CUVX Design Report - the AOE home page - Virginia Tech

CUVX Design – VT Team 2 Page 494 Concept Development (Feasibility Study)Concept Development of CUVX follows the design spiral, Figure 3, in sequence after Concept Exploration. InConcept Development the general concepts for the hull, aircraft launch and recovery, and arrangements aredeveloped. These general concepts are refined into specific systems and subsystems that meet the requirements ofCUVX. Design risk is reduced by this analysis and parametrics used in Concept Exploration are validated.4.1 General Arrangement and UCAV Operations Concept (Cartoon)As a preliminary step to determine hull form geometry, deck house geometry and general arrangements, anarrangement cartoon was developed for the vital mission flight deck and hangar deck areas (Figure 32). UCAVoperations and support were primary considerations. Scaled layouts of the three hangar decks and the recovery deckare shown. Paper cutout UCAVs, and HELOs were made based on the Virginia Tech UCAV-N design team’sdimensions. These cutouts were laid over the four decks, and different arrangements for the aircraft elevators,weapons elevators, aircraft maintenance, and aircraft storage were considered. Since this ship is designed toincorporate a wave piercing tumble home hull form, the usable deck area is limited. The 10 degree angled sidesnecessary to minimize radar cross-section decrease the beam of each successive deck moving higher in the ship.Due to these limitations and the need for simultaneous take-off and landing, separate launch and recovery decks arerequired. Take-off and recovery occur on the same deck (flight deck) on a CVN where the size of the ship andsponsons make this possible. CUVX aviation operations and system design are described more fully in Section 4.6.Figure 32. Hangar Deck ArrangementsFigure 33. Profile - Intake/Exhaust and Weapons Magazine Locations