DARPA's New X-Plane to Make Leaps in Aerospace Tech

DARPA has a new program, Ancillary, and they hope it will develop and demonstrate new technologies that promise to leap VTOLs, vertical takeoff and landing vehicles, forward. Ancillary, which stands for AdvaNced airCraft Infrastructure-Less Launch And RecoverY X-Plane program (it's a loose acronym) wants to build a plane that can launch from any environment or ship flight deck, in any weather conditions, without any launch or recovery equipment, like the typical ground support equipment aircraft typically require.