Drone command center set up made on U.S. aircraft carrier !!!

By
Logan
-
0
448


Milestone trials taking place for new U.S. Navy Zumwalt-class destroyer


Bath, Maine (UPI) Apr 21, 2016 – The first-in-class guided missile destroyer for the U.S. Navy has left a shipyard in Maine to perform acceptance trials.

The trials for the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey will test the Zumwalt’s (DDG-1000) key systems.

“While underway, many of the ship’s key systems and technologies including navigation, propulsion readiness, auxiliary systems, habitability, fire protection and damage control capabilities will be demonstrated to ensure they meet the Navy’s requirements,” The U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command said.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works conducted four days of builder’s trials last month to test the ship’s hull, mechanical and electrical systems.
The Zumwalt is expected to be delivered to the Navy next month, with commissioning to follow in the fall.
The Zumwalt is 600 feet long, 80.7 feet in the beam and has a speed of more than 30 knots.
The U.S. Navy reports that it has installed the first command center for unmanned aerial vehicles aboard an aircraft carrier.
The carrier is the USS Carl Vinson, which is currently in San Diego, Calif.
“This marks the start of a phased implementation of the MQ-XX system on an aircraft carrier,” said Capt. Beau Duarte, program manager of the Unmanned Carrier Aviation program office Duarte. “The lessons learned and ground-breaking work done here will go on to inform and influence future installations on other aircraft carriers.”
“We are carving out precious real estate on board the carrier, knowing that the carrier of the future will have manned and unmanned systems on it,” said Capt. Karl Thomas, Carl Vinson’s commanding officer.
“This suite is an incremental step necessary to extend performance, efficiency and enhance safety of aerial refueling and reconnaissance missions that are expending valuable flight hours on our strike-fighter aircraft, the F/A-18 Echoes and Foxtrots.”
The MQ-XX program is to deliver a high-endurance unmanned aircraft that will replace today’s F/A-18E/F aircraft in the role as the aerial tanker for the Navy’s carrier air wing, and will preserve the strike fighter’s flight hours for its primary mission.
The Navy said it will also leverage the range and payload capacity of high-endurance unmanned aircraft to provide critically needed, persistent, sea-based ISR capability in support.
ISR is the acronym for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The MQ-XX is scheduled to be operational in the mid-2020s.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Leave a Reply