Flight tests of thrust-vectoring designs began in the early 1990s with airplanes like NASA’s modified F/A-18 and F-15, the Rockwell/MBB X-31, and a modified Air Force F-16. In 1994, the X-31 ...

Part of the NASA technology demonstrators, X-31 was designed to test thrust vectoring technology by using a delta wing, canards, and vectored thrust from the engine. Designed and built by Rockwell and ...