Uncrewed air warfare center installed on U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
NewsAugust 19, 2024
NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND -- PATUXENT RIVER, Md. The U.S. Navy recently installed the world’s first unmanned air warfare center (UAWC) aboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) aircraft carrier, where air vehicle pilots (AVPs) will control future MQ-25 Stingray airborne operations.
The Navy's report states that the ship-based UAWC control room includes software and hardware systems that comprise the first fully operational and integrated unmanned carrier aviation mission control system (UMCS) MD-5E ground control station (GCS); according to the news release, UMCS is the "system of systems" required for the MQ-25 air vehicle command and control, a critical piece of the unmanned aircraft refueler’s operations.
The Navy-developed GCS is powered by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Multi Domain Combat System (MDCX) plus additional supporting equipment and hardware. The Navy says that the hardware installed in the racks and cockpits is the baseline for the production systems currently being fabricated for installation on CVNs 70, 71, and 76, with work beginning in fiscal year 2025.
“CVN 77’s UAWC lays the foundation for how the U.S. Navy will operate and control unmanned aircraft, and perhaps other unmanned vehicles, with UMCS,” said Unmanned Carrier Aviation (PMA-268) Program Manager Capt. Daniel Fucito. “These systems will initially support the MQ-25 but also future unmanned systems such as Collaborative Combat Aircraft that comprise the Air Wing of the Future.”
The Navy news release says that CVN 77 will lead the first at-sea testing of the UAWC’s operational networks early in 2025, building on initial network testing with a simulated GCS that took place in January 2024 aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).
