Navy wants Boeing to study carrier-launched drones

The Navy has contracted Boeing to ensure its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike aircraft (UCLASS) will be able go out to a carrier deck and fly the skies and back by 2018, writes Philip Ewing of DODBuzz.

According to Boeing, the $480,000, eight-month study contract will cover the development of an operations concept, an analysis of alternatives and an investigation into potential material solutions, and will hopefully demonstrate on paper that UCLASS can provide effective intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike capability, the article said.

In addition, Boeing will be charged with producing a variety of concepts on how a carrier could use unmanned aerial vehicles.