“Northrop Switchblade”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

词条

Northrop Switchblade

释义

Design and development
See also

name = "Switchblade"

image =

caption =

}}{{Infobox Aircraft Type

type = Concept jet fighter

manufacturer = Northrop

designer =

first flight = Never flown

introduced =

retired =

status =

primary user = United States Air Force

more users =

produced =

number built = Never built

unit cost =

variants with their own articles =
}}

The Northrop "Switchblade" is a concept fighter jet which is a potential development of a utility patent filed by Grumman ({{US Patent|5984231}}) in November 1999.

Design and development

The wings are attached to the fuselage (body) at a pivot point toward the rear of the aircraft. With the wings fully swept aft the aircraft can slow to drop precision weapons or land on short unimproved runways. Swept forward twenty degrees and the aircraft takes advantage of the maneuverability that forward-swept wings offer becoming a highly agile air combat platform. Swept fully forward the wings become flush with the aircraft with the trailing edge becoming the leading edge, forming a highly swept 75-degree stealthy delta ideal for high-speed Mach 3 exits. Or, as it is stated in the U.S. Patent 5,984231 abstract, "the aforementioned apparatus may be used in a method to configure the aircraft for flight in a desired flight regime".

Geometry	Function
Wings fully extended	Long wingspan increases lift, enabling slower flight speeds for precision bombing and landing on short runways.
Wings swept forward	Forward sweep provides a good balance of lift and drag; efficient airflow over the wings and control surfaces enhances the fighter's maneuverability for air-to-air combat.
Wings fully swept	Low aspect ratio provides the least drag, enabling the aircraft to speed up to Mach 3. In this configuration the trailing edge becomes the leading edge, a section of the wing root becomes the new trailing edge.

Design and development

See also