The U.S. Navy Spent $744 Million to Build a Robotic Fighter Jet -- and Now Wants to Throw It Away

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Caught here in the act of refueling midair, Northrop Grumman's groundbreaking X-47B aircraft looks like a visitor from another planet.

The U.S. Navy Spent $744 Million to Build a Robotic Fighter Jet -- and Now Wants to Throw It Away
By Rich Smith | More Articles
May 24, 2015 |

For nearly a decade now, we here at The Motley Fool have been covering the rise of unmanned aerial vehicles -- flying killer robots -- for investors in the defense industry. We want to know, and want you to know, who makes these "drone" aircraft, who's leading the industry, and who's earning the most profit from it. We've watched with special interest as UAVs have evolved from unarmed surveillance platforms to weapons capable of launching attacks on ground targets.

Most recently, we've been absolutely riveted by a groundbreaking new U.S. Navy program to develop a true robotic fighter jet, full-size and capable of performing real fighter jet missions: the X-47B.

Introducing the X-47B

Developed over a course of years, Northrop Grumman's (NYSE: NOC ) X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) is roughly the same size as a (piloted) F-16 fighter jet -- shorter, lighter, with less tail, but wider wings. It cost the U.S. Navy upward of $744 million to build its X-47Bs (they have two), or more money than the projected unit cost of the Air Force's new Long-Range Strategic Bomber.

Unlike the LRS-B, though, which is little more than sketches on a notepad, the X-47B is a fully vetted, operational, and successful stealth fighter drone, and one big enough that you can imagine it dogfighting other fighter jets on its own one day. According to the Navy, X-47B has conducted "37 deck touchdowns, 30 precise touch-and-go landings and multiple catapult launches, arrested landings and planned autonomous wave-offs." Last month, X-47B successfully docked with an aerial tanker and refueled in-flight.