Aurora Receives DARPA Award To Continue CRANE X-Plane Development - AVweb

News Discussion
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Aurora Flights Sciences has received an award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to take its experimental X-plane through the next phases of the agency’s Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) program. Aurora’s uncrewed X-plane concept uses an active flow control (AFC) system designed to supply “pressurized air to AFC effectors embedded in all flying surfaces” for effects such as “flight control at tactical speeds and performance enhancement across the flight envelope.” During phases 0 and 1 of the CRANE program, the company developed AFC-related tools and technologies, developed two X-plane concepts, completed preliminary design work on the chosen concept and conducted wind tunnel testing.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/military-aviation/aurora-receives-darpa-award-to-continue-crane-x-plane-development
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And again in English, please?

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Is there a reason to have added drag and added surface flutter on a new aircraft design?

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Although the pictures show small conventional control surfaces in the wing trailing edges, the stated intent is for the craft to primarily be controlled by smoothly altering the airflow over the top of the wing surface through compressed air blown out of nozzles or slots in the wing top surface. I suppose conceptually you could think of it as altering the wing geometry in flight without any mechanical means.