Our concept study of a military flying wing configuration
As part of defence technology research into military aircraft, we have improved the design, analysis and evaluation capability of future combat aircraft within the DLR research projects Diabolo and WingMates. As part of the technology development, the entire spectrum of manned and semi-autonomous configurations was considered - this also included the design of a military generic unmanned flying wing configuration, a so-called UCAV (Uncrewed Combat Air Vehicle).
In the air defence system of the future, not only individual systems will play a role, but also aircraft in a network, i.e. coupled systems of combat aircraft. As a combination of digitally networked, semi-autonomous, manned and unmanned platforms is becoming increasingly important, the DLR Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology is investigating aircraft that fulfil these requirements and developing overall designs for several cooperating platforms. The aim is no longer just to improve the ability to analyse and evaluate future manned combat aircraft, but also to investigate unmanned configurations - alone and in defence formations. The MULDICON design is intended to close technological gaps and demonstrate the design and evaluation capability of the methods and processes developed at DLR.
The basis for the design is a catalogue of requirements in coordination with the Federal Ministry of Defence for a flying wing configuration.
A full model of a military generic UCAV
The MULDICON model (DLR-F24) is a lightweight model manufactured using the plastic printing process - a single-wing configuration with engine inlet duct, trailing edge and wingtip control surfaces. The control surfaces are in contrasting colours. The engine inlets and the nozzle geometry are realistically represented on the model.
