The most significant X-45A test flights were in 2004: a precision weapon drop in April, when the X-45A demonstrator hit a ground target with a 250-pound inert near-precision-guided weapon released from its internal weapons bay; and the first unmanned, autonomous multi-vehicle flight under the control of a single pilot.

In October 2006, after 64 unprecedented flights and numerous firsts in autonomous combat aviation, the two X-45A unmanned combat air vehicles designed and built by Boeing in partnership with the DARPA and the U.S. Air Force were sent to two prominent aviation museums to be permanently displayed.