Unmanned Stealth Bomber( video)

[bajasurf]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/07/x-47b-unmanned-stealth-bomber-completes-its-first-flight-video/

 

[maxingout]

These drones are amazing and scary.

Ever since the Iranians spoofed and took over a drone that flew from Afghanistan, and they landed it intact in Iran, it became clear that command and control of these machines is very much up for grabs. One of these bad boys fully loaded with ordinance in the wrong hands could be a disaster.

When I lived in Saudi Arabia, I read a newspaper article warning people to not purchase satellite phones on the secondary market in Riyadh, because some of those phones had been used by terrorists. If you turned on one of those phones when you were out in the desert, you could get a missile fired at you from a predator drone. The newspaper said that the predator drones where sent over the Empty Quarter when those satellite phones were turned on.

I can't think of anything that would spoil a camping trip in the desert nearly as much as a missile from a predator drone.

 

[owlxxx]

I actually worked on that thing in the early 2000's. The original design was a little bit different. During it's R&D phase it went by the name Pegasus. Neat little thing. WWW.SCALED.COM has a couple of pictures of the original design.

 

[haven]

This link has photos that give a better sense of scale for the X-47B. The Navy is interested because the vehicle has advanced electronics that probably will permit landing on an aircraft carrier. If it works reliably, I expect smaller ships to be converted to carrier duty for unmanned vehicles and VTOL jets, like the British Navy's jump-jet carriers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lane-mistaken-UFO-Washington-D-C-highway.html

 

[teotwaki]

this video shows it in flight with a F-18 chase plane. Similar in size but a bigger wingspan. It is at Patuxent specifically for testing carrier qualifications.
[video=youtube;T_bK6YHaqVY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T_bK6YHaqVY[/video]

 

[TexasTJ]

These drones are amazing and scary.

Ever since the Iranians spoofed and took over a drone that flew from Afghanistan, and they landed it intact in Iran, it became clear that command and control of these machines is very much up for grabs. One of these bad boys fully loaded with ordinance in the wrong hands could be a disaster..

Iranians, Hell Some Student at the University of Texas did it with stuff from radio Shack last year.
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/hijacking-drone-uav-aircraft-texas-students-prove-hackers/story?id=16699686

Not quite a securer as you would like to see...

 

[teotwaki]

They are further along with aircraft carrier testing than I recalled



Article Summary:

Northrop Grumman has delivered two X-47B Unmanned Combat Aircraft Systems (UCAS) to the US Navy, which has begun three weeks of tests aboard the USS Truman – the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft. The X-47B is based on the Pegasus X-47A (originally designed in 2001) but features improved landing gear and folding wings for work aboard carriers.



[video=youtube;bdY-V0uqaHQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bdY-V0uqaHQ[/video]

http://www.gizmag.com/x-47b-unmanned-stealth-fighter-uss-truman/25448/