Nichols Martin
Boeing‘s Aurora Flight Sciences subsidiary, Lockheed Martin and Georgia Tech Research Corp. have received separate contracts from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to explore active flow control approaches for X-plane development.
All three contractors will aim to provide conceptual AFC designs for phase 0 of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors program, DARPA said Monday.
The agency defines AFC as a technology that uses energy to actively manage an aircraft’s aerodynamic activity. CRANE will explore this approach with the exclusion of already-tested techniques such as those that rely on traditional control tools.
“AFC has been explored at a component level, but not as an integral piece of aircraft design,” said Alexander Walan, a DARPA program manager.
“By altering the design approach, CRANE seeks to maximize the chance of a successful X-plane development while also integrating AFC into the aircraft’s stability and control,” he added.
