52-521: The McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD (Short Takeoff and Landing/Maneuver Technology Demonstrator) is a modified F-15 Eagle . Developed as a technology demonstrator, the F-15 STOL/MTD carried out research for studying the effects of thrust vectoring and enhanced maneuverability. The aircraft used for the project was pre-production TF-15A (F-15B) No. 1 (USAF S/N 71-0290 ), the first two-seat F-15 Eagle built by McDonnell Douglas (out of 2 prototypes),
104-403: A British rigid airship that first flew in 1916 and the twin 1930s-era U.S. Navy rigid airships USS Akron and USS Macon that were used as airborne aircraft carriers , and a similar form of thrust vectoring is also particularly valuable today for the control of modern non-rigid airships . In this use, most of the load is usually supported by buoyancy and vectored thrust is used to control
156-489: A consistent commercial success, with most mainline installments reaching over one million units shipped. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the most successful title with over 3 million copies shipped by 2021, followed by Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies and Air Combat . The games have sold well predominantly in North America and Japan, where over 75% of all revenue was generated from the series by 2008. In total,
208-673: A given aircraft to achieve TVFC can vary from one on a CTOL aircraft to a minimum of four in the case of STOVL aircraft. An example of 2D thrust vectoring is the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine used in the Hawker Siddeley Harrier , as well as in the AV-8B Harrier II variant. Widespread use of thrust vectoring for enhanced maneuverability in Western production-model fighter aircraft didn't occur until
260-528: A lack of nuclear deterrence and a greater focus on conventional weapons in arms races . This makes interstate warfare common, and many nations field large militaries with diverse equipment, develop superweapons, train elite special forces -esque " ace " fighter squadrons , or hire mercenaries to augment their forces. Most Ace Combat games are set after a 1999 impact event with an asteroid designated "Ulysses 1994XF04" which split into many smaller fragments upon approaching Earth. Anti-asteroid weaponry
312-554: A low speed, the rocket motor's exhaust has a high enough speed to provide sufficient forces on the mechanical vanes. Thus, thrust vectoring can reduce a missile's minimum range. For example, anti-tank missiles such as the Eryx and the PARS 3 LR use thrust vectoring for this reason. Some other projectiles that use thrust-vectoring: Most currently operational vectored thrust aircraft use turbofans with rotating nozzles or vanes to deflect
364-533: A scene from the 1993 animated film Patlabor 2: The Movie , set in the year 2002, a flight of three rogue F-16Js (flight "Wyvern") are intercepted by two pairs of a semi-fictional F-15J Kai+ (flights "Wizard" and "Priest"), which feature some of the STOL/MTD's airframe additions. Numerous entries in the Ace Combat video game series feature the F-15 STOL/MTD as an unlockable player aircraft, and has also been
416-455: A short runway. This F-15 was part of an effort to improve ABO (Air Base Operability), the survival of warplanes and fighting capability at airfields under attack. The F-15 STOL/MTD tested ways to land and take off from wet, bomb-damaged runways. The aircraft used a combination of reversible engine thrust, jet nozzles that could be deflected by 20 degrees, and canard foreplanes. Pitch vectoring/reversing nozzles and canard foreplanes were fitted to
468-504: A side-by-side configuration. If such a craft is flown in a way where it enters a vortex ring state , one of the rotors will always enter slightly before the other, causing the aircraft to perform a drastic and unplanned roll. Thrust vectoring is also used as a control mechanism for airships . An early application was the British Army airship Delta , which first flew in 1912. It was later used on HMA (His Majesty's Airship) No. 9r ,
520-801: A system integration study of thrust-vectoring, thrust-reversing, and 2-D nozzles on the F-15 with McDonnell Douglas. In 1984, the Flight Dynamics Laboratory , the Air Force Aeronautical Systems Division awarded a contract to McDonnell Douglas for an advanced development STOL/MTD experimental aircraft. The aircraft used in the STOL/MTD program has flown several times since the successful STOL/MTD program completion in 1991 that used thrust vectoring and canard foreplanes to improve low-speed performance. This aircraft tested high-tech methods for operating from
572-586: A vertically mounted, low-pressure shaft-driven remote fan, which is driven through a clutch during landing from the engine. Both the exhaust from this fan and the main engine's fan are deflected by thrust vectoring nozzles, to provide the appropriate combination of lift and propulsive thrust. It is not conceived for enhanced maneuverability in combat, only for VTOL operation, and the F-35A and F-35C do not use thrust vectoring at all. The Sukhoi Su-30MKI , produced by India under licence at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ,
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#1732776521797624-551: Is achieved by gimbaling the whole engine . This involves moving the entire combustion chamber and outer engine bell as on the Titan II 's twin first-stage motors, or even the entire engine assembly including the related fuel and oxidizer pumps. The Saturn V and the Space Shuttle used gimbaled engines. A later method developed for solid propellant ballistic missiles achieves thrust vectoring by deflecting only
676-814: Is an arcade -style combat flight simulation video game series by Project Aces, an internal development team of Bandai Namco Entertainment , formerly Namco . Debuting in 1995 with Air Combat for the PlayStation , the series includes eight mainline installments, multiple spin-offs, and other forms of media, such as novels, model kits , and soundtrack albums . Since 2012, the series has been developed primarily by Bandai Namco Studios through its internal development group, Project Aces. The Ace Combat franchise emphasizes fast-paced action and dramatic plots with semi-realistic gameplay; for example, aircraft have flight dynamics controls and can stall , but are also able to carry dozens of missiles in hammerspace . One of
728-401: Is an afterburning supersonic nozzle where nozzle functions are throat area, exit area, pitch vectoring and yaw vectoring. These functions are controlled by four separate actuators. A simpler variant using only three actuators would not have independent exit area control. When TVFC is implemented to complement CAFC, agility and safety of the aircraft are maximized. Increased safety may occur in
780-562: Is generally oriented nearly parallel to the roll axis, roll control usually requires the use of two or more separately hinged nozzles or a separate system altogether, such as fins , or vanes in the exhaust plume of the rocket engine, deflecting the main thrust. Thrust vector control (TVC) is only possible when the propulsion system is creating thrust; separate mechanisms are required for attitude and flight path control during other stages of flight. Thrust vectoring can be achieved by four basic means: Thrust vectoring for many liquid rockets
832-547: Is in active service with the Indian Air Force . The TVC makes the aircraft highly maneuverable, capable of near-zero airspeed at high angles of attack without stalling, and dynamic aerobatics at low speeds. The Su-30MKI is powered by two Al-31FP afterburning turbofans . The TVC nozzles of the MKI are mounted 32 degrees outward to longitudinal engine axis (i.e. in the horizontal plane) and can be deflected ±15 degrees in
884-481: Is liquid injection, in which the rocket nozzle is fixed, however a fluid is introduced into the exhaust flow from injectors mounted around the aft end of the missile. If the liquid is injected on only one side of the missile, it modifies that side of the exhaust plume, resulting in different thrust on that side thus an asymmetric net force on the missile. This was the control system used on the Minuteman II and
936-411: Is obtained through deflection of the aircraft jets in some or all of the pitch, yaw and roll directions. In the extreme, deflection of the jets in yaw, pitch and roll creates desired forces and moments enabling complete directional control of the aircraft flight path without the implementation of the conventional aerodynamic flight controls (CAFC). TVFC can also be used to hold stationary flight in areas of
988-414: Is referred to as gas-dynamic steering or gas-dynamic control . Nominally, the line of action of the thrust vector of a rocket nozzle passes through the vehicle's centre of mass , generating zero net torque about the mass centre. It is possible to generate pitch and yaw moments by deflecting the main rocket thrust vector so that it does not pass through the mass centre. Because the line of action
1040-471: The AIM-9X Sidewinder , eschew flight control surfaces and instead use mechanical vanes to deflect rocket motor exhaust to one side. By using mechanical vanes to deflect the exhaust of the missile's rocket motor, a missile can steer itself even shortly after being launched (when the missile is moving slowly, before it has reached a high speed). This is because even though the missile is moving at
1092-717: The Redstone , derived from the V-2. The Sapphire and Nexo rockets of the amateur group Copenhagen Suborbitals provide a modern example of jet vanes. Jet vanes must be made of a refractory material or actively cooled to prevent them from melting. Sapphire used solid copper vanes for copper's high heat capacity and thermal conductivity, and Nexo used graphite for its high melting point, but unless actively cooled, jet vanes will undergo significant erosion. This, combined with jet vanes' inefficiency, mostly precludes their use in new rockets. Some smaller sized atmospheric tactical missiles , such as
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#17327765217971144-495: The Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB), S-300P (SA-10) surface-to-air missile , UGM-27 Polaris nuclear ballistic missile and RT-23 (SS-24) ballistic missile and smaller battlefield weapons such as Swingfire . The principles of air thrust vectoring have been recently adapted to military sea applications in the form of fast water-jet steering that provide super-agility. Examples are
1196-509: The nozzle of the rocket using electric actuators or hydraulic cylinders . The nozzle is attached to the missile via a ball joint with a hole in the centre, or a flexible seal made of a thermally resistant material, the latter generally requiring more torque and a higher power actuation system. The Trident C4 and D5 systems are controlled via hydraulically actuated nozzle. The STS SRBs used gimbaled nozzles. Another method of thrust vectoring used on solid propellant ballistic missiles
1248-538: The 1990s the same F-15 airframe (USAF S/N 71-0290) was further modified (canards and nozzles were retained) for the ACTIVE ("Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles") program in which the Pratt & Whitney Pitch/Yaw Balance Beam Nozzles (P/YBBN) and advanced control-logic programming were investigated; NASA acquired the plane in 1993 and replaced the engines with Pratt & Whitney F100-229 engines with P/YBBN. In
1300-520: The ACTIVE configuration it was also used for the LANCETS ("lift and nozzle change effects on tail shock") program, in which computed supersonic shockwave parameters were compared to those measured in flight. The LANCETS flight tests ended in December 2008. F-15 ACTIVE lasted from 1993 to 1999, with thrust vectoring demonstrated at up to Mach 1.95 on 31 October 1996. The aircraft would later be used in
1352-661: The F-15 IFCS ( Intelligent Flight Control System ) program from 1999 to 2008. The airplane was also used for the Space-Based Range Demonstration and Certification project under the Exploration Communications and Navigation Systems program (SBRDC/ECANS) from 2006 to 2007, High Stability Engine Control (HISTEC) program, and High-Speed Research Acoustics in 1997. Data from NASA. General characteristics Performance In
1404-595: The F-15 in 1988. The canard foreplanes were derived from the F/A-18 's stabilators . Prior to 15 August 1991, when McDonnell Douglas ended its program after accomplishing their flight objectives, the F-15 STOL/MTD plane achieved some impressive performance results: The results of the STOL/MTD would help inform requirements for the Advanced Tactical Fighter program, which resulted in the F-22 . During
1456-602: The aircraft of choice for some antagonists. In Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War , the Sorcerer Team flies eight F-15 STOL/MTDs. A fictional modernized derivative, the F-15S/MT Eagle+, is used by Abyssal Dision, main antagonist of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere . The plane appears in the Project Wingman video game under the name F/S-15. It is used by allied and enemy units alike and can be unlocked by
1508-413: The aircraft's tail number was 837. The aircraft is now on display at Edwards AFB. In 1975, Langley Research Center began to conduct sponsored programs studying two-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles; government and industry studies of non-axisymmetric two-dimensional (2-D) nozzles in the early 1970s had identified significant payoffs for thrust-vectoring 2-D nozzle concepts. In 1977, Langley started
1560-404: The atmosphere, aerodynamic control surfaces are ineffective, so thrust vectoring is the primary means of attitude control . Exhaust vanes and gimbaled engines were used in the 1930s by Robert Goddard . For aircraft, the method was originally envisaged to provide upward vertical thrust as a means to give aircraft vertical ( VTOL ) or short ( STOL ) takeoff and landing ability. Subsequently, it
1612-701: The deployment of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fifth-generation jet fighter in 2005, with its afterburning, 2D thrust-vectoring Pratt & Whitney F119 turbofan . While the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II uses a conventional afterburning turbofan (Pratt & Whitney F135) to facilitate supersonic operation, its F-35B variant, developed for joint usage by the US Marine Corps , Royal Air Force , Royal Navy , and Italian Navy , also incorporates
McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD - Misplaced Pages Continue
1664-658: The designer was a patient in a mental hospital. Now being researched, Fluidic Thrust Vectoring (FTV) diverts thrust via secondary fluidic injections. Tests show that air forced into a jet engine exhaust stream can deflect thrust up to 15 degrees. Such nozzles are desirable for their lower mass and cost (up to 50% less), inertia (for faster, stronger control response), complexity (mechanically simpler, fewer or no moving parts or surfaces, less maintenance), and radar cross section for stealth . This will likely be used in many unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), and 6th generation fighter aircraft . Thrust-vectoring flight control (TVFC)
1716-426: The earliest methods of thrust vectoring in rocket engines was to place vanes in the engine's exhaust stream. These exhaust vanes or jet vanes allow the thrust to be deflected without moving any parts of the engine, but reduce the rocket's efficiency. They have the benefit of allowing roll control with only a single engine, which nozzle gimbaling does not. The V-2 used graphite exhaust vanes and aerodynamic vanes, as did
1768-796: The early SLBMs of the United States Navy . An effect similar to thrust vectoring can be produced with multiple vernier thrusters , small auxiliary combustion chambers which lack their own turbopumps and can gimbal on one axis. These were used on the Atlas and R-7 missiles and are still used on the Soyuz rocket , which is descended from the R-7, but are seldom used on new designs due to their complexity and weight. These are distinct from reaction control system thrusters, which are fixed and independent rocket engines used for maneuvering in space. One of
1820-588: The effects of an asteroid impact event in the 1990s; however, certain games are set in fictional renditions of the real world. As of 2023, the Ace Combat franchise has shipped over 19 million copies worldwide, and has established itself as one of the longest running arcade flight action franchises. Most installments in the Ace Combat series are set in "Strangereal", the series' fictional universe . Strangereal's Earth features entirely different nations , geography , continents , and history compared to
1872-505: The event of malfunctioning CAFC as a result of battle damage. To implement TVFC a variety of nozzles both mechanical and fluidic may be applied. This includes convergent and convergent-divergent nozzles that may be fixed or geometrically variable. It also includes variable mechanisms within a fixed nozzle, such as rotating cascades and rotating exit vanes. Within these aircraft nozzles, the geometry itself may vary from two-dimensional (2-D) to axisymmetric or elliptic. The number of nozzles on
1924-462: The exhaust stream. This method allows designs to deflect thrust through as much as 90 degrees relative to the aircraft centreline. If an aircraft uses thrust vectoring for VTOL operations the engine must be sized for vertical lift, rather than normal flight, which results in a weight penalty. Afterburning (or Plenum Chamber Burning, PCB, in the bypass stream) is difficult to incorporate and is impractical for take-off and landing thrust vectoring, because
1976-552: The fast patrol boat Dvora Mk-III , the Hamina class missile boat and the US Navy's Littoral combat ships . Thrust vectoring can convey two main benefits: VTOL/STOL, and higher maneuverability. Aircraft are usually optimized to maximally exploit one benefit, though will gain in the other. 8. Wilson, Erich A., "An Introduction to Thrust-Vectored Aircraft Nozzles", ISBN 978-3-659-41265-3 Ace Combat Ace Combat
2028-414: The flight envelope where the main aerodynamic surfaces are stalled. TVFC includes control of STOVL aircraft during the hover and during the transition between hover and forward speeds below 50 knots where aerodynamic surfaces are ineffective. When vectored thrust control uses a single propelling jet, as with a single-engined aircraft, the ability to produce rolling moments may not be possible. An example
2080-623: The games. As shown in Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere , the nations of Strangereal shown in most of the series are eventually superseded by sovereign megacorporations . Strangereal was later established as part of Bandai Namco's United Galaxy Space Force shared universe , representing the earliest period in its timeline, in which the nations of Strangereal unite to form a world government around 2090. Ace Combat: Joint Assault , Assault Horizon , and Infinity are not set in Strangereal, and are instead set in their own fictionalized versions of
2132-509: The main selling points of the series is the ability to pilot a range of aircraft that includes accurate or slightly modified representations of modern military aircraft, prototypes that were never adopted (or even built) in real life, and fictional boss -type superweapons . The main series of games is set in "Strangereal", a fictional universe loosely based on the real world, featuring similar events and entities but with an entirely different history largely centering around advanced technology and
McDonnell Douglas F-15 STOL/MTD - Misplaced Pages Continue
2184-556: The motion of the aircraft. The first airship that used a control system based on pressurized air was Enrico Forlanini 's Omnia Dir in 1930s. A design for a jet incorporating thrust vectoring was submitted in 1949 to the British Air Ministry by Percy Walwyn; Walwyn's drawings are preserved at the National Aerospace Library at Farnborough. Official interest was curtailed when it was realised that
2236-470: The player. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Thrust vectoring Thrust vectoring , also known as thrust vector control ( TVC ), is the ability of an aircraft , rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine (s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle. In rocketry and ballistic missiles that fly outside
2288-781: The real world, though some nations, locations, and events are loosely based on those from real life, and most aircraft in the series are real models with few alterations. Though Strangereal is very similar to the real modern world, technology is shown to be significantly more advanced than it is in real life, allowing for the development of superweapons and theoretical devices such as aerial warships , laser weapons , railguns , submarine and airborne aircraft carriers , orbital weapons , mass drivers , lethal autonomous weapons , nearly- sentient artificial intelligence , and advanced experimental aircraft . Nuclear weapons exist, but international agreements and nuclear terrorism are implied to have inhibited their development and use, resulting in
2340-402: The real world. Some Ace Combat games have differences in their title, depending on the region ( NTSC or PAL ) the game was sold in: With the release of Assault Horizon in 2011, Project Aces created Aces at War: A History , a special artbook detailing the content from Ace Combat 04 , 5 , and Zero from an in-universe perspective, as well as production commentary. This was packaged with
2392-509: The series' continuity is the 1995 " Belkan War ", a World War II -esque conflict in which the highly-technological but fiercely-nationalist country Belka attempted to invade neighboring countries during an internal crisis, was repelled by an international coalition , and used nuclear weapons on their own territory to prevent a retaliatory invasion, causing their defeat and earning them global condemnation and scorn; Belkan nationalists seeking revenge for their defeat play major roles in some of
2444-764: The sixth F-15 off the assembly line, and was the oldest F-15 flying up to its retirement. It was also used as the avionics testbed for the F-15E Strike Eagle program. The plane was on loan to NASA from the United States Air Force . This same aircraft would later be used in the F-15 ACTIVE ("Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicles") from 1993 to 1999, and later in the Intelligent Flight Control System programs from 1999 to 2008. While with NASA,
2496-606: The special editions of Assault Horizon released in Japan. Aces at War: A History would later be updated and rereleased as part of a special edition of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown . In March 2012, ASCII Media Works released Ace Combat: Ikaros in the Sky . A tie-in novel for Assault Horizon , Ikaros tells a story of series character Kei Nagase as she participates in the JASDF 's ASF-X Shinden II fighter program. Ace Combat has been
2548-475: The vertical plane. This produces a corkscrew effect, greatly enhancing the turning capability of the aircraft. A few computerized studies add thrust vectoring to extant passenger airliners, like the Boeing 727 and 747, to prevent catastrophic failures, while the experimental X-48C may be jet-steered in the future. Examples of rockets and missiles which use thrust vectoring include both large systems such as
2600-553: The very hot exhaust can damage runway surfaces. Without afterburning it is hard to reach supersonic flight speeds. A PCB engine, the Bristol Siddeley BS100 , was cancelled in 1965. Tiltrotor aircraft vector thrust via rotating turboprop engine nacelles . The mechanical complexities of this design are quite troublesome, including twisting flexible internal components and driveshaft power transfer between engines. Most current tiltrotor designs feature two rotors in
2652-457: Was developed and used to destroy many of these fragments, but some still struck the planet, causing widespread destruction and global crises. The international tensions caused by the Ulysses impact and its aftermath play a large role in the some of the conflicts depicted in the series, and some of the game's superweapons are described as originating from anti-Ulysses devices. Another major event in
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#17327765217972704-446: Was realized that using vectored thrust in combat situations enabled aircraft to perform various maneuvers not available to conventional-engined planes. To perform turns, aircraft that use no thrust vectoring must rely on aerodynamic control surfaces only, such as ailerons or elevator ; aircraft with vectoring must still use control surfaces, but to a lesser extent. In missile literature originating from Russian sources, thrust vectoring
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