Low Cost Extendable Wing (LCEW) for Munitions

Extendable wings offer improved weapons system standoff range in a small storage volume. Joined wing configurations offer attractive aerodynamic, structural and packaging features, but current designs can benefit from lower cost manufacturing approaches.The pultrusion process is ideally suited to produce low-cost, high-strength, high aspect ratio composite wings. Simple modifications to the deployment linkage geometry offer the potential for increased wing span and aspect ratio, making use of weaponspackaging volume that is wasted in current systems. This enables increased aerodynamic efficiency (L/D) and greater standoff range. The new wing deployment mechanism can also be used to provide vehicle pitch and roll control. This could eliminate twoseparate actuators and flight surfaces, with attendant cost and weight savings and reliability enhancement. In Phase II KaZaK will continue development of pultruded wings, and will also construct three operational prototypes of a generic system to verifyprojected structural capability, L/D improvements and range increases of up to 20% compared to current wing kit technology. KCI has teamed with a firm with significant experience in deployable wings to perform the aerodynamic modeling. Phase II willculminate with full scale wind tunnel testing of a complete composite wing kit system.