She Never Flew: Concepts from the X-44 Manta may have influenced the U.S. Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which is developing a sixth-generation fighter to replace the F-22.

-Like the X-44, the NGAD is expected to feature a tailless, wedge-shaped design and integrate advanced technologies, including unmanned "loyal wingman" drones equipped with customizable weapons and systems.

-The X-44 MANTA serves as a reminder of innovative concepts that could have accelerated modern stealth aircraft development had they been pursued further.

The F-22 Raptor entered service with the U.S. Air Force as the world’s first fifth-generation platform. In an effort to build on the stealth aircraft’s design and capabilities, manufacturer Lockheed Martin planned to develop an off-shoot. The new proposed tailless aircraft design was essentially another Raptor but designed as a stretched delta-wing mainplane.

Like the F-22, this new variant was intended to feature a twin, side-by-side turbofan engine arrangement with thrust vectoring but without the F-22’s outward vertical tail fins.

While the X-44 Manta never came to fruition, elements of the platform could live on in the service’s next-generation fighter........

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