perfidy

A research team has succeeded in producing a recon drone that flies like a bird. At least in some respects. It's not an ornithopter - it doesn't use the flapping of wings to generate lift. But it can rapidly change the shape of its wings to achieve much greater flight control and maneuverability. The flight control system is modeled after the wings of the common sea gull, and will allow the drone to complete three barrel rolls in a minute - an F16 can only do one without incapacitating the pilot.

"If you fly in the urban canyon, through alleys, around parking garages and between buildings, you need to do sharp turns, spins and dives," said project leader Rick Lind, an aerospace engineer at the University of Florida. "That means you need to change the shape of the aircraft during flight."

If all this tinkering pans out, the result will be a highly maneuverable drone for looking in on enemies in built up areas. As long as they don't add a guano-bombing module, I think its a good idea.