Aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush in 2013, over a hundred witnesses waited under the July sun for the arrival of the Northrop Grumman X47B.

Known as Salty Dog 502, the tailless jetpowered blendedwingbody aircraft embarked on course towards the Nimitzclass carrier from Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. An intricate network of algorithms and sensors governed its control surfaces.

Upon its approach to the carrier, the X47B precisely aligned with the deck, its systems fully integrated with the carrier's moving trajectory, and as it touched down, the aircraft seamlessly caught one of the arresting cables, coming to a halt with astonishing precision.

This wasn't just a successful landing; that day, the model had become the first to land on the deck of the aircraft carrier, guided not with a joystick and throttle controls managed by an onboard pilot. Instead, this drone achieved complete pilotless capability.

A groundbreaking moment; this was only the beginning of a new age in drone technology, paving the way for all unmanned aerial vehicles on carriers that have come since.