Flexible Wing Flight

Can anyone tell me how far back military experiments with Flapping
Flight go? I am interested in why Soaring flight is so rare in nature
but so popular with us? I've heard that the Wright Brothers patented
Wing Warping (Flapping) and never let anyone develop planes using Wing
Warping flight. Is that true? Does that explain why the designs up
until the time of the Wright Brothers were all Bird-like flapping
designs and after were all fixed wing soaring designs? Did the
military pursue Wing Warping on their own? What are the most current
developments in flexible wing flight and where are they being
developed. Thanks for your help.

Patrick Timony