X-45 Completes Bombing Run Test

Posted 20 Apr 2004 at 15:52 UTC by steve

According to a Boeing press release, one of the prototype Boeing X-45A UCAVs dropped a 250 pound, GPS-guided smart bomb on a ground target at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Range, China Lake, California. The bomb was dropped from 35,000 feet while the vehicle was traveling at 0.67 Mach. The robot plane completed the mission autonomously but requested human confirmation of its target identification before releasing the bomb. We received a lot of email on this one; The Swirling Brain sent a link to the USA Today story on the bombing missing and Tim Holt sent a link to a Yahoo! story . We've covered X-45 stories numerous times in the past.