US launches unmanned drone from aircraft carrier

Earlier this week, a drone the size of a fighter jet took off from the deck of an American aircraft carrier for the first time in a test flight that could eventually open the way for the US to launch unmanned aircraft from just about any place in the world.

The X-47B is the first drone designed to take off and land on a carrier, meaning the US military would not need permission from other countries to use their bases.

“As our access to overseas ports, forward operating locations, and airspace is diminished around the world, the value of the aircraft carrier and the air wing becomes more and more important,” Ted Branch, commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic, said after the flight off the Virginia coast. “So today is history.”