Production is taking place in the St. Louis, Mo., manufacturing facility of Northrop Grumman's teammate, GKN Aerospace. GKN is responsible for both the design and fabrication of the X-47B's forward fuselage. Final assembly of the first X-47B will begin this summer at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif. facility.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy J-UCAS program will demonstrate the technical feasibility and operational utility of low-observable-or "stealth" -land- and sea-based unmanned surveillance attack aircraft, and provide the Air Force and Navy the option to acquire these systems early in the next decade.

The X-47B design demonstrates a variety of foundational system capabilities including land- and carrier-based operations and automated aerial refueling.

The design also demonstrates key mission-requirement capabilities such as persistent surveillance and reconnaissance, all-weather precision targeting, and precision attack of fixed and mobile surface targets.

The X-47B is Northrop Grumman's initial air-vehicle configuration for the modular X-47 system, which can support a broad range of advanced unmanned air-vehicle configurations and military operational performance requirements.

Northrop Grumman's J-UCAS program is led by the company's Integrated Systems sector. Other major industry teammates include Lockheed Martin Corporation and Pratt & Whitney.

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