might not sink the carrier but it can certainly cripple its mission. i know that there s a great deal of interest in the carriers vis-a-vis the the the df-21. that s that s the big question. and the and how that carrier now becomes vulnerable. reporter: america s answer is a version of the unmanned vehicle that can launch and land at sea. the u-class would fly farther and longer than a fighter pilot. prototype took its first test flight in february. we remain committed to getting a squadron aboard an aircraft carrier by 2018. reporter: the u.s. has been flying land based drones for years. but the bad guys in afghanistan don t fly jets. same with the tribal areas of pakistan. off of china you are not going to automatically enjoy that kind of supremesy. reporter: there are questions how much damage any drone could