DARPA's New X-Plane Aims To Maneuver With Nothing But Bursts Of Air

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DARPA’s New X-Plane Aims To Maneuver With Nothing But Bursts Of Air

Being able to eliminate traditional moving control surfaces could fundamentally change how planes, especially stealthy ones, are designed.

By Joseph Trevithick

Published

Jan 18, 2023 1:10 PM EST

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has moved into the next phase of its Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors program, or CRANE. The project is centered on an experimental uncrewed aircraft, which Aurora Flight Sciences is developing, that does not have traditional moving surfaces to control the aircraft in flight.

Aurora Flight Sciences’ CRANE design, which does not yet have an official X-plane designation or nickname, instead uses an active flow control (AFC) system to maneuver the aircraft using bursts of highly pressurized air. This technology could eventually find its way onto other military and civilian designs. It could have particularly significant implications when applied to future stealth aircraft.

A subscale wind tunnel model of Aurora Flight Sciences’ CRANE X-plane design. Aurora Flight Sciences

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) issued a press release regarding the last developments in the CRANE program yesterday. Aurora Flight Sciences, a subsidiary of Boeing, announced it had received a Phase 2 contract to continue work on this project back on December 12, 2022.

"Phase 2 will focus on detailed design and development of flight software and controls, culminating in a critical design review of an X-plane demonstrator that can fly without traditional moving flight controls on the exterior of the wings and tail," according to DARPA. "The contract includes a Phase 3 option in which DARPA intends to fly a 7,000-pound X-plane that addresses the two primary technical hurdles of incorporation of AFC into a full-scale aircraft and reliance on it for controlled flight."

Aurora was among four companies hired to conduct initial CRANE-related design studies in 2020 and 2021 as part of the program’s Phase 0. The company explored multiple designs, including tilt-rotor types inspired by the Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey and another vertical takeoff and landing capable aircraft with lift fans built into its wings. A modified version of Boeing’s X-48C blended wing body demonstrator was also considered, among others.

A briefing slide showing various Aurora Flight Sciences design concepts and other physical and digital modeling done as part of the CRANE program’s Phase 0. DARPA

The design that Aurora ultimately settled on was more along the lines of a conventional plane. However, it has a so-called Co-Planar Joined Wing (CJW) planform consisting of two sets of wings attached to a single center fuselage that merge together at the tips, along with a twin vertical tail arrangement. As currently designed, the drone will use "banks" of nozzles installed at various points on the wings to maneuver in the air.

A wind tunnel model of one of Aurora Flight Sciences’ initial CRANE concepts with a joined wing. Aurora Flight Sciences

A wind tunnel model showing a more recent evolution of Aurora Flight Sciences’ CRANE X-plane design. Aurora Flight Sciences

The aircraft’s main engine arrangement is not entirely clear. An chin air intake under the forward fuselage together with a single exhaust nozzle at the rear seen in official concept art and on wind tunnel models would seem to point to a plan to power the aircraft with a single jet engine.

A view of a wind tunnel model that Aurora Flight Sciences has been using as part of the development of its CRANE X-plane showing the air intake under the fuselage. Aurora Flight Sciences

What appears to be a single rear exhaust nozzle is seen in this close-up of a DARPA rendering of Aurora Flight Sciences’ CRANE X-plane design. DARPA

It’s also unclear whether the aircraft’s main propulsion system, or some kind of auxiliary power source, is expected to generate the pressurized air necessary for the AFC nozzle banks to function. Concept art DARPA has released appears to...