Skunk Works X-Plane to Become World's First Digitally Certified Aircraft

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Skunk Works X-Plane to Become World's First Digitally Certified Aircraft


  Cesare


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  25 October 2024

The Lockheed Martin X-56 is a modular unmanned aerial vehicle designed to explore High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) flight technologies for future military unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

 

Design and development

 

The X-56A aircraft, developed by Lockheed Martin\'s Advanced Development Programs, also known as the Skunk Works, was first unveiled by Aviation Week. The purpose of this aircraft is to study active flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation technologies. The design of the X-56A is based on Lockheed\'s previous work with UAVs such as the Polecat, Sentinel, and DarkStar. The program involves building two fuselages, each 7.5 feet (2.3 m) in length, with a wingspan of 27.5 ft. Four sets of wings have been constructed for flight testing.

 

Operational history

 

The X-56A, initially developed under the Air Force Research Laboratory-sponsored Multi-Utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator (MAD) program as the Multi-Utility Technology Testbed (MUTT), represents an innovative modular unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The aircraft was designed to explore the realms of active flutter suppression and gust load alleviation, with its slender, lightweight, high-aspect-ratio wings engineered to optimise aircraft performance near the edge of the flight envelope.

 

The aircraft\'s first flight occurred in 2013, and since then, it has made substantial progress in flight control, demonstrating its capabilities in flutter prediction and suppression using its flexible, slender wings. These advancements have laid the groundwork for the future evolution of aircraft design.

 

Moreover, the pursuit of greater heights, distances, speeds, and efficiency has long been a driving force of aviation innovation. A significant challenge in this pursuit has been flutter, a potentially catastrophic dynamic interaction between an aircraft\'s structural elasticity and the aerodynamic forces acting upon it.

 

In response to this challenge, the Skunk Works® team embarked on a pioneering journey in 2005. Their efforts introduced a groundbreaking design methodology, demonstrating the ability to predict and control flutter behaviour with remarkable precision. Through the implementation of active control techniques, they achieved a 75 percent increase in Body Freedom Flutter (BFF) speed, a feat that was validated through a successful series of flight tests.

 

The X-56A unmanned aircraft\'s journey has been marked by notable milestones. The first aircraft in the series, despite having completed 16 flights with stiff wings, faced a crash shortly after takeoff during its first flexible-wing flight in 2015. However, the second X-56A unmanned aircraft, operated by NASA, completed eight flights with stiff wings before progressing to its first flight with highly flexible wings in 2017.

 

During testing, the digital flight control actively suppressed the body’s freedom flutter at 110 knots (200 km/h) within its normal flight envelope. This suppression would enable the use of slender, flexible, and lighter low-drag wings.

 

In conclusion, the X-56A\'s development and testing represent significant advancements at the forefront of aviation technology, setting the stage for transformative developments in aircraft design and performance.

 

Pioneering the Future with Flyer Øne

 

Istari Digital is pioneering new frontiers with Flyer Øne, a pioneering program designed to develop and certify a digital twin of an aircraft before the physical prototype is manufactured. This groundbreaking approach is poised to transform aircraft development by synchronising technological advancements with the rapid progress witnessed in software engineering.

 

In a recent development, Istari Digital and Skunk Works® accomplished a significant milestone by completing the Critical Design Review (CDR), indicating that the project is progressing as scheduled towards the initial digital flight release. This feat represents more than a mere technical accomplishment; it symbolises the enduring legacy of the United States Air Force in challenging the limitations of the physical world, now extended into the digital domain.

 

Istari Digital is pioneering new frontiers with Flyer Øne in the future development, certification, and evolution of aircraft. This project exemplifies a new frontier in aviation, where digital innovation propels tangible reality.