Skunk Works

Lockheed’s legendary Skunk Works, which created such aircraft as the U-2, the SR-71, and the F-117 Stealth Fighter, has created yet another masterpiece.

According to this article in New Scientist Tech, Lockheed-Martin’s new unmanned stealth vehicle Polecat was created largely with a CAD hooked up to a 3D printer— aka “3D rapid prototyping.”

Nice hack! And I especially like how “polecat” is just another word for “skunk.”

Another thing I especially like is that this is exactly how the planes and missiles were made in Hardwired.

I have to wonder how much of this technology is replicable. Will your average tinpot Third World dictator be able to create and assemble state-of-the-art stealth aircraft in his garage? Will you? Will Osama?

Backyard aerospace! Only the latest example of why we are living in a science fiction world.