Discovery HD - Secrets of Future Air Power

Overview

Journey into a secret world where aeronautical dreams become military reality. Particle ray beam weapons, quiet supersonic flight, magnetic levitation and hyper-speed engines are all part of the technology that promises cutting-edge aircraft for 21st century combat. Learn how UCAVs - Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles - are poised to take the preeminent role in future air combat with their ability to undertake missions too dangerous for human pilots, striking land and air targets with robotic precision. Without the burden of designing for a human pilot, engineers of these robot planes - like Northrop's radical X-47 - are able to achieve some truly space-age designs. Witness the latest applications of stealth technology in aircraft like the F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Boeing's out-of-this-world "Bird of Prey."