I would say, I would like to see an open competition for the Loyal wingman with competing designs and a fly off.mrclark303 wrote: ↑06 Feb 2024, 20:11I think the suspected overall size, with a large wide fuselage will render a large single bay possible.SW1 wrote: ↑06 Feb 2024, 17:46This drives a lot of design considerations. Having a big bay usually in the middle leads to lots of headaches around engine placement and route of the engine duct to get from intake to fan face, it may need to curve a lot and increase its length, the engines may need to be moved further off the centre axis of aircraft which can lead to control surface size increases to deal with asymmetric thrust conditions. It can also complicate landing gear placement and how you get the loads into the wing spar and centre wing box area.mrclark303 wrote: ↑06 Feb 2024, 10:36
I wonder if they are going for one large simplified weapons bay, or a smaller ordnance bay and two cheek mounded AA bays?
I think keeping it simple with a large central weapons bay personally....
On a GCAP related note, it's interesting to see that BAE Systems has been working on a Loyal wingman quietly.
Prototype to fly in two years, I wonder if this will be folded into the GCAP system of systems?
A capable LW will be a shot in the arm for the RAF, finally bringing back some mass.
While Ghost Bat currently leads the way, it's also quite possible that new designs can learn from it and push technologies further.