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| A Boeing Joint Unmanned Combat Air System (J-UCAS) X-45 aircraft releases an inert Global Positioning System-guided bomb and made aviation history Sunday, April 18, 2004 at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Range, China Lake, Calif. The mission was the first time an unmanned autonomous aircraft has dropped a precision bomb on a target from an internal weapons bay. (Photo by Jim Ross, NASA)
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| The Boeing Co's the X-45 Unmanned Combat air vehicle was shown to the media Thursday, July 11, 2002 at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. The X-45 has flown twice since its May 22, 2002, maiden flight at Edwards Air Force Base. The X-45 is designed to fly autonomously and carry 3,000 pounds of weapons into combat. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
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The inert bomb struck within inches of the truck it
was supposed to hit, Boeing said, adding that had the bomb contained explosives,
the target would have been destroyed.
"It's absolutely a huge step forward for us. It shows
the capability of an unmanned airplane to carry weapons," said Rob Horton,
Boeing's chief operator for the mission. "From the video, you see the weapon
going down and a huge cloud of dust and the truck shaking around."
The X-45A was preprogrammed with the target
coordinates and used the satellite-based Global Positioning System to adjust its
course.
Horton, who was sitting 80 miles from the target,
authorized the drone to drop the bomb, which was released from 35,000 feet as
the plane flew at 442 mph.
The military sees such aircraft taking part in its
most dangerous missions, such as bombing enemy radar and surface-to-air missile
batteries, in order to clear the path for human pilots.
The Y-shaped, tailless plane has a 34-foot wingspan
and weighs 8,000 pounds empty. It is the first drone designed specifically to
carry weapons into combat.
Other robotic planes, including the Predator spy
drone currently being used in Afghanistan, have been modified to carry
weapons.
Boeing hopes to build hundreds of the X-45 planes,
which would cost $10 million to $15 million each.
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