[Deppy]

US Unmanned Drone Makes first Carrier Landing!

_____________________________________________________________________
The US Navy X-47B drone touched down on the deck of the USS George H W Bush as it sailed off the coast of Virginia.

The bat-wing aircraft can deliver guided bombs from a range of 3,200km (1990 miles). It is the first drone to land on a ship at sea.

In May an unmanned aircraft launched from the same carrier but landed on a runway on the US mainland.

The plane was one of two test aircraft purpose-built by the aerospace giant Northrop Grumman, under a 2007 contract at a cost of about $1.4 bn.

In clear weather and light winds, the aircraft took off from the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in the US state of Maryland.

It headed for the ship which was operating in the Atlantic Ocean 112km off the coast of Virginia.

At 1740 GMT on Wednesday, the plane dropped its tail hook which then caught a cable across the carrier deck.

This arrested landing had been carried out before - but never at sea.

Source - BBC News