Unmanned X-47B launches from the USS George H. W. Bush (14 images)

Dave Lorenz, left, and Bruce McFadden, deck operators for Northrop Grumman, discuss the launch of an X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator Tuesday, May 14, 2013 on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). Lorenz and McFadden operated the X-47B as it taxied from the aircraft elevator to the catapult. George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. UPI/Timothy Walter/US Navy

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches Tuesday, May 14, 2013 from the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. UPI/Alan Radecki/Northrop Grumman

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator launches Tuesday, May 14, 2013 from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. UPI/Brian Read Castill/US Navy

An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator flies over the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) after launch on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. George H.W. Bush is the first aircraft carrier to successfully catapult launch an unmanned aircraft from its flight deck. UPI/Joshua Horton/US Navy