# X-47B takes off from carrier **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410 "2013-05-15T15:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/1 "2013-05-15T15:21:33Z")
When will it be able to land? This seems to me to be a simpler problem than having a car drive in traffic. True, carrier landing is very difficult for humans, but all the necessary pieces seem to already exist for a robot to do it. It’s my understanding that we can already automatically land drones on static runways, that they can deal with turbulence and bad weather. The only additional variable is the moving runway. With a couple of beacons at the end of the flight deck, I don’t see why a robot couldn’t home in on the arrestor cable. What am I missing here? Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/2 "2013-05-15T15:34:37Z")
According to this [Reuters Article](http://news.yahoo.com/navy-makes-aviation-history-carrier-drone-launch-190303497.html): “It is scheduled to undergo two weeks of testing aboard the carrier leading up to a landing on the ship, in which a plane’s tailhook grabs a wire that will slow it and keep it from plunging overboard.” ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/3 "2013-05-15T15:40:12Z")
Ah, the CNN article I skimmed made it seem like that was further in the future. Rob ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/4 "2013-05-15T16:51:17Z")
I read the thread name as [XB-47](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=xb-47&sa=X&hl=en&biw=1662&bih=787&tbm=isch&tbnid=Rp7PZyOUonYJGM:&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:XB-47-1_300.jpg&docid=yOeZz-hnlfYtuM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/XB-47-1_300.jpg&w=1800&h=1199&ei=FLyTUffJOtWt4APXz4HwBw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:0,s:0,i:136&iact=rc&dur=1679&page=1&tbnh=183&tbnw=275&start=0&ndsp=18&tx=183&ty=77) and my initial reaction was 😕. I have no idea what this says about me. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/5 "2013-05-15T16:59:27Z")
I’ll look forward to some movie about X-47B remote drone operators on a carrier… **Pop Gun** perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/6 "2013-05-15T17:08:22Z")
My God, someone on the Internet used “home in” correctly! _faints_ _wakes groggily_ uh…what was that about drones? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/7 "2013-05-15T17:25:15Z")
I feel the same when I see “head-up” display instead of “heads-up” display. That may be a lost cause. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/8 "2013-05-15T17:36:54Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > I read the thread name as [XB-47](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=xb-47&sa=X&hl=en&biw=1662&bih=787&tbm=isch&tbnid=Rp7PZyOUonYJGM:&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:XB-47-1_300.jpg&docid=yOeZz-hnlfYtuM&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/XB-47-1_300.jpg&w=1800&h=1199&ei=FLyTUffJOtWt4APXz4HwBw&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:0,s:0,i:136&iact=rc&dur=1679&page=1&tbnh=183&tbnw=275&start=0&ndsp=18&tx=183&ty=77) and my initial reaction was 😕. I have no idea what this says about me. I can _feel_ my liver spots growing. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/9 "2013-05-15T18:08:31Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > When will it be able to land? This seems to me to be a simpler problem than having a car drive in traffic. True, carrier landing is very difficult for humans, but all the necessary pieces seem to already exist for a robot to do it. It’s my understanding that we can already automatically land drones on static runways, that they can deal with turbulence and bad weather. The only additional variable is the moving runway. With a couple of beacons at the end of the flight deck, I don’t see why a robot couldn’t home in on the arrestor cable. What am I missing here? > > Thanks, > Rob Isn’t the answer that it technically _isn’t_ a robot, since it requires a human controller/pilot flying it remotely, and therefore a carrier landing is rendered even more difficult due to a more “distant” POV for the pilot? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/10 "2013-05-15T18:51:20Z")
I would imagine for that very reason they would program landing procedures into the drone. Remote pilot gets the bird close and then hits the “autoland” button or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/11 "2013-05-15T18:57:42Z")
Missed edit: ALSO, a drone that thinks for and lands itself is more secure. If I were a bad guy I’d wait until the drone is vectored for a landing and then jam the controlling radio transmission turning it into a kimikaze drone. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/12 "2013-05-15T19:12:11Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#): > > With a couple of beacons at the end of the flight deck, I don’t see why a robot couldn’t home in on the arrestor cable. What am I missing here? One of this issues is that land-based runways tend not to move very much. Carriers are a different story, pitching and rolling and stuff. There’s also a considerable challenge in getting an unmanned aircraft to operate on a carrier deck: F/A-18s have a pilot that can watch a sailor direct them to park over there, pull a u-turn, throw it into reverse, etc., all with the situational awareness of what else is happening around them. With a UAV, being able to move quickly and accurately around the deck without driving off the side of the boat is more of a challenge, if for no other reason than the operator may only see the world through a soda straw (perhaps a single camera on the UAV). ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/13 "2013-05-15T19:27:23Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > I would imagine for that very reason they would program landing procedures into the drone. Remote pilot gets the bird close and then hits the “autoland” button or whatever. That would have to be a pretty complex piece of software. If this were true then why don’t they have current manned warplanes using this feature. I’ll WAG that due to the constantly changing nature of the mobile landing surface that software may not be failsafe enough to be implemented. I’d be happy to be shown otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/14 "2013-05-15T19:35:27Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Missed edit: ALSO, a drone that thinks for and lands itself is more secure. If I were a bad guy I’d wait until the drone is vectored for a landing and then jam the controlling radio transmission turning it into a kimikaze drone. It’s easy enough to focus a transmitter and receiver to mitigate this. But more importantly, if there’s a transmitter close enough to a carrier to accomplish this then the people on the carrier have much much bigger problems. As to the op’s question, the X47B was so successful at land tests they cut the tests short. Having a computer land a plane on a carrier will most likely exceed anything humans can do. It’s all about reacting to changes quickly which is something computers do better than humans. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/15 "2013-05-15T20:55:57Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > That would have to be a pretty complex piece of software. If this were true then why don’t they have current manned warplanes using this feature. I’ll WAG that due to the constantly changing nature of the mobile landing surface that software may not be failsafe enough to be implemented. > > I’d be happy to be shown otherwise. Carrier-based planes have been auto-landed before. See here from 2011 (as part of the same X-47B program): [ALEXABET88: Situs Slot Gacor Maxwin Terbaru Hari Ini & Link Judi Slot Terpercaya](http://defensetech.org/2011/07/07/navy-one-step-closer-to-uav-carrier-ops/) You are correct that it is not widely deployed at this time. ETA: And **Great Sun Jester** is correct. It was not remote controlled. The operator hit “LAND” and the F/A-18 landed on the deck. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/16 "2013-05-15T21:06:05Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > ETA: And **Great Sun Jester** is correct. It was not remote controlled. The operator hit “LAND” and the F/A-18 landed on the deck. Man, talk about pucker up moments for the pilot! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/17 "2013-05-16T01:36:42Z")
Just to avoid starting a new thread, what’s the biggest plane to take off from a carrier deck? Is it still the B-25? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/18 "2013-05-16T02:21:54Z")
[C-130](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF-PZpaFVOc) ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/19 "2013-05-16T02:30:42Z")
They may have it set up so there’s still an LSO (Landing Safety Officer) on the carrier who can send an ABORT signal to the UAV. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410/20 "2013-05-16T02:42:04Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > [C-130](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF-PZpaFVOc) Holy shit. That’s landing, though, not taking off. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-47b-takes-off-from-carrier/658410.md?page=2)