Slashdot Mirror
The Pentagon's Supersonic, Shape-Shifting Assassin
grammar fascist writes "CNN reports that Northrop Grumman is under contract to build a new supersonic, shape-shifting bomber by 2020. The main innovation is in its single, rotating wing. From the article: '[It] will cruise with its 200-foot-long wing perpendicular to its engines like a normal airplane. But just before the craft breaks the sound barrier, its single wing will swivel around 60 degrees (hence the name) so that one end points forward and the other back. This oblique configuration redistributes the shock waves that pile up in front of a plane at Mach speeds and cause drag. When the Switchblade returns to subsonic speeds, the wing will rotate back to perpendicular.'"
Go America! Fuck Yeah!
I thought it was going to be about a Doppleganger
takes on a whole new meaning here...
Try opening your laptop at Mach 2.
I love the smell of burning pork in the morning.
Rules of Acquisition say:
34. War is good for business
35. Peace is good for business.
34 comes before 35. All clear?
Ignore this signature. By order.
In Firefox's Live Bookmark feed, the title says "The Pentagon's Supersonic, Shape-Shifting Ass ..."
Somehow, I find my browser's interpretation more fitting...
What's so inflammatory about it? I mean what do you think this thing's supposed to do, fly in at supersonic speeds to deliver a payload of Snickers bars to satisfy the hunger of the enemy?
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
"If you don't have eyes you shouldn't have wings" -- Carl Pilkington
This seems more like the kind of thing that should be developed under a cloak of secrecy at Area 51. My guess is that it's seen as an outside shot by DARPA, and the $10.3m pocket change they're throwing at it convinces me even more that they're just using this as "gosh ain't we high-tech and futuristic" publicity (or propaganda if you'd rather) blurb.
What seals it though is the 1950's Buck Rogers shiny treatment. Any self-respecting supersonic bomber has to have a mat-black paint job, surely?
At Mach 2, my laptop is even better! Now it lifts and separates!
i'd hit it so hard, if you pulled me out you'd be the king of britain [bash.org]
You really need more than a knee-jerk intellect to be using political terminology, so you don't end up just diluting the definitions.
Shut up, commie!
No. The feat is not opening the laptop but keeping it closed, grasshopper.