The unmanned aircraft landed off the coast of Virginia

Jul 11, 2013 09:49 GMT  ·  By

A drone has landed on an aircraft carrier for the first time on Wednesday, July 10 in Virginia. The occasion marks a historic moment.

"The operational unmanned aircraft soon to be developed have the opportunity to radically change the way presence and combat power are delivered from our aircraft carriers," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus expressed in a statement relayed by Fox News.

The X-47B drone has been constructed by Northrop Grumman, CNBC writes. It was built as part of a program that received $2 billion (€1.52 billion) in funding from the Pentagon in 2000.

The unmanned aircraft took off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland and it landed on the USS George H.W. Bush, off the coast of Virginia.