First Flight

The Navy last week conducted the first night flight of an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System-Demonstrator over Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD.

Night flights are the next step in the process of developing an operating concept for more routine unmanned aircraft system activity, a Navy statement reads.

In the fiscal year 2015 budget request sent to Congress last month, the Navy asked for about $35 million for the UCAS-D program. The service will conduct sea trails to integrate the X-47B aboard a carrier in the fourth quarter of FY-14 and again in the second quarter of FY-15, according to budget justification documents.

The Navy had planned to retire the two X-47B air vehicles after testing aboard the carrier George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) last July. Extending the test program will allow the service to tackle some technology concerns for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike system, a follow-on effort, Rear Adm. Mat Winter, program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said last November.