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The U.S. Navy successfully launched an unmanned jet from the deck of an aircraft carrier on Tuesday, making aviation history, according to a Reuters report.

The X-47B, a bat-winged experimental drone the size of a fighter jet, was launched from an aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia.

The radar-evading drone has a 62 foot wingspan and a length of 38 feet. The wings can be folded for easier storage on aircraft carriers.

The jet is fully autonomous, but human operators on board the aircraft carrier standby in the event of a malfunction.

Designed to fly farther and stay in the air longer than existing aircrafts, it has a range of more than 3,400 km and can reach an altitude of over 40,000 feet.

The drone has yet to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, but the navy expects it to complete this more complex task later this year.

The test flight, which had been years in the making, is being seen as a milestone in drone technology.

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