Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) wants to keep the Navy’s two X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrators (UCAS-D) flying instead of sending the two unmanned vehicles to a museum or long term storage, according to a Thursday letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus obtained by USNI News.
Last week, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) successfully demonstrated autonomous aerial refueling (AAR) with an unmanned Northrop Grumman X-47B — call sign, Salty Dog 502 — marking the end of the official test program with no planned extension on the horizon.
NAVAIR officials have said the X-47B would be too different from its plans for the follow-on airframe for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program and making changes to Salty Dogs 501 and 502 would be too expensive.
“The Navy has told my subcommittee that there is minimal value in extending the UCAS-D program, as the X-47B demonstrators bear little resemblance to the aircraft required for the UCLASS program,” wrote Forbes, chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, to Mabus.
“Even if the Navy’s vision and requirement for UCLASS remain unchanged, I suspect that some further use might yet be found for these two highly capable platforms as unmanned testbeds or as surrogates for other systems.”
While NAVAIR has been adamant about shutting down the UCAS-D program, Navy leadership is still considering options for the Salty Dogs, a Mabus spokesperson told USNI News on Thursday.
“We continue to evaluate the cost/benefit of conducting additional testing with the X-47B,” read a statement from Mabus’ office.
“We want to ensure we have explored the capabilities of this unmanned aircraft while maintaining the ability to have an appropriate level of competition for the UCLASS air segment.”
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