Northrop Grumman's TERN Offering is a Tailsitting Flying Wing...supposedly

Northrop Grumman revealed a flying-wing tailsitter design as the company’s offering for an experimental unmanned air system that can bring Predator-sized payload and endurance to naval ships smaller than aircraft carriers.

The design concept forms the basis of Northrop’s proposal for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Tern programme. DARPA plans to award the contract in January to build and fly a full-scale prototype from a barge or decommissioned navy ship, says Chris Hernandez, senior vice-president of research, technology and advanced design for Northrop.

At DARPA’s request, Northrop is not releasing pictures or drawings of its Tern concept, but displayed a model of the aircraft on a 11 December tour for journalists in Los Angeles.

Northrop’s unmanned Tern design harkens back to the manned Lockheed XFV-1 concept of the early 1950s, which also featured a tailsitter configuration with nose-mounted counter-rotating propellers to provide vertical thrust for take-off and landing and forward thrust in horizontal flight.

But Northrop adds to the tailsitter approach by combining the engine with a pure flying wing design, a hallmark of several of the company’s bomber and surveillance aircraft since the mid-1930s.

DARPA wants an unmanned vehicle that can operate from DDG-class ships or smaller, with the ability to carry a 272kg (600lb) payload up to 900nm (1,670km). It also must be able to land vertically on a rolling deck in Sea State 5 conditions, meaning waves between 2.5m to 4m tall.

damnit, darpa!

link.

it has counter-rotating propellers?.....in this day and age?....didn't they have that 30 years ago?...not exactly cutting edge

a reply to: jimmyx

Counter rotating props make a lot of sense, for small ships. More than a jet engine.

a reply to: anzha

They'll have a ways to go to catch up to LM.

a reply to: jimmyx

It happens to be used for helicopters these days. Russians do it regularly.



Sikorsky is doing it, too.

a reply to: Sammamishman

What's Lockheed doing for the TERN?

Is the Cormorant dead?

Everything but the Northrop design is dead. They selected Phase III in September which only awarded one development contract. Northrop and Aerovironment were previously selected for Phase II.

a reply to: anzha

The Cormorant was cancelled in 2008 and never got past a full scale mockup IIRC.

VARIOUS on the other hand........

It should meet TERN requirements.

a reply to: anzha

They've always said it was a better platform for ships due to the removal of the torque.

What's the point for combining props with a flying wing. Surely any LO benefit from the flying wing design will be lost with the use of props. Is there a lift benefit over a more "traditional" design?

a reply to: Sammamishman

Latest news I can find on VARIOUS comes from 2012 and it was a concept Lockheed promoted rather than built, AFAICT.

I liked it back when, but ...

a reply to: Donkey09

Flying wings have significantly reduced drag, leading to more range and better performance.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: anzha

The Cormorant was cancelled in 2008 and never got past a full scale mockup IIRC.

There was some testing, full-scale buoyancy releases, etc before it was cancelled. But interestingly it continues to show up in images at trade shows (or at least as recently as last year). Usually you move on after a project is cancelled unless you're hoping to drum up a customer/funding.

Intriguing concept.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Zaph what are you thoughts on various? Did she disappear into the black?

Counter rotating tail sitters go back to Luft46 concepts...

a reply to: Zaphod58

tern image!

article link.

Use the TERN for ISR and let the UCLASS do strike. sheesh.

a reply to: anzha

Not quite from what I understand. Reasonably close, but not what's been tested.

Landing on a DDG class ship OR smaller within 5 beaufort´s should be a manly challenge, no?

originally posted by: anzha
a reply to: Zaphod58

tern image!

article link.

Use the TERN for ISR and let the UCLASS do strike. sheesh.

That looks like something from a WWII German skunk works program LOL.

a reply to: MystikMushroom

It does, sorta, look like a german ww2 boogie bird.

Foxtrot Alpha had some interesting comments on it. I hadn't thought of putting air to air radars on the TERN. That could get interesting. I was thinking more of a predator/reaper direct replacement. However, if that big flat surface makes it possible to put some sort of radar array on...things get really interesting.

And the image is what DARPA is putting out.

a reply to: anzha

DARPA doesn't want images released yet, so they're not going to give an accurate drawing.