US Navy Installs World’s First Carrier-Based Drone Control Center Aboard USS George H.W. Bush
The first carrier-based drone control center in the world has been fitted onboard USS George HW Bush or CVN 77.
The air vehicle pilots will handle the Mq 25 Stingray unmanned air refuelers from the UAWC or the Unmanned Air Warfare Center.
The control center will have software and hardware that make up the first fully integrated and functional UMCS needed for an aircraft’s command and control functions.
There are plans to add the UAWC on all the US Navy’s Nimitz and Ford-class nuclear aircraft carriers.
The new control center will lay a foundation of how the US Navy will control and operate unmanned aircraft & other unmanned equipment including vehicles with the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System.
The first at-sea trial of UAWC’s operational network will be held in the first half of 2025.
This would be the first occasion when air vehicle pilots from unmanned carrier-launched multi-role squadron 10 would operate the MD-5 from an aircraft carrier.