The future skies will be dotted with aircraft that don’t look like aircraft we all have been seeing in the skies. Browse through this article to have a bird’s-eye view of the developments that are taking place in commercial aviation, military aircraft, helicopters and UAVs.

From the first fixedwing powered flight of Wright brothers in 1903, we have come a long way in terms of aerospace developments. Yet, most of the aeroplanes we get to see in the sky are cigarshaped fuselages with two wings and a tail. But wait. Scientists, designers, engineers and researchers have gone back to their drawing boards and the shape of things to come is going to be ‘radically different’, every which way—looks-wise, efficiency-wise, comfort-wise, lethality-wise, etc.

Driven by exorbitant fuel prices (nearly 40 per cent of operational costs of airliners), environmental concerns, need for faster travel, stealth, lethality, efficiency among others, have perked up aviation designers/engineers to put on their thinking caps. What we are going to see is extraordinarily innovative aircraft to meet the demanding requirements of both commercial and military aviation. The future skies will be dotted with aircraft that don’t look like aircraft we all have been seeing in the skies.

In this article, we are giving a bird’s-eye view of the developments that are taking place in broadly these segments—commercial aviation, military aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Need for speed, efficiency and comfort

Commercial air travel has changed since de Havilland introduced the first commercial jet airliner in 1952. More passengers, more comfort, more efficiency and more speed have been added to commercial air travel. Over the years, there have been innovations in aircraft to meet these needs and one of the most iconic developments was the Concorde. It was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner from Aerospatiale-British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). First flown in 1969, Concorde entered service in 1976 and after 27 years of commercial flights, it was retired due to various reasons—operational viability, environmental concerns, etc.

Undeterred by such grounding, aircraft companies have been relentlessly working on newer technologies. The need to carry more passengers saw the birth of the Airbus A380 which made its first flight in 2005. The A380-800 is certified to carry up to 853 passengers. With A380 coming, Boeing’s 40-year reign as the world’s largest passenger airplane (747) came to an end. Boeing’s response to A380 has been the 787 Dreamliner aircraft and the US giant is working on a product line with 80 per cent composite construction that would mean a lighter, stronger, more corrosion-resistant plane and more fuel-efficient engines.

A2, five times the speed of sound

Concorde flew at Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound), while A2 is expected to fly at Mach 5. The Reaction Engines Limited A2 (called the A2) is a design study for a hypersonic airliner intended to provide environmentally-friendly, long-range, high capacity commercial transportation. The aircraft is being examined as part of the Long-term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologis (LAPCAT) programme of the European Union. The firm has said it could be developed into a working aircraft within 25 years once there is market demand for it. The developers say it would be able to fly from Brussels to Sydney in about 4.6 hours, compared to around a complete day of travel with normal aircraft carrying 300 passengers and the cost was equivalent to the targeted business-class tickets standards of about $6,900. The aircraft is said to be very eco-friendly as it uses liquid hydrogen fuel.

Electric power-driven aircraft

In 2011, German research institution Bauhaus Luftfahrt had a successful test flight of PC-Aero’s single-seat Elektra One, proving that electric power is an option for the aviation industry. Bauhaus Luftfahrt is using a variety of new technologies to develop the Ce-Liner, a fully-electric commercial passenger plane that would carry about 200 passengers between continents.

Lockheed Martin’s Box Wing concept

In its bid to fly cleaner, quieter and using less fuel, Lockheed Martin engineers have developed a ‘box wing’ concept to find new ways to reduce fuel burn without abandoning the basic shape of the present-day aircraft. Adapting the lightweight materials found in the F-22 and F-35 fighter jets, engineers have designed a looped-wing configuration that would increase the lift-to-drag ratio by 16 per cent, making it possible to fly farther using less fuel while still fitting into airport gates. The target date for the concept to materialise is 2025.

Supersonic green machine

Also the LMT engineers are working on a target date of 2030 for launching the Mach 1.6 Supersonic Green Machine. The plane’s variable-cycle engines would improve efficiency by switching to conventional turbofan mode during take-off and landing. Combustors built into the engine would reduce nitrogen oxide pollution by 75 per cent. And the plane’s inverted-V tail and underwing engine placement would nearly eliminate the sonic booms that led to a ban on overland Concorde flights.

Boeing’s Sugar Volt

With a target date of 2035, Boeing is working on Sugar Volt’s hybrid propulsion system which will allow the aircraft to conserve jet fuel by turning off the gas engines. The Sugar Volt will draw energy from both jet fuel and batteries during take-off, but once at a cruising altitude, pilots could switch to all-electric mode.

Besides propulsion, the design is also different. Boeing engineers are working on making the wing thinner and the span greater, to produce more lift with less drag. The oversize wings would fold up so pilots could access standard boarding gates. Together, the high-lift wings, the hybrid power-train and the efficient open-rotor engines would make the Sugar Volt 55 per cent more efficient than the average airliner.

‘Double bubble’

The “double bubble” D8 Series future aircraft design concept comes from the research team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Based on a modified tube and wing with a very wide fuselage to provide extra lift, its low sweep wing reduces drag and weight; the embedded engines sit aft of the wings. The D8 series aircraft would be used for domestic flights and is designed to fly at Mach 0.74, carrying 180 passengers 3,000 nautical miles in a coach cabin roomier than that of a Boeing 737-800. The D8 is among the designs presented in April 2010 to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate for its Research Announcement-funded studies into advanced aircraft that could enter service in the 2030-35 time frame.

The research team led by GE Aviation is working on a much lighter and more aerodynamic business jet. The 20-passenger aircraft would reduce fuel consumption and noise and enable business jet-like travel between more than 1,300 airports. It features ultra-quiet turboprop engines, virtual reality windows and is designed to fly at Mach 0.55 for 800 nautical miles. The advanced aircraft is likely to enter service in the 2030-35 time frame.

The Russians are also working on a supersonic business jet—‘Transport 2011’ and it is reported that Sukhoi and Tupolev, both military aircraft manufacturers, are currently toying with design concept. Tupolev has also been rumoured to be working on a brand-new supersonic bomber aircraft for service sometime around 2025.

Stealth and lethality key to future military aircraft

A futuristic ‘scramjet’ aircraft known as the X-51A WaveRider is being tested at the Edwards Air Force base in California. It is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic Mach 6 approximately 6,400 kilometres per hour flight testing. It successfully completed its first powered flight on May 26, 2010, and also achieved the longest duration flight at speeds over Mach 5. The WaveRider uses its shockwaves to add lift. The programme is run as a cooperative effort of the United States Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), NASA, Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne.

Scramjets are known as “air-breathing” aircraft because they carry only hydrogen for fuel. They “breathe” in oxygen to burn the hydrogen.

Despite the fifth-generation fighters—F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning—still sitting in the wrapper, the US Air Force and Navy are already looking forward to the future. Preliminary work has already commenced on the design and development of their successors. Sixth-generation fighters, dubbed next-generation TACAIR, are not scheduled to enter service until 2025-30.

X-48C hybrid wing plane

NASA’s futuristic X-48C hybrid wing-body aircraft successfully flew for the first time on August 7, 2012, from NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at the Edwards Air Force base in California’s Mojave Desert. The design, which is thought to be highly fuel-efficient and offer longer range, could someday become the universal standard.

Helicopter airframes have changed little

There is no new-start programme of record for rotorcraft and the only new platform introduced in the past quartercentury was the V-22 Osprey. While jet fighters are in their fifth generation, the helicopter airframes have changed little in several decades. However, the significant developments include the Sikorsky X2 which hit a speed of 480 kmph, using a single T800 engine to power both the rotors, besides fly-by-wire flight controls; and the Eurocopter X3 with its hybrid design equipped with two turboshaft engines powering a five-blade main rotor system.

Single-seater electric helicopter

Hirobo, the Japanese remote-control helicopter manufacturer, has unveiled ‘Bit’ a prototype of a single-seater electric helicopter, compact, silent and futuristic! The ‘Bit’ helicopter can take a person up to 100 kmph thanks to its double rotor. The company has not announced any date or price.

The ‘Bit’ employs contra-rotating rotors and is equipped with a fly-by-wire control system. It can be flown by the occupant or with a remote control. A first flight is planned in early 2013, although limited hover tests have already been conducted on the aircraft.

It will have an endurance of 30 minutes and can be recharged with the same equipment used to recharge electric cars. Similar to that is the Igarashi single person helicopter which looks more like an insect, both in profile and from the front. This robotic insect cum transformer-like flying machine is a concept design by Yutaka Igarashi, a Japanese sawmill worker, who designs pretty amazing concept machines.