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DARPA’s New X-Plane Aims To Maneuver With Nothing But Bursts Of Air
Citat:Being able to eliminate traditional moving control surfaces could fundamentally change how planes, especially stealthy ones, are designed.
The design that Aurora ultimately settled on was more along the lines of a conventional plane. However, it has a so-called Co-Planar Joined Wing (CJW) planform consisting of two sets of wings attached to a single center fuselage that merge together at the tips, along with a twin vertical tail arrangement. As currently designed, the drone will use "banks" of nozzles installed at various points on the wings to maneuver in the air.
The aircraft's main engine arrangement is not entirely clear. An chin air intake under the forward fuselage together with a single exhaust nozzle at the rear seen in official concept art and on wind tunnel models would seem to point to a plan to power the aircraft with a single jet engine.
It's also unclear whether the aircraft's main propulsion system or some kind of auxiliary power source is expected to generate the pressurized air necessary for the AFC nozzle banks to function. Concept art DARPA has released appears to show a separate intake on top of the nose and a smaller exhaust on top of the mid-section of the fuselage that might be tied to the AFC system.
Interestingly, Aurora's design "is configured to be a modular testbed featuring replaceable outboard wings and swappable AFC effectors. The modular design allows for testing of not only Aurora’s AFC effectors but also AFC effectors of various other designs," a company press release issued in December 2022 said. "By expanding testing capabilities beyond Aurora-designed components, the program further advances its goal to provide the confidence needed for future aircraft requirements, both military and commercial, to include AFC-enabled capabilities."
Aurora has already done significant wind tunnel testing of subscale models with representative AFC components as part of CRANE's Phase 1. The company, along with Lockheed Martin, was chosen to proceed to that phase of the program in 2021.
"Using a 25% scale model, Aurora conducted tests over four weeks at a wind tunnel facility in San Diego, California. In addition to 11 movable conventional control surfaces, the model featured 14 AFC banks with eight fully independent controllable AFC air supply channels," according to a press release the company put out in May 2022. "Over 14,000 data points were collected, including 8,860 AFC control power points, forming the foundation for a flight-quality aerodynamic database to enable rapid execution in future program phases."
If DARPA proceeds into Phase 3 of the CRANE program, Aurora will then build the full 7,000-pound prototype, which the company also says is expected to have a 30-foot wingspan and be able to reach speeds of up to Mach 0.7. Flight testing could begin as early as 2025.
If the CRANE X-plane design proves viable and turns into an actual airworthy aircraft, it could have important ramifications for future aircraft development writ large. The ability to eliminate the need for moving control surfaces could lead to fundamental changes in how any plane might be developed going forward.
Getting rid of traditional control surfaces inherently allows for a design to be more aerodynamic, and therefore fly in a more efficient manner, especially at higher altitudes. An aircraft with an AFC system doesn't need the various actuators and other components to move things like ailerons and rudders, offering new ways to reduce weight and bulk.
A lighter and more streamlined aircraft design using an AFC system might be capable of greater maneuverability. This could be particularly true for uncrewed types that also do not have to worry about the physical limitations of a pilot.
The elimination of so many moving parts also means fewer things that can break, improving safety and reliability. This would do away with various maintenance and logistics requirements, too. It might make a military design more resilient to battle damage and easier to fix, as well.
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