Imagine a super-fast airplane that can take off and land straight up like a helicopter! That’s what DARPA, a part of the US military, is trying to build, and they’ve partnered with a company called Aurora to make it happen.
Aurora just revealed a new design for this superplane. Their first idea was a four-seater plane with four lift fans on the wings. This new design is a lot simpler – it has no seats and only three lift fans, two on the wings and one in the front.
Aurora says this simpler design will be easier and faster to test fly. They also say this technology can be used on airplanes with people in the future, even though this first test plane won’t have a pilot.
The new plane looks pretty cool, too. It has a smooth, curved body and angled air inlets at the front. The lift fans on the wings are covered by doors that open upwards, kind of like an airplane door. There’s also a jet engine in the back and doors on the other fan that help it steer when flying straight up.
This isn’t the first time DARPA has tried to build these special planes. They’ve run into problems before because it’s expensive and the military wasn’t always sure they wanted them. But DARPA is trying a new approach this time – making a simpler plane to test the technology first.
Other companies are also working on designs for this DARPA project, and we’ll see who else gets picked to join Aurora in building this super-fast, super-maneuverable airplane!