The world’s first carrier-based drone control center was installed on board the USS George HW Bush (CVN 77).

Initially, the aircraft pilots will control the US Navy’s future MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial tanker aircraft from the Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC), and later also other air platforms such as the future carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft.

The U.S. Navy plans to equip all of its Nimitz- and Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers with the UAWC.

“CVN 77’s UAWC lays the foundation for how the U.S. Navy will operate and control unmanned aircraft and potentially other unmanned vehicles using UMCS (Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System),” said Capt., program manager for Unmanned Carrier Aviation. Daniel Fucito said.

Unmanned Air Warfare Center

The center includes software and hardware systems that form the first fully functional and integrated UMCS required for command and control of the aircraft.

The UMCS is the system of systems consisting of the MD-5E ground control station, “CVN and shore infrastructure modifications, Navy-produced ancillary equipment, and integration with command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) systems.” explained.

Developed by the U.S. Navy, the MD-5E is powered by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works Multi Domain Combat System and includes additional support equipment and hardware.

First tests at sea next year

The construction of the CVN-based center took years and required “the coordination of multiple ship availability periods and the ship’s operational schedule,” the U.S. Navy said.

Meanwhile, the first test of the UAWC’s operational networks at sea is planned for early next year, building on the initial network tests in January with a simulated GCS aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

“This will be the first time that the (aircraft pilots) of the Unmanned Carrier-Based Multi-Role Squadron 10 will fly the MD-5 from an aircraft carrier,” said the head of the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Program Office UMCS. Joe Nedeau said.

“They will use the actual GCS hardware and software on board CVN 77 to communicate with a simulated aircraft in the laboratory at Pax River.”