The X-45's first flight marks a new phase in military aerospace as it was also the first flight of an air vehicle designed from the outset for unmanned offensive air operations. Unlike similar-looking cruise missiles, the operational UCAVs that will evolve from the X-45 and Northrop Grumman's X-47 are intended to return home after dropping ordnance. Last year, the then secretary of the US Navy, Gordon England, said the Joint Strike Fighter would probably be the USA's last manned fighter programme. England said unmanned systems would one day be augmented by manned platforms, the reverse of today's situation. Proponents suggest UCAV operating costs will be much less than manned fighters, and they will remove the need to send pilots into "harm's way".
Source: Flight International
