Replies to post #145817 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[bankinonit]

A Bib can see about 30 miles at 2000 feet.

bank

[indyjonesohio]

Launch successful.

The Wall Street Journal (Tuesday, May 14, 2013) has article on the
successful catapult launch of the X-47B from USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77).

* May 14, 2013, 12:35 PM

U.S. Navy Successfully Launches Prototype Drone By Julian E. Barnes

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-XL777_drone_G_20130514122813.jpg

U.S. Navy

An X-47B drone is towed into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS
George H.W. Bush, in photo provided by the U.S. Navy.

The Navy's prototype drone, the X-47B, successfully catapulted off a carrier
Tuesday - one small step for a drone, one giant leap for dronekind.

The X-47B launched from the USS George H.W. Bush at 11:18 a.m., according to
a Navy spokesman.

The plane flew a couple of approaches and landed at Naval Air Station
Patuxent River. The drone has completed a tailhook landing at Patuxent
before, but Navy officials have said they will test its ability to land on
an actual carrier in the near future.

Lawmakers and Navy officials hailed the successful flight.

"If the U.S. Navy is to maintain its technological edge in the years ahead,
our continued investment in potential game-changing technologies . will be
essential," said Rep. Randy Forbes (R., Va.).

Navy officials say the $1.4 billion X-47B prototype program will lead to a
full Navy drone program designed to begin fielding drones on all Navy
carriers between 2017 and 2020
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324031404578481452840441278.h
tml> .

But Tuesday's flight was a major milestone, which Navy officers say one day
could be looked back on as an important turning point in the history of
Naval aviation.

The Navy drone is more autonomous than the current generation of Air Force
drones. While Air Force pilots remotely fly MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers,
the X-47B handles the complicated maneuvers required for taking off and
landing on a carrier autonomously.

While the Navy is developing its drones years after the Air Force began its
work, it is getting a more advanced drone as a result, said Christopher
Harmer, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

"The Navy is getting into the game after all the hard work is done, and
saying thanks a lot guys for figuring this out for us, we will take it from
here," Mr. Harmer said. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

* Drones <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/tag/drones/>; ,
* Navy <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/tag/navy/>; ,
* X-47B <http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/tag/x-47b/>;