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Boeing JSF X-32 news

 
IL Serge Pod #31.01.2001 00:01
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Boeing JSF X-32A flies with loaded weapons bay

29 January 2001

http://defence-data.com/storypic/x32awpnsbay.jpg [not image]


Boeing has completed the Joint Strike Fighter X-32A concept demonstrator's flight test with a loaded internal weapons bay. In the test flights, the X-32A carried an instrumented AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile(AMRAAM) and a Joint Direct Attack Munition.

Test pilot Air Force Lt. Col. Edward Cabrera opened and cycled the X-32A's weapons bay doors as part of vibration and acoustic testing during the aircraft's 61st flight.

X-32A with open weaponsbay
"The tests were successful; the vibration and acoustics data validated our predictions that the environment inside the side-mounted weapons bays is excellent for weapons carriage and release," said Mike Heinz, Boeing vice president and JSF deputy programme manager. "This milestone is another positive step in reducing risk as we move closer to the next phase of the program."

Boeing designed its JSF with side-mounted weapons bays for both operational and supportability reasons.

"Side-mounted bays allow the pilot to open the bay away from enemy radar and drop a weapon without compromising the JSF's low observability and the pilot's safety," Heinz said. "Our design also benefits the ground crews by allowing eye-level access to the weapons bays for maintenance and weapons loading."

The operational JSF will be able to carry two air-to-ground weapons and two AMRAAMs internally as a baseline load, as well as a full range of other conventional weapons.

The second of the two JSF concept demonstrators, the X-32B, will demonstrate the company's direct-lift approach to the short-takeoff-and- vertical-landing requirements for the US Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. Earlier this month, the X-32B successfully completed low- and medium-speed taxi tests at Palmdale, Calif.

The Boeing-led One Team is competing with the Lockheed Martin-led team to build the JSF under a four-year US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps concept demonstration contract, while also defining the design for the operational JSF. A winner is scheduled to be selected later this year.


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IL Serge Pod #11.03.2001 22:22
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X-32B completes maximum-thrust STOVL engine runs

9 March 2001

http://defence-data.com/storypic/x32bstovltest.jpg [not image]

Boeing has completed maximum-thrust engine runs in the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) mode on its Joint Strike Fighter X-32B concept demonstrator.

Boeing lead STOVL test pilot Dennis O'Donoghue took the Pratt & Whitney F119-614 engine to maximum thrust over the Boeing engine run pit in Palmdale. During the engine runs, the test team, including Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, repeatedly redirected engine thrust from the aircraft's cruise nozzle to the lift nozzles and back again. The tests confirmed lift systems operations and verified system integrity.

"The successful tests demonstrated the ease in conversion between conventional and STOVL flight modes - a key advantage of the direct-lift configuration," said Katy Fleming, Boeing JSF system test director. "This was another important step in proving the low-risk aspect of our concept as we move toward the start of X-32B flight testing.

"Additionally, we demonstrated lift nozzle vectoring at high power, highlighting the operational flexibility of direct-lift."

To perform STOVL flight, the system closes the rear exhaust nozzle and redirects engine thrust downward through lift nozzles. For conventional flight the lift nozzles are closed and thrust flows rearward through the two-dimensional thrust-vectoring cruise nozzle - the same as in the X-32A - to propel the aircraft forward and to supersonic speeds. Afterburner is not used in STOVL flight.

The capability to vector the lift nozzles at high power settings quickly will enable the JSF to make rapid transitions to and from wingborne flight and hover. In breaking with the old way of doing business, Boeing will demonstrate X-32B vertical lift with a transition to hover from wingborne flight, rather than the old method of progressing from tethered hovers to a free-air hover.

Boeing plans to demonstrate transitions during X-32B flight test, before performing vertical landings.

"We have a high degree of confidence in our ability to hover and execute vertical landings based on modelling data and simulations, as well as results from engine runs on the test stand," Fleming said.

The X-32B will demonstrate the company's direct-lift approach to the STOVL requirements for the US Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.


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IL Serge Pod #23.03.2001 15:27
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Boeing completes final JSF X-32B flight-certification tests

23 March 2001

Boeing has cleared the last ground-test hurdle for flight certification of its Joint Strike Fighter X-32B concept demonstrator. Final engine runs, in the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) mode, were completed with Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce flight-certified propulsion system hardware and the final validated integrated flight and propulsion control software.

During the final engine runs, the test team, which includes Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce, conducted flow-switches, redirecting engine thrust from the aircraft's cruise nozzle to the lift nozzles and back again.

The X-32B will demonstrate the company's direct-lift solution to the STOVL requirements for the US Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

For STOVL flight, the system closes the rear exhaust nozzle and redirects engine thrust downward through lift nozzles. For conventional flight the lift nozzles are closed, and thrust flows rearward through the two-dimensional thrust-vectoring cruise nozzle, the same as in the X-32A, to propel the aircraft forward and to supersonic speeds. The afterburner is not used during STOVL operations.

Boeing is using just two aircraft to demonstrate all government requirements for the US Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, U.K. Royal Navy and Royal Air Force in the concept demonstration phase of the program. Boeing used its X-32A aircraft to demonstrate both aircraft-carrier and conventional-takeoff-and-landing objectives.

The next major milestone for the X-32B will be high-speed taxi tests later this month, followed shortly thereafter by first flight.

"This is the culmination of a series of tests in which we demonstrated the ease and operational flexibility of direct lift," said Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and JSF general manager. "Hovering is the easy part — it's the transition between conventional and vertical thrust that is key to STOVL. The tests confirmed our system's ability to do just that and demonstrated the low-risk aspect of our third-generation direct-lift solution."


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IL Serge Pod #24.06.2001 20:48
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Boeing JSF X-32B landings at 90 knots move plane closer to first hover

22 June 2001

The Boeing Joint Strike Fighter Concept Demonstrator has successfully completed significant steps leading to another historic milestone for the program - hover.

In four separate flights, the X-32B demonstrated rock-solid stability at various altitudes and at all airspeeds down to 90 knots on landing and 80 knots during the flight. On each flight, the X-32B performed transitions from conventional, wing-borne flight to jet-borne, direct-lift flight and back to wing- borne flight.

The aircraft demonstrated Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) flying qualities down to 80 knots on the direct-lift system during the fourth flight of the day. On 9 of the 11 flights of the past three days, the flight was culminated with a "slow" landing using direct lift.

The aircraft is expected to reduce forward speed progressively over the next several flights, demonstrating hover flying qualities and vertical landing performance within the next several flights. Successful demonstrations of short takeoff, hover and vertical landing will complete the customer requirements for the Boeing JSF flight test program.


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IL Serge Pod #07.07.2001 14:10
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X-32B completes government flight-test requirements

3 July 2001

The Boeing Joint Strike Fighter programme has completed all of its government-defined flight-test requirements. The programme reached the final milestone Sunday by making a series of short takeoffs at Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.

The X-32B concept demonstrator has validated the Boeing solution to the program's short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) requirements. Having now met all the defined requirements, including a flight in which the aircraft took off in less than 550 feet of roll, Boeing will continue performing a series of short takeoffs at successively shorter runway lengths.

For the short takeoff, Boeing lead STOVL test pilot Dennis O'Donoghue accelerated the X-32B down the runway to a speed of 80 knots, then pushed a throttle-mounted flow-switch button that redirected engine thrust from the cruise nozzle to lift nozzles in the underside of the airplane. The lift nozzles were preset at a position of 60 degrees aft.

When the plane reached 150 knots and approximately 750 feet of altitude, O'Donoghue redirected the thrust back through the cruise nozzle to complete the transition to conventional flight. The X-32B then completed a number of tests before landing.

"This STOVL milestone is further proof of the ease and low pilot workload associated with direct lift,'' O'Donoghue said. "The Boeing direct-lift system enables me to simply push a button and switch the thrust from the cruise nozzle to the lift nozzles in one second and at any power setting.''

"This is among the most significant achievements in the programme to date,'' said Frank Statkus, Boeing vice president and JSF general manager. "Our innovative flight-test methods, modelling and simulation, and flight-test software tools have contributed to outstanding efficiency and an unheard-of sortie rate for conventional aircraft, much less for a concept-demonstrator aircraft.''

Statkus also praised the X-32B's Pratt & Whitney engine and Rolls-Royce lift system. "The demonstrated robustness and reliability of the Pratt & Whitney/Rolls- Royce propulsion system has been key to the success of our X-32B STOVL operations. The engine has been rock steady in all aspects of flight operations, including both the physical interaction with the airplane and the functional integration with the flight control system.''

Having completed all customer requirements, which include transition to and from vertical flight, hover, vertical landing and short takeoff, Boeing will carry out its own objectives before concluding the X-32B flight-test programme later this month.


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IL Serge Pod #07.07.2001 14:12
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USMC pilot handles X-32B

4 July 2001

Major Jeff Karnes has become the first US government test pilot to complete a vertical landing in the Boeing Joint Strike Fighter X-32B aircraft.

Karnes, an experienced US Marine Corps short-takeoff-and-vertical- landing (STOVL) pilot with more than 1,200 hours flown in the AV-8B Harrier, carried out the landing after transitioning the aircraft to a hover from conventional flight.

"In a word, it was impressive,'' Karnes said. "I was very comfortable throughout all of the STOVL manoeuvres, and the workload was much reduced compared to similar tasks in a Harrier. I was able to perform a short takeoff, transition to conventional flight then back to semi-jetborne flight, and decelerate to vertical landing well within plus or minus one foot of landing accuracy. Amazingly, all this was possible during my first attempt at a short takeoff and vertical landing in the X-32B.''

During flight testing here, the X-32B has validated the Boeing direct-lift approach to the STOVL requirements of the Marine Corps and the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.


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IL Serge Pod #07.07.2001 14:20
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Advanced 27mm Gun Pod unveiled

5 July 2001


The Boeing-led team of international ordnance companies that developed the Advanced 27mm Aircraft Cannon for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) unveiled a new gun pod at the Paris Air Show. Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme, The Boeing Company, Western Design and Sargent Fletcher Inc. developed the pod and weapon system.

This was the public debut of the gun pod, which can be mounted on virtually all modern fighter/attack aircraft that meet the fuselage or wing-mount requirements.

The Advanced 27mm Cannon is the same weapon selected by both candidate prime contractors for the JSF aircraft being developed and the Eurofighter 2000 Typhoon now in production.

The gas operated 27mm cannon fires at a rate of 1,800 rounds per minute. A blast bottle is incorporated in the system for gun gas management and reduced signature. The revolver breech provides reliability and reduced parts costs for greater affordability and reduced maintenance.

The ammunition feed system for the pod uses a cost-effective, highly reliable linear linkless design. The system features high-density, compact ammunition storage, including restoring spent cases to the magazine. The pod can be reloaded in less than five minutes.

The pod is hard-mounted to the aircraft using a specially designed hardback adaptor, providing firing-point accuracy and repeatability. Its design allows the cannon to be positioned within the pod for air-to-air or air-to-ground operations by cockpit selected positioning to + 1 degree elevation or -3 degree depression of the gun firing line. Designed for subsonic or supersonic flight, the gun pod is equipped with pylon adapters that provide rigid mounting and firing accuracy. The pod features easy accessibility to the cannon for loading and maintenance and can be installed on the aircraft in less than 10 minutes.


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