21st Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Melbourne, Australia, 13-18 September, 1998
Paper ICAS-98-1.10.1

THE IMPACT OF ENGINE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENTS ON THE RANGE V PERFORMANCE TRADE-OFF FOR A FUTURE COMBAT AIRCRAFT

Crawford C. A.
DERA, United Kingdom

Keywords: engine technology advancements, range v performance, future combat aircraft

The performance and military effectiveness of combat aircraft depend to a considerable extent on the capabilities of the propulsion system. For a new combat aircraft design, advanced engine technology can lead to a reduction in aircraft size and/or an improvement in performance, compared to an aircraft designed with current engine technology. This paper investigates the cost effective balance between payload/range and manoeuvre performance for a future ground attack aircraft. The generalised study addresses these trade-offs in terms of aircraft Basic Mass Empty (BME) and engine technology level. Although there is no attempt to address cost issues directly, BME has been used as a discriminator since cost is still influenced by aircraft size.

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