The unique ARES plane took to the sky again

The only prototype of the ARES attack aircraft, developed 34 years ago, recently flew again for testing, according to Army Recognition. It was recorded over the Mojave Spaceport in California. The first flight of this aircraft took place on February 19, 1990, and since then it has been used mainly as a test model.

ARES was created at the request of the US Army as a low-cost aircraft for air support of ground forces. Its distinguishing feature was the “duck” scheme; with a front horizontal wing, which provides high maneuverability at low altitudes and increased stability to rollover.

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The main weapon of the ARES is a six-barreled GAU-12 gun of 25 mm caliber. In addition, the aircraft can carry missiles, which makes it a powerful means of support on the battlefield.

Despite successful tests, the project was not developed further due to a lack of interest from the military. ARES did not go into serial production.

After the company Scaled Composites joined the Northrop Grumman Corporation, the ARES aircraft was converted into a flying laboratory for testing new technical solutions and technologies.