As a general trend of products getting more specific, sub-systems getting more integrated and components are getting more blended; the traditional distinction between Airframe and Mission Equipment is destined to evolve into an integrated path. Today, Awacs platforms are consist of a carrier flight body, and the mission equipment attached on it. So what is the next phase?
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In modern aviation; mission-specific requirements often lead unorthodox airframe designs, which cause terrible flight dynamics as a trade off. Yet, thanks to Advanced Flight Computers, these unorthodox airframes can still perform flight by overcoming the performance issues.
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SKYEYE is an 360° omnidirectional, un-manned, Air & Ground Awareness Platform; designed as the next generation AWACS, blending its fuselage and radar into single unit. It dedicates its whole sides to air-radar, and bottom of the fuselage to ground-radar systems, un-disturbed from the rest of the fuselage or wings. Flight surfaces, landing gears, exhaust are all placed above airframe not to disrupt radar systems.
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Maybe all said above is a set of excuses just to reason designing a Flying Saucer
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Notes:
The Unimog model is downloaded from GrabCad user "Kasidaje P."
The Jet Engine model is downloaded from GrabCad user "Haktan Yağmur"