Flying-wing design for stealthy UCAV indicates less ambitious airframe strategy by Dassault-led development team
The Dassault-led Neuron team will unveil a more conventional flying-wing design for its stealthy unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) at June's Paris air show.
The radically altered configuration, which closely resembles the shape of Boeing's X-45C UCAV, made its public debut in a photo exhibited by Neuron partner Saab during last month's Latin American Aero & Defense Show. A Dassault executive says the Saab photo is "very close" to the new design to be unveiled in Paris.
The flying-wing shape, which features a mid-fuselage-mounted engine inlet, indicates a less ambitious airframe design strategy by the Neuron team. Previous public images of the Neuron showed a stealthy airframe with sharply swept wings attached to the aft-fuselage and a front section extending well beyond the wing-attach points.
Saab marketing manager Per Borg says the Neuron team has long been debating the merits of both designs, but recently settled on the flying wing. The more adventurous design showed promise because it more easily supported the loading and off-loading of modular payloads, he adds. By contrast, the flying-wing design relies on better-known flight control laws, and is deemed the more practical option for the already ambitious demonstrator project.
Dassault is leading the six-nation Neuron development team of France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The UK, meanwhile, has aligned itself with the USA's Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems programme. The Neuron team aims to produce a demonstrator to fly after 2008.
STEPHEN TRIMBLE/RIO DE JANEIRO
Source: Flight International
