Posted on 06/05/2024 12:59:30 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Airbus Wingman concept
Bringing some flash to military aviation, Airbus is showing off its Wingman drone concept this week at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. The 1:1 scale mock-up is the aerospace equivalent of a "show car" for highlighting ideas.
Trade shows like the ILA that runs through June 9 are not only an opportunity for salespeople to fatten up their order books, they're also a chance for companies to give potential customers an exclusive look at future products before the general public gets to know about them. Not only that, these sneak peaks allow engineers to let their hair down and their imaginations run a bit ahead of reality.
[SNIP]
The purpose of the Airbus Wingman, as with similar projects, is to fundamentally transform how fighter planes and other combat aircraft operate. Instead of acting independently or as part of a squadron of crewed aircraft, the Wingman allows fighter pilots to act less like dog-fighters and more like mission commanders, as the drones operate as integrated network nodes and take over many tasks, including reconnaissance, electronic warfare, attacking enemy targets, and generally taking risks rather than putting a person in peril. However, Airbus emphasizes that the decision to fire the Wingman's weapons will always be made by a human.
According to Airbus, the concept Wingman is designed for stealth, the ability to carry a variety of armaments like precision guided munitions or missiles, incorporate advanced sensors, and have a high level of connectivity and the ability to operate with other platforms to form a single functioning unit.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
AVIATION PING!.................
Arnold did it in:
“The Sixth Day”
Clint Eastwood did it in “Firefox”.................
Maybe for the foreseeable future, but not beyond that...
WTF, don’t most “stealth” drones have a dorsal inlet???
Maybe the pic is upside down?........................
...and Steven Seagal got sucked out of....
That’s pretty cool
Outside of active combat/war, it will probably always operate that way.
But I think even in the near term, the pilot/operator will be able to simply tell the drone who/what to engage, and leave the rest to AI. Soon after that, the AI will be autonomous to follow global/mission specific tactics and rules of engagement without operator input. There will certainly be a wave-off function in case the operator detects a situation that requires breaking an engagement.
In combat, having to operate a wingman drone would be far too distracting for a pilot. A shore/ship/AWACS based operator will likely be the "human in the loop".
Seems like a good broadband jammer will mix this brilliance—autonomous only goes so far.
could be...
could be...
So. It’s either Drone Maser or AWACS - or both.
Boeing’s failed entry for the JSF contract, the X-32, had a similar inlet configuration.
only because there was a man in it, and stealth? wi a gaping maw like that facing the beam???
i guess maybe...
Great points - the above was my favorite - you're right on about this...
I think I’ve seen that design before.
Give me a second... Sometimes I walk into a room and forget why I’m there. I eventually figure it out.
Klingon bird of prey.
Tried to buy one... No go, the damn BATF wouldn’t license it.
5.56mm
Kurt Russell should have gone with the blonde woman at the party
Too bad about Marla
Because fighter type aircraft who are expected to make high-g maneuvers reach high angles of attack when doing so. A dorsal mounted inlet would be starved of air and could cause a compressor stall.
Stealthy aircraft that aren't expected to make high-g maneuvers do use dorsal air inlets, such as the original stealth demonstrator Have Blue, and the B2 and B21 bombers.
The North American F-107 had a dorsal intake, and the pilots feared (needlessly) that if they ejected they would be sucked into the engine.
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