Northrop Grumman Switchblade

The Northrop Grumman Switchblade was a U.S. unmanned aerial vehicle concept featuring an oblique wing that could change its sweep angle. Northrop Grumman studied the design for the United States, but the program ended in 2008 before any aircraft was built.

During World War II, Messerschmitt and Blohm + Voss had each explored the oblique wing for high-speed jets, with the Messerschmitt P.1109 and Blohm & Voss P 202. Later, from 1979 to 1982, NASA flew the piloted AD-1 demonstrator, which proved the concept workable. DARPA then awarded Northrop Grumman a $10.3 million contract for risk reduction and early planning of an oblique flying wing demonstrator.

The project aimed to build a technology demonstrator to investigate the difficulties of this radical design. The aircraft would have been a pure flying wing—no tail, canards, or separate fuselage—with the wing swept asymmetrically, one side forward and one back.

This configuration was thought to combine high speed, long range, and long endurance. The program had two phases: Phase I covered theory and a conceptual design; Phase II would have involved designing, building, and flight-testing an aircraft. The data gathered would inform future military aircraft designs.

Flight was planned for 2020. The Switchblade’s 61-meter oblique wing would start perpendicular to the engines, like a conventional plane.

As speed increased, the wing would pivot, reaching a 60-degree sweep at supersonic speeds, with one wingtip pointing forward and the other backward. The resulting aerodynamics and structure would have made manual control extremely difficult, so an onboard computer would handle all flight parameters. After Phase I, the concept was canceled in 2008.