On 20th May 2024, an American aviation and aeronautics company of Boeing, Aurora Flight Sciences, headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, announced an innovative novel, high-speed, vertical lift aircraft (X-plane) for US Defense Department purposes in Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT). This experimental and conceptual design aims to design, build, and fly an X-plane and is being developed for a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program called SPRINT. The company is working on a blended-wing design for the SPRINT and targets its first flight in 3 years.
SPRINT aims to demonstrate the possible new dimensional technologies and integrate great ideas to enable transformative speed and runway independence in different-sized military aircraft for any kind of harsh environment and stony surfaces. Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences Reveals New X Plane Design.
New collaboration for new experimental X-plane
Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences Reveals New X Plane Design. The new collaboration between Aurora Flight Sciences and Boeing has just accomplished the conceptual design review. It aims to demonstrate a new concept enabling high-speed flight with advanced air mobility and without traditional runways. They are using their 30 years of involvement and experience in this new experimental VTOL (Vertical take-off and landing) and estimate that they will complete the work within 12 months, with the goal of having their first flight in 36 months. This new X-plane focuses on enhanced capabilities for SOF (Special Operations Forces) missions with Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL), Super Short Take-Off and Landing (SSTOL), and conventional take-off and landing.
Primary goal and ability
The prime goal is to create a technology focusing on future generations of aircraft without the need for long runways and no traditional propulsion. Instead, novel lift fans, remote flight, folding parts with minimal area coverage, and low-drag fan-in-wing (FIW) demonstrators will be used, using a blended wing body platform. FIW shows three lift fans along with an uncrewed cockpit. The design aids the aircraft to make the choice of direction and transition from vertical to horizontal flight and vice versa. Once the test and technology are approved and risk-free, a crewed cockpit can be integrated with active human interference.
“The SPRINT Demonstrator Project aims to design, build, certify, and fly an X-Plane to demonstrate the key technologies and integrated concepts that enable a transformational combination of aircraft speed and runway independence for future air mobility platforms. The SPRINT X-Plane is not intended as a pre-production aircraft for a specific operational capability but as a proof-of-concept technology demonstrator. The SPRINT X-Plane project will seek to validate technologies and integrated concepts that can be scaled to different size military aircraft, provide these aircraft with the ability to cruise at speeds from 400 to 450 Knots at relevant altitudes and hover in austere environments (near unprepared surfaces).”
Photo: Artist’s view of X-plane (Aurora Flight Sciences)
The official words from Aurora Flight Sciences
Vice president of Aircraft and Product Development at Aurora Flight Sciences, Larry Wirsing, on 20th May had stated,
“Aurora and Boeing bring relevant expertise in blended-wing-body platforms, high-speed VTOL configurations, and military aircraft development. The DARPA SPRINT program is an exciting opportunity to continue our history of advancing technology demonstrator programs that enable new capabilities for the US military.”
