Nature-inspired solutions for aeronautic and space defense capabilities
Creators: name:  C. ROGER 
name:   F. GUEGUEN 
name:   B. POMMIER 
name:   L. MAGRO 
name:   L. PETIT 
Publisher: name: Proceedings of  the 9th European Conference for Aerospace Sciences. Lille, France, 27 June - 1 July, 2022
Year: 2022
Subjects: AERONAUTICS
FUTURE APPROACH

description: European Union faces a complex environment with growing tensions and conflict situations. Thanks to the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), the EU became a leader in conflict prevention, peace-keeping operations and strengthening of international security. However, to be even more efficient in aerospace defense some investments in several key challenges must be done. For instance, in fields such as space-based information and communication service, information superiority (information management, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, etc.), air superiority (air combat capability, air ISR platforms, etc.), air mobility, and cross-domain capabilities contributing to achieve EUs ambitions (energy sobriety, etc.). Most of these challenges can be answered by bio-inspired solutions to intended effects in contexts of airborne use, naval air, and air-land, within the specifications of Nature. For 3.8 billion years, living organisms have been adapting to their environmental constraints. Survival of the fittest is a biological trial-and-error process that can be seen as the driver for the largest RD laboratory worldwide. This has led them to feature remarkable properties such as being composed of abundant compounds (C, H, N, O) in multifunctional and adaptative materials synthetized by self-assembly at ambient temperature and pressure [1]. Functions expected from aerospace technologies are often being performed by structures and behaviors displayed by living organisms at all scales. For example, a swarm of bees meet most of the goals we aim at with our system of systems technologies including propulsion, sensors, avionics, autonomous flight, and swarming. However, these functions are being referred to as moving, nervous sensory-motor control, intelligence, and collective behavior by biologists, revealing one of the drags on the implementation of biomimetics today which is the lack of common language. On top of fulfilling these functions, they are met in a frugal, sustainable, and resilient way. These characteristics amongst others constitute specifications known as Lifes principles which can help facing challenges for the aerospace sector in this time of crises (climate change, biodiversity extinction, fossil fuel shortage etc.) [2]. In this paper we review how biomimetics (the functionnal transposition of biological strategies to technical issues [3]) is a formidable innovation approach to the aerospace fields key challenges. We first explore Natures global aeronautical features as described by the biology-push approach. Then, an exploration of technology-pull bio-inspired research projects is presented with the capability prism of end-users from the aerospace defense and security sector (namely air and space forces). This overview of relevant biological models or bio-inspired research tackles topics such as aerodynamics, data management, structures or thermics in response to the capability challenges of stealth, swarm technologies, system of systems etc. Our final objective is to draw the aerospace communitys attention on this emerging innovation strategy combining both a strong technical potential and a sustainable objective. This goal is the ambition of Myceco and Ceebios which are dedicated to promoting the development of biomimicry in France, as planned in the national roadmap of 2020.[4] References [1] Ceebios, Materiaux bio-inspires , 2020 [2] Hoornaert, S. G., Lassabe, N., Finzinger, C., Penalva, M., Pechstein, A., Chirazi, J., Mathis, F. (2019). How could nature inspire solutions for aeronautics and space sciences? In: 8th european conference for aeronautics and space sciences (EUCASS2019-796) [3] ISO/TC266. (2015), Biomimetics Terminology, concepts and methodology, available at: https://www.iso.org/fr/committee/652577/x/catalogue/. [4] Myceco/Ceebios, Biomimetisme, quels leviers de developpement quelles perspectives pour la France , 2020, www.myceco.com.