Innovative Approaches for the Electrification of Aircraft-Magnetic Braking Systems for Navy Aircraft

This proposal provides a detailed account of our Team’s previous work through the Magnetic Braking and Electric Taxiing Program and provides a pathway for building and testing a brake system that has been designed and developed for the F-35 Lightening II aircraft platform.  Having competed the effort of designing the magnetic braking and electric taxiing system for a commercial Airbus A320, C-17, U-2 in previous SBIRs, our Team is able to look back and take into account the Program goals, accomplishments, and necessary next steps in order to bring the proposed design to fruition onboard a tactical fighter aircraft platform. The team is seeking approval from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) and the Navy in order to move forward with an additional Phase 2 project to build and test the proposed braking solution for the candidate tactical fighter aircraft platform, the F-35 Lightning. IV has partnered with Lockheed Martin (LMCO) as a commercial supporter in this Phase 2 effort (support letter attached for reference). LMCO is the OEM of the F-35 Lightning II.    The goal of this Phase 2 is to design, build and test a full-scale brake that is able to provide the necessary torques in order to stop an F-35 lightning aircraft shown in Figure 2 below.  As of May 2023, 920 of these aircraft have been built by Lockheed Martin.   A new magnetic based braking system based on a low cost of ownership and reduced maintenance, has the opportunity to save the governments hundreds of millions of dollars on parts that are otherwise designed to wear out and be replaced. LMCO is still designing block upgrades and building the F-35 in the companies plant in Fort Worth, Texas.