The Boeing Phantom Ray is an American demonstration stealth unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) developed by Boeing using company funds. The autonomous Phantom Ray is a flying wing around the size of a conventional fighter jet, and first flew in April 2011. It will conduct a program of test flights involving surveillance, ground attack and autonomous aerial refueling missions. The developers say it can carry 4,500 pounds of payload.
Boeing Phantom Ray
The Phantom Ray being carried on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft in Missouri in December 2010.
Unmanned combat aerial vehicle
An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, fighter drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance and carries aircraft ordnance such as missiles, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), and/or bombs in hardpoints for drone strikes. These drones are usually under real-time human control, with varying levels of autonomy. UCAVs are used for reconnaissance, attacking targets and returning to base; unlike kamikaze drones which are only made to explode on impact, or surveillance drones which are only for gathering intelligence.
A British MQ-9A Reaper operating over Afghanistan in 2009
A Turkish Bayraktar TB2 on the runway
The BAE Taranis model is one of the larger designs
DRDO Ghatak