No aircraft excels in all conditions, which is a pity because if one did, it would rule the world. Commercial airliners, for example, which are designed to cruise at high altitudes over long distances, make lousy fighters. But the day is soon coming when one aircraft might do the job of two—or many more. New "morphing" technology promises adroit aircraft that reshape themselves, bird-like, in flight. University and industry researchers funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and others are experimenting with wings and helicopter rotors that fold, shrink, extend, tilt, and twist in flight. It's a breakthrough in airplane design that would let a single airplane take on the persona of a bomber one moment, a fighter the next.
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