Horten Ho-IX

The Horten Ho-IX was a late-World War II prototype flying wing fighter/bomber, designed by Reimar and Walter Horten and built by Gothaer Waggonfabrik. The flying wing layout, a wing-only configuration, removes any "unneeded" surfaces and leads to the lowest possible drag.
In 1943, Reichsmarschall Göring issued a request for design proposals to produce a bomber that was capable of carrying a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) load over 1,000 km (620 mi) at 1,000 km/h (620 mph); the so called 3X1000 project. The Hortens felt that the low-drag flying wing design could meet all of the goals. They put forward their private (and jealously guarded) project, the Ho IX, as the basis for the bomber.
The Government Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) approved the Horten proposal. The first Ho IX V1, which was an unpowered glider, flew on 1 March 1944. It was followed in December 1944 by the Jumo 004-powered Ho IX V2. Göring believed in the design and ordered a production series of 40 aircraft at Gotha with the RLM designation Ho 229 before it had taken to the air under jet power. On 12 March 1945, Ho 229 was included into the Jäger-Notprogramm for accelerated production of inexpensive "wonder weapons."
During the final stages of the war, the US military initiated Operation Paperclip which was an effort by the various intelligence agencies to capture advanced German weapons research, and to deny that research to advancing Soviet troops. A Horten glider and the Ho 229 V3, which was undergoing final assembly, were secured and sent to Northrop Corporation in the United States for evaluation.