F/A-18s, X-47B to sortie together

The Navy's X-47B unmanned aerial vehicle will join the fleet in the summer for a new round of testing that includes landing and take offs alongside manned F/A-18 jets and flying in patterns from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The goal after that is an autonomous aerial refueling. The team is developing software for that test of the Northrop Grumman-built unmanned combat aircraft. (Source: Navy Times, 06/02/14) Gulf Coast note: Northrop Grumman operates the Unmanned Systems Center at Moss Point, Miss., where they do fuselage work on all variants of the Global Hawk and final assembly of Fire Scout unmanned helicopters; naval pilots receive initial training in the Pensacola, Fla., area.