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This particular concept was created by Aurora Flight Sciences, which was awarded a DARPA contract for designing a plane capable of vertical takeoffs and landings.

The X-Plane's creators, Aurora Flight Sciences, hopes it will achieve speeds between 300 and 400 knots (345 to 460 miles per hour or 550 to 740 km/h), while also being able to carry a 4,000 lb (approximately 1,800 kg) payload.

"This VTOL X-plane won't be in volume production in the next few years but is important for the future capabilities it could enable", Bagai says in a release.

'It will be very challenging to demonstrate, but it has the potential to move the technology needle the farthest and provide some of the greatest spin-off opportunities for other vertical flight and aviation products'.

"We're honored to have been selected by DARPA to build and flight test the demonstrator aircraft".

PA Harrier Jump Jets

DARPA has unveiled its new experimental vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) plane, which aims to overcome challenges associated with VTOL aircraft. It must have a hover efficiency of at least 75% and a favorable cruise lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10.

AFS's concept would employ the same 4,000 HP engine used by the V-22 to generate 3 MW of electrical power that will drive the 24 ductless fans spread across its rear wings and front canards. "If successful, VTOL X-Plane's radically improved flight capabilities could lead to revolutionary advancement of the U.S. military's future mission capabilities. Both the wings and the canards would rotate to direct fan thrust as needed: rearward for forward flight, downward for hovering and at angles during transition between the two", DARPA stated.

Modularized, cellular aerodynamic wing design with integrated propulsion to enable the wings to perform efficiently in forward flight, hover and when transitioning between them.

Four teams had been in the running since the project was initiated in 2013, but only three went up to the preliminary design review phase, including Aurora.

"This is an extremely novel approach", Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager, said in a statement.