Source: https://www.raf.mod.uk/what-we-do/team-tempest/lanca/The Lightweight Affordable Novel Combat Aircraft (LANCA) concept looks to offer increased capability, protection, survivability and information when deployed alongside combat aircraft. It could even provide an unmanned combat air ‘fleet’ in the future.
The innovative concept also aims to deliver dramatic reductions in traditional cost and development timelines for combat air systems.
Well we know Bae are actively involved in the Australian Project, and that Boeing are sharing data with the UK. Also Bae has had some years of UAV development with Taranis, Manta plus others. So we can safely say that the Australian effort will get airborne soon. So my guess is that Project LANCA will get underway soon. The six million dollar question is will it be carrier capable?serge750 wrote:wonder what would be in service first, these or a project tempest derived airplane?
Meatloaf would beg to differJensy wrote:1/4 aint bad... (Barely a 'fighter' though)Ron5 wrote:Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter.
And how did that turn out?
It'll be interesting to see how they manage this. Judging by similar aircraft it will have to be rocket launched and recovered after a parachute splashdown in the sea. I guess that must make them single use unless they start plucking them out of the sky with a helicopter like Rocket Lab are trying.serge750 wrote:If these are going to be carrier - capable
Modern crash barriers are attached to the arrestor gear, so thats not really possible for anything with speed or weight.serge750 wrote:with a crash barrier like the old carriers used to use in a emergency.
Hmmm, seems to me that there's only one elegant solution to a problem like this:serge750 wrote:Maybe they will get the old EMCAT out the box? with a crash barrier like the old carriers used to use in a emergency.
would it be harder to make this little bid STOVL like the F35 principle with a lift fan/jet combo?
"Britain joins Aussie Loyal Wingman program" I can see it now on page 1 of the defense review thingiebobp wrote:Engine run turn up your sound...
Attritable loyal wingman unmanned air vehicles (UAV) might be best used as nonlethal “force multipliers” for the US Air Force’s (USAF) fleet of manned aircraft says a report by think tank Mitchell Institute.
These low-cost unmanned aircraft can’t supplant the capabilities of sophisticated combat aircraft, says Mark Gunzinger, director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute. He co-authored the “Understanding the Promise of Skyborg and Low-Cost Attritable Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” report.
“They will not replace [the USAF’s] current requirements for F-35s, B-21s, future [Next Generation Air Dominance] (NGAD) and other high-end weapon systems,” Gunzinger says in a webinar presentation on 1 October. “Instead of replacing those capabilities, the maximum combat value will be realized by figuring out how to best combine the operations of this family of UAVs with manned systems. In other words, how to best leverage the attributes of both systems in the battlespace.”
Attritable UAVs are aircraft that are designed to be inexpensive enough to be lost in significant numbers during combat without breaking the bank. The USAF classifies the types as priced between $2 and $20 million apiece.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) leading example of such an aircraft is its Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology flight demonstrator, the Kratos Defense XQ-58A Valkyrie , which would cost between $2 or $3 million, depending on the quantity ordered.
The USAF has kept design requirements for attritable UAVs small because as aircraft get bigger they tend to cost more, says Colonel Stryker Haley, deputy division chief of Air Force Warfighting Integrating Capability’s Futures & Concepts Division. For example, the XQ-58A has a wingspan of 8.2m (27ft) and a dry weight of 1,134kg (2,500lb). The UAV has an internal payload capacity of 272kg.
“Given their modest payloads, these UAVs might have the greatest combat value if used for non-kinetic missions, such as electromagnetic warfare, persistent [command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance], and other operations that can really take advantage of their force multiplying potential, says Gunzinger,
The aircraft could also act as decoys or communication nodes.
“You can use them for multispectral decoys, not just the platform itself, but perhaps to deliver expendable decoys,” says Haley. “Think of that Russian nesting doll model, where I have this vehicle, it gets to the edge of the highly contested space, delivers a decoy, maybe instead of a missile. That starts to make it a little bit more difficult for our adversaries to target our higher cost systems like your F-35 or NGAD in the future.”
Moreover, by allowing attritable UAVs to fly ahead into contested airspace, while sweeping the horizon for enemy fighters or acting as decoys, networked manned aircraft that are flying behind could spot and fire at adversaries from greater ranges.
The UAVs could be used for some lethal missions, however. For example, an attritable aircraft could venture close to a dangerous target when releasing a precision munition. That sort of mission might otherwise risk the life of a pilot. Moreover, a loyal wingman could serve as a guardian to a manned fighter, carrying air-to-air missiles and thus freeing space inside the weapons bay of stealth fighters for precisions munitions.
So far, AFRL has shown its technologically possible for one pilot to control and command seven loyal wingman UAVs at once, says Doug Meador, deputy programme manager of the Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology programme. And, despite popular perception and renderings released by aerospace manufacturers loyal wingman UAVs and manned aircraft would not likely be flying close to one another, he adds.
“These aircrafts won’t be within visual range of one another,” he says. “You can work with these aircraft with them being over the horizon.”
