Meet the X-47B: America's $1.5 Billion Stealth Drone
Retired in April 2015, the U.S. Navy’s two X-47B, known by their call signs as Salty Dog 501 and Salty Dog 502, represent the most significant progress in Unmanned Combat Aerial Systems to date. Among their numerous achievements, the X-47B was the first drone to land on an aircraft carrier and refuel in midair autonomously.
Six years since the X-47B began development, Northrop Grumman finally received a contract to build two X-47Bs; in that time, military drones had become much more prominent as a result of the success of the MQ-1 Predator, and MQ-9 Reapers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Though development costs were quite significant, reaching nearly $1.5 billion by 2015, the program meshed well with evolving Navy requirements.
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Thank You
Saw a prototype of it at Lakefront Airport in New Orleans in 2011 on the set of Green Lantern.
I wanna see the Stingray win a large contract. That drone has more caps than any other and doesn't cost as much.
We are getting into Ace Combat territory now!
Definitely looks like the drones from arsenal bird.
The failure that destroyed USA is the weak minded leadership in Capital City. Why build flying anything, only to surrender, tuck tail, and run home to momma in the end anyway ? USA failed in Vietnam, failed in Afghanistan, and failed in Ukraine... It's not the fighting men & women failing, they are just ordered to die by the traitors to the constitution in D.C. The Taliban and PRK will capture Pakistan, and then be able to launch nuclear strikes against India, USA, and Europe. They won't delay for a moment in their un-holy wars...
@@xavierthemild825 MQ-101 was based on this one
I've watched this 5 times already and it gets better each time! 🔥
Looks alot like the triangle craft people have been seeing in the sky for the last decade or so
Really cool to see it operate and do stuff on its own. Really curies to know how it (im asuming it was doing it on its own) see and act acordingly, forward, stop etc.
Interesting Video, Thank You Sam & The Crew of U.S. Military News. 👍 🇺🇸
🧐💪🏽🇺🇸
War criminal lost in Afghanistan
USA was defeated by Vietnam and by the Taliban. Nobody takes America seriously any longer... They are over, done, dead, and gone. Still haven't even sent help to rescue all those Left Behind in Afghanistan or Sudan... The only advice the foresaken got: WALK OUT... Walk to the border and exit the country, then find commerical flights back to USA. America is 50 slave plantations taken as hostages by the Foreign Junta and cartel operatives occupying Capital City, D.C.
this drone is something high-class
I have a feeling they will use this against us.
Awesome combination of drone and manned fighters in areal combat.
This is really advanced technology! AMAZING
Extending fleet range does seem more of a priority than the cool factor. It is pretty cool, though.
im a homeless vet - so glad we put more money on more weapons
There's a number of stealth type characteristic drones that the US is considering though; the Valkyrie, the Ghost bat are two that I know of.
Nice video. 👍🏽 1st of many I'm sure.
Very good strong defence drones and stealthy flights 🎉🎉😊😊
Is the x47b still in production. I saw one once off the coast of Galveston, Texas several years ago, but haven't heard anything since.
Years ago I envisioned a U.S. military air dominance comprised of the following aircraft for all 4 branches of our combat arms (USAF, USA, USN and USMC). U.S. Air Force: Northrop, B-2 Spirit Northrop, F-23 Black Widow II Lockheed, F-35A Raptor (should’ve been named that) U.S. Army: Bell, V-44 (insert name) quad tilt rotor heavy lift Bell, V-22 Osprey (or V-280 equivalent) Sikorsky, RAH-66 Comanche U.S. Navy: Northrop, X-47 UCAV Lockheed, F-22 Lightning II (that’s what it should’ve been named) Lockheed, F-35C Raptor (that’s what it should’ve been named) U.S. Marines: Bell, V-22 Osprey Lockheed, F-35B Raptor (that’s what it should’ve been named) Sikorsky, RAH-66 Comanche The U.S. military should not be flying Vietnam war era aircraft at this point in time. And the Boeing, F-18 E/F Super Hornet (originally a Northrop creation) should’ve never been a thing. The U.S. Navy should be flying F-22s and F-35s. While the F-23 Black Widow II should’ve gone to the U.S. Air Force. Just imagine. 🚁✈️🇺🇸
All will be obsolete replaced by AI drones.
Situations change. As do budget and Administrations.
It’s a damn shame, considering the potential of the aircraft, all for an aircraft that is less capable than what was created. I feel bad for the engineering teams that spent more than a decade on this and achieved so much, with so much investment in the program just to park it. This was going to be yet again another huge success for Northrop Grumman like the b2 and the a10.
I wouldn’t discount it yet, the new NGAD program is probably going to use drone wingman’s, so a company that has experience with these would be high up on the list of production candidates
Unmanned gas station - priceless. This is just proof of concept and software development. Carriers of the future are going to be drone platforms.
No they are just going to be targets.
Just to think our cell phones have more computing power than all of earth until the 1970s
I don't believe they've given up on this....even if it had to be manually controlled in combat,it's still valuable.
Very impressive and I have no doubt they got a ton of important data from the trials. I can't wait to see what the next unmanned fighter drone will look like. The ones that will act as a wingman to manned fighters in the Navy's future F/A-XX program. This is going to be a crazy decade of insane next Gen upgrades for the US military. Some of the programs are getting done fast, and innovation is being pushed by the private sector collaboration. China showed it's cards too early and have now certainly forced the US military to wake up.
Check out the mq28 ghost bat, you'll be impressed
Yes, indeed China showed it's cards too early. It was early warning and very fortunate to US
@@cosmosstp Yeah, I think if the CCP had stayed quiet like they were and kept playing the US behind the scenes in all aspects, we would have been in even more danger.
How long until all military aircraft are drones?
When the AI overlords use them to squash our testicles.
10-20 years all will be AI drones🇺🇸
Name 5 best airplane designs, Northrop: flying wing, flying wing, flying wing, flying wing and flying wing
Just think the military is always 20-50 years more advanced than what the public is shown
Is there any weapon developed in the USA which is effective, quick to make, easy to maintain and cheap? It's as if such weapons are an anathema to the MIC.
We need to develop drone technology to the point so humans never have to fight in wars directly ever again.
Nah your country should just stop developing Weapons and invading other countries that would be of a much greater help than fighting drones
I love it
Well done,, today is going to be the better than tomorrow im only like the 4rth fastest
Which one is better X-47B or MQ-9 Reaper?
X-47B Because I like the design of a B-2 Spirit.
Who's here in 2024 and it's being used in service now ?
Not yet check again in 2025
I hope they continue I can't believe they just dumped it
Thing landed and then stopped on a dime, -00:28 minute mark. Cool 😎.
The X-47B is a formidable weapon, capable of performing missions with unmatched precision and stealth.
Not any more as both of them were mothballed by Northrop Grumman back in 2017.
How many of them can America surrender and leave behind for the TALIBAN ?
We already have "better" out there....🇺🇸
I hope that nobody else copy it already!
China gg copy it and produce it at 10% cost😂😂😂😂😂
Northrop Grumman vs. Boeing - that's all you need to know why the Navy shifted their drone program despite the success of the X-47B demonstrator. It's also unfortunate since Boeing is well known to develop projects that are overly ambitious, usually are delayed by months or years, and have significant cost overruns that the government is expected to simply pay the difference. It would be very beneficial to the U.S. Military if they continued to develop new systems without the interference of Boeing as a primary contractor.
X40 series drones have been around for a long time in the academic world especially in NASA, DARPA, NRL, NAVAIR and etc... Usually it was a "chip"/divisions that was brought out by the major aerospace corporation
It’s the Lodestar from Black Ops 2 🤩
Is it just me or do those drones look remarkably 'tic-tac' shaped from side on??
Well i can see those wingtips dropping off after it gets final approach on its target !!! Or they might be extra fuel too. To be like drop tanks. It can fly without them !! If they flew the 117 nitehawk they can balance and control a tree at mach 1.
The US is generations ahead of others.
Badass
How much does one unit cost?
I want to have one of these ☺
Dawg why does it feel like the black ops 2 storyline is starting to happen now💀
Very good idea a drone tanker
I like this powerful drone
are the drones from ace combat 7 based this ?
Sky's the limit line . Morphing technology!
Add the gbu's and missiles!!!💯👍
These tests are very very important as it will help for future drone developments. The eventual drones that would be used a loyal wingmen for the naval NGAD and ofc NGAD itself when in unmanned mode would need to be capable of landing and launching from aircraft carriers. So these tests are crucial for future developments and give the US an advantage over China. The Chinese should come to their own conclusions from tests that the US has already done.
This reminds me of the film Stealth......
That is the USAF of the future! NOW!!! 🤔
If they're showing us this, what do they have hidden?
Impressive. Wonder what happened to the X-45.
Northrop Grumman mothballed both of them back in 2017 when it refused to capitulate to NAVAIR's demands.
@AA-xo9uw They new it was done in 2013... at least the engineers did.
Wonderful stuff, and if we are permitted to know about these...imagine what we are not permitted to know. For example, the British-developed Vertical Take off and landing was a reality 15 years before it was acknowledged. How do I know that? I can't say, but I can assure you it is a fact....a very old fact now. However what I can say, is that it was responsible for reports of flying saucers being seen at night over some extremely remote parts of the country, in the very late 1950's and early 1960's.
So u can't say what happened over 50 years ago? That just sounds like you don't know crap
I really liked the style and the way I trained. Army q J l
Grumman... Developed some of the most innovative aircraft, keeps getting snubbed...
Looks like the drones deployed from the Arsenal Bird
This was a really interesting program that I believe was mostly pushed aside because of politics.
Eh. Probably because lessons were learned. There's something else. Flying with NGAD.
Pushed aside for bigger, better, badder. This was publicized for bragging rights and intimidation tactics.
Only marked the end of that particular prototype they expanded upon it and learned from it. All in order to build something better we have many projects in place.
Talk about the Navy being short-sighted. Maybe Northrup Grumman didn't offer their Admirals enough in the way of jobs after retirement? That is what Admirals do after retirement, right? They go to work for the companies that they managed contracts for.
Add it to the list of great aircraft that will never reach their true potential, like the Commanche and Black Widow II. 😔
I was on that program and for the production bid the navy wanted to make open to the other contractors our proprietary code that would take away our competitive andantage. So we no bid the program.
Imagine what they have in area 51😅
Seems to me that a drone fighter jet should resemble a round UFO saucer more than a 20th century jet plane. For example, what is the windshield for? Why not use Harrier jet type technology to have the engine spin and point in a new direction in a heart beat giving the jet much more flexibility and maneuverability. A 2nd engine could point forward, giving the jet quicker response. Invent a new outside the box way of snaring the jet as it lands.... Either by a raising bed mattress or a giant net that would keep the jet in suspension. Eliminate the tires and landing gear altogether. Maybe allow for a set of tiny wheels, but rely on engine thrust to make a soft landing. Wings must be able to extend or retract as needed on dive runs. We also need to improve battery driven engines, that can provide max thrust while being extremely quiet. The drone needs to reach 4,000 miles per hr.. G-force is no longer a factor. Heat signal is no longer a problem. Heat seeking missiles would be extinct. The batteries would support a cooling system that would help the drone remain invisible to ground radar systems. Finally, we need to modernize our bombs. I'm thinking 4 lasers aimed forward, all aimed at the same target, multiplying the effect of the 4 lasers on the target. In effect, heat bombs, made of laser beams.. a "pilot" lites up the target from the other side of the world, perhaps the desert of Las Vegas.
🤔 Such planes worth many times their weight in gold.
If it's being shown they are already two steps ahead
I wouldn't be suprised if the reason Northrop suddenly dropped out of the competition was because they got a black contract to continue development for a secret stealthy attack drone and leave the tanking to Boeing.
1.5 Billion dollar drone 😮
Im just trying to find out wtf i saw one night. Some type of stealth craft flew down in front of me at a lake but all of these drones are loud. What i saw was quiet and had a crazy looking green trail behind it. Guess ill never know
Hope it has a self destruct button so it don’t get stolen
when you have the future in your hand ..and decide not to cross that threshold because of self interests
OK now, which armaments can it carry? And how many of them? How does this one compare to the new drone China has been show casing???
It is sad that the Navy can't seem to decide what it truly wants. Canceled ships, and canceled aircraft programs seem to be normal for the Navy. The X-47B is an awesome system.😕
The Navy is currently run by Aviator-Admirals, just like the pre-WW2 Navy was run by Battleship-Admirals. Aviator-Admirals don't like unmanned aircraft. Of course, the program was unfunded and misdirected.
Probably, the goals of a lot of advance STEM and STEM Degree people failed...
I bet they did it somewhere or are still working on it. We just don't know
Did the airforce get unhappy and force the cancellation? Seems a stealth long range carrier drone would be more useful than the B21?
Northrop Grumman wouldn't genuflect to NAVAIR's schizophrenic RFPs.
Without a human pilot war loses all meaning. It just becomes our robot killed your robot. Not to mention have you seen Terminator 2?
Just wait until AI is fused into the system.
2011?! So what kind of tech have they got now 12 years later?
Combine it with chat gpt and skynet.
why is the land speed record more than this top speed
They out to put Lazers in the drone in the front and the rear
I love how they made something that worked, and could cause mayhem autonomously, and they decided, NAH, we want a flying gas pump instead. Just put that cool one in this black box, in this under ground retirement hanger, so we forget about it and never ever use it.
This literally looks like the mq 101 drone from Ace Combat 7.
"never entered service".... Bridge for sale, slightly blemished. Call the City of Baltimore for details.
We need something. The refuelers will be the first things shot down. The F-35 doesn't have enough range.
El futuro ya nos alcanzo
These look allot like one would call a UFO.
Retired because the successor, which no one knows about, was ready.
Northrop Grumman refused to capitulate to NAVAIR's demands that's why the X-47 was mothballed and quite a few of us know about Boeing's MQ-25.
GOD BLEES YOU USA❤👍
This kinda looks like the colombian ufo recently recorded
Looks like we finally reverse engineered the craft from Area 51, or at least the outer design.
Why does the X-47 it look like the drones the Arsenal bird uses in Ace Combat 7?
Because it is, the Arsenal Bird's MQ-101 drones as seen in Ace Combat 7 are modeled after the X-47, with some artistic liberties.
no clue what you're talking about, this the drone from the arsenal bird
How does it cost 1.5B to manufacture one of these?
They don't cost $1.5b per. The overall development cost was $1.5b. This includes years of research, testing, and production. All which goes into the updated models that aren't public yet.
Isn’t this a mini B-2? Lol
Why would you want anything unmanned
But what if the X-47B becomes self aware? It may become insulted, indignant, and next landing ram the Island.
Look slow and easy to shoot down for adversaries.