ROBOT-PLANE BOMB DROP A HIT.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A robotic plane dropped a guided bomb near a truck in a test program into technology the Pentagon hopes will one day replace human pilots on dangerous combat missions.

Under human supervision but without human piloting, a prototype of the Boeing Co.'s X-45 took off from Edwards Air Force Base, flew to China Lake Naval Weapons Center and dropped a 250-pound ``small smart bomb'' with a dummy warhead.

The inert bomb struck within inches of the truck it was supposed to hit. Had it contained explosives the target would have been destroyed, Boeing said.

``It's absolutely a huge step forward for us. It shows the capability of an unmanned airplane to carry weapons,'' said Rob Horton, Boeing's chief operator for the mission. ``From the video, you see the weapon going down and a huge cloud of dust and the truck shaking around.''

The X-45A was preprogrammed with the target coordinates and used signals from global positioning system satellites to adjust course.

Horton, sitting 80 miles from the target, authorized the plane to drop the bomb, which was released from 35,000 feet as the plane flew at 442 mph.

``For the first time, an unmanned combat system has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver precision weapons on target,'' Jim Albaugh, president and chief executive of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, said in a statement.

The military sees such aircraft taking part in its most dangerous missions, such as bombing enemy radar and surface-to-air missile batteries in order to clear the path for planes with human pilots.

The Y-shape, tailless plane has a 34-foot wingspan and weighs 8,000 pounds empty. It is the first drone designed specifically to carry weapons into combat. Other unmanned planes, including a spy drone called the Predator currently being used in Afghanistan, have been modified to carry weapons.

Boeing hopes to build hundreds of the X-45 planes, which would cost $10 million to $15 million each.