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More Demonstration, R&D Likely Needed Before Fielding UCLASS, Carter Says

More Demonstration, R&D Likely Needed Before Fielding UCLASS, Carter Says
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator, the predecessor to the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike vehicle, completes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), July 10. Photo courtesy U.S. Navy.

Fans of the Navy’s experimental X-47B drone needn't despair at the program’s end after this fiscal year. Although the aircraft “reached the end of what it had anticipated to do,” the operational follow-on program known as Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) will likely entail more research, development and demonstration, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said May 6.“I think we are going to have to … do some more research and testing," but "not necessarily" with the X-47B airframe, Carter…

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