Senior Israeli
Air Force leaders believe that unmanned aircraft are the future,
including autonomous (at least some of the time, under software control)
fighters and bombers. Israeli UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)
manufacturers, who have long been leaders in the field, were asked to
move more aggressively in this direction. The Israelis are following the
lead of the U.S. Navy, which is currently out front when it comes to
UCAV (unmanned combat air vehicle) development.
For example, in late 2012 a U.S. Navy X-47B UCAV made its
first catapult launch. This came 22 months after the first flight of the
X-47B. This launch was not from a carrier but an airfield built to the
same size as a carrier deck and equipped with a catapult. This first
launch was to confirm that the X-47B could handle the stress of a
catapult launch. Another X-47B was then loaded onto the deck of a
carrier, to check out the ability of the UCAV to move around the deck.
The first carrier launch of an X-47B will take place this year, along
with carrier landings. Two years ago the navy tested its UCAV landing
software, using a manned F-18 for the test, landing it on a carrier
completely under software control. Recently an X-47B successfully made a
landing on an airfield built to the same size as a carrier deck and
equipped with a wire for the hook on the rear of UCAV to catch on. That
worked, and the X-47B came to stop as it would during a landing at sea.
It was five years ago that the navy rolled out the first
X-47B, its first UCAV. This compact aircraft has a wingspan of 20 meters
(62 feet and the outer 25 percent folds up to save space on the
carrier). It carries a two ton payload and will be able to stay in the
air for twelve hours. The U.S. is far ahead of other nations in UCAV
development, and this is energizing activity in Israel, Russia, Europe,
and China to develop similar aircraft. It’s generally recognized that
robotic combat aircraft are the future, even though many of the aviation
commanders (all of them pilots) wish it were otherwise. The Israeli Air
Force is an exception to this and all major air forces have a growing
number of senior officers who accept that the day of the droids is fast
approaching. Whoever gets there first (a UCAV that really works) will
force everyone else to catch up or end up the loser if they encounter
these UCAVs in combat.
The U.S. Navy has done the math and realized that they need
UCAVS on their carriers as soon as possible. The current plan is to get
these aircraft into service five years from now. But many carrier
admirals want unmanned carrier aircraft in service sooner than that. The
math problem that triggered all this is the realization that American
carriers had to get within 800 kilometers of their target before
launching bomber aircraft. Potential enemies increasingly have aircraft
and missiles with range greater than 800 kilometers. The navy already
has a solution in development since the X-47B UCAS has a range of 2,500
kilometers and all they have to do is get these UCAVs operational.
For the last two years navy leadership has been seeking ways
to reduce orders for the new F-35B and F-35C manned aircraft and use
that money to buy the X-47Bs and similar robotic combat aircraft
instead. The navy currently plans to buy 680 F-35B and F-35C aircraft
for (on average) $100 million each. A UCAV costs less than half that and
provides most of the same capabilities, plus much longer range and no
risk of losing pilots.
For most of the last decade, the navy has been hustling to
ready a UCAV for carrier operations and combat use. Within three years
the navy expects to have the X-47B demonstrating the ability to
regularly operate from a carrier and perform combat (including
reconnaissance and surveillance) operations. The new efforts aim to have
UCAVs aircraft perform ground attack missions as well, something the
Predators have been doing for over a decade. The larger Reaper UAV was
designed to expand this combat capability and has proved that it can
replace F-16s and other bombers in the combat zone.
The 20 ton X-47B weighs a little less than the 24 ton F-18A
and has two internal bays holding two tons of smart bombs. Once it can
operate off a carrier, the X-47B will be used for a lot of bombing, sort
of a super-Reaper. The navy has been impressed with the success of the
Predator and Reaper. But the Reaper weighs only 4.7 tons. The much
larger X-47B uses a F100-PW-220 engine, which is currently used in the
F-16 and F-15.
The air force and navy have always differed about the
widespread use of UAVs in combat. When the air force agreed to work with
the navy on UCAVs a decade ago the idea was that the air force ones
would largely remain in storage, to provide a rapid "surge" capability
in wartime. The navy, however, wanted to use theirs to replace manned
aircraft on carriers. The reason is simple, carrier ops are dangerous,
and carrier qualified pilots are more difficult and expensive to train
and retain in the service. The navy still has these problems and senior
admirals are pretty much in agreement that UCAVs are the future of carrier aviation. The
sooner these UCAVs prove they can safely and effectively operate from
carriers, the better. The X-47B (or planned, slightly larger, X-47C) is
not the definitive carrier UCAS but the navy hopes it is good enough to
show that unmanned aircraft can do the job. Normally, "X" class aircraft
are just used as technology demonstrators. But the X-47 program has
been going on for so long, and has incorporated so much from UAVs
already serving in combat, that the X-47B may end up eventually running
recon and bombing missions as the MQ-47B.
The Department of Defense leadership is backing the navy
efforts and spurring the air force to catch up. At the moment, the air
force has a hard time building enough MQ-9s, which are used as a ground
support aircraft, in addition to reconnaissance and surveillance. But,
as the navy is demonstrating, you can build UCAVs that can carry more
weapons, stay in the air longer, and hustle to where they are needed
faster.
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