U.S. Navy speaks of "milestone" drone can launch from the aircraft carrier

WASHINGTON (U.S.) – On 14 May there was on the aircraft carrier “USS George HW Bush” the first catapult launch of a new drone of an aircraft carrier instead. The development of X-47B is of crucial importance for the military.

Is this the future of warfare? The U.S. Navy has developed together with the armourers Northrop Grumman for the first time an unmanned aircraft that can take off on an aircraft carrier.

The prototype X-47B lifted on Tuesday morning by a catapult from Atlantic stationed in nuclear cruiser “USS George HW Bush” to a successful test flight and sat later on at an airport in the U.S. state of Maryland.

Whether the drone hinkriegt the landing force as particularly difficult on a moving aircraft carrier, this summer should be checked. In 2014, the Navy also wants to test whether X-47B can be refueled in the air.

“A milestone»

U.S. military officials said, after the first flight of a “milestone” and a “turning point.” For the armed forces are drones that can launch from aircraft carriers, is crucial.

Because so far had unmanned aircraft are stationed directly in the conflict areas – which was not possible without the consent of the countries concerned.

According to the Navy X-47B can fly at altitudes up to 40,000 feet at high speed. The range of the flying object whose final development will devour more than a billion dollars, is hence about 4000 kilometers.

Independent destination search

X-47B also comes up with another innovation: The drone should be able to destroy an object virtually without human intervention.

The control unit equipped with a pilot need only to specify a destination. Then the aircraft by means of sensors and autopilot maneuver independently then, they say.

Critics warn

Critics fear now according to the “Daily Mail”, the X-47B is a first step towards the development of fully autonomous “killer robots”.

“We believe that people need to keep on the battlefield control over who should die and who should live,” said Steve Goose of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. “This decision should not be left to the weapon system itself.”

Whether the drone will be capable of their production, to open fire without the explicit permission by its pilots, is still unclear. Last November, left the Pentagon announced, however, such systems will never enter it.

U.S. Navy speaks of "milestone" drone can launch from the aircraft carrier