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Watch the Navy's cutting-edge X-47B complete its first mid-air refueling

With every milestone, the X-47B seems just a little bit more real, despite its wild and crazy science-fiction characteristics. The unmanned fighter has refueled while in flight for the first time, and the Navy was nice enough to release video of the momentous occasion.

The X-47 took on over 4,000 pounds of fuel from an Omega Aerial Refueling Services K-707 while flying over the waters of the Maryland and Virginia coasts, Navy Times reports. The drone took off from Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

"The ability to autonomously transfer and receive fuel in flight will increase the range and flexibility of future unmanned aircraft platforms, ultimately extending carrier power projection," Capt. Beau Duarte, the X-47B's program manager, told NT.

Check out video of the refueling, released by Naval Air Systems Command.

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