Leonardo has taken another step toward next-generation aviation with a new concept said to answer a long-standing question: what is the most efficient tiltrotor design?
The company’s new Advanced Tiltrotor Aircraft – Next Generation Military (ATA-NXM) design features engines that are positioned closer to the inner edge of each wing.
This adjustment improves the aircraft’s aerodynamics, simplifies the drivetrain, and reduces rotor workload to improve how it functions during flights.
The concept also features straight wings that extend beyond the aircraft’s rotors to improve stability in forward flight.
Along with small wings near the aircraft’s nose, the ATA-NXM is intended as a scalable tiltrotor platform with a potential maximum takeoff weight between 8 and 18 tons.
“This is the answer to [the question of] what is the max potential of the tiltrotor?” said Matteo Ragazzi, senior vice president of Engineering and Innovation at Leonardo, as quoted by Vertical Mag.
Leonardo’s Tiltrotor Lineup
The announcement of the ATA-NXM concept comes amid the continued development of the Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor Demonstrator (NGCTR) and the AW609, an aircraft that has reportedly been in the works for well over three decades.
Featuring an advanced “morphed” wing structure, the NGCTR integrates a modern flight-control system and has logged about 30 minutes of flight time so far during testing.
Meanwhile, the AW609 can cruise at speeds of up to 270 knots (500 kilometers/311 miles per hour), with the aircraft still awaiting certification from the Federal Aviation Administration.
While the ATA-NXM remains a concept, Leonardo said the platform could use existing turbo engines, potentially cutting development timelines by 50 percent compared with previous tiltrotor programs.
