Concept Aircraft : Lockheed X-44A MANTA (1999)

Lockheed X-44A MANTA (1999)

In an attempt to improve "stealth" technology, many aircraft designers and engineers have tinkered with the idea of eliminating tail and rudder surfaces altogether and instead using "thrust vectors" -- tiny onboard jets -- to provide yaw, pitch and roll control. In 1999, the U.S. Air Force began development of the X-44 MANTA (Multi-Axis, No-Tail Aircraft) based on the YF-22 Raptor as an experimental test bed for this research. Although initially scheduled to fly in 2007, the MANTA project has allegedly been scrubbed due to lack of funding.

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