X-47B: America's Crazy New Unmanned Fighter Jet Passes Key Test (VIDEO)

PICS: America's Crazy New Unmanned Fighter Jet
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The US Navy has conducted a key test of its new unmanned, tail-less fighter jet.

The Northrop Grumman-designed X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System is designed as a fully-capable complement to existing manned fighter jets.

The plane is very large, with a wingspan of 62.1 feet, and has a strange design without tapered flat wings.

Instead it has a bulged, muscular look and an air-intake slit at the front which currently glows red, making the craft look like - in the words of Wired magazine - "a Cylon Raider from Battlestar: Galactica".

The main definition point of the craft - not to be confused with the Navy's (also terrifying) X37B space plane - is that it would be far more easily programmable than current drones. Instead of complex remote controls it could fly itself on a pre-defined course, while correcting for mistakes and weather.

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This image provided by the US navy shows sailors moving an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator onto an aircraft elevator aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush Tuesday, May 14, 2013. The drone was launched off the George H.W. Bush to be the first aircraft carrier to catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. (AP Phioto/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Walter) (credit:AP)
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This image provided by the US navy shows the launch of an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush offf the coast of Virginia Tuesday may 14, 2013 (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy,Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tony D. Curtis) (credit:AP)
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An image provided by the US navy shows sailors moving an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) at dawn aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush Tuesday, May 14, 2013. The drone was launched off the George H.W. Bush to be the first aircraft carrier to catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Timothy Walter) (credit:AP)
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A X47-B navy drone grabs the wire as it lands aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush off the Coast of Virginia Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is the first landing by a drone on a Navy carrier. The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (credit:AP)
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Navy crew members manually list the tailhook of A X47-B Navy after it landed aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush off the Coast of Virginia Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is the first landing by a drone on a Navy carrier. The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability.(AP Photo/Steve Helber) (credit:AP)
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A X47-B navy drone grabs the wire as it lands aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush off the Coast of Virginia Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is the first landing by a drone on a Navy carrier. The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (credit:AP)
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A X47-B Navy drone approaches the deck as it lands aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush off the Coast of Virginia Wednesday, July 10, 2013. It is the first landing by a drone on a Navy carrier. The landing of the X-47B experimental aircraft means the Navy can move forward with its plans to develop another unmanned aircraft that will join the fleet alongside traditional airplanes to provide around-the-clock surveillance while also possessing a strike capability. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (credit:AP)
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FILE- In this Feb. 4, 2011 photo released by the U.S. Navy and Northrup Grumman, the navy X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration aircraft successfully completes its historic first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. A new United Nations draft report posted online this week objects to the use of weapons systems like the X-47B that can attack targets without any human input. The report for the U.N. Human Rights Commission deals with legal and philosophical issues involved in giving robots lethal powers over humans, echoing countless science-fiction novels and films. (AP Photo/Alan Radecki, Northrup Grumman, Navy) (credit:AP)
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A Navy X-47B drone does a fly buy the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush after it was launched off the coast of Virginia, Tuesday, May 14, 2013. The plane isn't intended for operational use, but it will be used to help develop other unmanned, carrier-based aircraft. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (credit:AP)
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The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstrator taxies Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. The X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft currently under development by Northrop Grumman as part of the U.S. Navys Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration program. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corp., Alan Radecki) (credit:AP)
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The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator taxies Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the Atlantic Ocean. Harry S. Truman is the first aircraft carrier to host test operations for an unmanned aircraft. The X-47B is a tailless, strike fighter-sized unmanned aircraft currently under development by Northrop Grumman as part of the U.S. Navyís Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration program. (AP Photo/U.S. Navy courtesy of Northrop Grumman Corp., Alan Radecki) (credit:AP)
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X47B would also be based on an aircraft carrier - and a key part of getting it into combat is proving it can take off and land on such a small target.

Now the Navy has demonstrated the X-47B conducting an 'arrested landing' for the first time. In an arrested landing the plane uses a landing hook to catch a heavy cable extended across the ship - or in this case a landing strip - to bring it to a halt.

"This precision, shore-based trap by the X-47B puts the UCAS Carrier Demonstration program on final approach for a rendezvous with naval aviation history," said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, the Navy's UCAS program manager.

"It moves us a critical step closer to proving that unmanned systems can be integrated seamlessly into Navy carrier operations."