with the development of a carrier-based system that enables launch and recovery support of an unmanned platform off a carrier flight deck," Engdahl said. "Every test we are conducting at Pax River and at sea is a historic milestone for naval aviation."