Future USAF Transport Projects (MACK, ATT, NGT, AMC-X, AJACS, HAWSTOL, Speed Agile)

[flateric]

Lockheed-Martin MACK

'Lockheed Martin Skunk Works has developed the concept of a modular large-body aircraft to undertake the range of roles listed. This aircraft, designated MACK, will be capable in M-X (special forces insertion), A-X (gunship), C-X (transport) and K-X (tanker) roles. Interchangeable modules can be fitted depending on the requirement.
MACK would have a tailless compound delta wing, with roughly the outer third bent upwards. Multi-spectral stealth characteristics would make it capable against both early warning and fire control radars. Its two engines would be installed inside the airframe. They would be high-bypass types, making them quieter and cooler.
The airframe itself would be made primarily of composite material, although existing composites would be employed in order to reduce costs. Like today’s dedicated strike/interdictor aircraft, MACK would be capable of terrain-following and terrain avoidance flight. It would also be fitted with both offensive and defensive self-protection systems. Aircrew would include pilot, co-pilot and navigator. Gross take-off weight would be 230,000 pounds to 240,000 pounds The engines would each provide 63,000 pounds of thrust, and field length with a 22,000 pound payload would be 1,500 feet.
The A-X itself would have two retractable guns in turrets, one installed above and one below the fuselage. With these guns, the aircraft would avoid the need for a racetrack flight pattern as used by the AC-130, which because it has guns on only one side must continually circle the target.
More recently, Lockheed Martin has evolved the MACK into a bomber model labeled BMACK. The completely new MACK/BMACK aircraft would be operational about 2020.'

http://www.military-aerospace-technology.com/linkto.cfm?DocID=852

 

[flateric]

January 2005

"AFRL and Lockheed Martin partnered to complete approximately 200 hours of wind tunnel tests on a model of a next-generation tanker concept. During 2 weeks of testing at Lockheed Martin facilities in Marietta, Georgia, engineers collected aerodynamic data showing the effects of placing tanker equipment in various positions on the model. Analyzing this data will provide a better idea of how changing the equipment’s position between locations such as the model’s centerline or in a pod on the wingtip might affect a future tanker’s lift and drag.

In addition, the engineers conducted several tests in which they placed a receiver model in refueling positions behind the tanker. Data collected from these tests will reveal how the aerodynamic flow generated by the tanker will affect the receiver, thus helping engineers pinpoint design options for the tanker concept.

These tests are part of a continuing effort to design the Air Force’s next-generation strike tanker. AFRL is designing a tanker concept that will retain its high lift characteristics while producing a very stable wake to minimize effects on the refueling air vehicle."

 

[elmayerle]

I think the design's evolved some since then. Certainly the illustration of it in Heritage Hall at work shows something different, more of a canard configuration with the LO inlets just aft of, and blended into, the cockpit. This illustration from an issue of AWST from the last year or so matches that depiction.

 

[elmayerle]

The second picture matches the one displayed in Heritage Hall at LM-Fort Worth.

 

[flateric]

El, as caption says, that is BMACK - I always thought that BMACK is bomber version of MACK...ugh...and now it's busy with refueling...I always thought why develop new tanker if you have modular desingn that allows to make transport, gunship, tanker etc on one platform.

 

[hesham]

Thanks,

and new programs means programs during 1990s and 2000s.

anther USAF program NDAA (Non-Development Airlift Aircraft)
was envolved as alternative to or supplement for trouble C-17A
Globemaster III,the contenders were Lockheed-Martin C-5D and Boeing-747F.

 

[hesham]

Hi,

Northrop design AMC-X,it is a tanker/transport STOL aircraft
with high subsonic speed feature,intend to replace Lockheed
C-130 Hercules.

 

[Sundog]

Isn't the ACM-X program what is now called MACK?

 

[yasotay]

No AMC-X has transmoglified into AJAX (Advanced Joint Airlifter -X). USAF caught heat for not sounding Joint.

 

[Sundog]

OK, I just went looking and found this at Janes:

t looks a little like a Star Trek vessel, but the new Lockheed Martin stealthy aircraft design making its way into the light from the classified 'black' world is not science fiction.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing are in a race to develop a concept for two near-term requirements to support US special operations forces (SOFs). Lockheed Martin revealed its design for the first time on 12 February. Called the MACK conceptual aircraft, the idea is to have a common design for a medium-lift, multirole platform that both SOFs and conventional military forces can use, director of advanced systems concepts at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, Rod Cusic, told JDW. The suggestion is that with a stealthy aircraft frame, modular systems could be installed to perform a variety of missions, from a next-generation gunship to a transport, cargo-lifter, or even a refuelling tanker capable of being a network-centric sensor and relay platform.

Although still just a concept, the MACK is supporting Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) studies for a next-generation gunship, called AC-X, as well as a possible future stealthy transport called M-X, Cusic said.

However, the MACK concept is not the only one being considered for the AC-X, projected to be fielded after 2010. US Air Force officials said they are also considering a modified Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, a large unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) and groups of UCAVs. Moreover, Boeing said it is offering a concept based on the company's blended wing body (BWB) design, subscale versions of which have been tested and flown in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I thought MACK was a program, not just the name of the Lockheed-Martin design. My mistake. Is the AJAX still a medium sized vehicle? Or are they still doing basic research into the sizing of the vehicle itself?

 

[Matej]

Isn't the AMC-X program what is now called MACK?

I think that they are two separate studies. At least Lockheed MACK/BMACK does not have anything in common with its AMC-X propsal.

 

[yasotay]

MACKS is a separate requirement from the AJAX effort. Probably will be wildly expensive and so 50/50 on going to production.

Hesham- the Army ACA is not a CH-47 replacement. It is a C-23 Sherpa replacement. There are currently no requirements for a new Medium Lift rotorcraft in the US Army.

 

[CammNut]

I found this in a US Air Force document. It is a notional AMC-X - the C-130 replacement for which requirements are now being defined by USAF Air Combat Command. This particular design was produced by Lockheed Martin Skunk Works for the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

AFRL has just awarded contracts to Aurora Flight Sciences and Lockheed Martin to design a cargo X-plane, the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft. One of the two will be selected to build a demonstrator that will fly by the end of 2008. Neither company has revealed its concept.

It will be interesting to see whether Lockheed's looks like this. The design is stealthy and fast - and with embedded propulsion to provide extreme short take-off and landing performance. The data that goes with this image says 2,000ft take-off and landing from unimproved surfaces.

 

[CammNut]

Found this quite cool B-MACK image in a Lockheed FB-22 presentation.

 

[simkid22]

does anyone have any information on this concept? I saw a picture of it and was wondering if anyone here had any insight on it.

 

[flateric]

...because the USAF is not going to buy any more "major" aircraft with propellers. They are so... last century, and it does not count toward 4 engine turbofan time. That is very important to the Air Force pilot.

Then they will force you to buzz-jump on LAMVs))) I think they even can offer something Herc-sized...with even more pulse injector engines...Just kidding.

 

[yasotay]

LOL - LAMV is an interesting idea, although the concept of doing sling load hook up underneath one does pose certain problems.

 

[flateric]

I can only imagine what a funny picture (and sound effects) would be LAMV squadron acting at the battlefield. And what nickname could it get. As Boeing maniacally renews the patent for it, I think that it has strong supporters.

Returning to ATT - Al, don't you know if all this froggy stuff have transformed to something being part of AJACS or JHL...or RIP already?

 

[yasotay]

ATT is dead as a project, but lives on in AJACS conceptually. JHL remains the philosophy for the USA. Both remain alive at the moment.

 

[flateric]

Several Lockheed ATT (Advanced Theater Transport) / AMC-X / AJACS images found

 

[flateric]

More Lockheed's AMC-X /AJACS concepts.
Last pic depicts concept of using F-35-proven propulsion system for a STOVL transport aircraft.

"An obvious application for the Joint Strike Fighter propulsion system would be in the development of a STOVL transport aircraft. However, the F135 engine is optimized for use in supersonic aircraft, so that it has too much thrust for direct application to a subsonic transport aircraft. For example, four JSF propulsion systems would provide almost 160,000 lbs of vertical lift, enough for the vertical landing of a C-130. On the other hand, just one of these engines has more thrust at idle power than the cruise drag of a C-130! Even with three engines shut down, it would be difficult to slow the aircraft to a hover.
Nevertheless, the concept of the shaft driven lift fan might be used to develop a propulsion system in which a smaller engine drives a larger lift fan. This could provide as much vertical thrust, with a better match to the required cruise thrust. Such a large lift fan might be incorporated in the wing of the aircraft, as illustrated. Because the power could be gradually transferred from the lift fan to the cruise engine, this aircraft would be easier to fly through conversion than previous fan in wing concepts."

FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF THE JSF VARIABLE PROPULSION CYCLE
Paul M. Bevilaqua
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company
Palmdale, California
AIAA 2003-2614

 

[flateric]

AMC-X article from SAE's Aerospace Engineering Nov/Dec 2005

A new era for V/STOL dawns
Patrick Ponticel
"...In its AMC-X program, the U.S. Air Force is investigating use of powered-lift augmentation for transport aircraft takeoff and landing, and the U.S. Army is considering various alternatives for the Joint Heavy Lift rotorcraft. NASA has been studying extreme short takeoff and landing aircraft to reduce airport congestion. Also speaking at the V/STOL session was Tom Bennett, Senior Analyst and Team Leader, AMC-X Concept Development, U.S. Air Force Mobility Command. After three years of work, the AMC-X program has moved beyond the concept phase, he noted. Bennett’s hope is that the next major milestone, issuance of the initial Capabilities Report, will be achieved within 18 months. The goal of the AMC-X program is to produce an aircraft that can deliver the payload of a C-17 into areas that the C-17 currently cannot get into. “Poweredlift capabilities of this aircraft are crucial
to getting there,” Bennett said. The aircraft will be designed “to go further into the fight,” as Bennett put it, and to operate in austere environments. Multiple pickups and dropoffs on the same sortie are envisioned. The AMC-X team decided on a STOL version instead of a VTOL version because of cost and because it was determined that the aircraft weight to payload ratio of a VTOL version would be 12:1 vs. a STOL’s 5:1. The 12:1 figure dates a cople of years and the ratio has closed somewhat, Bennett acknowledged, but it is still too high for practicality. Likewise, the U.S. Army has no interest
in pursuing “cartoons,” said Andrew Kerr in his presentation."

LM AMC-X Baseline Model got in-house name MEDUSA (Multi-Role Delivery & Utility Support Aircraft)

 

[flateric]

Lockheed's Cargo UAV concept

from
CADRE/PC 2005-015
Strategic Mobility Innovation: Options and Oversight Issues
April 18, 2005
Jon D. Klaus

 

[yasotay]

Very interesting pictures. While the AJACS program is still alive, it appears to be on the back of the shelf at the moment as the USAF worries about other pressing matters. That and the fact that the C-130J continues to be viable slow rate production from Congress, I suspect that the tactical airlift force will remain C-130 based for a while yet.

Actually I suspect that the A400 will eventually cause more interest in a C-130 replacement in the US than any tactical necessity.

 

[flateric]

Lockheed Martin MEDUSA (Multi-Role Delivery & Utility Support Aircraft) - AMC-X/AJACS study

 

[flateric]

2006 Future Military Common Aircraft study from USAF ASC (Aeronautical Systems Center)

1). Notional Modular Aircraft variations
2). Notional Common Aircraft 3-views

AIAA 2006-1514
Future Military Common Aircraft Development Opportunities
John E. Funk, Ph.D., Joseph R. Harber and Lisa Morin
Aeronautical Systems Center, ASC/XRE, United States Air Force,
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 45433

 

[yasotay]

Interesting. One of the points that the USAF likes to make is that the JHL is too expensive... given the efforts above... I am not so sure.

Also if anyone took a truly holistic approach to the cost of the systems as part of a larger system of systems, I bet they would find that the benefits of VTOL would be well worth the investment. Of course all anyone ever wants to look at is the unit cost.

 

[CammNut]

Aviation Week has run a story by Guy Norris about Northrop Grumman's future transport work with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and the design NG has proposed for AFRL's Speed Agile demonstration programme.

As these pictures show, the design is a blended wing body like Boeing's X-48B, but with a stealthy, tailless planform like NG's X-47B UCAS demonstrator. The aircraft gets its extreme STOL capability by using a circulation-control wing with blown flaps.

Speed Agile is intended to demonstrate through windtunnel testing and flight simulation a potential C-130 replacement that combines extreme STOL capability and high-speed cruise in an aircraft with a 60,000lb payload and A400M-sized cargo bay.

 

[Sferrin]

Aviation Week has run a story by Guy Norris about Northrop Grumman's future transport work with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and the design NG has proposed for AFRL's Speed Agile demonstration programme.

As these pictures show, the design is a blended wing body like Boeing's X-48B, but with a stealthy, tailless planform like NG's X-47B UCAS demonstrator. The aircraft gets its extreme STOL capability by using a circulation-control wing with blown flaps.

Speed Agile is intended to demonstrate through windtunnel testing and flight simulation a potential C-130 replacement that combines extreme STOL capability and high-speed cruise in an aircraft with a 60,000lb payload and A400M-sized cargo bay.

Yeah I laughed my a$$ off at that bottom one. I imagine ground operations on a dirt runway might be a bit tough on that stealth finish. Makes you wonder if the exercise was "what is the absolute most expensive way you can think of to get a Striker on the ground". I'm amazed it didn't have VTOL as well.

 

[LowObservable]

My thought was "what price VLO if you're going to operate in broad daylight under 1500 feet?" Can we define CONOPS? Bueller? Anybody?
On the other hand it's hard to do nifty illustrations of airplanes in the dark.

 

[yasotay]

Aviation Week has run a story by Guy Norris about Northrop Grumman's future transport work with the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and the design NG has proposed for AFRL's Speed Agile demonstration programme.

As these pictures show, the design is a blended wing body like Boeing's X-48B, but with a stealthy, tailless planform like NG's X-47B UCAS demonstrator. The aircraft gets its extreme STOL capability by using a circulation-control wing with blown flaps.

Speed Agile is intended to demonstrate through windtunnel testing and flight simulation a potential C-130 replacement that combines extreme STOL capability and high-speed cruise in an aircraft with a 60,000lb payload and A400M-sized cargo bay.

Yeah I laughed my a$$ off at that bottom one. I imagine ground operations on a dirt runway might be a bit tough on that stealth finish. Makes you wonder if the exercise was "what is the absolute most expensive way you can think of to get a Striker on the ground". I'm amazed it didn't have VTOL as well.

Yeah... sorry Army it rained today so we have to cancel your battalion insertion... tell the Generals "better luck next time. USAF will tell you their AJACS can land on all but 7% of the earths land mass. Reality will likely be it will ONLY land on 7% of the worlds land mass. Yeah stealthy STOL (trick question: Do the US Army and the US Air Force agree on what STOL means?) and the USAF tells the Army that the JHL program is way to expensive.

 

[alanqua]

Hello,

I'm looking for pictures of the Northrop entry for the AJACS program. I tried to find on Internet but could not find anything. I know it looks like a B-2 / X-45 with a rear ramp. Could you help me?
AJACS is Advanced Joint Air Combat System, it's an advanced STOL replacement for the C-130 initiated by the USAF. There is an interesting article on this in the latest issue of Fligth International weekly magazine.

Thanks by advance.
Regards
Alain

Mod edit: merged with existing topic.

 

[flateric]

Always start with the search inside the forum))) CammNut posted it a while ago...
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,3094.0/highlight,northrop+transport.html

 

[flateric]

Seems these are the last Lockheed's AMC-X mutations - just can't understand, was it already "the program formerly known as AJACS" or no...sans nose section

 

[hesham]

Hi,

the YC-15 SSTOL aircraft.
http://aeronautics.arc.nasa.gov/assets/pdf/dyn2-2.pdf

 

[Matej]

Another two (tiny) pictures found meantime.

 

[flateric]

...

 

[hesham]

Hi,

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20080031117_2008030039.pdf

 

[Matej]

Cool find! We were speaking about that stealthy transport before. If somebody can find the topic, put here the link and I will merge them.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

More pics from article.