China's Asymmetric Rotating Wing UAV Breaks Hypersonic Speed, Cold War Concept Becomes China's Sharp Blade
When the US' long-forgotten oblique wing aircraft technology had been stored in a museum, Chinese aviation experts have given this concept new life with amazing wisdom - the latest hypersonic deformable UAV developed by Northwestern Polytechnical University, with its revolutionary "asymmetric rotating wing" design, has achieved full-mode free switching from subsonic to 5 Mach hypersonic speed, becoming the first country to conquer this technology.
During the US-Soviet rivalry in the last century, American engineer Robert Jones proposed the oblique wing aircraft concept. By designing the wings to rotate up to 60 degrees around an axis, it effectively delayed the occurrence of shock wave drag. Tests showed that this design has twice the transmission efficiency of traditional aircraft, less noise, and better aerodynamic characteristics. However, due to problems such as imbalance caused by rotating wings and insufficient military funding, the US eventually abandoned the development.
According to the South China Morning Post, the team from Northwest Polytechnical University has solved these problems perfectly through carbon fiber composites and smart drive systems: the mechanical structure is reduced by 50%, but the strength is increased by 40%, which allows it to carry a 2-ton payload, giving this long-forgotten Cold War concept a new life.
The revolution of this drone lies in its unique single-wing hinge structure: during takeoff, the wing is in a flat state at 0 degrees, with subsonic cruise efficiency reaching 9.1. When approaching the speed of sound, the wing rotates 45 degrees to form an "oblique wing" layout, maintaining aerodynamic efficiency at 5.6. During hypersonic flight, the wing is fully folded and attached to the fuselage, with 67% of the lift provided by the streamlined fuselage, allowing it to travel at 5 Mach at an altitude of 30 kilometers.
This drone combines high-speed penetration and long endurance characteristics, capable of performing strategic reconnaissance and precise strikes. More importantly, it may serve as a "mother drone," releasing swarms of drones after breaking through enemy air defenses to create multi-dimensional saturation attacks.
Once this technology becomes practical, it will shorten the interception window of existing air defense and anti-missile systems by 80%, meaning the enemy's response time is significantly reduced, and the interception success rate drops sharply.
However, we must also recognize that non-symmetric wing aircraft face many technical challenges.
The core of non-symmetric wing aircraft lies in the central pivot structure that allows the wings to rotate. This component bears extremely complex loads: on one hand, the central shaft needs to withstand significant bending moments, torque, and vibration from the asymmetric wings during high-speed flight, requiring very high structural strength and fatigue life. On the other hand, during hypersonic flight, the surface temperature of the aircraft may exceed 1000°C, while the internal structure temperature is relatively low. This extreme thermal gradient causes uneven thermal expansion of materials, possibly leading to structural stress, lubrication failure, or cracks, placing strict requirements on the high-temperature resistance and thermal compatibility of the pivot material.
Non-symmetric wings produce very complex aerodynamic coupling effects during flight, especially during rotation, posing great challenges to flight stability and controllability.
During the transonic phase, aircraft face the interaction between shock waves and compression waves, causing a sharp increase in drag and a decline in control performance. Although the oblique wing design itself helps improve this issue, the dynamic characteristics of the asymmetric layout are still very complex and require precise control.
The rotation of the wings is a dynamic process. As the sweep angle of the wings changes, parameters such as the aerodynamic center, center of gravity position, and moment of inertia of the aircraft change accordingly, resulting in highly nonlinear, unsteady, and time-varying dynamic characteristics. This requires the flight control system to be able to adapt in real-time to these changes.
The technical challenges of non-symmetric wing aircraft are rooted in their "dynamic variable asymmetry" essential characteristic. It is not simply adding an active component to a symmetric aircraft, but almost overturning the entire design, control, and verification system of traditional fixed-wing aircraft.
With the successful development of this UAV, the Chinese military is expected to build a more powerful three-dimensional combat system, adding a new leverage for national security. This is not only a pride for the aviation industry, but also an important symbol of China's self-reliance and independent innovation in science and technology.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7552510786288075302/
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