(Redirected from
X-44 Manta)
The X-44 MANTA (Multi-Axis No-Tail Aircraft) is intended to test the feasibility of full yaw, pitch and roll control without any use of tailplanes (horizontal or vertical). Attitude manipulation relies purely on 3D thrust vectoring.
The aircraft itself is an F/A-22-derived design featuring a stretched version of the F/A-22's delta wing and deletion of the tail surfaces.
There are scattered reports that this program has been canceled. In any case, it would not likely fly before 2006.