Although the search for more efficient strategic airlift, including air refueling capability, provided the initial impetus for the HWB, the recently completed analysis points to the potential for a broader family of variously sized span loader aircraft. The result “has a lot of people at Lockheed pretty excited,” says Skunk Works HWB aerodynamics lead Andrew Wick. “Because we retaining an essentially traditional cargo shell, the configuration is pretty scalable.”
Under a NASA contract Lockheed Martin looked at scaling down the current strategic airlifter-size HWB to Boeing 757 or C-130 size. “We were able to retain a lot of the same advantages at the smaller scale and design what would be basically be a C-130 replacement that has a 98% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. That is almost twice the aerodynamic efficiency of the C-130 and 20% better than the 757,” says Wick. Results indicate that “when you couple that with the 757 mission you get a vehicle with almost twice the payload and yet is the same size as the C-130,” he adds.
The configuration is targeted at next-generation airlifters, aerial tankers and commercial bulk-cargo freighters. “Of the three, probably the most exciting is the tanker,” says Wick. “For the first time ever we have a mobility aircraft with better aerodynamic efficiency than the current tankers. That means we have the ability to have one aircraft do both roles.” Given these advantages, Wick adds, “I can say the next Lockheed transport is going to be HWB.”
Pretty soon we'll be looking at a Fokker 614 and calling it an HWB.
