The Pentagon Wants To Build A Better Plane

The Boeing / NASA X-48B blended-wing design research aircraft in September 2010, NASA/Tony Landis

David Axe, Reuters: The Pentagon again vies to build a better 'X-plane’

After decades of being MIA in the skies, Washington is getting back into the business of building cutting-edge experimental aircraft that can expand the boundaries of state-of-the-art aerial.

With this, the United States could reclaim its long-prized title as the world's leader in high-tech aerospace developments -- a title that Russia and China are now ferociously working to win.

A new generation of experimental airplanes, or "X-planes," could lead to profound advances in civil and military aviation, which would boost the American economy, as well as U.S. military might.

They are the aerospace equivalent of science experiments. The more X-planes flying that test out new ideas and hardware, the faster the military and industry can improve blueprints for production-model aircraft. They don't even need to be tied to any larger military or civil aircraft program, known as a “program of record.”

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WNU Editor: Here is a good breakdown on how dominant America is when it comes to military aircraft .... This map shows how many more military aircraft the US has than every other country on earth (Business Insider).