With a shift of its wing, Switchblade goes from long-range endurance flyer to Mach-speed assassin



Northrop Grumman is developing an unmanned, shape-changing supersonic plane concept that could not only loiter outside enemy territory for more than 12 hours but can also hurtle toward a target with a speed faster than sound, on command. And level it immediately.



The new supersonic plane is named Switchblade. The amazing plane is scheduled to be completed by 2020. It would have 200-foot-long wing lying perpendicular to its engines like a normal airplane. But this single wing will swivel around 60 degrees just before the craft will break the sound barrier. The swivel will be so that it’s one end point forward and the other back.



The Pentagon’s way-out research arm, DARPA has funded Northrop Grumman $10.3 million for producing a detailed blueprint by November 2007.



Via: CNN