On 14 June 2005, the Dallas Morning News reported:
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. is building a prototype pilotless aircraft in Fort Worth with wings that fold up like a paper airplane.
The unmanned aerial vehicle promises to look like something out of a sci-fi flick.
The goal of the "hunter killer" project is to produce an aircraft suitable for hovering around for surveillance, which can then change shape and dash off to shoot at a target.
The idea originated after a Lockheed customer involved in the current conflict in Iraq said he was interested in a drone that could zip in quickly enough to neutralize a target before it disappeared.
That intrigued engineers at Lockheed Martin’s famed research and development unit, known as the "Skunk Works," and within months they had developed a Morphing UAV…
So far, the concept is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, an arm of the Defense Department, as part of a Morphing Aircraft Structures Program that began in 2003…
Skunk Works hopes to take the concept even further and is working on ways to launch the UAV from the missile silos of decommissioned Trident subs.
This idea involves shooting the UAV out of the silo to do its mission and then having it dive into the water to return to the submarine for reloading.
DARPA is also funding this aspect of the Morphing UAV program with U.S. Navy support. Testing should begin in six to nine months…
Source: Kate Fairbank, "Lockheed tests a folding plane," Dallas Morning News (14 June 2005).