Lockheed Martin X-56 Explained

The Lockheed Martin X-56 is an American modular unmanned aerial vehicle that is being designed to explore High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) flight technologies for use in future military unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

Design and development

Designed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, known informally as the Skunk Works,[1] the aircraft was first revealed by Aviation Week,[2] and is intended to research active flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation technologies. The X-56A is based on Lockheed's earlier UAV work, showing influence from the Polecat, Sentinel and DarkStar UAVs. The program calls for the construction of two -long fuselages and a wingspan of 27.5 ft,[3] with four sets of wings being constructed for flight testing.[4]

Operational history

The X-56A first flew on 26 July 2013,[5] flying from Edwards Air Force Base; twenty flights were to be flown on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory before the aircraft would be handed over to NASA for further testing.[6]

The first X-56A unmanned aircraft was severely damaged in a crash shortly after takeoff from the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, California, on 19 November 2015, on its first flexible-wing flight to test active flutter suppression. The aircraft had previously made 16 flights with stiff wings to prove its operating envelope.[7]

The second X-56A unmanned aircraft flew for the first time on 9 April 2015 while under operation by NASA.[8] The aircraft flew eight flights with the stiff wings to clear its operating envelope.[9] The vehicle then completed its first flight with the highly flexible wings on 31 August 2017.[10]

One instability mode, body freedom flutter, was shown to be actively suppressed by the digital flight control at, within its normal flight envelope.Slender, flexible and lighter low-drag wings would be enabled by flutter suppression.[11]

X-56B was destroyed in a crash on 9 July 2021 after suffering an "anomaly in flight".[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Introducing the X-56A MUTT: Who Let the Dog Out?. 6 March 2012 . NASA. 15 September 2012.
  2. Web site: Norris. Guy. USAF Reveals Skunk Works-Designed X-56A As Latest X-Plane. aviationweek. 15 September 2012. 19 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130519201020/http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_02_01_2012_p01-02-419766.xml. dead.
  3. Web site: Lockheed Martin X-56A Multi-utility Aeroelastic Demonstrator. www.hitechweb.genezis.eu. 15 September 2012.
  4. http://www.aero-news.net/getmorefromann.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=686a3e1c-43c4-4ed7-ae66-20644e2c22c8 X-56A Testbed Arrives At NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center
  5. Web site: X-56A technology demonstrator achieves first flight. Jordan. Holly. 31 July 2013. Air Force Research Laboratory. 9 October 2013. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131005164719/http://www.wpafb.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123358028. 5 October 2013.
  6. Web site: Skunk Works' X-56A - Taming Flutter. Warwick. Graham. 6 August 2013. Aviation Week & Space Technology. 9 October 2013.
  7. Web site: The Week in Technology, Nov. 23-27, 2015 . November 23, 2015 . Aviation Week . subscription.
  8. News: Second MUTT takes to the sky. Conner. Monroe. 2015-04-14. NASA. 2017-09-20. en.
  9. News: X-56A Multi-Use Technology Testbed. Conner. Monroe. 2015-04-02. NASA. 2017-09-20. en.
  10. Web site: Highly Flexible Wings Tested. NASA . Jay . Levine . October 20, 2017 . en. 2018-03-26.
  11. News: NASA's X-56 Demos Flutter Suppression Flexible Wing . Nov 1, 2018 . Graham Warwick . Aviation Week & Space Technology.
  12. News: NASA's X-56B unmanned air vehicle was destroyed . Jul 9, 2021 . Garrett Reim . Flight Global.

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