DARPA awards Boeing $9M to further develop Phamtom Swift

Boeing's Phantom Swift X-plane VTOL prototype just received a $9 million phase 1B contract to further develop the concept.

The Phantom Swift has two downward facing fans that allow for vertical take-offs and landings. The forward propulsion for the aircraft comes from wingtip thrusters that propel the Phantom Swift after the lift fans are shutdown.

The Phantom Swift is Boeing’s submission for DARPA’s VTOL X-Plane competition that also includes Aurora Flight Sciences, Karem and Sikorsky. The competition started last year. The four competitors received Phase 1 contracts. The contract Boeing received is a Phase 1B contract. It’s unclear if the other three companies have also received Phase 1B contracts to continue developing their aircraft.

The eventual aircraft will be powered by an all-electric drive, but it’s demonstrator will be powered by a General Electric CT7-8 engine.

Interesting they mentioned that the eventual final craft will be all electric. They must be able to generate or store bucket loads of electrical power to run 4 lifting fans and have enough power to fly the thing around at 460 mph.

defensetech.org...-23569

a reply to: Sammamishman

When they say it will be powered by an electric drive I am sure they mean the system that turns the rotors will be electric. That means they will have some type of fueled engine producing the electricity on board though if they incorporate some type of battery storage that means for short periods they could run nearly silent.

a reply to: Sammamishman

I don't believe "it" being powered by a General Electric engine means that the engine will be electric. GE does alot of non-electrical things too. Maybe GE is simply the name of the company.

Nice find nevertheless!

a reply to: Grimpachi

Possibly, they may employ a turbine for power generation but I wouldn't exactly call that an all electric system as described, more like a flying Prius hybrid.

a reply to: swanne

The DARPA demonstrator will be powered by a traditional helicopter turbine engine (GE CT7-8). According to the article the eventual final product is all electric. Maybe like a flying Tesla Model S.

a reply to: Sammamishman
After watching the video, I feel that this little bird has some serious yaw problems. If you watch the descent to a landing, when the power is reduced, it yaws to the right just as a helicopter would but there is no correction. To me this indicates the wing-tip fans have too little RPM control or no mechanism to control yaw while in a hover...just my two cents.

I submit this to the competition. Can I now get a billion for development?

a reply to: Grimpachi
I want one!

a reply to: buddah6

I think the model in the video was more of a exercise in fast prototyping for Boeing and to see if they could get a concept demo for DARPA. It wasn't much more than an elaborate RC quad-copter. I think the real large scale demonstrator will have the processing and sensors to detect and correct for yaw and the like. I would hope anyway.

I personally think it looks ugly and very amateur-ish.

a reply to: Grimpachi

Darn! I think you missed DARPA's cut of date. maybe next time...

a reply to: Sammamishman
For one thing, I have to commend their effort. I know how difficult it is building even a proven RC helicopter... I love to do that stuff!

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
I personally think it looks ugly and very amateur-ish.

I think your right in the video they said they designed it in three days. Seems to me they just threw it all together to get funding with little thought.

a reply to: Grimpachi

I would love to have a fast prototyping machine. Oh, the mind boggles with the possibilities. Unfortunately, when I went to school slide rules and drafting boards were the norm. CAD was new and only used by the government and military contractors.

originally posted by: Grimpachi
a reply to: Sammamishman

When they say it will be powered by an electric drive I am sure they mean the system that turns the rotors will be electric. That means they will have some type of fueled engine producing the electricity on board though if they incorporate some type of battery storage that means for short periods they could run nearly silent.

I don't think that's the case at all.

I believe there has been a breakthrough in electrical generation and it is a military secret.

Electric drive with an onboard turbine and batteries would be too heavy.

What ever happened to ZEN ?

$9MM for a remote controlled drone? This looks like a larger version of what you buy at a Brookstone or something. Wondering what the purpose of this little craft is going to be.

a reply to: Psynic

Agreed. With something like THIS and Lockmart's FUSION REACTOR PROJECT an all electric drive system powerful enough to keep an aircraft in the air for long periods of time might not be that far fetched.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

The RC craft above is just a concept demonstrator. The real final craft will have a 50ft wing span and be able to lift 5-6 tons.

www.janes.com...

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Wondering what the purpose of this little craft is going to be.

With a required ability for the end product to carry 10,000-12,000 pounds, I'd have to think they want to arm it in some form or fashion

???