{"id":35998,"date":"2023-01-19T21:21:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T21:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2023\/01\/19\/darpa-takes-big-step-forward-on-x-plane-that-maneuvers-with-air-bursts\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:47:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:47:39","slug":"darpa-takes-big-step-forward-on-x-plane-that-maneuvers-with-air-bursts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/2023\/01\/19\/darpa-takes-big-step-forward-on-x-plane-that-maneuvers-with-air-bursts\/","title":{"rendered":"DARPA takes big step forward on X-plane that maneuvers with air bursts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/unmanned\/2021\/11\/05\/darpa-nabs-gremlin-drone-in-midair-for-first-time\/\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency<\/a> has taken a major step forward toward creating an experimental airplane that can be maneuvered without traditional ailerons or other mechanical devices, instead using short bursts of air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA announced Tuesday it had selected Aurora Flight Sciences to start detailed design of an aircraft that uses a technology called active flow control to direct it, as part of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors, or CRANE, program. Aurora is a subsidiary of Boeing headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, that specializes in developing advanced innovative designs for aircraft and uncrewed systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOver the past several decades, the active flow control community has made significant advancements that enable the integration of active flow control technologies into advanced aircraft,\u201d CRANE program manager Richard Wlezien said in a statement. \u201cWe are confident about completing the design and flight test of a demonstration aircraft with AFC as the primary design consideration. With a modular wing section and modular AFC effectors, the CRANE X-plane has the potential to live on as a national test asset long after the CRANE program has concluded.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A typical aircraft has mechanical components such as ailerons on its wings and a rudder and elevators on its tail that its pilot uses to control the plane\u2019s roll, pitch and yaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That general principle has remained largely unchanged and guided aircraft design for more than a century, former CRANE program manager Alexander Walan said in a November 2021 interview with Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But DARPA hopes the active flow control concept, if successful, could prompt a major rethinking of how planes are built and maneuver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Active flow control technology would use small bursts of air from a wing or other air foil surface to shift the aircraft\u2019s position or direction. The burst itself is not pushing the wings under this concept, he said, the way a spacecraft uses thrusters to nudge it into position in orbit or during re-entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead, an active flow control burst creates something of a speedbump that alters the way air flows over the wings, which then causes the aircraft to shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s very energy-efficient,\u201d Walan said. \u201cBecause I\u2019m using the natural way the air wants to move, I\u2019m injecting just a little bit of energy into it to get a big effect out of it. We\u2019re not actually pushing the vehicle with air, we\u2019re using it to tailor how the air is flowing over the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The aerospace community has considered this concept for at least three decades, he said, and tried laboratory experiments and some small-scale flight demonstrations. In 2015, NASA and Boeing teamed up to successfully fly a 757 aircraft modified with a vertical tail that used active flow control technology for increased aerodynamic efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So far, Walan said, no one has tried to control an entire airplane using this technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aurora-CRANE-1.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-117273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aurora-CRANE-1.jpg.jpg 800w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aurora-CRANE-1.jpg.jpg?resize=300,150 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aurora-CRANE-1.jpg.jpg?resize=768,384 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">If DARPA decides to move forward into the next phase, Aurora would build a full scale demonstrator with a 30-foot wingspan, and would aim to conduct flight tests in 2025. (Aurora Flight Sciences)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent years, he said, DARPA felt the technology \u2014 including supercomputers and advanced fluid dynamics tools, and drone aircraft that could make demonstrating active flow control much cheaper and safer than testing it on manned planes \u2014 had developed to a point where \u201cthe time was right to try to see if we could design an airplane around this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA also had to show this technology isn\u2019t just something that \u201csounds cool,\u201d he said, but could yield tangible benefits over the traditional system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its Tuesday statement, DARPA said this technology could improve how aircraft fly in several ways, including by eliminating moving surfaces to control the plane, reducing drag, thicker wings for structural efficiency and increased fuel capacity, and simplified systems to improve an aircraft\u2019s lift. Walan said in 2021 that it could also lead to lower costs and increased aircraft agility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA launched the CRANE program in 2019, and organizations such as Aurora, Lockheed Martin and the Georgia Tech Research Corporation took part in its earlier stages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aurora has now completed the project\u2019s Phase 1, a preliminary design phase that yielded what DARPA described as \u201can innovative testbed aircraft\u201d that successfully used active flow control in a wind tunnel test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aurora will now move into Phase 2 under the $42 million contract, where it will create a detailed engineering design for its plane and develop flight software and controls. This will end with a critical design review of an \u201cX-plane\u201d demonstrator, that will be able to fly without traditional moving flight controls on its wings or tail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">DARPA\u2019s award also has the option to move Aurora into Phase 3 of the program, in which it would build a full-scale, 7,000-pound uncrewed aircraft that relies on active flow control for DARPA to test fly. This test aircraft would have modular wing configurations that would allow DARPA or other organizations to easily swap in advanced technologies in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGiven all that we have learned about AFC and its application to tactical aircraft in prior phases of CRANE, the next step is to prove out these learnings in flight,\u201d Graham Drozeski, Aurora\u2019s vice president of government programs, said in a company statement. \u201cThe CRANE X-plane is designed specifically to explore the effectiveness of AFC technologies at mission relevant scale and Mach numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company said it would build this X-plane, which would have a wingspan of 30 feet, at its facilities in Virginia, West Virginia and Mississippi, and it would fly at up to Mach 0.7. Aurora hopes to conduct flight tests in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be many years \u2014 if ever \u2014 before this kind of technology lands in an Air Force plane or other military aircraft. Walan said in 2021 this is an experimental project intended to show whether this kind of innovative technology can work, not to improve something already in operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the concept does work, Walan said, it could be a \u201cdisruptive\u201d technology \u2014 and even upend how future aircraft are designed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBecause we\u2019re DARPA, we can kind of push the envelope a little bit,\u201d Walan said. \u201cI don\u2019t have to have a system out there that needs this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do on this program is open up the toolbox that airplane designers have, so future systems have new tools and new approaches they can take and consider,\u201d Walan continued. \u201cThis is really the art of the possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;We\u2019re not actually pushing the vehicle with air, we\u2019re using it to tailor how the air is flowing over the wing,\u201d the former CRANE program manager 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