The X-47B unmanned combat air system demonstration team has been named the 2013 winner of the National Aeronautic Association’s Collier trophy, announced Northrop Grumman. “It is a tremendous honor to be selected as this year’s winner,” said Carl Johnson, vice president of the company’s UCAS-D organization. “The X-47B program is the product of extraordinary vision and relentless execution.” The X-47B was the “first unmanned, tailless aircraft” to catapult launch from an aircraft carrier, make touch-and-go-landings from a carrier, and to make an arrested landing aboard a carrier, states the release. “The array of advancement and achievement in aerospace was on full display in our seven hours of Collier selection,” said NAA Chairman Walter Boyne, who also chairs the selection committee, in an April 10 release. “The nominations and presentations were exceptional and the discussions reflected the challenge that we had to select one.” The award ceremony will take place May 29 in Arlington, Va. (See 2012 winners.)
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
