Jan 6, 2023 12:57 AM
https://thedebrief.org/darpa-selects-boe...g-x-plane/
INTRO: The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has selected Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to design and possibly build a potentially game-changing X-plane. Part of the agency’s Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effecters (CRANE) program, the revolutionary X-plane would employ Active Flow Control (AFC) instead of conventional control surfaces to maneuver the craft at ultra-fast speeds.
If successful, the new X-plane could completely change the way high-speed aircraft fly by combining the simplicity and stability of AFC to improve overall reliability and performance while offering a lower radar cross-section.
In conventional fixed-wing aircraft, steering and altitude control are accomplished via moving control surfaces like ailerons, flaps, and tail rudders. Some highly advanced military aircraft employ thrust vectoring to aid in steering and maneuverability. However, even those revolutionary designs still use conventional control surfaces for the majority of in-flight maneuvering.
More recently, DARPA has begun testing and evaluating active AFC systems to eliminate traditional flaps and other controls and replace them with specialized effectors and actuators. These systems typically work by altering the aircraft’s aerodynamic flow via the manipulation of mechanical actuators, effectively morphing the shape of the wing, or by the ejection or suction of pressurized air on a wing, fuselage, inlet, or nozzle. These novel components are intended to greatly reduce or even eliminate the moving parts required in traditional control surfaces to improve an aircraft’s overall function and reliability while simultaneously reducing its radar cross-section.
Now, DARPA has tasked Aurora with finishing the final design of a full-sized, fully functional X-plane that employs their successfully tested AFC, with the long-term goal of the company building and flying an actual AFC-equipped X-plane... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/9gh1cPM-8LI
INTRO: The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has selected Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to design and possibly build a potentially game-changing X-plane. Part of the agency’s Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effecters (CRANE) program, the revolutionary X-plane would employ Active Flow Control (AFC) instead of conventional control surfaces to maneuver the craft at ultra-fast speeds.
If successful, the new X-plane could completely change the way high-speed aircraft fly by combining the simplicity and stability of AFC to improve overall reliability and performance while offering a lower radar cross-section.
In conventional fixed-wing aircraft, steering and altitude control are accomplished via moving control surfaces like ailerons, flaps, and tail rudders. Some highly advanced military aircraft employ thrust vectoring to aid in steering and maneuverability. However, even those revolutionary designs still use conventional control surfaces for the majority of in-flight maneuvering.
More recently, DARPA has begun testing and evaluating active AFC systems to eliminate traditional flaps and other controls and replace them with specialized effectors and actuators. These systems typically work by altering the aircraft’s aerodynamic flow via the manipulation of mechanical actuators, effectively morphing the shape of the wing, or by the ejection or suction of pressurized air on a wing, fuselage, inlet, or nozzle. These novel components are intended to greatly reduce or even eliminate the moving parts required in traditional control surfaces to improve an aircraft’s overall function and reliability while simultaneously reducing its radar cross-section.
Now, DARPA has tasked Aurora with finishing the final design of a full-sized, fully functional X-plane that employs their successfully tested AFC, with the long-term goal of the company building and flying an actual AFC-equipped X-plane... (MORE - details)
https://youtu.be/9gh1cPM-8LI