The Rockwell/MBB X-31 was a joint experimental aircraft developed in the late 1980s by the United States and Germany to demonstrate advanced thrust vectoring technology and extreme maneuverability for future fighter designs. The X-31 featured canards and a three-paddle vectoring exhaust system that allowed it to safely perform maneuvers that would normally cause conventional fighters to stall. Two X-31 aircraft completed hundreds of research flights, evaluating post-stall maneuverability and influencing next-generation fighter design. The program concluded in the mid-1990s after successfully proving that thrust vectoring could dramatically expand a fighter’s maneuvering envelope