On the noisy and busy flight decks of U.S. Navy carriers, aircraft directors use a lexicon of gestures to communicate with pilots as they choreograph their maneuvers around the deck. The Navy plans to bring unmanned aircraft onto carrier decks in the early 2020s, but how they will be controlled there has not been decided. The service’s desire is to integrate unmanned aircraft into manned operations with the minimum impact on deck procedures. One option could be a system that ...
