The X-Plane revealed: US military concepts that can fly like a plane and hover like a helicopter
Four companies have been chosen to develop concepts
A winner is expected to be chosen in 2015 - with the first test flights scheduled for 2017
Will be able to fly as fast as a conventional plane, but land anywhere like a helicopter
By MARK PRIGG
The US Military has revealed plans for a radical new type of military aircraft - which can take off and land like a helicopter, but fly like a plane.
Called the VTOL X-Plane, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded four firms contracts to develop concept planes.
It is hoped they will begin flight tests in 2017, and be able to fly as fast as a conventional plane, but also land anywhere like a helicopter.
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Phantom Swift, built by Boeing, features two large lift fans ¿ inside the fuselage ¿ that provide efficient vertical lift. Once the aircraft transitions to cruise mode, the fans are covered. It also features smaller ducted fans on the wingtips that provide forward thrust, and provide additional lift and control in hover.
WHAT CAN THEY DO?
Although final specification shave not been decided, Darpa says the concepts will:
Achieve a top sustained flight speed of 300 kt-400 kt
Raise aircraft hover efficiency from 60 percent to at least 75 percent
Present a more favorable cruise lift-to-drag ratio of at least 10, up from 5-6
Carry a useful load of at least 40 percent of the vehicle’s projected gross weight of 10,000-12,000 pounds
'For generations, new designs for vertical takeoff and landing aircraft have remained unable to increase top speed without sacrificing range, efficiency or the ability to do useful work,' the agency said.
'DARPA’s VTOL Experimental Plane (VTOL X-Plane) program seeks to overcome these challenges through innovative cross-pollination between the fixed-wing and rotary-wing worlds, to enable radical improvements in vertical and cruise flight capabilities.'
Darpa has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1 of VTOL X-Plane to four companies: Aurora Flight Sciences Corporation, The Boeing Company Karem Aircraft, and the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.
'We were looking for different approaches to solve this extremely challenging problem, and we got them,' said Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager.
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'The proposals we’ve chosen aim to create new technologies and incorporate existing ones that VTOL designs so far have not succeeded in developing.
'We’re eager to see if the performers can integrate their ideas into designs that could potentially achieve the performance goals we’ve set.'
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Karem Aircraft's VTOL X-Plane Concept was also selected to progress to the next stage.
The next major milestone for VTOL X-Plane is scheduled for late 2015, when the four performers are required to submit preliminary designs. At that point, DARPA plans to review the designs to decide which to build as a technology demonstrator, with the goal of performing flight tests in the 2017-18 timeframe.
'Proving these capabilities in a single aircraft has been the holy grail for tactical military aviation," said Dan Newman, Boeing Phantom Works Advanced Vertical Lift capture team lead.
It's Phantom Swift was one of the four designs chosen.
'We're confident that Phantom Swift could be the solution.'
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The Sikorsky VTOL X-Plane Concept which integrates ¿fixed wing aerodynamics and advanced rotor control to provide a low complexity configuration capable of meeting the challenging DARPA program goals.' The company expects it will first fly in the fourth quarter of 201.
Through a $17 million agreement with DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, Boeing intends to continue developing its technology for an aircraft that takes off and lands vertically, hovers and efficiently flies at speeds up to 400 knots.
'Designing an aircraft to perform a vertical takeoff, while maintaining adequate low-speed control, is challenging.
'Sustaining efficient hover is also difficult, and adding a high cruising speed is even more challenging,' Newman added.
After a 22-month effort involving several competitors, Darpa plans to select a model for fabrication and flight demonstration.
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DARPA has awarded prime contracts for Phase 1 of VTOL X-Plane to four companies: Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing, Karem Aircraft and Sikorsky. Three of the four¿Boeing (top), Karem Aircraft (middle) and Sikorsky (bottom)
Phantom Swift features two large lift fans – inside the fuselage – that provide efficient vertical lift. Once the aircraft transitions to cruise mode, the fans are covered.
It also features smaller ducted fans on the wingtips that provide forward thrust, and provide additional lift and control in hover.
Last year, Phantom Works used rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing techniques, such as 3-dimensional printing, to quickly design, build and fly a scaled-down Phantom Swift.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2586576/The-X-Plane-revealed-UU-military-concepts-fly-like-plane-hover-like-helicopter.html#ixzz2wl4E1Io0
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