Northrop P700 / N310 / N/D-102 tailless fighter

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Here are some pics of the Northrop/Dornier ND102

 

[flateric]

More on ND-102 - snapshots from Northrop documentary

 

[flateric]

extra snapshots

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Another ND-102 picture

Source:

Roy Braybrook, Supersonic Fighter Development, Foulis 1987

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Another from the same book

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Early (1981) configuration of ND-102

Source:
Henry Matthews, Prelude to Eurofighter: EAP, X Planes Profile 1, HPM 2000

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Moved to new topic.

According to Henry Matthews in "Prelude to Eurofighter" it was initiated in 1978, when Dornier & Northrop began collaboration and tested a series of tailed and tailless fighter aircraft designs incorporating state of the art aerodynamics, avionics & propulsion systems. The design was finalised in mid 1982. A total of $20 million was invested, and ND102 was shown at Paris Air Show 1983. It was cancelled in 1984.

Uniquely it was decided to use non-afterburning low bypass ratio turbofan engines. Matthews gives a thrust of 16,000lb per engine, with gross weight 25,000lb.

Bill Gunston (Warplanes of the Future) says it used 2 x PW1120s of 13,550lb thrust, and gives rough sizes (length 50ft, span 29ft). Maximum speed was Mach 2 despite the lack of afterburners.

 

[Firefly 2]

It's a tad strange to me to see no canards on this design ???

 

[hs1216]

Two questions.

1. Where exactly does the ND-102 fit in with the Eurofighter project?

2. The D intake designs (although they are droopy D intakes, I assume for Mach +2), LERX, and the twin horizontal stabilizers of the early 1981 configuration are very reminiscent of the YF-17 design. Was the ND-102 related to, or a development of, Northrop’s YF-17 cobra design?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Paris 1983

$20 million investment from Northrop & Dornier
1200 hours of windtunnel tests, 34 configurations.
Eliminated canard and tail byuse of thrust vectoring.
Engine thrust: 7265kg - but 6 years of development for powerplant.

Source: Defence & Armament July/August 1983

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Yildirim, to answer your questions;

ND102 was studied by Dornier and Northrop to possibly meet German TKF-90 requirement.

ND102 derived from earlier Northrop work on the YF-17. In some ways it is a bridge from YF-17 to YF-23...

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Northrop called this project "International Fighter".

Source:
"Aircraft Design Philosophy: Lee Begin", Air International, June 1983

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

As far as I can find out, the plan was to use new engines derived from the PW1120 but with enhanced thrust - presumably using technology from higher thrust F100 variants. This would confer Mach 2 class speed without afterburners.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

If anyone can locate a brochure or even a proper 3 view of this project, I'm willing to pay money for it...

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I've always loved the ND-102 design since I first saw it in Bill Gunston's "Warplanes of the Future", and hope one day to unearth a brochure or other information on it. Its one of the few things left on my wishlist from before I started this site actually. I always thought it was a far more interesting approach to TKF-90 than the Eurofighter.

Paul.

 

[FrankM]

ND-102 3-view, from "Dornier Post" 2/1985.

Best regards,

Frank

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Any more info in that Dornier Post issue?

 

[flateric]

Wow! Just wow!

 

[FrankM]

Any more info in that Dornier Post issue?

No, unfortunately not. The corresponding article deals with
experiments to understand / resolve issues of in-flight thrust
reversing, but has no info on the ND-102 other than the picture
I posted.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Thanks anyway Frank, thats one of my favourite unbuilt projects.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

http://members.chello.nl/m.waterloo/precise_models_inc.html

 

[lastdingo]

Superficially, it looks like a F-18 light.

But it appears as if it had super cruise and thrust vectoring maneuverability. It would possibly have been a very fine fighter.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Dornier and Northrop are continuing to work on the ND-102 project as a fall-back position, because, as the vice-president and chief designer of Northrop said: "We think there is enough chance [that the EFA program will fail] that we want to continue to be prepared for the opportunity if it comes." Aviation Week and Space Technology, the leading American magazine, says: "U.S. government officials contemplating the difficulties are convinced the entire program will never get off the ground. The skeptics at this point have a reasonable bet."

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1985/feb/21/royal-air-force

 

[flateric]

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1982/1982%20-%202565.html?search=stal%20paris%20exibition

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Awful scan, a slight improvement here. Interesting view though.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Reading the back pages of American Secret Projects I found reference to the Northrop N-310, a twin engine trapezoidal delta wing fighter with single vertical fin and twin 2D nozzles of the early/mid 1970s, also known as P-700, which developed into the N/D-102 (which was possibly designated N-347).

 

[KJ_Lesnick]

Why did it have those slots in the chine? I thought you only needed that if you had twin tails?

 

[Sundog]

Why did it have those slots in the chine? I thought you only needed that if you had twin tails?

Those slots don't have anything to do with the tails. They're there to allow the upper part of the boundary layer airflow diverged behind the splitter plate to escape.

 

[Sundog]

Germany Sounds EFA Stall Warning - Flight PDF

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

From


THE PURSUIT OF INTEGRATED CONTROL:
A Realtime Aircraft System Demonstration


(AIAA Article 1989-2701)


A new FADEC system was developed under INTERFACE II program on the basis of the Northrop P-700 aerodynamic data, PW1120 engine and the SCF nozzle.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Northrop promptly scaled up the ND-102, a tail-less straight-wing project designed jointly with Dornier, to the 9.75 tonnes empty weight of the Eurofighter, and made fresh presentations in Bonn

http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=svIxAQAAIAAJ&q=Northrop+dornier+nd-102&dq=Northrop+dornier+nd-102&hl=en&sa=X&ei=YWaqT6LcM632mAWlh8HhBA&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAg

 

[BillRo]

I found another proposal with a drawing entitled "Typical Structural Arrangement Drawing". The Title block designates it as the P700 but all dimensions are metric so it has to be the ND-102. Someone took Walt Fellers' lines and put them into a computer so we finally have a decent ND-102 drawing. I have sent Overscan the rest of the drawing in HiRes so perhaps he can stitch it together for us.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

This is the P-700 drawing parts BillRo sent me stitched together.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

1983 artwork of the Northrop P-700, which was the ND-102, from BillRo.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Prompted by an email conversation I found this on Google Book Search:


1984 - Interavia
Dornier continues to refine the design of its own ND-102 light fighter, which would now have "mini-burners" rather than un-reheated engines.

Mini-burners presumably being lightweight partial afterburners.

 

[circle-5]

Northrop in-house display model of the ND102, in U.S. Navy colors.

 

[Sundog]

Wow, thanks for sharing that image. The last paint scheme I expected to see on it was a U.S. Navy paint scheme. It looks good.

 

[BillRo]

Interesting - looks like a Northrop model shop effort but the stand is strange.

 

[circle-5]

Interesting - looks like a Northrop model shop effort but the stand is strange.

Strange in what way?

 

[BillRo]

This is a little off topic, but the model stands I would have expected to see out of the Northrop Hawthorne model shop run by Dick G. in the '76-'86 time period looked like the pix below. The stand would fit into the axi-symmetric nozzles and allow the model to be rotated and display the underside if necessary. I am sure F-23 and B-2 would have required more conventional stands due to complex engine exhaust configurations.

They would only do one or two offs for show and tell and large (non-proprietary) runs for employee distributions, retirement gifts or standard VIP visitors were farmed out usually to Toys and Models Corp of Bergenfield, NJ and made in the Philippines. These have characteristic stands that mount the models on two pins