Jack Mitchell-Divers
Boeing Australia is planning by the turn of the year to carry out a live firing test of an air-to-air missile (AAM) from the internal weapon bay of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). Missile release from an internal bay is far from a novelty, as demonstrated by the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor and F-35 Lighting II aircraft, but when it comes to an uninhabited system, this is a new design task.
The MQ-28 is a developmental uninhabited combat air system being used to explore the capabilities and requirements for an air vehicle in this class. In keeping with other CCA designs, it is significantly smaller than a crewed fighter aircraft, increasing the challenge of weapon integration and release.
Design driversThe CCAs in development are generally smaller platforms and feature a reduced maximum take-off weight compared to that of a crewed tactical combat aircraft. Substituting the cockpit for autonomy systems and avionics reduces size but does not yield a significant reduction in weight. The objective to limit the aircraft’s signature also means that weapons are primarily restricted to internal carriage, placing limitations on the platform’s volume and weight due to the need to accommodate a payload bay. Combined with a relatively bigger fuel fraction for desired loiter times and endurance, this crucially leaves little remaining for payload. As a result, there is a high dependence for overall weapon-system performance on a well-designed payload bay, or bays – getting the most out of limited loadouts.
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