Congress Pushes a Reluctant Navy for Bold Drones

choi

WJ Hennigan, Navy Plan for Carrier-Based Drones Takes Flak From Lawmakers. Los Angeles Times, June 7, 2014.
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-c ... 20140607-story.html

Quote:

“The Navy has asked contractors for reconnaissance drones — essentially spy planes, with only limited ability to carry out bombing missions behind enemy lines. But key congressional leaders want cutting-edge warplanes, stealthy drones that can attack [bomb] key targets in contested areas

Rep J Randy Forbes (R-Va), chairman of a subcommittee [of House Armed Services Committee] that oversees Navy programs “believes Navy brass is hesitant to turn over strategic bombing missions in contested areas of the world — now carried out by seasoned fighter pilots — to drones.

“He [Forbes] recalled having to push the Air Force to buy remotely piloted Predator drones in the 1990s. The Air Force was at first reluctant, but the program was fueled by pressure from local lawmakers, such as Rep Howard P ‘Buck’ McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) and now retired Rep Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands). The technology is now a centerpiece in the Obama administration's national security strategy. Although drones have been a major part of Air Force operations for more than a decade, the Navy has yet to experience such a robotic revolution.

“The dispute over carrier drones can be traced to an industry demonstration last year of a drone performing crucial maneuvers with pilot-like precision. The X-47B, a stealthy bat-winged drone built by Northrop Grumman, was catapulted off an aircraft carrier's flight deck and soared above the Atlantic before returning for a landing. The historic feat was compared to the Navy's first catapult of a manned aircraft, which occurred in 1915.

“A deep-penetrating stealthy drone that could fly farther and longer could be seen as a potential challenger to the nearly $400-billion F-35 program.

Note:
(a) Regarding quotation 2.

bomber
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bomber
(section 2.5 Modern era)
(b) Regarding quotation 4.

aircraft catapult
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_catapult
(“On Nov 12, 1912, Lt [Theodore Gordon] Ellyson made history as the Navy’s first successful [air-compressed] catapult launch, from a stationary coal barge. On Nov 5, 1915, LCDR Henry C Mustin made the [world’s] first catapult launch from a ship [armored cruiser USS North Carolina] underway” in a biplane Curtiss Model AB-2)
(i) Compare Glenn Curtiss
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Curtiss
(On Nov 14, 1910, Curtiss demonstration pilot Eugene Ely took off from a temporary platform mounted on the forward deck of the cruiser USS Birmingham. His successful takeoff and ensuing flight to shore)

The difference between Eugene Ely and Theodore Gordon Ellyson is the former did not use catapult.
(ii) For LCDR, see Lieutenant commander
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lieutenant_commander
(abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr or LCdr)