Dell has supplied its data center solutions to the U.S. Navy’s partner Northrop Grumman to power the X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System.
The X-47BUnmanned Combat Air System has recently received the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy for achievement in aeronautics.
Produced by Northrop Grumman, the X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft developed as part of the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) Carrier Demonstration program.
In 2013, these aircraft were used to demonstrate the first ever carrier-based launches and recoveries by an autonomous, low-observable, relevant unmanned aircraft.
Northrop Grumman utilized Dell’s commercial-off-the-shelf technology to develop X-47B’s ground control system to support autonomous flight.
Dell enabled Northrop Grumman to lower cost and improve on timelines by using a commercial off the shelf (COTS) solution for what was previously a custom solution in Ground Based Systems.
The enterprise IT vendor also maintained and sustained their technology over the life of the program, said Dell in a statement.
Pablo Gonzalez, Northrop Grumman’s X-47B program manager, said: “Dell presented us with a suite of COTS solutions that gave us both performance and the flexibility needed for our IT infrastructure, while keeping costs low.”
