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Royal Danish Defence Collegerequired to ensure its ability to operate effectively in anti-access and area denial(A2/AD) environments.” 19The purpose of operating despite enemy A2/AD capacities is explained in theDepartment of Defense’s Joint Operational Access Concept:Projecting U.S. military force invariably requires extensive use ofinternational waters, international airspace, non-sovereign cyberspace,space, and the electromagnetic spectrum. U.S. access to and freedomof navigation within these global commons are vital to its internationalinterests, both because the American way of life requires free accessto the global marketplace and as a means for projecting military forceinto hostile territory.” 20Drones represent a key aspect of the strategic and doctrinal thinking of the USmilitary. For the purpose of operating in an A2/AD environment, drones are ideal.On May 13 th , 2013, the US Navy carried out the fi rst ever launch of a drone from anaircraft carrier, the USS George H. W. Bush. The Northrop Grumman X-47B, or anyother similar system, can provide an increased action radius for US aircraft carriers,thus better enabling them to operate in an A2/AD environment.The new X-47B drone has an unrefueled combat radius of nearly 3000 km, which istwice that of an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. This range can be doubled by air refueling,which also means that the X-47B can stay in the air for anywhere between 50 and100 hours. Its internal payload capacity is equivalent to that of the F-35 Joint StrikeFighter. 21 All these features, combined with a stealth design, make the X-47 B andequivalent systems ideal for achieving the goal set by the Joint Operational AccessConcept, which is to allow US forces to “achieve operational access in the face ofarmed opposition by a variety of potential enemies and under a variety of conditions,as part of a broader national approach.” 22The Department of Defense’s appreciation of the potential of these drone systemscan also be seen in the budget proposal for fi scal year 2014, which was presentedby the Department of Defense in April 2013. Part of the proposal requests fundsfor the further development of sea-based drone capacities, which would amount to$427 million, as part of an overall $2.5 billion program to invest in such airborne(19) Department of Defense: “Sustaining U.S. Global Leadership: Priorities for 21 st CenturyDefense”, (Washington D.C., January 2012), pp. 4-5(20) Department of Defense: “Joint Operational Access Concept” (Washington D.C., January2012), p. 5(21) Thomas P. Ehrhard and Robert O. Work: “The Unmanned Combat Air System CarrierDemonstration Program: A New Dawn For Naval Aviation?” (Washington D.C., Center for Strategicand Budgetary Assessments, May 2007), p. 32(22) Department of Defense: “Joint Operational Access Concept (JOAC)” (Washington D.C., 17January 2012), p. 19