Conceptual Design of A Joined-Wing Sensor Craft

As a new type of aerial warning & surveillance and information integration system, Sensor Craft requires the integrated design of flight vehicle and airborne sensors. The key technologies and development status of Sensor Craft are introduced in this paper. Centering on the conformal sensors design, various aerodynamic configurations are analyzed, and a configuration which integrates joined-wing and flying wing configuration is proposed. According to the design indexes, overall parameters of the flight vehicle are designed by engineering estimation method. Based on the principle that the stress of the non-bearing parts should be the minimum, installation design of conformal antenna structure is conducted. Using nonlinear finite element method, intensity calculation of the antenna is carried out. The result shows that the main-bearing structures are the antenna skin, chord and stinger, while the antenna array element is less stressed. Flight performance calculation of the flight vehicle is carried out. The result shows that the configuration meets design requirements and is a feasible Sensor Craft concept design scheme.