A Future vehicle What’s the Moller
Skycar While many technological advances occur in an
evolutionary manner, occasionally a revolutionary technology appears on the
horizon that creates startling new conditions and profound changes. Such is the
case with the privately developed Moller Skycar, which is named after its
inventor. With the inventor permission, I would like to discuss the military
potential of this vehicle. The reinforced Moller Skycar variant the military is
evaluating is called the light aerial multipurpose vehicle, or LAMV (pronounced
"lam-vee"). The LAMV is a vertical take-off and landing aircraft
that can fly in a quick, quiet, and agile manner. It is a new type of vehicle
that combines the speed of an airplane and the vertical take-off capability of a
helicopter with some characteristics of a ground vehicle, but without the
limitations of any of those existing modes of transportation.
The LAMV is not operated like traditional fixed-or rotary-wing aircraft.
It has only two hand-operators to direct the redundant computer control twists
to select the desired operating altitude and moves fore and aft to select the
rate of climb. The right-hand control twists to select the vehicle’s direction
and moves side-to-side to provide transverse (crosswise) movement during the
hover and early-transition-to-flight phases of operation; it also moves fore and
aft to control speed and braking. Simply put, the LAMV is
user-friendly. The LAMV of the future will be 18 feet long, 10
feet wide, and 6 feet high and weight 2,200 pounds. It will hold four passengers
and a payload of 875 pounds (including fuel). The vehicle will have a maximum
rate of climb of 6,400 feet per minute and an operational ceiling of 30,000
feet. It will attain a top speed of 390 miles per hour at an altitude of 6,000
feet and a cruising speed of 350 miles per hour at 25,000 feet, and it will have
a maximum range of 900 miles at 80 passenger miles per gallon. The LAMV also
will be quiet enough to function as an acoustic "stealth" plane at 500 feet. It
will have a vertical take-off and landing capability and emergency airframe
parachutes, and it will be capable of using various fuels. The
LAMV features redundant, independent computer systems for flight management,
stability, and control. Two airframe parachutes can be deployed in the event of
the vehicle’s catastrophic failure. These parachutes ensure that the LAMV and
the operator and soldiers it carries can land safely. The Wankel-type rotary
engines are very reliable because of their simplicity. The three moving parts in
a two-rotor Rotapower engines are approximately seven percent of the number of
parts in a four-cylinder piston engine. Each engine room fully encloses the
engines and fans, greatly reducing the possibility of injury to soldiers who
might be near the vehicle in the event of an engine fire or explosion. Multiple
systems check fuel for quality and quantity and provide appropriate warnings.
The LAMV can land on virtually any solid surface. The LAMV is
aerodynamically stable. In the unlikely event that sufficient power is not
available to land vertically, the LAMV’s stability and good glide slope allow
the operator to maneuver to a safe area before using the airframe parachutes.
Since computers control the LAMV’s flight during hover and transition, the only
operator input is to control speed and direction. Undesirable movements caused
by wind gusts are prevented automatically. The usage of LAMV in the
future The potential economic advantages of the LAMV are
worth mentioning. Its fuel-efficient engines and ability to operate on various
fuels will low fuel costs. The LAMV uses one-fourth of the fuel per passenger
mile used by the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey or high performance helicopters. The
LAMV’s acquisition cost also will be a significant factor in its favor. The
LAMV’s purchase price per passenger seat is projected to be approximately eight
percent of that for the 30-passenger Osprey. The LAMV’s
potential military uses will be numerous. They include aerial medical
evacuation, aerial reconnaissance, command and control, search and rescue,
insertion of special operations forces, air assault operations, airborne
operations, forcible-entry operations, military police mobility and maneuver
support, communications retransmission, battlefield distribution for unit
resupply, transport of individual and crew replacements, weapons platform,
noncombatant evacuation operations, battlefield contractor transport, and battle
damage assessment. Consider the LAMV’s use in contingency
operations. An adversary observing a LAMV would have great difficulty
determining the type of force approaching and that force’s destination and
intention. If the adversary did realize our intentions, the senior enemy
commander would not have time to react. Imagine a forcible entry and early entry
force package based in the continental United States that self-deployed overseas
in LAMV’s. With short halts along the way at seaborne resupply vessels or
landbased refueling sites, the force package would reach its objective within
hours: This concept would reduce dramatically the Army’s dependence on the US
Transportation Command for strategic airlift and on the geographical commander
in chief for intratheater airlift support. The overall speed of force closure
would improve greatly. This would enhance the senior commander’s ability to
conduct multiple, sinmltaneous operations in his battle space with an
accelerated operational tempo that precludes the adversary from achieving his
goals. Dependence on air and sea ports of debarkation would be
reduced. LAMV will benefit the Army’s battlefield distribution
concepts tremendously because it will be able to move commodities rapidly when
and where they are needed across a widely dispersed battle space. Both air and
ground main supply routes (MSR’s) would exist throughout the battle space. The
MSR’s in the air would change as missions and situations dictate. Eventually,
small, multi-commodity shipping containers could be designed for transport by
either a LAMV or an even more futuristic medium or heavy aerial distribution;
many types of land mines used to block convoy movements today would become less
of a concern for logisticians and engineers since they could use MSR’s in the
sky. Or consider moving contractors around the battle space in LAMV’s to perform
their tasks. Basically, the LAMV concept promotes a smaller, more agile, and
more effective sustainment presence within a supported battle space.
Consider the LAMV working in unison with the Army’s Future Combat System
(FCS). The LAMV could become an integral component of the overall concept for
employing the FCS. The operator of the LAMV actually could be a member of the
FCS crew or unit. In this role, the LAMV would provide multiple
benefits-reconnaissance, resupply, medical evacuation, and maintenance supply.
Perhaps the LAMV itself could become a future combat weapon system platform.
Perhaps this innovative technology could force major changes in joint and Army
doctrine, training, leader development, organizations, material, and soldier
programs. Of course, the LAMV brings with it some obvious
challenges. Its limited payload will be a negative factor. Its use will
complicate Army airspace command and control. How the LAMV will be used in
conjunction with forces under the joint force air component commander will have
to be determined. LAMV support issues also require resolution. For example,
operator selection and training, leader training, employment doctrine, LAMV
basis-of-issue plans, and LAMV life-cycle management all require the Army’s
attention. However, once the LAMV technology matures, its
military possibilities are startling. We in the Army combat service support
"futures" arena are encouraged by the developments so far and hope that the LAMV
will be ready for Army fielding around 2010. The LAMV can become a reality in
our Army and possibility in the other armed services as well. Without any doubt,
this technological innovation will succeed internationally in the private,
commercial, and military sectors. I hope that the US Army will be the first army
in the world to embrace and exploit this technology. But sooner rather than
later, this aerial vehicle technology will affect all of our lives. It is just
over the horizon. Logisticians and engineers would concern less of many types of land mines by means of ______.