3394. Structural Weight Considerations of a Low Cost High Speed Interceptor

Paper

Abstract

In response to the 2005 AIAA Undergraduate RFP for a Homeland Defense Interceptor, Team Mothra presents Black Mamba. Black Mamba is a low cost, high speed aircraft capable of intercepting any airborne threat above domestic United States airspace. Black Mamba is capable of Mach 2.2 while being extremely cheap and reliable in the field. While supersonic capable, it also has the ability to loiter for up to 4 hours on internal fuel and then dash to a target, intercept, and cruise back while not undergoing aerial refueling. With such requirements, weight control is especially important. Black Mamba is approximately 29,000 pounds gross takeoff weight with 43% of that being fuel. A center-of-gravity control system is used to distribute the fuel in order to achieve the most suitable center-of-gravity location for control purposes. Black Mamba also includes advanced materials in its construction. Composite material accounts for approximately 35% of the structural weight. Despite the large non-recurring costs of using composites, the advantages of unitization, reduced part count, larger buy- to-fly ratio, and larger maintenance intervals ensure a cheaper and more reliable structure in the long term than a conventional aluminum aircraft. With the advanced technology already available today, Black Mamba is designed to last well into this century in defending U.S. airspace.