Online Sponsor: March 31, 2003
Combat UAVs Must Earn Way Onto Carrier Decks JASON SHERMAN, DEFENSE NEWS MEDIA GROUP
The naval variant of an unmanned combat aerial vehicle “is going to having to earn its way on to an aircraft carrier,” said Rear Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, deputy director of air warfare in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon. “We can’t afford to put 60 of these things out there and not be able to replace the things a manned aircraft does.” The Navy and the Air Force have merged efforts to develop an unmanned combat air vehicle that could begin manufacturing in 2007 and be deployed as soon as 2012, Fitzgerald told industry and defense representatives attending the Defense News Media Group conference — Strike Warfare Precision Attack: Compressing the ‘Flash-to-Bang’ Cycle. The Navy’s effort, with assistance from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is currently centered on a Boeing-built prototype called the X-45A, which is now flying. While defense technocrats work to build an operation system, the admiral said the unmanned system must be capable of addressing the Navy’s “biggest need,” conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over hostile terrain for extended periods. “That’s the first thing we want this to do — persistent ISR,” said Fitzgerald. Next, the unmanned system must knock out enemy air defenses. Once demonstrating that capability, the Navy will considering employing the pilotless planes to attack targets that are currently the domain of today’s manned fighter and attack planes. Fitzgerald said unmanned systems show great promise. “I would say that the sky’s the limit. But we want to fill our most critical needs first,” he said. Return to news coverage |
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