The U.S. military has successfully demonstrated what it says is the first ever in-flight refueling of an unmanned aircraft, and in doing so completed a flight test program that leads to a new generation of military drones due to take flight in the 2020s.

The refueling was conducted on April 22 in the Atlantic Test Range, off the coast of Maryland and Virginia. There, an X-47B autonomous aircraft automatically maneuvered itself to mate with the refueling probe trailing a K-707 tanker aircraft and receive over 4,000 pounds of fuel, the U.S. Navy said.

(See video of the refueling on IDG.TV)

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