Today's Drone Test Changes Everything About Unmanned Aerial Warfare

Today, off the coast of Virginia on the USS George H.W. Bush, the U.S. Navy successfully landed an X-47B drone aboard an aircraft carrier for the first time.

"It isn't very often you get a glimpse of the future," Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said in an official Navy release.

The landing of the fighter jet-sized drone, which is larger than the Predator drones common in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, represents a watershed moment in the wielding of unmanned aerial vehicles.

"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," Mabus added.

Drones are an incredible weapon because of their ability to project power. Without ever actually putting a person in peril, the U.S. military has expanded its kinetic and reconnaissance reach to previously unseen limits.

But the rise of drone warfare has led the U.S. to create secret bases in remote parts of the world from which they can launch and recover the often top-secret aircraft.

That all changed today, with the U.S. showing it can tether the clandestine nature of the drones to the power projection ability of the largest Navy in the world.

Now, theoretically, the American military will not need a secret base, or the permission of countries where they are located, like Saudi Arabia, to launch unmanned aerial vehicles.

"By evolving and integrating new technology like the X-47B and the unmanned aircraft to follow, carriers will remain relevant throughout their 50-year lifespan," Mabus said.