DARPA has completed flight testing of a subscale version of a novel aircraft design as part of its vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) X-Plane program, and is proceeding with work to develop a full-scale version of the groundbreaking plane. Developed and fabricated by Aurora Flight Sciences, the revolutionary aircraft includes 24 electric ducted fans – 18 distributed within the main wings and six in the canard surfaces, with the wings and canards tilting upward for vertical flight and rotating to a horizontal position for wing-borne flight. canard surfaces, with the wings and canards tilting upward for vertical flight and rotating to a horizontal position for wing-borne flight.
