Well, well. If they can pull this off without wiping out a bunch of aircraft and people on deck, it will provide something great for aircraft carrier ops.
And, land-based ISR will be interesting too. If it proves itself, it may prove useful for consideration for Australia in the coming years.
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Unlike the F-35, the robot has the tailhook in the right place to begin with, and can actually catch the wire.
A few nucleotides worth of Grumman Iron Works design DNA obviously did make their way into the thing.
However, everyone I have known who has actually carrier-qualed says that there is a BIG difference between catching a wire on a shore runway and making a trap at the ship.
They're right. And it is by no means merely psychological. There are not only the obvious movement dynamics of the spot where the gear and hook must be planted, but also the often overlooked, and quite complex, airflow around the ship structure. It's the world's most difficult flying.
Add to this that I am skeptical about a pure flying wing configuration on short final to the carrier for the same reason that the F7U had trouble on short final to the carrier: insufficient control authority.
The aircraft which have had reliable boarding characteristics in carrier service have all had big and artfully placed tail surfaces. Can such reliability be attained lacking such surfaces? Open question.
But the robot has been full of positive surprises so far. It may yet be the thing which saves USN carrier aviation from the tar pit of the F-35 era.
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