Unmanned Navy planes near big milestones in May

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/07/us-navy-planes-unmanned-idUSBRE93609O20130407



Unmanned Navy planes near big milestones in May
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Maryland | Sun Apr 7, 2013 2:40pm EDT

(Reuters) - The Navy plans to carry out the first catapult takeoff of its new X-47B unmanned plane from an aircraft carrier next month and other shipboard tests despite mandatory budget cuts this year, according to the admiral who runs the programs.

Rear Admiral Mathias Winter, program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said Northrop Grumman Corp's X-47B program and other unmanned aircraft programs should survive the fiscal 2013 budget cuts largely intact because they are still early in development.

But the Navy may buy fewer unmanned planes and helicopters in coming years unless Congress reverses budget cuts required over the next decade, Winter said in a recent interview at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland.

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Top Navy leaders have identified unmanned systems, including aircraft, ground vehicles and undersea vehicles, as their No. 1 priority, and several unmanned U.S. Navy airplanes are nearing key milestones next month. Those include the first catapult takeoff from a Navy aircraft carrier, the first landing on a carrier and the first flight of a new high-altitude spy plane.