On Monday 13 December 2010, at Lambert Airport, St Louis, USA, the newest and one of the fastest UAVs took to the air on the back of a Boeing 747, originally designed to transport the US Space Shuttle. The new Boeing UAV, the Phantom Ray, is the most advanced test bed for various advanced technologies such as aerial refuelling, electronic attack and strike missions in addition to the normal UAV missions of intelligence and reconnaissance. The flight also demonstrated the adaptability of NASA’s Boeing 747 for other purposes now that the Shuttle programme has ceased. Powered by a F404-GE-102 turbofan engine, the Phantom Ray is 36 feet long and has a wingspan of 50 feet. It weighs 36,500 pounds and has a cruising speed of 614 mph (0.8 Mach). Its operating altitude is 40,000 feet.