Message posted by Smythers (Member since 04/27/2023) on August 17, 2023 at 15:53:50 PST:
“The key to this design is [a] heavy fuel engine, driving very efficient generators and motors. And that way we can get fairly low [fan] speeds, get really good efficiency,” Alexander said. “So, this is game changer right here. This is a low-pressure ratio fan, so it’s a little tricky and we got to be careful with it. But we believe once we nail this, get the thrust out of it and installed weight, then that’ll drive that aircraft” to new lengths. Specifically, Alexander said, the company expects the stealthy MQ-Next design to have 60 hours endurance, without needing to be refueled — a long-distance, long-on-station capability that he specifically noted would “help you cover the South China Sea.” In addition, the design should be able to take off from a 3,000 foot rough runway, meaning if it does need refueling, it could do so at the kind of small bases being looked at under the Air Force’s agile combat employment concept. The mission set, Alexander summed up, is “in contested, in a stealthy required environment, with no dependence on in-flight refueling while addressing the tyranny of distance in the South China Sea.”
Alexander showed a graphic depicting the engine for the stealthy next-generation design. There are ducted fans buried inside the fuselage, with what he called “serpentine” inlets and exhausts — in essence, the ducts are twisted inside the aircraft in order to make sure the engine fans aren’t visible, and so won’t raise the RF signature. “If you were trying to look up the tailpipe, [you] couldn’t see it,” he said.
In Reply to: Where oh where did the Great Horned Owl fly off to? posted by Smythers on August 17, 2023 at 15:46:34 PST:
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