Fuselage-integrated tailplane with engine outlet for stealth
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft tail regions with engine outlets and control surfaces pose a challenge in stealth against radar reconnaissance due to their curved surfaces and multiple elements with edges at different angles, making it difficult to camouflage effectively.
Innovation Solution
The integration of engine outlets into a pivotable control element that functions as both a tailplane and thrust vectoring nozzle, reducing the number of separate elements and camouflaging the engine outlets within an outer wall, thereby minimizing radar reflections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If engine outlets are integrated into the control element, then the radar signature is reduced, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the engine outlet and control element into a single integrated assembly. The engine outlet is positioned within the control element structure, eliminating separate components and reducing the number of edges and surfaces that reflect radar signals. This integration directly reduces the radar signature while combining multiple functions into one structural unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The control element serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a control surface for aerodynamic control, houses the engine outlet for thrust generation, and provides radar camouflage through its integrated design. This multi-functionality reduces the overall number of components needed in the tail region, thereby reducing radar reflections.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the number of separate elements in the tail region is reduced, then radar reflections are minimized, but the aerodynamic control capability must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The control element is designed to perform both aerodynamic control and engine outlet functions within a single structure. The integrated design maintains the necessary aerodynamic surfaces and control capabilities while eliminating separate engine outlet components, thus reducing radar reflections without compromising control functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
By combining the engine outlet and control element into one assembly, the patent maintains aerodynamic control capability while reducing the number of separate elements that could reflect radar signals. The merged structure ensures that control surfaces remain functional while hiding engine components from radar detection.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If engine outlets are camouflaged with absorbers, then radar detectability is reduced, but the high temperatures in the tail region make this difficult to implement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the engine outlet from the hot tail region environment by integrating it into the control element structure that extends away from the fuselage. This positioning removes the engine outlet from the high-temperature zone, allowing for effective radar camouflage without being constrained by thermal limitations that would prevent the use of radar absorbers.
Solution Approach 2:
The engine outlet is repositioned from a traditional location in the hot tail region to an integrated position within the control element that extends laterally and aft from the fuselage. This dimensional repositioning moves the engine outlet away from the high-temperature zone, enabling the use of radar absorbers for camouflage without thermal interference.
Data Source
AI summary
A fuselage for an aircraft. The fuselage has a control element with an integrated engine outlet. The control element is integrated at a rear end of the fuselage, so that the control element terminates flush with an outer skin of the fuselage in a circumferential direction of the fuselage. An outer wall of the control element surrounds the engine outlet wherein the engine outlet is directed towards an open rear side of the control element. The control element is connected to the fuselage such that the control element jointly the engine outlet is pivotable about a rotation axis with respect to the fuselage. The rotation axis runs transversely to a longitudinal direction of the fuselage and the control element functions as a tailplane when pivoting about the rotation axis.