Rockwell Collins is preparing to begin flying its damage-tolerant flight control algorithms onboard an operational unmanned air vehicle (UAV) following the latest round of flight testing under a Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract.
"The next step is to port the technology to an operational UAV, says Dave Vos, senior director of Rockwell Collins Control Technologies and Unmanned Aircraft Systems. "It will be out there in the operational world shortly." Vos would not say which platform will be used.
In the latest testing under the DARPA contract at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, Rockwell Collins subjected a subscale F/A-18 jet-powered model to increasingly severe levels of structural and control system damage, all of which resulted in controllable outcomes.
One of the flight tests involved ejecting 60% of the right wing, 30% of the right fin rudder and 30% of the right stabilizer. Despite the damage, the UAV remained steady in-flight and was able to land. Another flight test demonstrated the ability for the aircraft to continue to fly a fixed trajectory and land safely after the engine was turned off.
A final flight test involved ejecting 80% of the UAV's right wing. In that flight test, the UAV was also able to land safely. Previous testing had involved ejecting up to 60% of the wing. All flight tests included automatic take off and landing.
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Source: Flight Daily News
