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US Navy fighter jets will carry an autonomous anti-ship missile
The US Navy may have a robotic ace in the hole when it fights enemy warships in the future. It's planning to put Lockheed Martin's autonomous LRASM (Long Range Anti-Ship Missile) on the F/A-18 Super Hornet by 2019, giving jet fighters a weapon that tracks and wipes out targets mostly or entirely on its own. Most of the missile's details are secret, but it's smart enough to dodge obstacles on the way to vessels as far as 200 nautical miles out -- and that's the unclassified range, which suggests that it's more capable in practice. There are also versions of LRASM in the works that will launch from ships, submarines and other aircraft, so this intelligent projectile could soon be a mainstay of the US military.
Navy drone plays well with manned aircraft, caps it with a carrier landing
The unmanned X-47B drone has proven itself carrier-capable, but can it fit into normal flight operations? The Navy aimed to find out recently in some joint maneuvers alongside an F/A-18 Super Hornet aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The X-47B model was tweaked with faster tailhook retraction and new software so that it could be parked more quickly after flights. It then flew carrier patterns along with an F/A-18, including a catapult launch, eight-minute flight, tailhook landing, taxiing and parking. As shown in the video below, crews were able to get the X-47B out of the way quickly after touchdown, letting the manned Super Hornet land shortly afterwards. It'll soon perform night-flying tests and other maneuvers, toward the Navy's ultimate goal of a Skynet-ish sounding UCLASS (unmanned carrier launched airborne surveillance and strike system).
US Navy's Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System launches first fighter jet (update: video!)
For more than 50 years, the on-ramp to the highway to the danger zone was a steam catapult that launched fighter jets from an aircraft carrier, but it looks like that could soon be set to change. The U.S. Navy just announced yesterday that its Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, has passed a key test by launching a manned F/A-18E Super Hornet for the first time (several more successful launches then followed). Among other advantages, that system promises to allow the Navy to launch a wider range of aircraft from a carrier -- including everything from lightweight unmanned aircraft to heavy strike fighters -- and do so while also bringing "substantial improvements" to weight, maintenance, and efficiency. Head on past the break for the official announcement (sorry no video). Update: We spoke too soon, video is now after the break! You'll have to supply your own Kenny Loggins soundtrack, though. [Thanks, Fionn]
