UK explores future composite designs for combat aircraft

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) on 15 December announced the launch of a programme with the National Composites Centre (NCC) research facility, to ‘explore the art of the possible’ for composite structures of future manned and unmanned combat aircraft.

The two UK organisations also launched a competition on 14 December to attract new ideas and capabilities, ‘to influence the direction of the research and for future funding for research projects’.

Ideas will be downselected into a coordinated series of funded research projects. If successful, funding will typically be awarded before the end of March 2021.

The Advanced Design of Composites Structures for Future Combat Aircraft programme will investigate innovative approaches to overall structural layout, manufacturing and assembly. It will also look into the optimal combination of detail features and material selection.

One main aim of the programme are to develop airframe design concepts through trades studies (balanced technical solutions) and worked examples.

Another is to systematically collate and develop the underpinning data upon which the airframe design trades are built, including the performance of composite materials and features, and to identify and mitigate those features that are constraining performance and cost.

The result, according to Dstl, could be ‘the next generation of lightweight, strong and resilient combat aircraft composite structures’.

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