Multi-purpose aircraft cavity
AssigneeNorthrop Grumman Corporation
InventorAllen A. Arata
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is provided an aircraft which can minimize its radar signature emission. Such aircraft comprises a fuselage having a lower fuselage portion. An internal fuselage cavity is defined within the lower fuselage portion and contains all landing gears and bombs therein. Moreover, a cavity-enclosing door is engaged to the lower fuselage portion. This specific cavity-enclosing door may form a closed position relative to the internal fuselage cavity to enclose all of the landing gears and bombs therein. In this respect, enclosure of all of the landing gears and bombs solely through the cavity-enclosing door may minimize the radar signature emission from the fuselage.
Claims27
An aircraft having minimized overall door edges to reduce a radar signature emission, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage having a lower fuselage portion;
- an internal fuselage cavity defined within the lower fuselage portion and including all retractable/extendable landing gears and bomb releasing mechanisms having air-to-ground bombs therein;
- a single cavity-enclosing door engaged to the lower fuselage portion and forming a stowed position relative to the internal fuselage cavity to enclose all of the landing gears and bomb releasing mechanisms therein;
- and
- wherein the single cavity-enclosing door is movable toward and away from the internal fuselage cavity independent of the retraction and extension of the landing gears with respect to the internal fuselage cavity, and wherein enclosure of all of the landing gears and bomb releasing mechanisms solely through the single cavity-enclosing door minimizes the overall door edges of the fuselage to reduce the radar signature emission from the fuselage.
An aircraft having minimized overall door edges to reduce a radar signature emission, the aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage having a lower fuselage portion;
- an internal fuselage cavity defined within the lower fuselage portion and including all retractable/extendable landing gears therein;
- and
- a cavity-enclosing door hingeably engaged to the lower fuselage portion, the cavity-enclosing door including a load-bearing inner door surface which releasibly attaches missile ejection systems with air-to-air missiles thereto, the cavity-enclosing door being continuously positionable at any one of a number of positions lying between stowed and deployed positions formed relative to the internal fuselage cavity to allow launching of the missiles therefrom, the cavity-enclosing door being movable toward and away from the internal fuselage cavity independent of the retraction and extension of the landing gears with respect to the internal fuselage cavity, the cavity-enclosing door enclosing all of the landing gears and missile ejection systems within the internal fuselage cavity when the stowed position is formed to minimize the overall door edges of the fuselage and reduce the radar signature emission from the fuselage.
A method of minimizing overall door edges to reduce a radar signature emission from an aircraft, the aircraft having an internal fuselage cavity with air-to-ground bombs and a single cavity-enclosing door, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) launching the aircraft from a runway;
- b) retracting all landing gears within the internal fuselage cavity of the aircraft;
- c) positioning all of the landing gears and air-to-ground bombs together within the internal fuselage cavity;
- d) moving the single cavity-enclosing door toward the internal fuselage cavity independent of and subsequent to the retraction of the landing gears into the internal fuselage cavity;
- e) closing the internal fuselage cavity with the single cavity-enclosing door;
- and
- f) minimizing the overall door edges of the aircraft to reduce the radar signature emission from the aircraft due to the enclosure of all of the landing gears and air-to-ground bombs solely through the single cavity-enclosing door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.