Dubbed Air Vehicle 1, the X-47B aircraft is the first of what will be two demonstration aircraft built by Northrop Grumman Corp. It was designed to test the idea of an autonomous airplane that would launch and recover on Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and conduct strike and other missions — without the hands-on controls of an onboard pilot.From DoD Buzz:
The debate about piloted aircraft vs. unmanned has simmered down of late as Predators and others improve their effectiveness at hitting something. But as a reader notes, there may be compelling reasons to keep men and women in the cockpit — like staying alive! Secretary Donley and COS Schwartz — are you listening? Enjoy this amusing and well written piece by someone signing himself, Fred Pierce (former F-18D pilot):
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My Comment: As much as pilots always want to be pilots .... unmanned UAVs are the wave of the future.