The VULTURE Air Vehicle Program is an exploratory development program with the overall goal to develop and demonstrate the ability to deliver and maintain an airborne payload on station for an uninterrupted period exceeding 5 years using a heavier-than-air platform system. It is envisioned that this program will, at a minimum, develop and demonstrate advanced reliability technologies for air vehicles. Bally Ribbon Mills and Lockheed Martin have been developing lightweight, low cost structural concepts that apply three-dimensional woven pi-shaped woven preforms under IRAD and CRAD programs that when bonded into integrated composite structures offer significant reductions in airframe weight for High Altitude Long Endurance aircraft. The VULTURE Air Vehicle Program will research and develop technologies and systems which will enable the Military to deliver and maintain a 1000 lb, 5 kW airborne payload for an uninterrupted period exceeding 5 years with a 99+% on station probability.
Keywords: 3d Woven Preforms Syntactic Foam Cores Sandwich Structure Co-Bond Vacuum Assist Resin Transfer Molding (Vartm) Integrated Systems And Structure
