DSEI 2023: Aeralis showcases revised and refined fast-jet modular desi…

Aeralis showcased its new revised design concept for its modular jet at DSEI 2023. (Aeralis )

Aeralis has showcased a revised and refined design concept for its modular fast jet, with changes made to earlier configurations that are better suited to the transonic requirements of the ‘Red Air' training mission.

Shown for the first time at DSEI 2023 in London, the modified design cuts across the four mission configurations of twin-engined advanced jet trainer (AJT), single-engined AJT, surrogate/‘Red Air' aggressor, and unmanned tanker and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

“We put the existing aircraft configuration and fed in the new speed parameters, and this is what came out,” Aeralis CEO Tristan Crawford said on 12 September.

What “came out” is a new low-winged design in place of the previous mid-wing, as well as a moderately cranked outer wing (the inner wing remains common throughout the configurations) for the AJT configurations and a more heavily cranked wing for the ‘Red Air' mission.

“We changed the shape to go faster, and in improving the performance we have protected the price point for the aircraft,” Crawford said. He also noted that the new design change has opened up more space in the fuselage for increased fuel, electronic warfare equipment, and commercial off-the-shelf landing gear.

This new aircraft will feature a sleeker design, providing room for additional fuel supply alongside electronic capabilities to increase the aircraft's resilience and maintainability while providing overall performance gains. Changes to the aircraft fuselage design and new wings will remove the need for bespoke landing gear seen in the previous iteration. This development means the aircraft will use commercial off-the-shelf landing gear, which increases maintainability, further reducing the aircraft's maintenance costs.