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+--- Thread: DARPA's wild X-65 CRANE aircraft. (/Thread-DARPA-s-wild-X-65-CRANE-aircraft)
DARPA's wild X-65 CRANE aircraft. - Kurokage - 01-04-2024
Quote:DARPA's wild X-65 CRANE aircraft aims for 1st flight in summer 2025https://www.space.com/darpa-crane-x-65-aircraft-aurora-flight-sciences
DARPA and Aurora Flight Sciences have begun building the first full-scale X-65 aircraft to demonstrate a new method of flight control that uses no external moving parts.
The X-65 is an experimental jet being developed by the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program overseen by DARPA, (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), the Pentagon's research and development agency. Since the first aircraft were invented, they have been controlled by moving surfaces such as rudders, flaps, elevators and ailerons.
The CRANE program aims to do away with these entirely and develop an aircraft controlled fully by jets of pressurized air that alter how the surrounding air flows over the aircraft while in flight.
I get a real Thunderbirds vibe from the look of the aircraft!
The first demonstrator will have both conventional moving control surfaces and what are known as active flow control (AFC) actuators, the jets of pressurized air to alter the flight surfaces. The demonstrator will have a 30ft wingspan and will feature a modular design, but I think most new miltiary aircraft are going for some sort of modular design these days.
