US Navy Tests GPS-Free Drone Landings on Moving Ships

NAWCAD said its software could eliminate expensive shipboard tracking equipment during certain autonomous aircraft recovery operations. The software analyzes visual characteristics of the vessel and calculates its movement, allowing the aircraft to adjust its approach before reaching the landing surface. Its algorithms also estimate deck motion, helping the drone coordinate touchdown with a ship that continues pitching and moving during recovery.

Traditional shipboard drone recovery can require dedicated tracking hardware, additional landing equipment and modifications that increase procurement costs and complicate vessel integration. The Navy previously relied on specialized equipment during autonomous recoveries, including the RQ-8A Fire Scout’s landing aboard USS Nashville in 2006, when shipborne radar established the aircraft’s position relative to the vessel and guided the unmanned helicopter toward its landing area.

Because the system never relies on satellite signals, the same visual guidance would keep working in conditions the Navy expects in a high-end fight at sea. “In a high-end maritime conflict, GPS is the first operational link an adversary attempts to sever,” said Peter Arslanian, a NAWCAD aerospace engineer. “In contested areas where satellites and communications are jammed, autonomy gives significant advantage to our sailors,” said Rear Adm. Todd Evans, commander of NAWCAD.

The demonstration suggests onboard sensing and software could lessen reliance on dedicated ship hardware, although the Navy still has to confirm performance during operational testing. NAWCAD intends to transfer the capability into operational testing, moving beyond controlled demonstrations toward assessments using aircraft and equipment intended for fleet service.

Potential applications include the Navy’s Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems program and its Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative, which is developing uncrewed aircraft. The technology could also support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Early VTOL Aircraft Demonstration initiative, known as EVADE, which seeks aircraft capable of taking off from and recovering onto ship decks without conventional launch or recovery equipment. Five companies, including AeroVironment and Sikorsky, have been associated with the initiative.

NAWCAD’s proposed software transition could give these programs another approach to autonomous recovery, although compatibility and reliability must be established across individual aircraft designs. The Naval Innovative Science and Engineering Program and the Office of Naval Research funded the development effort, which now advances toward operational testing.

Editor's Summary

The US Navy has demonstrated GPS-free autonomous recovery software that uses onboard cameras and algorithms to land uncrewed aircraft on moving ships. NAWCAD says the approach could reduce reliance on specialized shipboard tracking equipment, but operational testing and aircraft-specific integration remain ahead.