NATO STO/AVT-251: A Joint Exercise in Collaborative Combat Aircraft Design

Abstract

This article provides an overview about the activities performed within the NATO STO Research Task Group AVT-251 on "Multi-Disciplinary design and performance assessment of effective, agile NATO Air Vehicles". After a brief introduction to the preceding task groups and the research questions that led to the formation of AVT-251, the selection of design requirements is discussed and the approach for developing the MULDICON UCAV configuration out of its predecessor, the SACCON concept, is described. A short summary presents the work performed by the four design teams, each of which was responsible for one of the major topics on which the design task had been focused (aerodynamic shaping, control concept, engine integration, and structural concept). The task of a fifth team was two-fold: initially, it was responsible for the specification of the design requirements; later in the process, it had to join together the results of the other four teams into an overall aircraft concept and to assess this concept with respect to the initially specified set of requirements. Finally, a concluding summary of the MULDICON concept, as well as of the research questions of the AVT-251 task group are presented.