DLR-Future Fighter Demon

Military technology demonstrator

As part of DLR’s defence research into military aircraft, the Diabolo project is developing technologies and processes for a next-generation fighter configuration. In developing the technology, researchers are looking at the entire spectrum of crewed and semi-autonomous configurations. The focus is on the design of a generic Future Fighter Demonstrator (DLR-FFD), which will be used to fill current gaps in technology and demonstrate the design and evaluation capability of DLR’s methods and processes.

The technologies span a wide spectrum, including research into aerodynamics, structure and aeroelasticity, control unit design, control concept design, flight mechanical analysis, technologies and design of a propulsion concept and determination of radar, infrared and acoustic signature characteristics.

The Diablo project is based on a ‘multidisciplinary design environment’ developed by DLR, where aircraft design processes can be considered in combination with each other. This design and evaluation process is being supported and refined through numerical simulations using advanced methods and experimental simulations.

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