Politico reports that Lockheed Martin and Aurora Flight Sciences “have been tapped by DARPA for the next design phase for an aircraft using ‘active flow control,’ which replaces traditional features such as rudders and flaps with actuators or effectors.” Both companies have already “completed conceptual designs of a flight demonstrator for the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors project.” DARPA also announced that it has “selected BAE Systems to develop a conceptual design.” Lockheed Martin and Aurora, a subsidiary of Boeing, are “expected to wrap up work next year, when DARPA will award an undetermined number of contracts for continued development.”
Full Story (Politico)
Tag: aircraft
Fewer Planes Ending Up as Scrap Despite Pandemic’s Grounding of Thousands of Aircraft
The Wall Street Journal reported that when the pandemic started affecting air travel last year, thousands of aircraft were grounded in storage lots around the world, but instead of ending up as scrap, many older planes are set to return to service, with owners scrapping 15% fewer planes in 2020 compared to 2019, according to Cirium. Furthermore, the number of scrap aircraft in 2021 so far is down 30% from 2020.
Full Story (Wall Street Journal)
Five Companies to Participate in Armed Overwatch Demonstration
National Defense Magazine reports that the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) “will soon put five industry offerings through their paces as it searches for a new ‘Armed Overwatch’ aircraft to support commandos.” The command “wants a new platform to replace its U-28A Draco manned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane. On May 14, SOCOM announced that it had awarded contracts totaling $19.2 million to industry teams competing for the program.” The industry teams are scheduled to demonstrate their platforms June 14-July 23 from Elgin Air Force Base.
Full Story (National Defense Magazine)