ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION
Landing an unmanned jet aboard an aircraft carrier was long considered one of the most challenging manoeuvres in naval aviation, but on Wednesday (July10) a Northrop Grumman X-47B aircraft nicknamed "Salty Dog 502" did just that when it landed on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush sailing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Although some experts question whether these unmanned aircrafts are needed by the Navy at all, the jets have the ability to carry the equivalent of two precision-guided bombs and raise the prospect for a long-range, radar-evading unmanned reconnaissance mission.
A carrier-based drone with those capabilities could be used to counter countries like China and Iran that have been developing missiles and other weapons aimed at forcing the U.S. Navy to operate far from shore in a conflict.
