Scaled Composites Model 437 aircraft to be flown for Beacon autonomy testbed

 

Northrop Grumman (Falls Church, Va., U.S.) has announced it will use the Model 437 aircraft built by subsidiary Scaled Composites (Mojave, Calif., U.S.) to test its Beacon autonomy ecosystem this year. This pioneering system will be tested in a pioneering aircraft — most likely the first to use continuous carbon fiber additive manufacturing in primary structures, namely the wings — showcasing Northrop Grumman’s investment and achievements via its Digital Pathfinder and Advanced Manufacturing teams.

Beacon is built on more than 500,000 autonomous flight hours and integrates advanced autonomous software and solutions within a digital environment that aims to accelerate software deployment, reduce risk and improve readiness for future aircraft programs.

Six partners — Applied Intuition, Autonodyne, Merlin, Red 6, Shield AI and SoarTech, an Accelint company — will test and refine their solutions using the Model 437 with Northrop Grumman’s flight autonomy hardware during a series of flight demonstrations this year.

Model 437 via Digital Pathfinder

According to the Scaled Composites website, Model 437 began as a conceptual design exploring a multi-mission low-cost attritable aircraft, with Vanguard as a crewed variant. The 41-foot-long aircraft has a 41-foot wingspan, gross takeoff weight of 10,000 pounds and is powered by a single 3,400-pound-thrust Pratt & Whitney engine.

It was also a key demonstrator for the Digital Pathfinder team to develop an innovative stealth aircraft using a fully connected digital environment. The integration of digital tools and processes combined with advanced manufacturing techniques enabled the Model 437 to be built faster and more affordably. Indeed, its first flight in August 2024 was just 27 months after starting the project.

As explained in the 2024 Breaking Defense article, “The wings of the M437 take flight after being developed in a fully connected digital ecosystem”, Northrop Grumman led design, build and manufacturing of the aircraft’s removable wing assemblies while Scaled Composites managed aerodynamic and structural analysis, fuselage and empennage fabrication, aircraft assembly and systems integration as well as ground and flight tests.

AM composite and titanium wings

Northrop Grumman fellow in advanced manufacturing, Eric Barnes, explained in a linkedIn post how new targeted determinate assembly techniques and composite AM processes were used to build the aircraft’s wings.

“We utilized fully digital information through our patented Scalable Composite Robotic Additive Manufacturing (SCRAM) capability that required no hard tooling,” he says, “only a rapidly deposited polymer wash away tool. Combined with no secondary cures or autoclaves needed in this process, we greatly reduced cost and schedule timelines.”

“We have multiple patents associated with this continuous fiber additive manufacturing cell. One of these patents allows machines to switch between materials, laying down continuous fiber composites in true 3D form. This enables us to align fibers with load directions, producing lighter, stronger structures with less material.” — Eric Barnes, in 2024 Breaking Defense article

“We also incorporated Plasma Arc Directed Energy Deposition [using] titanium for some of the primary structure of the wing,” said Barnes, “which we believe was the first time this process was used in a defense primary structural application. Through this we are seeing a 30% reduction in cost and schedule timelines for these parts, compared to traditional processes.”

Digital thread, determinate assembly

Sarah Beaudin, DPF director at Northrop Grumman, noted in the Breaking Defense article that in today’s world, the ability to deliver high-tech, high-end aircraft/aerospace solutions within tighter timelines is imperative. “Digital engineering makes that possible,” she added. “Our digital environment provides near-real-time visibility, creating a single source of truth. This allows us to adopt a shift-left approach — iterating everything from design through sustainment as early as possible in the program. By the time we actually start building things, we’ve already got it right.”

“We integrated suppliers into the digital transformation collaborative toolset,” Barnes explained. “This was a game-changer in many ways. To perform determinant assembly effectively, we need to push digital collaboration down to our suppliers, integrating them into our digital toolsets.”

This capability reduced not only the timeline but also costs. “Typical programs budget 15-20% for engineering rework,” said Beaudin. “We saw less than 1%. In addition, we saw improved efficiencies on the manufacturing floor.”

Just as the power of collaboration has been demonstrated by Digital Pathfinder in the Model 437 platform, Beacon will reportedly do the same for autonomy.  

“By providing open access to the Beacon ecosystem, we’re enhancing the innovation, new competition and ultimately the autonomous capabilities that industry can deliver to our customers, with unmatched speed and at scale,” — Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president, Aeronautics Systems, Northrop Grumman.