DefenseTech - This is turning out to be quite the day for cool pictures of Navy aircraft. The image above shows the Navy’s X-47 unmanned combat aerial vehicle demonstrator flying with its landing gear up for the first time on Sept. 30.
The stealthy drone is being used by the Navy to test out the concepts for flying a fighter-sized UAVs off aircraft carriers — something the sea service plans to do by the end of the decade with its UCLASS drones.
The X-47B has been making test flights at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca., since February. The plane is slated to conduct sea trials off an aircraft carrier in 2013, using this technology.
