Washington (AFP)
An American pilot will soon be able to maneuver several planes at the same time, according to tests recently carried out on a naval base near Washington and announced Tuesday by Boeing.
"Boeing and the US Navy successfully flew two EA-18G Growlers remotely controlled like drones using a third Growler as the control room for the other two," the aircraft manufacturer said in a statement.
The first two had been modified to be used as a drone and the third had controlled them in mid-flight, Boeing spokesman Justin Gibson told AFP.
He said the demonstration was carried out in late 2019 at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland, during the annual exercises of the research and development unit of the US Navy.
It "has demonstrated the effectiveness of technologies for using the F / A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18G Growlers in combat with drones," said the Boeing statement.
The Super Hornet is a fighter aircraft of the US Navy which can be armed with air-to-air or air-to-surface missiles and endowed with electronic warfare capabilities (jamming, cyber-attacks, etc.). The Growler is the specialized version of cyber attack and electromagnetic combat, with very significant jamming capacities.
During the four test flights conducted at the end of 2019, 21 mission demonstrations were carried out, said the aircraft manufacturer.
By piloting several drones from the cockpit of an airplane, American pilots will be able "to extend their detection capacity while keeping their aircraft out of danger", explains Boeing.
"This will allow a single crew to control multiple aircraft without much additional work," concludes the aircraft manufacturer.
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