Northrop Grumman X-47B

X-47B UCAS-D
An X-47B demonstrator over the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Test Range
General information
Type	Unmanned combat aerial vehicle Technology demonstrator
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Northrop Grumman
Status	Active
Primary user	United States Navy
Number built	2
History
First flight	4 February 2011
Developed from	Northrop Grumman X-47A Pegasus
Developed into	Northrop Grumman X-47C

The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and subsequently became part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered blended-wing-body aircraft capable of semi-autonomous operation and aerial refueling.^[1]

The X-47B first flew in 2011, and as of 2015^[update], its two active demonstrators have undergone extensive flight and operational integration testing, having successfully performed a series of land- and carrier-based demonstrations.^[2][3] In August 2014, the US Navy announced that it had integrated the X-47B into carrier operations alongside manned aircraft,^[4] and by May 2015 the primary test program was declared complete.^[5][6][7] The X-47B demonstrators themselves were intended to become museum exhibits after completing flight testing, but the Navy later decided to maintain them in flying condition pending further development.^[8][9]