X-47B Unmanned Aircraft
Looking ahead, nearly two-thirds of the aircraft on U.S. aircraft carriers could be unmanned, even with unmanned warplanes.
According to Military.com and The War Zone, Gregory Harris, director of the Air Warfare Division of the U.S. Navy Department of Military Command, said this week that the Navy will be like the Air Force in the future, and that the Next Generation Air Superiority (NGAD) program will The Next Generation Air Superiority (NGAD) program will employ a system of shipboard aircraft, sensors and other equipment that will complement each other to defend against threats.
He said the system will combine manned and unmanned aircraft, gradually shifting the unmanned/manned carrier ratio in the air wing from 40-60 to 60-40. In addition, Harris stressed that the Navy will seek to increase the number of unmanned aircraft in the air wing to at least 50 percent or more as time progresses.
Harris also noted that the Navy is currently focusing on the F/A-XX, the successor to the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, considering whether it should be manned, unmanned or partially automated. He stressed that the Navy sincerely believes that “next-generation air superiority” should not simply refer to one aircraft, and his statement echoes the Air Force’s plans. Air Force officials pointed out that the next-generation air superiority program is different from the traditional, not a single fighter platform or technology, but a network of advanced warplanes, sensors and weapons, and may even allow fighters and drones to operate side by side.
The Navy calls the UAVs “little buddies,” which means they will be wingmen and even electric warfare platforms, Harless said. He noted that the E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft could be replaced in the future. The performance of the MQ-25 (Stingray) shipboard unmanned refueling aircraft has also prompted the military to make many decisions. Navy generals said last November that they wanted to send 20 MQ-25A unmanned refueling aircraft on carriers and thought it could revolutionize carrier flight wings at Naval Air Station Point Mugu, Calif.
The Navy is now studying how the unmanned aircraft, which can refuel in flight and conduct surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering, can become a force multiplier for the carrier flight wing.
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