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 uncrewed 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 a UAV for aerial refueling duties to extend the range of manned fighters,Good-Bye, UCLASS; Hello, Unmanned Tanker, More F-35Cs In 2017 Budget - Breakingdefense.com, 1 February 2016 which led to the Boeing MQ-25 Stingray.
Competitors The UCLASS program had several competing designs and design bases:. Northrop Grumman design based on their Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator Lockheed Martin Sea Ghost (based on RQ-170 Sentinel) Boeing design based on the Boeing Phantom Ray General Atomics offered the Sea Avenger, a naval version of their original land-based MQ-20 Avenger
Development On 19 March 2010 the Navy issued Request for Information (RFI) N00019-UCLASS-RFI-A for planning purposes, as part of a market survey led by the Navy Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons [PEO (U&W)].
On June 9, 2011, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) issued JROCM 087–11, a memorandum approving the UCLASS Initial Capabilities Document (ICD). That document stated UCLASS was to be “a persistent, survivable carrier-based Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance and precision strike asset.”
In preparing for the FY2014 budget submission, the JROC revisited the UCLASS requirement. On December 19, 2012, the JROC published memoranda 086-12 and 196–12, which significantly altered “the requirements for UCLASS, heavily favoring permissive airspace intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.” Dave Majumdar and Sam LaGrone, “UCLASS Timeline,” US Naval Institute News, 29 April 2014. The change in requirements appeared to be budget-driven. “The reduction in strike capability of the Navy’s next generation carrier-based uncrewed aerial vehicle was born of fiscal realities, said Dyke Weatherington, the Pentagon’s Director, Unmanned Warfare & Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR).”Sam LaGrone, “AUVSI 2013: UCLASS Requirements Modified Due to Budget Pressure,” USNI News, 14 August 2013
The Navy announced 14 August 2013 that four Preliminary Design Review (PDR) contracts were awarded for the UCLASS air vehicle segment. The four $15 million firm-fixed price contracts were awarded to Boeing Co., General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Systems Corp. The period of performance for the contracting efforts was approximately nine months. UCLASS program manager, Charlie Nava, said: "The PDRs are intended to inform the navy of the technical risk, cost and design maturity of the air segment (AS), and allows the industry teams to better understand the program’s requirements across the entire UCLASS system, to expeditiously deliver the unmanned carrier-based system to the fleet."
In early 2014, the USN released draft requests for proposal (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.USN to release draft RFP for next UCLASS phase in August - Flightglobal.com, 10 July 2013 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.Uclass Draft RFP Slips As Stealth Debate Continues - Aviationweek.com, 13 August 2013 On 14 August 2013, the Navy awarded four development contracts to Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman. Each contract was worth $15 million to develop airframe designs. - Defensenews.com, 14 August 2013US Navy awards UCLASS preliminary design contracts - Flightglobal.com, 15 August 2013
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. - Defensetech.org, 21 November 2013 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 crewed-uncrewed teaming for air combat, a dedicated uncrewed 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.Navy’s UCLASS Could Be Air to Air Fighter - News.USNI.org, 13 February 2014
NAVAIR planned to release the draft RFP by the end of March 2014. The Navy was optimizing the UCLASS for ISR and limited strike rather than long-range strike, along with a potential tanker role. On 18 February 2014, Congressman Randy Forbes wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus advocating for the UCLASS to have aerial refueling, survivability, and payloads to make it effective in future contested air environments. Forbes requested the aircraft have broad-band stealth to survive integrated air defense systems and have the payload capacity to simultaneously support land and sea missions. Aerial refueling was also cited as a needed capability for responding to far-off threats and conducting missions outside the envelope of long-range threats, particularly the Chinese DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile.Forbes Writes in Support of a High End UCLASS - News.USNI.com, 19 February 2014
Requirements controversy Navy officials expressed concern that the original requirements of the UCLASS program had been degraded, as the original concept called for a stealthy, carrier-based, long-range uncrewed combat aerial system (UCAS) with a large payload that could be refueled in-flight, but the altered version called for a UCAS that was modestly stealthy and emphasised intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions over lightly contested airspace, with a light secondary strike mission and no air refueling requirement, promoting affordability over survivability and endurance; the revised requirements were written to fill a gap in persistent, sea-based ISR. Stealth requirements were sharply reduced to lower costs, and original payload requirements calling for weapons bays to carry as many as 24 GBU-39 SDB 250 lb bombs, totaling a 6,000 lb of weapons, were reduced for a total payload of and only of weapons.Reduced capability leaves UCLASS vulnerable to budget axe - Flightglobal.com, 9 August 2013 The Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) modified requirements during an 18 December 2012 meeting and did not consider them to be "relaxed," but rather changed to consider "within the broader unmanned aircraft portfolio and included an assessment of the platform's performance, capability, survivability, and basing," shifting to increase some performance areas and decrease others to get a mix.Official denies White House link to UCLASS revision - Flightglobal.com, 12 August 2013 JROC was reported to have changed the requirements in order to produce a replacement for the current drones used for Disposition Matrix missions that would not require host nation basing or permission, changing focus from a UAV capable of striking defended targets to keep costs down and maintain uncrewed counterterrorism missions as a U.S. military option. Flying missions from sea-based carriers would have fewer restrictions than operating inside foreign countries, and irregular warfare missions will continue in the future to warrant further attention. - Flightglobal.com, 30 August 2013"Pentagon Altered UCLASS Requirements for Counterterrorism Mission." - News.USNI.org, 29 August 2013
Congress and industry both agreed that the Navy had deviated significantly from the normal process for developing a new aircraft. For nearly three years, companies developed their candidates with company funds based on assumptions about the Navy's requirements without any guidance from the service. The Navy did not issue any aircraft performance specifications or draft requirements until the spring of 2013, so competitors tried to refit their aircraft for the preliminary design review phase. The lack of feedback was compounded by the shift of mission statements, from a long-range penetrating strike platform to long-duration orbits over permissive airspace. Endurance requirements of over 12 hours were especially hard to meet, as there are limitations of an aircraft's wingspan for holding fuel on the confined space of an aircraft carrier; the UCLASS had to maintain two orbits around the ship, or one orbit at a range of , with the ability to attack lightly defended targets out to .ANALYSIS: Industry concerned about US Navy UCLASS requirements - Flightglobal.com, 23 September 2013 After pressure from Congress, industry, and the Government Accountability Office, the Navy took another look at the draft requirements for the UCLASS. They were scheduled to be released in October 2013 but were delayed. The main reason behind the internal strife was indecision over the future of the aircraft carrier fleet and their air wings, between better UAV-based ISR coverage integrated on board carriers in the near-future and integrating a new uncrewed aircraft into the carrier air wing to make the carrier a more effective strike platform.US navy grapples with different UCLASS philosophies - Flightglobal.com, 29 September 2013