Bringing some flash to military aviation, Airbus is showing off its Wingman drone concept this week at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. The 1:1 scale mock-up is the aerospace equivalent of a "show car" for highlighting ideas.
Trade shows like the ILA that runs through June 9 are not only an opportunity for salespeople to fatten up their order books, they're also a chance for companies to give potential customers an exclusive look at future products before the general public gets to know about them. Not only that, these sneak peaks allow engineers to let their hair down and their imaginations run a bit ahead of reality.
In this case, Airbus is showcasing its vision of what a Wingman combat drone could be like rather than a depiction of a planned aircraft. Essentially, the model is a 3D wish list of features that the Airbus engineers might like to see in the real world one day, serving as a way to inspire future designers.
The purpose of the Airbus Wingman, as with similar projects, is to fundamentally transform how fighter planes and other combat aircraft operate. Instead of acting independently or as part of a squadron of crewed aircraft, the Wingman allows fighter pilots to act less like dog-fighters and more like mission commanders, as the drones operate as integrated network nodes and take over many tasks, including reconnaissance, electronic warfare, attacking enemy targets, and generally taking risks rather than putting a person in peril. However, Airbus emphasizes that the decision to fire the Wingman's weapons will always be made by a human.
According to Airbus, the concept Wingman is designed for stealth, the ability to carry a variety of armaments like precision guided munitions or missiles, incorporate advanced sensors, and have a high level of connectivity and the ability to operate with other platforms to form a single functioning unit.
In addition, we can make some assumptions from the image of the Wingman that Airbus has released. The rather dramatic black dart shape indicates that Wingman is a jet-propelled supersonic aircraft. The black coating, the delta wing similar to that of the US stealth bombers, and the geometry of the forward air intake and canard wings suggest a very high degree of stealth. In addition, there are a number of access hatches that could provide access for sensors and one that looks very much like an in-flight refueling dock.
Eventually, the function of Wingman will be to not only reduce the workload on human pilots, but to act as relatively inexpensive and expendable force multipliers that will allow Western forces to match the air forces of peer and near-peer rivals.
"The German Air Force has expressed a clear need for an unmanned aircraft flying with and supporting missions of its manned fighter jets before the Future Combat Air System will be operational in 2040," said Michael Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. "Our Wingman concept is the answer. We will further drive and fine-tune this innovation made in Germany so that ultimately we can offer the German Air Force an affordable solution with the performance it needs to maximize the effects and multiply the power of its fighter fleet for the 2030s."
Source: Airbus