| X-56 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Rendering of the X-56A in flight | |
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin Skunk Works |
| First flight | 26 July 2013 |
| Primary users | NASA Air Force Research Laboratory |
| Number built | 2 |
The Lockheed Martin X-56 is an American modular unmanned aerial vehicle that is being designed to explore High-Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) flight technologies for use in future military unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.
Designed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, known informally as the Skunk Works, [1] the aircraft was first revealed by Aviation Week, [2] and is intended to research active flutter suppression and gust-load alleviation technologies. The X-56A is based on Lockheed's earlier UAV work, showing influence from the Polecat, Sentinel and DarkStar UAVs. The program calls for the construction of two 7.5 feet (2.3 m)-long fuselages and a wingspan of 27.5 ft, [3] with four sets of wings being constructed for flight testing. [4]
The X-56A first flew on 26 July 2013, [5] flying from Edwards Air Force Base; twenty flights were to be flown on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory before the aircraft would be handed over to NASA for further testing. [6]
The first X-56A unmanned aircraft was severely damaged in a crash shortly after takeoff from the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB, California, on 19 November 2015, on its first flexible-wing flight to test active flutter suppression. The aircraft had previously made 16 flights with stiff wings to prove its operating envelope. [7]
The second X-56A unmanned aircraft flew for the first time on 9 April 2015 while under operation by NASA. [8] The aircraft flew eight flights with the stiff wings to clear its operating envelope. [9] The vehicle then completed its first flight with the highly flexible wings on 31 August 2017. [10]
One instability mode, body freedom flutter, was shown to be actively suppressed by the digital flight control at 110 kn (200 km/h), within its normal flight envelope. Slender, flexible and lighter low-drag wings would be enabled by flutter suppression. [11]
X-56B was destroyed in a crash on 9 July 2021 after suffering an "anomaly in flight". [12]
Data from [5]
General characteristics
Performance
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