Thinking green with the 'Humvee of the air'

(Credit: Frontline Aerospace)

Another entrant in the race to produce a ducted-fan-propelled, vertical-take-off-and-landing UAV, the planned "humvee of the air" will morph to different missions and reach targets three times faster than helicopters, according to the manufacturer.

The official name of the vehicle is VTOL-Swift Tactical Aerial Resource, or V-STAR. With a cruising speed of 288 knots, a 650-mile range and a 400-pound payload, the V-STAR promises to be a "breakthrough solution for frontline military logistics," according to Broomfield, Colo.-based Frontline Aerospace. The aircraft would use a Rolls-Royce gas turbine with counter-rotating blades and "diamond-box-wing" design that transitions to forward flight when needed.

The company is touting the V-Star's multirole flexibility. "The modular payload approach allows for rapid change-out in the field--one minute providing troops with ammo, food, water and fuel--and the next minute providing tactical reconnaissance, communications and close combat support," according to the press release.

It's also making a pitch for green appeal, by incorporating advanced MicroFire technology to give it a decidedly un-Humvee-like fuel efficiency and reduced carbon emission footprint.

"Frankly, we are keeping our MicroFire capability somewhat under wraps at this point," said Frontline founder and Chief Executive Officer Ryan S. Wood. "But we realize MicroFire can increase endurance and fuel economy not only for UAVs, but also create significant fuel savings for a whole class of helicopter engines worldwide--thus creating a true 'green' helicopter."

MicroFire is a "high-temperature counter-flow heat exchanger that extracts heat from the hot engine exhaust and transfers it to the compressed engine air before combustion," an operation that "can sometimes double the overall thermal efficiency of the engine," according to Frontline.

Given the flying Hummer's ability to morph from attack to recon or target acquisition and then back to combat logistics all while fighting global warming--there's only one thing left to do. Build a stretch version in time for prom season.

[Commander_Spock]

The way to go!

[sharpestsharpy]

Thunderbird 2?

[b_baggins]

Good grief. The last thing we need in military thinking is "reducing carbon footprint." What's next? Biodegradable bullets?

[dhystad]

Supply line logistics are a major concern in the military, so improved fuel efficiency is a tactical advantage.

[ken_and_artaud]

Wow, what a hopelessly ignorant statement.

Let's for one second, imagine that the military's only concern should be battlefield success (all those friends of yours missing limbs because of all-too-permanent land mines agree that this is a sub-human view of any army's true responsibility):

Advantages to better fuel economy in military transport vehicles:

1. All that fuel that you may or may not have trouble getting to the point of use on the battlefield now goes a little further (your enemy runs out more quickly by comparison).

2. Range of vehicle is improved (all other things equal).

I don't recall reading that this fuel economy savings has any disadvantages with respect to vehicle performance. So, please b_baggins, please think before you type. Your comments are an embarrassment to the US military and its people as a whole.

And, if explosives and other military weaponry and supplies were biodegradable...well, if nothing else, that would leave less of a chance that those products would be useful to our enemies after time if they were stolen or left behind (or dangerous to innocents). And you can bet the military wouldn't risk using weaponry that had exceeded its 'Use by' date.

[streamline35]

Let's face it. We don't fight battlefield battles anymore. This thing might be useful in some situations, but there's no such thing as "frontline support" anymore. That would require a real front line.

[gjkezski]

Shall we say "Blackhawk Down"? There are always times when someone is pinned down & unable to get out or anybody else get in within a reasonable timeframe. It would be EXTREMELY Useful to be able to get something to them or if there were only 1 or 2 individuals involved to get them out as mman74 points out below. For battlefield use it would carry nearly enough to replenish the normal ammunition requirements for a platoon of infantry. It says it can also be fitted with a close air support module, this could be Quite useful to get some air support in situations that would be too hazardous for manned aircraft. Such as taking out local air defense sites to allow larger manned aircraft to get in for resupply or extraction, makes for good teamwork. Or getting a ground recon person near an area of interest & getting him out afterwards, maybe with a setup for manual operation but set if he is too injured he hits the auto-pilot back on to escape.

[mman74]

400lb payload.
Armament x lbs.
Erm ... standard US soldier 200lb plus. Equipment, body armour, weapon. x lbs.
Perhaps you could evacuate 2 naked soldiers in a medical emergency.

[majstanusmc]

SCAM ALERT - UFO FANATIC - BOGUS ?FRONT? COMPANIES - This jar-head took a look. Company ?prez? named Ryan Wood is a wellknown UFO fanatic. In addition to saying he has a deal with Kuwaiti Aerospace - Standard Aero, a little digging shows he has a whole series of ?front? companies, none of which does much business. He sells tickets to a big UFO conference and brags about leaking classified UFO documents with ?UFO intelligence dominance.? He told Denver TV channel that ?It is really a crime against all humanity? about UFOs and brags about leaking ?hundreds of pages? of Top Secret UFO documents. He has a company called ?Plugloads? that one place claims to do energy conservation, and another palce claims to do metals rolling. He has a company called ?Psychic Jackpot? at http://www.psychicjackpot.com where he claims to sell software to ?train your mind to pick winning lottery numbers.? He has a company called ?Sun Flower Wind Systems,? with advertising stuff about organic gardening. Must be a busy guy, since it says in 2004 he was also working as a sales guy for ?Bayview Technology Group? Does this dope really claim to be making helicopters safe and twice as good on gas? I guess the Kuwaitis have enough oil dollars to get control of it, but I sure as hell won?t fly it on my birds. Check out comments on VerticalMag.com from a true rotorcraft exec.
http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?z=6&a=10016
Idiots like this need to be exposed.