Rise of the Drones – UAVs After 9/11

[Ed Jewett]

The X-47B Stealth Drone Will Now Be Flying Over The East Coast

Robert Johnson | Jul. 31, 2012, 8:42 AM | 1,680 | [/url][url=http://www.businessinsider.com/the-x-47b-unmanned-combat-vehicle-took-its-first-flight-over-the-east-coast-2012-7#comments]7

• in

  [COLOR=#333333 !important][COLOR=#333333 !important]Share[/COLOR][/COLOR]

  [COLOR=#04558B !important]4[/COLOR]
• Email
  
• More
  
• A A A
  

After a cross-country road trip last month that left many Americans believing the government was hauling around a UFO, Northrop Grumman's X-47B took its first East Coast flight July 29 at Patuxent River, Md.
[TABLE="class: image-container, width: 200"]
[TR]
[TD]
NAVAIR by Steven Kays
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
After several weeks of preparation the X-47B took to the Maryland skies at 11 a.m. for a 35 minute flight that took it out over Chesapeake Bay. Climbing to 7,500 feet the stealth drone hit an airspeed of 207 mph before returning to the naval base for a successful landing.
[TABLE="class: image-container, width: 200"]
[TR]
[TD]
US Navy
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
The X-47B is slated to be the Navy's first fully integrated aircraft carrier drone and Patuxent River is home to a simulated carrier center that will allow for controlled testing before letting the drone pound a flight deck at sea.
Also in the running for supplying the Navy with its first fleet of carrier drones, Lockheed Martin did not sit idly by while the Grumman's craft grabbed all the attention and released its firs partial artist image of its Sea Ghost drone aboard a US carrier.
[TABLE="class: image-container, width: 200"]
[TR]
[TD]
Lockheed Martin
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Now: Check out the drones of the future >

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-x-47b...z22EpghPVJ