1 Key Air Force Research Priorities 28 June 2010 Dr. Werner J.A. Dahm Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force Air Force Pentagon (4E130) Washington, D.C. UNCLASSIFIED Headquarters U.S. Air Force 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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1
Key Air Force Research Priorities
28 June 2010
Dr. Werner J.A. Dahm Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force
Air Force Pentagon (4E130) Washington, D.C.
UNCLASSIFIED
Headquarters U.S. Air Force
28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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The Air Force is Critically Dependent on Science & Technology Advances
The Air Force is in the capabilities business; achieving superior capabilities requires a continual source of science and technology advances, with occasional breakthroughs
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Science & Technology Has Top-Level Representation in the Air Force
Chief of Staff Air Force (AF/CC)
Secretary of the Air Force
(SecAF)
Headquarters U.S. Air Force
Office of the USAF Chief Scientist
Air Force Chief Scientist
(AF/ST)
The Chief Scientist is the full-time scientific and technical advisor to the AF Chief of Staff and Secretary of the AF
Holds 3-star equivalent rank; is a full member of the Air Staff, the AF Council, and Headquarters Air Force
Provides independent technical advice on all existing and planned programs, and on technical opportunities
Has unrestricted access to all information and programs; can address any topics of interest or opportunity
Commander, Air Force Materiel Command
(AFMC/CC)
Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL/CC)
Air Vehicles
Directed Energy
Space Vehicles Propulsion
Materials & Manuf. Information
Human Perform.
Sensors
Munitions
AFOSR
Basic Res. (AFOSR)
NA NE NL
Since shortly after its formation from the Army Air Corps, the Air Force has maintained an independent full-time Chief Scientist in the Pentagon as a direct scientific and technical advisor to the Chief of Staff
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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The Path from Science and Technology to New Air Force Capabilities
• Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) • Initial Operational Test & Eval. (IOT&E) • Full Rate Production (FRP) • Initial Operational Capability (IOC) • Field • Sustain
TRL 1: Basic principles observed and reported TRL 2: Technology concept and/or application formulated TRL 3: Analytical or experimental proof of concept TRL 4: Component validation in laboratory environment TRL 5: Component validation in relevant environment TRL 6: System/subsystem demonstration in relevant environment TRL 7: System prototype demonstration in an operational environment TRL 8: Actual system completed and qualified through test and demo TRL 9: Actual system proven through successful mission operations
Technology Readiness Level (TRL): Definitions
Basic Research
Applied Research
Advanced Technology Development
Concept Refinement
Advanced Development
System Development & Demonstration
Production, Fielding,
Sustainment
Budget Activity 1 (6.1)
Budget Activity 2 (6.2)
Budget Activity 3 (6.3) Budget Activity 4
BA 5 BA 6,7
Materiel Development Decision (MDD) Milestone A Milestone B Milestone C
Research & Development Acquisition
Universities Air Force Research Laboratory
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Overall Air Force RDT&E Investments
Operational Systems Development 61%
Basic Research (6.1) 2%
Applied Research (6.2) 4%
Advanced Technology Development (6.3)
2%
Concept Refinement and Advanced Dev.
9%
System Development and Demonstration
18%
RDT&E Management 4%
$28.06B FY09 Air Force RDT&E
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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USAF S&T Core Investment in 6.1-6.3
6.2: Applied Research $1029M
55% Total FY09 Core/External $4.5B
6.1: Basic Research $310M
16% 6.3: Advanced Technology
Development $541M 29%
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
Amounts shown are $2B/yr Air Force core
funds; does not include $2B/yr customer funds
$1.9B Direct AFRL funds + $2.2B Customer funds
+ 324M Congress adds
$4.5B total AFRL 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
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USAF S&T Core Investment Distribution Across Air, Space, and Cyber Domains
Air Domain 46%
Space Domain 30%
Cyber Domain 24%
Nearly one-quarter of all Air Force S&T investment now goes into the cyber domain
$541M
$566M
$862M
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Ten Technical Directorates Comprise the Air Force Research Laboratory
Space Vehicles
Directed Energy
Munitions
Propulsion
Human Effectiveness
Information
Air Vehicles Sensors
AFOSR
Materials & Manufacturing
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Total Annual Air Force S&T Enterprise Amounts to $4.5B/yr (6.1-6.3)
Amounts shown are $2B/yr Air Force core
funds; does not include $2B/yr customer funds
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
$1.9B Direct AFRL funds + $2.2B Customer funds
+ 324M Congress adds
$4.5B total AFRL 6.1, 6.2, 6.3
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What New S&T Advances Will Create the Next Generation of USAF Capabilities?
Maintaining superior capabilities over its adversaries requires the Air Force to continually seek new science and technology advances and integrate these into fieldable systems
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U.S. Air Force “Technology Horizons”
“Technology Horizons” is the next in a succession of major S&T vision studies conducted at the Headquarters Air Force level to define the key Air Force S&T investments over the next decade
Toward New Horizons
1945
Project Forecast
1964
New World Vistas 1995
Technology Horizons
2010
1 3 6 7
Woods Hole Summer Study
1958
New Horizons II
1975
Project Forecast II
1986
2 4 5
1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010+
Low-impact studies
High-impact studies
28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Unclassified
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Air Force S&T Vision for 2010-2030 from “Technology Horizons”
28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Cleared for Public Release
New Types of Remotely-Piloted and/or Autonomous Air Vehicle Systems
Air Force Sensorcraft concept
Air Force Sensorcraft concept
13 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Cleared for Public Release
Air Force Sensorcraft concept
Unmanned combat air vehicle concept General Atomics “Predator C”
Unmanned airborne platforms with large sensor suite capable of long-endurance loiter on station
Passive laminar flow control technologies may be essential to provide needed loiter times
Thermal management will be challenging; large sensor heat loads with few ram air openings
Special fuels may be needed to manage extreme heat and cold at various operating conditions
High-Altitude Long-Endurance (HALE) Air Vehicle Systems
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New unmanned aircraft systems (VULTURE) and airships (ISIS) can remain aloft for years
Delicate lightweight structures can survive low-altitude winds if launch can be chosen
Enabled by solar cells powering lightweight batteries or regenerative fuel cell systems
Large airships containing football field size radars give extreme resolution/persistence
28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Cleared for Public Release
DARPA VULTURE HALE Aircraft Concept
DARPA VULTURE HALE Aircraft Concept
Airship-Based HALE ISR Systems
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HALE airship platforms are being examined for numerous ISR and comm relay applications
Current DoD HALE Airship programs include: Long-Endurance Multi-INT Vehicle (LEMV) HALE Demonstrator (HALE-D) Blue Devil (Polar 400 airship + King Air A-90) Integrated Sensor is Structure (ISIS)
Potential fuel cost savings over traditional ISR aircraft; speed and vulnerability are concerns
28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Unclassified
Blue Devil “Polar 400” DARPA “ISIS”
HALE-D
Examples of Current DoD HALE Airship Programs
Medium-Altitude Global ISR & Communications (MAGIC) Platform
Medium altitude allows platform more similar to traditional aircraft
More rapid repositioning than is achievable with airship platforms
Can serve as ISR platform and as airborne communications relay
Designs could potentially allow far greater endurance than MQ-1/9
MAGIC-like JCTD may be used to assess technology readiness
16 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation Cleared for Public Release
One example of a possible MAGIC long-endurance platform
Comparison with MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper
Hybrid Wing-Body (HWB) Aircraft
Hybrid wing-body with blended juncture has greater fuel efficiency than tube-and-wing
Body provides significant fraction of total lift; resulting volumetric efficiency is improved
Potential Air Force uses as airborne tanker or as cargo transport aircraft
Fabrication of pressurized body sections is enabled by PRSEUS technology
Hydrocarbon-fueled dual-mode ram/scramjet combustor allows operation over Mach range
Thermal management, ignition, flameholding GDE-1 was flight weight hydrocarbon fuel-
cooled but with open-loop fuel system GDE-2 was closed-loop hydrocarbon fuel-
cooled system intended for NASA X-43C SJX61-1,2 were closed-loop HC fuel-cooled
development/clearance engines for X-51A
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator First Flight on 26 May 2010
240-sec of continuous JP-fueled scramjet combustion in fuel-cooled combustor
Four flight experiments beginning late 2009 B-52 underwing launch; ATACMS booster to
separation and scramjet ignition Actual first flight performance:
Total mission time = 210 sec Time on scramjet = 143 sec Total distance traveled = 170 mi Scramjet ethylene start and JP-7 transition Scramjet fuel control and cooling Fuel setting for 4.7 ≤ Mach ≤ 5.25 Actual scramjet Mach achieved was 4.9 TM lost before fuel setting for high Mach Possible seal leak at nozzle junction
Nearly all other test objectives were met on this initial flight experiment
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
Cleared for Public Release: WPAFB 08-2865
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator
300-sec of continuous JP-fueled scramjet combustion in fuel-cooled combustor
Four flight experiments beginning in 2010 B-52 underwing launch; ATACMS booster
~30 sec to separation and scramjet ignition
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
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Robust Scramjet Scale-Up Program
X-51A uses small-scale combustor Possible follow-on flights to test navigation and inert strike on target
AFRL Robust Scramjet program Scale-up and combustor
reconfiguration for 3X, 10X, 100X
scales?
Possible ISR or global strike vehicle
Large-scale vehicle
Potential step to a future airbreathing TSTO access-to-space system
Vertical takeoff / horizontal landing (VTHL) enables single-stage rocket-based combined-cycle (RBCC) system having 5000 nmi range with 2000 lbs payload
Integral rocket boost to Mach 3.5 with ram-scram acceleration to Mach 6 Resulting notional vehicle is 80 ft long with 42,000 lbs empty weight
37 Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
Notional Mach 6 single-stage reusable VTHL ISR vehicle with 5000 nmi range (Astrox)
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Airbreathing Two-Stage-to-Orbit (TSTO) Access to Space Vehicles
Airbreathing systems offer enormous advantages for TSTO access-to-space; reusable space access with aircraft-like operations
Air Force / NASA conducting joint configuration option assessments using Level 1 & 2 analyses
Reusable rockets (RR), turbine-based (TBCC) and rocket-based (RBCC) combined cycles
Cleared for Public Release 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
Laser-Based Directed Energy Systems
Laser-based directed energy systems approaching operationally useful power, size, and beam quality
Distinction between tactical DE (e.g., ATL in C-130) vs. strategic DE (e.g., ABL in B747)
Tactical-scale systems enabled ultra-low collateral damage strike and airborne self-defense
Technology path from COIL lasers to bulk solid state (e.g., HELLADS) to fiber lasers to DPALs
Demonstration path leads to airborne test (ELLA)
39 Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
AFRL Fiber Laser Testbed
AFRL Rubidium DPAL Experiment
2012 2017 2010
General Atomics
Textron Unit Cells
North Oscura Peak (NOP) White Sands Missile Range
ELLA Flight Demonstration
Electric Laser on a Large Aircraft (ELLA): Integration of Laser DE in B-1B
ELLA seeks to integrate and demonstrate tactically relevant high-power laser DE in airborne platform
C-130 and B-1B platforms were considered; B-1B selected as most challenging (aero-optics)
Will integrated fully modular HELLADS-derived laser in forward weapons bay of B-1B
Thermal management integrates with existing PAO lines in weapons bay; full beam control
Current FY17 tests and demonstration planned
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3 Weapons Bays
Unclassified 28 June 2010 AIAA Combined Conferences Keynote Presentation
USAF Chief Scientist Conducting ELLA Integration Assessment in B-1B
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Emerging Roles and New Concepts for Large and Medium Size UAVs
UAS moving beyond traditional surveillance and kinetic strike roles