USAF/US NAVY 6G Fighter Programs - F/A-XX, F-X, NGAD, PCA, ASFS news

[Training_Dummy]

Taking a step back, I wonder if the hesitation/change of direction might be due to new intelligence. I say this because none of the other factors brought up are really new. Perhaps China's space based sensing is further along than was thought, or they are on the verge of a new capability in some area.

It most certainly is a factor and if it isn’t an issue today it will be in the short to medium term. If you go nuts, and spot them persistent high quality tracking of surface ships and aircraft, then hypersonic ships are really the way to go. Unmanned obviously. Sorry Mav.

 

[quellish]

I think the speed that the Pacific is traversed may be the really expensive option that is tripping this whole thing up. Whatever the stealth option they use, be it the F35 generation, or something newer, the RCS is going to change significantly as the temperature from high speed runs get the airframe really toasty. The F35 already had a problem with hot fuel. Are they going to have to cryo cool the NGAD fuel to soak up some of that heat?

As part of a hypersonic program Lockheed developed the ability to 3d print structures that efficiently used hydrocarbon fuel to chill and density incoming supersonic air in an inlet.

It would be reasonable to conclude the same methods were used to embed “capillaries” into the structure of a supersonic aircraft to control the skin temperature and boundary layer.

 

[sublight_]

As part of a hypersonic program Lockheed developed the ability to 3d print structures that efficiently used hydrocarbon fuel to chill and density incoming supersonic air in an inlet.

It would be reasonable to conclude the same methods were used to embed “capillaries” into the structure of a supersonic aircraft to control the skin temperature and boundary layer.

And boy oh boy does that sound pricey!

 

[Explorer121]

And boy oh boy does that sound pricey!

According to reports about similar technology in the Mako hypersonic missile, the price is lower than the subtractive machining cost, with weight gains and more tunable material properties. The American aerospace industry is quietly investing millions of dollars in micron and nano-scale precision metal and resin 3d printing for large parts. It'll be interesting to see the next generation of aerospace vehicles as they integrate more generative design and additive-only design elements, like embedded systems in structural components.

 

[Forest Green]

General Atomics could fly first CCA prototype in mid-2025: Aeronautics president - Breaking Defense

“We’re not just designing another stunt. We’re designing something you can go into full rate production on,” said David Alexander, president of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

breakingdefense.com

 

[Josh_TN]

And boy oh boy does that sound pricey!

If you can 3D print the whole structure it is not nearly as complicated to make. HAWC is said to work this way: the combustor is 3D printed so all the intricate channels for fuel to be pumped as a coolant (and also use the heat to crack the fuel into lighter hydrocarbons) are created as the assembly is printed. X-51 apparently had to machine all of this; now THAT sounds incredibly complicated.

 

[Explorer121]

If you can 3D print the whole structure it is not nearly as complicated to make. HAWC is said to work this way: the combustor is 3D printed so all the intricate channels for fuel to be pumped as a coolant (and also use the heat to crack the fuel into lighter hydrocarbons) are created as the assembly is printed. X-51 apparently had to machine all of this; now THAT sounds incredibly complicated.

The other side of the equation is that the X-51 had to use CFD on computers that predate Windows XP, to say nothing about the computational materials science revolution at the turn of the century that the HyTECH program never took advantage of

 

[FlyGuy369]

A general electric patent that appears to show how a three stream engine is used is a SERN assembly like that seen on the Northrop patent.

US8984891B2 - Flade discharge in 2-D exhaust nozzle - Google Patents

An aircraft gas turbine engine has a row of FLADE fan blades disposed radially outwardly of and drivingly connected to a fan in the engine's fan section. The FLADE fan blades extend across a FLADE duct circumscribing the fan section. A two dimensional air discharge passage is in fluid flow...

patents.google.com

 

[sublight_]

According to reports about similar technology in the Mako hypersonic missile, the price is lower than the subtractive machining cost, with weight gains and more tunable material properties. The American aerospace industry is quietly investing millions of dollars in micron and nano-scale precision metal and resin 3d printing for large parts. It'll be interesting to see the next generation of aerospace vehicles as they integrate more generative design and additive-only design elements, like embedded systems in structural components.

The Mako is not a 10,000+ hour airframe. Making a platform that lasts that many hours and doesn't cost a zillion dollars an hour to sustain is what is making attributable and unmanned platforms look really tasty right now.

 

[Grey Havoc]

One problem is, what will it's shelf life be like?

 

[NMaude]

X-51 apparently had to machine all of this; now THAT sounds incredibly complicated.

And incredibly expensive!

 

[Helicoprion]

X-51 apparently had to machine all of this; now THAT sounds incredibly complicated.

As a machinist in the aerospace industry, good god that would be an absolutely nightmarish experience to have to do that with a conventional subtractive machining approach. *shudder*

 

[Scott Kenny]

As a machinist in the aerospace industry, good god that would be an absolutely nightmarish experience to have to do that with a conventional subtractive machining approach. *shudder*

And then to weld the right channels closed so the fuel flows the right direction...

Ewwwwwwwww...