Special systems considerations in conceptual aircraft design

Special operations air vehicle like military aircraft are often composed of special configurational items and mission equipment like variable sweep wing or radar systems. In conceptual aircraft design those systems are not always considered in particular. Further, for such equipment and systems only a very few data are available for the layout. Despite mass estimations also performance data like sensor range and electric or hydraulic power estimations drive the initial layout. This article presents an approach to consider the impact of some special systems like variable sweep wing and radar system layout on conceptual military aircraft design, if only very few data is available. The first section introduces the scene and the given lack of information. Section two describes the modeling approach and the data basis, while section three shows and discusses some modeling results. Section four resumes the achieved experiences and gives an outlook to the next steps. The studies have shown, that quite simple methods are suitable to get a first estimation about the impact of such systems on conceptual design, which allows for design decisions on conceptual level.

Subjects

Aircraft Design

FCAS

Fighter

Future Combat Air System

Military Aircraft

Radar Systems

Systems Integration

Variable Sweep Wing

DDC Class

629.1: Aviation

Options

Special systems considerations in conceptual aircraft design