Navy developing unmanned combat aircraft

Unmanned is the wave of the future. Remote control is where its at.

Northrop Grumman Corp. was awarded a $636 million contract to design, build and fly an Unmanned Combat Air System that would operate from the decks of the Navy's giant nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

The Navy chose Northrop over Boeing to build the demonstrator. Both companies had previously flown prototype unmanned combat aircraft under a now-defunct program known as J-UCAS, with backing from the Navy and Air Force.

Advocates say that modern flight-control and guidance technology is so advanced that they believe it is possible to build an unmanned aircraft capable of performing any mission a manned aircraft can accomplish, and perhaps some that manned aircraft cannot do because of limitations of the human body.

If the demonstration succeeds, advocates say it is possible that an unmanned combat aircraft could become an integral part of the Navy's aircraft carrier strike force within 10 to 15 years.