Future Aircraft

In the aircraft kitchens all over the U.S., manufacturers are building, testing and inventing new and different aircraft. Some will be flown by a pilot, but some will not. They will be controlled and flown by a person on the ground. Here are two remotely piloted aircraft which may play a role in the future.

The one on left is the Boeing X-48B, a combination of conventional aircraft and flying wing design. The one on right is an Earth Science Capabilities Demonstrator. Its mission is to accomplish flight demonstrations of integrated technology experiments using remotely and autonomously operated aircraft in the support of Earth Science and other civil missions.

Other birds also may prove invaluable to U.S. efforts and are autonomously operated aircraft. Below, the one on left is called the Global Hawk. On the right is another spectacular bird, Ikhana. It produces imagery for NASA and the U.S. Forest Service mapping wildfires. Already it's invaluable.

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