Why The U.S. Navy Decommissioned The Incredible X-47B Stealth Drone

[Tony]

As technology has advanced, the functions, specs, and utility of drones has too. From budget craft operated by hobbyists and beginners upwards, the world of drones is a varied one indeed. The Drone Racing League is at the forefront of the technology, a high-profile competition in which headset-donning drone pilots battle to steer their craft through a window course as quickly as possible.

Of course, drones aren't simply for entertainment purposes. They've become very prominent in warfare too. So much so, in fact, that models like the MQ-1 Predator have become, according to once-BBC defense correspondent Jonathan Marcus, weapons as iconic as "the longbow used by the English archers at Agincourt in the Middle Ages or the heavily armoured tanks that epitomised the ground combat of World War Two."

The X-47B of the U.S. Navy was a particularly formidable stealth drone, but it's no longer in use by the military. Here's why.