X-47B Advances To Anechoic Testing

A pilotless X-47B is slated to be subjected to a burst of electromagnetic energy that will be 10 times that endured by other aircraft being tested to survive the electronic pollution found on an aircraft carrier. Aerospace officials are pointing to that closely held plan as an important clue about a key mission that the U.S. Navy's next-generation, unmanned combat air system is being designed to perform. The mission is electronic attack—using bursts of high-power microwave (HPM) energy—against enemy electronics such as surface-to-air missiles and the radars that control them. Targets also could include computers, command-and-control centers or anything else that involves the heavy use of electronics ...