DARPA’s always working on a bunch of crazy projects, whether it’s to find the next insane robot hero, or just Star Wars robot arms. On their long list of wants is an unmanned “X-Plane” that can do vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) like the dope-arse F-35B. Boeing whipped up this slick contest entry in 27 days.
The Phantom Swift is a bit more Osprey than F-35B but it looks like it found its VTOL legs pretty fast. And apparently it wasn’t even that rough to design either; the Phantom Works team banged it out in just three days. And the, with the help of rapid prototyping, the sucker was flying in under a month.
It’s only a prototype, so the real thing — if it ever exists — would be a lot larger. This is only a 17 per cent-sized scale model to prove the design works. Unfortunately, Boeing didn’t see fit to show off the Phantom Swift cruising around in full-on plane mode; maybe they’re still working out some of the kinks. But hey, for a month’s work this ain’t bad. [Boeing]