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Navy/USMC

UCLASS Delay Could Impact Future Carrier Air Wing, F/A-XX

Valerie Insinna

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015

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UCLASS Delay Could Impact Future Carrier Air Wing, F/A-XX

The Navy's unmanned X-47B demonstrator aboard the USS George H.W. Bush. Photo: U.S. Navy

Continued schedule delays to the Navy’s carrier-based drone program could have implications on the service’s vision for the future carrier air wing, including its next generation fighter, a key admiral said Wednesday.Rear Adm. Michael Manazir, director of air warfare, said the service is buying the aircraft it needs for 2025, save one exception—the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system, which would be the first unmanned aerial system (UAS) to be part of the carrier air wing.Progress on the…

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