The Sloboda Aeronautics XAF-60 Gladius was a 1960s prototype strike aircraft. It is notable for its highly unusual but on-brand characteristics, such as a triple-delta wing, four-axis thrust vectoring nicknamed “Trust Vectoring”, a sideways-and-upwards-firing ejection seat, its utter lack of any tail at all. It could maneuver very rapidly and was capable of all sorts of unusual maneuvers, but in return, it was incredibly complicated to fly, and the technology to mass-produce it without accepting major risks was not there for a few decades. The project was canceled in 1967, but the aircraft kept flying for research roles until 1978. New Sloboda Aeronautics has proposed modernizing it as the AF-90 Mameluke/Zulfiqar. Crew: 2 Length: 75 ft Wingspan: 80 ft Powerplant: x2 thrust-vectoring afterburning turbofans, 25,000 lbf thrust each Max speed: 2,225 mph (Mach 2.9) Range: Greater than 5,000 miles Armament: x1 30mm cannon and 10 hardpoints
"i got too silly" -sloboda aeronautics
