What the...!?

The Tacit Blue. A name synonymous with "What the...!?". At first sight, it looks like the camera had a few minor glitches. Then, it looks like the plane's engineers had a few minor glitches(if you know what I mean). This plane looks so weird, it's hard to believe it was actually designed for stealth.

On the left you could see the weirdest "camera has a glitch", or "engineers had a glitch" photo. The Tacit Blue actually looked like that. Understandably, it is a pioneer in stealth. As most pioneers, the Tacit Blue designers made it look weird. However, it was also the first aircraft to combine a number of new stealth designs such as a low radar cross section. It was originally created to show that an aircraft with a low probability of radar interception could be used as a spy plane.

On the right you can see the front view of the Tacit Blue. Notice the way it kinda looks like a flying saucer on one wheel. I have no idea why it was designed this way, but the project became the most successful program in the history of the Air Force, and met all the objectives set. The picture on the top-left actually resembles a plane(kind-of). Basically, to explain the construction of the X-33 in the fullest possible way, it looks like a regular plane with a flat board right in the middle, which sticks out on all sides.

In 1982, the Tacit Blue flew for the first time in a test flight, and after that it flew 135 times over 3 years. The entire program cost $165 million and Northrop, as the main contractor, received $136 million. The data collected from the Tacit Blue project was later used on the B-2 Spirit, also made by Northrop.

The B-2 Spirit costs a record of $570 million per plane, so only 20 B-2's were built. The B-2 is a stealth bomber. One B-2 could complete a bombing raid which previously required 32 F-16s, 16 F-15s, and 27 support aircraft. It gets its stealth because it is a flying wing, complete with all the minor measurements and calculations to make it virtually invisible to radar, making it invincible to enemy defenses. It can also carry a pretty heavy bomb load. Basically an infinitely better plane then the Tacit Blue.