Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike

The Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) was a United States Navy program to develop an autonomous carrier-based unmanned combat aerial vehicle providing an unmanned intelligence and strike asset to the fleet. After debate over whether the UCLASS should primarily focus on stealthy bombing or scouting, the Pentagon instead changed the program entirely into the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) to create an UAV for aerial refueling duties to extend the range of manned fighters.

The UCLASS program had several competing designs and design bases:

In June 2013, the USN released Request For Proposals (RFPs) to the four competitors. The RFPs were individualized for each company, so the exact specifications were publicly unknown. The RFPs were originally supposed to be issued in late 2012, but were delayed several times. The RFP was to mature the four designs up to a preliminary design review (PDR) over nine months and assess technical readiness. The draft RFP for technology development was delayed from August to September 2013. There was continuing debate over requirements and stealth, with General Atomics and Boeing expected to de-emphasize stealth in favor of endurance and payload, and Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin pitching tailless high-survivability designs. On 14 August 2013, the Navy awarded four development contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman. Each contract was worth $15 million develop airframe designs.

The Navy planned to arm the proposed UCLASS with weapons currently in the carrier air wing's inventory. With the priority of the aircraft on ISR, the airframe would accommodate a fifth-generation AESA radar and multiple intelligence (multi-int) sensors to include electro-optical/infrared sensors and full-motion video cameras to detect and track land and sea targets while armed with Joint Direct Attack Munitions. The Navy hinted at the possibility of using the UCLASS in air-to-air engagements as a "flying missile magazine" to supplement the F/A-18 Super Hornet and F-35C Lightning II as a type of "robotic wingman." Its weapons bay could be filled with AIM-120 AMRAAMs and be remotely operated by an E-2D Hawkeye or F-35C flight leader, using their own sensors and human judgment to detect, track, and direct the UAV to engage an enemy aircraft. The Navy's Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) concept gives a common picture of the battle space to multiple air platforms through data-links, where any aircraft could fire on a target in their range that is being tracked by any sensor, so the forward deployed UCLASS would have its missiles targeted by another controller. With manned-unmanned teaming for air combat, a dedicated unmanned supersonic fighter may not be developed, as the greater cost of high-thrust propulsion and an airframe of similar size to a manned fighter would deliver a platform with comparable operating costs and still without an ability to engage on its own.

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