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‘Like Playing a Video Game’: US Lands Super Hornet on Carrier With Joystick

The US Navy is preparing for a future of unmanned naval aviation by testing a system called ATARI that allows deck officers to remotely control jets as they approach and land on aircraft carriers.
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On Thursday, the service announced that sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln had successfully used ATARI to land an F/A-18 Super Hornet, Maritime Executive reports.

ATARI was tasked with conducting a touch-and-go landing, a training routine for naval aviators learning to fly fixed-wing aircraft from carriers that entails touching down on the carrier's deck and ascending back into flight without stopping.

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Up to five miles from the carrier, a landing signal officer (LSO) can take control of the 40,000-pound plane and direct it to the carrier. True to its original namesake, the LSO directs the plane with a joystick.

"I was really impressed with LSO's ability to get me to touch down," said pilot Lt. John Marino, the first naval aviator to complete a touch-and-go landing while the plane was under remote control. "The conditions were really [poor], and it was really impressive the system worked the way it did. On a calm date, it would have been a little bit boring, but this was definitely more challenging."

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According to Buddy Denham, the creator of ATARI and senior engineer at Naval Air Systems Command, "you're effectively using little joystick controllers to guide a 40,000-pound airplane, and it's almost like playing a video game."

The US Navy is currently in the process of evaluating offers from aerospace and defense firms for the MQ-25A Stingray contract. The Stingray will be a remotely piloted aircraft that refuels other planes in midair and is capable of takeoff and landing operations on aircraft carriers.

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