Engineering:Lockheed Martin X-56

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X-56
Lockheed Martin X-56A.jpg
Rendering of the X-56A in flight
Role Experimental aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin Skunk Works
First flight 26 July 2013
Primary users NASA
Air Force Research Laboratory
Number built 2

The Lockheed Martin X-56 is an American modular unmanned aerial vehicle that is being designed to explore High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) flight technologies for use in future military unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

Design and development

Designed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, known informally as the Skunk Works,[1] the aircraft was first revealed by Aviation Week,[2] and is intended to research active flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation technologies. The X-56A is based on Lockheed's earlier UAV work, showing influence from the Polecat, Sentinel and DarkStar UAVs. The program calls for the construction of two 7.5 feet (2.3 m)-long fuselages and a wingspan of 27.5 ft,[3] with four sets of wings being constructed for flight testing.[4]

Operational history

The X-56A first flew on 26 July 2013,[5] flying from Edwards Air Force Base; twenty flights were to be flown on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory before the aircraft would be handed over to NASA for further testing.[6]

The first X-56A unmanned aircraft was severely damaged in a crash shortly after takeoff from the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, California, on 19 November 2015, on its first flexible-wing flight to test active flutter suppression. The aircraft had previously made 16 flights with stiff wings to prove its operating envelope.[7]

The second X-56A unmanned aircraft flew for the first time on 9 April 2015 while under operation by NASA.[8] The aircraft flew eight flights with the stiff wings to clear its operating envelope.[9] The vehicle then completed its first flight with the highly flexible wings on 31 August 2017.[10]

One instability mode, body freedom flutter, was shown to be actively suppressed by the digital flight control at 110 kn (200 km/h), within its normal flight envelope. Slender, flexible and lighter low-drag wings would be enabled by flutter suppression.[11]

NASA’s X-56B unmanned air vehicle was destroyed in a crash on 9 July 2021 after suffering an “anomaly in flight”.[12]

Specifications (X-56A)

Data from [5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1 (flown by remote control from ground-based console)
  • Length: 7.5 ft (2.3 m)
  • Wingspan: 27.5 ft (8.4 m)
  • Powerplant: 2 × Jetcat P400 turbojets, 88.7 lbf (0.395 kN) thrust each

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 138.1 mph (222.3 km/h, 120.0 kn)

See also

Related lists

References

  1. ↑ "Introducing the X-56A MUTT: Who Let the Dog Out?". NASA. 6 March 2012. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/x-56a_mutt.html. 
  2. ↑ Norris, Guy. "USAF Reveals Skunk Works-Designed X-56A As Latest X-Plane". aviationweek. http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_02_01_2012_p01-02-419766.xml. 
  3. ↑ "Lockheed Martin X-56A Multi-utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator". www.hitechweb.genezis.eu. http://www.hitechweb.genezis.eu/x56.htm. 
  4. ↑ X-56A Testbed Arrives At NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center 17 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jordan, Holly (31 July 2013). "X-56A technology demonstrator achieves first flight". Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: Air Force Research Laboratory. http://www.wpafb.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123358028. 
  6. ↑ Warwick, Graham (6 August 2013). "Skunk Works' X-56A - Taming Flutter". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7&plckPostId=Blog%3A27ec4a53-dcc8-42d0-bd3a-01329aef79a7Post%3Ae01821a0-29c8-429b-9717-93375d16d0b2. 
  7. ↑ "The Week in Technology, Nov. 23-27, 2015". Aviation Week. November 23, 2015. http://aviationweek.com/technology/week-technology-nov-23-27-2015?NL=AW-19&Issue=AW-19_20151123_AW-19_67&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_4&elq2=b200a7022cf0466b83dafdf79c09b59b. 
  8. ↑ Conner, Monroe (2015-04-14). "Second MUTT takes to the sky" (in en). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/Features/X-56A_2_first_flight.html. 
  9. ↑ Conner, Monroe (2015-04-02). "X-56A Multi-Use Technology Testbed" (in en). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/research/X-56/index.html. 
  10. ↑ Levine, Jay (October 20, 2017). "Highly Flexible Wings Tested" (in en). https://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/features/highly_flexible_wings_tested.html. 
  11. ↑ Graham Warwick (Nov 1, 2018). "NASA's X-56 Demos Flutter Suppression Flexible Wing". Aviation Week & Space Technology. http://aviationweek.com/future-aerospace/nasa-s-x-56-demos-flutter-suppression-flexible-wing. 
  12. ↑ Garrett Reim (Jul 9, 2021). "NASA's X-56B unmanned air vehicle was destroyed". Flight Global. https://www.flightglobal.com/military-uavs/nasas-x-56b-uav-destroyed-in-crash-on-9-july/144554.article. 

External links



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