An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator is towed
into the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush
(CVN 77), May 13, 2013. CREDIT: U.S. Navy photo by Mass
Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Walter If all goes
according to plan, sometime on Tuesday the military balance of
power in the Pacific Ocean could tilt to America’s advantage.
The U.S. Navy’s main warships, whose firepower now cannot match
the range of Chinese missiles, could gain a new weapon that more
than levels the playing field. It all boils down to a 62-foot-
wide, hook-nosed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle built by Northrop
Grumman. This new drone is set to launch off the 1,092-foot-long
flight deck of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W.
Bush, known in Navy parlance as CVN-77 and until Tuesday morning
docked at the sprawling naval base in Norfolk, Virginia. The
test launch of Northrop’s X-47B from one of the carrier’s steam-
driven catapults, part of a roughly $1 billion development
effort, could mark the fi