Boeing X-32
Encyclopedia
The Boeing
X-32 was a multi-purpose jet fighter in the Joint Strike Fighter contest
. It lost to the Lockheed Martin X-35
demonstrator which was further developed into the F-35 Lightning II
.
(DARPA) launched the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter project (CALF). The project's purpose was to develop a stealth-enabled design to replace all of US DoD
lighter weight fighter and attack aircraft, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet
, and vertical/short takeoff / vertical landing (V/STOL
) AV-8B Harrier II. Around the same time the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) project was started. In 1994, the US Congress ordered the two to be merged into the Joint Strike Fighter Program
.
Many companies took part in the first phase of this project, which involved drafting concept aircraft designs for submission to the Department of Defense
. However on 16 November 1996, only Boeing and Lockheed Martin
were awarded contracts, allowing them to produce two of their concept aircraft each. Under the contract, these fighters were required to demonstrate Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL), carrier take off and landing (CV version), and short take off and vertical landing (STOVL). They were also expected to include ground demonstrations of a production representative aircraft's systems, such as the Preferred Weapon System Concept (PWSC).
One major departure from previous projects was the prohibition of the companies from using their own money to finance development. Each was awarded $750 million to produce their two aircraft – including avionics, software and hardware. This limitation promoted the adoption of low cost manufacturing and assembly techniques, and also prevented either Boeing or Lockheed Martin from bankrupting
themselves in an effort to win such an important contest.
and A-7 Corsair and a large one piece carbon fiber
composite
wing. The large intake did not contribute to the characteristically sleek look expected from a high-tech fighter. The wing was trapezoidal, spanning 9.15 meters, with a 55 degree leading edge sweep and could hold up to 20,000 pounds of fuel. The purpose of the high sweep angle was to allow for a thick wing section to be used while still providing limited transonic drag and to provide a good angle for wing-installed antenna equipment. The wing would prove a challenge to fabricate.
The engine is mounted directly behind the cockpit, which places it ahead of the center of gravity (a very rare thing for a jet fighter) and it also implies something special was added to the intake to prevent the blades from being directly visible to radar. Possibilities include a variable baffle designed to block incoming radar while not interfering with airflow.
Boeing had proposed in the 1960s a similarly aesthetically challenged supersonic fighter with a mid-center-of-gravity mounted engine with vectored thrust nozzles, but this never proceeded beyond pictures published in Aviation Week
. By comparison, the Lockheed entry looked like, if anything, a smaller version of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
design, which was chosen to minimize production manufacturing costs. However, eight months into construction of the prototypes, the JSF's maneuverability and payload requirements were refined at the request of the Navy
and Boeing's delta wing design fell short of the new targets. Engineers put together a new design with a conventional tail (narrowly beating out a Pelikan tail
) with reduced weight and improved agility, but it was too late to change the prototypes. It was judged that they would be sufficient to demonstrate Boeing's technology.
The first flight of the X-32A (designed for CTOL and carrier trials) took place on 18 September 2000, from Boeing's Palmdale plant to Edwards Air Force Base
. The X-32B demonstrated STOVL flight, first flying in March 2001. The X-32 achieved STOVL flight in much the same way as the AV-8B Harrier II
with thrust vectoring
of the jet and fan exhaust. The Lockheed Martin team used a riskier alternative, a shaft-driven lift fan
powered by the main engine which was designed to generate more thrust than possible with only direct exhaust gases. A successful design would have greater payload, and thus longer range than a simple thrust vectored turbofan
.
Flight testing of both companies' aircraft continued until July 2001.
On 26 October 2001, the Department of Defense announced that the Lockheed Martin X-35 won the JSF competition. One of the main reasons for this choice appears to have been the method of achieving STOVL flight, with the Department of Defense judging that the higher performance lift fan system was worth the extra risk. When near to the ground, the Boeing X-32 suffers from the problem of hot air from the exhaust circulating back to the main engine, which causes the thrust to weaken and the engine to overheat. The X-35 would be developed into the production F-35 Lightning II
.
The loss of the JSF contract to Lockheed Martin in 2001 was a major blow to Boeing, as it represented the most important international fighter aircraft project since the Lightweight Fighter competition of the 1960s and 1970s, which had led to the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Hornet
. At the time, the production run of the JSF was estimated at anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000. Prior to the awarding of the contract many lawmakers pushed the idea of retaining the losing competitor as a sub-contractor, however the "winner takes all" principle was not changed. Nonetheless Boeing views its work on the X-32 as a strategic investment, yielding important technologies which it has been able to adopt in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
and other studies.
In 2005 the Boeing X-32A was transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force
in Dayton, Ohio
. Its condition had deteriorated due to sitting outside for several years following the end of the JSF competition. The X-32B was transferred to the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 2005. It was undergoing restoration at the museum's restoration facility in June 2009.
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
X-32 was a multi-purpose jet fighter in the Joint Strike Fighter contest
Joint Strike Fighter Program
Joint Strike Fighter is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and their allies. After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35, a...
. It lost to the Lockheed Martin X-35
Lockheed Martin X-35
The Lockheed Martin X-35 was an experimental aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin for the Joint Strike Fighter Program. It was declared the winner over the Boeing X-32 and went on to enter production in the early 21st century as the F-35 Lightning II....
demonstrator which was further developed into the F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
.
Background
In 1993, the Defense Advanced Research Projects AgencyDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is an agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military...
(DARPA) launched the Common Affordable Lightweight Fighter project (CALF). The project's purpose was to develop a stealth-enabled design to replace all of US DoD
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
lighter weight fighter and attack aircraft, including the F-16 Fighting Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets . Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and...
, and vertical/short takeoff / vertical landing (V/STOL
V/STOL
Vertical and/or short take-off and landing is a term used to describe aircraft that are able to take-off or land vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing describes craft which do not require runways at all...
) AV-8B Harrier II. Around the same time the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) project was started. In 1994, the US Congress ordered the two to be merged into the Joint Strike Fighter Program
Joint Strike Fighter Program
Joint Strike Fighter is a development and acquisition program intended to replace a wide range of existing fighter, strike, and ground attack aircraft for the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and their allies. After a competition between the Boeing X-32 and the Lockheed Martin X-35, a...
.
Many companies took part in the first phase of this project, which involved drafting concept aircraft designs for submission to the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
. However on 16 November 1996, only Boeing and Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
were awarded contracts, allowing them to produce two of their concept aircraft each. Under the contract, these fighters were required to demonstrate Conventional Take Off and Landing (CTOL), carrier take off and landing (CV version), and short take off and vertical landing (STOVL). They were also expected to include ground demonstrations of a production representative aircraft's systems, such as the Preferred Weapon System Concept (PWSC).
One major departure from previous projects was the prohibition of the companies from using their own money to finance development. Each was awarded $750 million to produce their two aircraft – including avionics, software and hardware. This limitation promoted the adoption of low cost manufacturing and assembly techniques, and also prevented either Boeing or Lockheed Martin from bankrupting
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
themselves in an effort to win such an important contest.
Designing the X-32
The X-32 featured a large chin-mounted air intake akin to the F-8 CrusaderF-8 Crusader
The Vought F-8 Crusader was a single-engine, supersonic, carrier-based air superiority jet aircraft built by Vought for the United States Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps, replacing the Vought F7U Cutlass...
and A-7 Corsair and a large one piece carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
composite
Composite material
Composite materials, often shortened to composites or called composition materials, are engineered or naturally occurring materials made from two or more constituent materials with significantly different physical or chemical properties which remain separate and distinct at the macroscopic or...
wing. The large intake did not contribute to the characteristically sleek look expected from a high-tech fighter. The wing was trapezoidal, spanning 9.15 meters, with a 55 degree leading edge sweep and could hold up to 20,000 pounds of fuel. The purpose of the high sweep angle was to allow for a thick wing section to be used while still providing limited transonic drag and to provide a good angle for wing-installed antenna equipment. The wing would prove a challenge to fabricate.
The engine is mounted directly behind the cockpit, which places it ahead of the center of gravity (a very rare thing for a jet fighter) and it also implies something special was added to the intake to prevent the blades from being directly visible to radar. Possibilities include a variable baffle designed to block incoming radar while not interfering with airflow.
Boeing had proposed in the 1960s a similarly aesthetically challenged supersonic fighter with a mid-center-of-gravity mounted engine with vectored thrust nozzles, but this never proceeded beyond pictures published in Aviation Week
Aviation Week & Space Technology
Aviation Week & Space Technology, often abbreviated Aviation Week or AW&ST, is a weekly magazine owned and published by McGraw-Hill...
. By comparison, the Lockheed entry looked like, if anything, a smaller version of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter.
Design changes
The two X-32 prototypes featured a delta wingDelta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
design, which was chosen to minimize production manufacturing costs. However, eight months into construction of the prototypes, the JSF's maneuverability and payload requirements were refined at the request of the Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and Boeing's delta wing design fell short of the new targets. Engineers put together a new design with a conventional tail (narrowly beating out a Pelikan tail
Pelikan tail
The Pelikan tail is an experimental tail design for fighter jets. Originally conceived by Ralph Pelikan, who was hired by McDonnell Aircraft, later worked for McDonnell Douglas and after another merger, retired from Boeing. His design has not to date been incorporated into any publicly available...
) with reduced weight and improved agility, but it was too late to change the prototypes. It was judged that they would be sufficient to demonstrate Boeing's technology.
Flight testing
Due to the heavy delta wing design of the prototypes, Boeing demonstrated STOVL and supersonic flight in separate configurations, with the STOVL configuration requiring that some parts be removed from the fighter. The company promised that their conventional tail design for production models would not require separate configurations. By contrast, the Lockheed Martin X-35 prototypes were capable of transitioning between their STOVL and supersonic configurations in mid-flight.The first flight of the X-32A (designed for CTOL and carrier trials) took place on 18 September 2000, from Boeing's Palmdale plant to Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
. The X-32B demonstrated STOVL flight, first flying in March 2001. The X-32 achieved STOVL flight in much the same way as the AV-8B Harrier II
AV-8B Harrier II
The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II is a second-generation vertical/short takeoff and landing ground-attack aircraft. An Anglo-American development of the British Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the Harrier II is the final member of the Harrier family that started with the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 in...
with thrust vectoring
Thrust vectoring
Thrust vectoring, also thrust vector control or TVC, is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine or motor in order to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle....
of the jet and fan exhaust. The Lockheed Martin team used a riskier alternative, a shaft-driven lift fan
Rolls-Royce LiftSystem
The Rolls-Royce LiftSystem is an innovative propulsion system designed for use in the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II developed during the Joint Strike Fighter Program...
powered by the main engine which was designed to generate more thrust than possible with only direct exhaust gases. A successful design would have greater payload, and thus longer range than a simple thrust vectored turbofan
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
.
Flight testing of both companies' aircraft continued until July 2001.
JSF competition
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
.
The loss of the JSF contract to Lockheed Martin in 2001 was a major blow to Boeing, as it represented the most important international fighter aircraft project since the Lightweight Fighter competition of the 1960s and 1970s, which had led to the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F/A-18 Hornet
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets . Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and...
. At the time, the production run of the JSF was estimated at anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000. Prior to the awarding of the contract many lawmakers pushed the idea of retaining the losing competitor as a sub-contractor, however the "winner takes all" principle was not changed. Nonetheless Boeing views its work on the X-32 as a strategic investment, yielding important technologies which it has been able to adopt in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
F/A-18E/F Super Hornet
The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is a twin-engine carrier-based multirole fighter aircraft. The F/A-18E single-seat variant and F/A-18F tandem-seat variant are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. The Super Hornet has an internal 20 mm gun and can carry air-to-air...
and other studies.
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the world's largest and oldest military aviation museum with more than 360 aircraft and missiles on display...
in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. Its condition had deteriorated due to sitting outside for several years following the end of the JSF competition. The X-32B was transferred to the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
Patuxent River Naval Air Museum
The Patuxent River Naval Air Museum preserves and interprets the Patuxent River Naval Air Base history and heritage of advancing US Naval aviation technology....
in St. Mary's County, Maryland in 2005. It was undergoing restoration at the museum's restoration facility in June 2009.