Graham Warwick/FORT WORTH
LOCKHEEDMARTIN has added two key company-funded tests to its Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) concept-demonstrator programme. The proposed avionics architecture will be flight-tested in team member Northrop Grumman's BAC One-Eleven, and Lockheed Martin will build a full-scale high-fidelity pole model of its JSF to determine radar signature.
The two demonstrations were not included in Lockheed Martin's successful bid for one of two JSF concept-demonstrator contracts, and will be funded by industry, says Frank Kirkland, product manager for JSF technology maturation. The Co-operative Avionics Test Bed (CATB) and Signature Measurement Aircraft (SIGMA) are two of 16 technology demonstrations which the company is planning, to reduce JSF risk.
The CATB will be funded jointly by Lockheed Martin and team-member Northrop Grumman, with suppliers providing elements of the avionics for flight testing in the One-Eleven. These will include the Texas Instruments integrated-core processor and Northrop Grumman multi-function nose array, as well as the electronic-warfare, electro-optical and infra-red systems.
Modification of the One-Eleven will begin towards the end of 1998, with flight tests beginning in mid-1999, says Kirkland. The CATB will verify avionics functions and sensor fusion in a dynamic environment, and complement the avionics ground prototypes which will test the hardware and software in virtual environment.
The SIGMA pole model will be built late in the concept-demonstration programme so as to represent as closely as possible the JSF configuration. Lockheed Martin will propose that the engineering- and manufacturing-development programme begins in 2001. The model will be used as an engineering tool, Kirkland says, to look at issues such as balancing stealth with accessibility.
Although no pole model was required for the JSF concept-demonstrator phase, Lockheed Martin decided to build one based on its experience with the F-22. The F-22 had to be redesigned during development when it was discovered that panels added to improve accessibility had increased the radar signature. The SIGMA will be as detailed as possible, Kirkland says, and will include the nose array and other apertures.
Lockheed Martin plans 16 demonstrations of technologies which each promise to reduce JSF life-cycle costs by at least $1 billion. Some come under the JSF technology-maturation programme, with the results to be shared with rival JSF contractor Boeing. Others are unique demonstrations tailored to Lockheed Martin's JSF design. The latter include construction of a wing carry-through structure using advanced low-cost composite-manufacturing technology.
Source: Flight International
