UNMANNED STEALTH BOMBER X-47B COMPLETES FIRST FLIGHT

The evil geniuses at Northrop Grumman successfully completed the first flight of its X-47B unmanned stealth bomber a few days ago at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California. In the air for a full twenty-nine minutes, the tailless, fighter-sized UAV flew to 5,000 feet and completed several racetrack-type patterns, before landing safely at 2:38 pm PST. The aircraft will continue to undergo tests at Edwards AFB before heading to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, later this year. The ultimate goal is to get this bad boy taking off and landing on US Navy carriers. Carrier trials are currently slated for sometime in 2013.

US AIR FORCE LOOKING AT UNMANNED 6TH GENERATION FIGHTER

The US Air Force is looking for a replacement to the recently released F-22 Raptor. According to the RFP, the fighter must be in service by 2030 and be able to be deployed into combat unmanned and remotely controlled.

No companies except Boeing—see the image below—have presented models of these theoretical 6th Generation fighters yet. [Gizmodo]