US Patent Issued to C.I.R.A. (CENTRO ITALIANO RICERCHE AEROSPAZIALI) on May 13 for "Hybrid inflatable aircraft of the unmanned type" (Italian Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 12 -- United States Patent no. 12,296,991, issued on May 13, was assigned to C.I.R.A. (CENTRO ITALIANO RICERCHE AEROSPAZIALI) (Capua, Italy).

"Hybrid inflatable aircraft of the unmanned type" was invented by Giuseppe Persechino (Capua, Italy), Vincenzo Rosario Baraniello (Capua, Italy) and Roberto Borsa (Capua, Italy).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A hybrid aircraft of the unmanned type configured for joint and optimized use of aerostatic and aerodynamic force has an inflatable body having an outer shell and a load-bearing structure inside the outer shell, the inflatable body being adapted to assume a closed wing operating configuration."

The patent was filed on Jan. 13,...