Swift Engineering

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with Swift Cooper.
Swift Engineering
Subsidiaries
Websiteswiftengineering.com

Swift Engineering is an American engineering firm that builds

Konosuke Matsushita
.

Swift used to produce racing cars for open-wheel racing series, including

ISO 14001, and ISO 27000
certified.

History

Swift Engineering was founded in 1983 by David Bruns, Alex Cross,

CART. Swift chassis won the Atlantic Championship from 1989 to 1992 and British Formula Renault
in 1990.

In 1991, Swift was purchased by

CART World Series for 1997, with two cars entered by Newman/Haas Racing and driven by Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi. In CART, Swifts got four wins and 24 podiums from 182 race entries. Tarso Marques
was the last driver to race a Swift chassis in CART in the 2000 season.

In 2000, Swift Engineering started to provide vertically integrated, multi-disciplined product development services including design, development, engineering, testing, and rapid manufacturing of prototypes, demonstrators, and pre-production articles.

In 2018, Swift Engineering formed a joint venture called Swift Xi Inc. [ja; fr] with the Kobe Institute of Computing to open its first office abroad in Kobe, Japan . Since 2018, a Yalie physicist and executive Nick Barua has overseen management. [8]

Racing cars

The first Swift racecar was the DB-1 Formula Ford. The car won its debut race, the 1983 SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta. The DB-1 was the third car designed by Bruns and was considered to be a design simplification of Burns's previous design, the Automotive Development ADF. The car was considered a landmark design that rendered prior Formula Ford models obsolete. The DB-1 had the lowest aerodynamic drag of any Formula Ford at its release. Over 100 DB-1s were sold in the 18 months following the car's release. The car won 10 Formula Ford championships over the next 13 years. The closely related DB6 won an additional six championships with the last one in 2008. The success of the car was considered one of the factors that resulted in the slow decline of Formula Ford in the US after 1984.[9][10][11]

In 1998, Swift became the sole supplier for the new

Indy Lights' requirement for a new chassis for the 2014 season.[13]

Race cars designed and built by Swift

Year Car Racing Series Image Title
1983 Swift DB1 Formula Ford 1600 [14]
1984 Swift DB2 Sports 2000[15] Michael Ringström driving a Swift DB2 at the qualification of Suttgarter Rössle's AvD 100 Meilen race
1988 Swift DB3
Formula Ford 2000
 [16]
1989 Swift DB4 Formula Atlantic Hiro Matsushita in Toyota Atlantic Championship 1989 with Swift DB4 [17]
1990 Swift DB5 Sports 2000 "1990 Swift". Retrieved November 10, 2021.[18]
1991 Swift DB6
Formula Ford 2000
1600/2000
1997 Swift 007.i CART[19] Mario Andretti at 1998 Goodwood Festival of Speed with Swift 007.I
1998 Swift 008.a Formula Atlantic [20]
1998 Swift 009.c CART
1999 Swift 010.c CART [21]
2000 Swift 011.c CART
2002 Swift 014.a Formula Atlantic[22] Jason Byers holds his arm up to the crowd after winning the Formula Atlantic class at the 2012 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
2006 Swift 016.a Formula Atlantic[23] Raphael Matos celebrating a victory in his Swift 016.a Atlantic Championship car in 2007
2007 Swift 016.a Formula Atlantic Giacomo Ricci (foreground) passing Frankie Muniz in their Swift 016.a machines during the 2007 Houston race.
2007 Swift 016.a Formula Atlantic Robert Wickens driving at the Grand Prix of Houston Champ Car Atlantic support race in 2007.
2009 Swift 017.n
Formula Nippon[24]
 Heamin Choi celebrating in his Swift 017.n
2010 Swift 017.n
Formula Nippon
 Formula Nippon car in 2010 Formula Nippon 2010 Rd.2 Motegi: André Lotterer(Team Petronas Team TOM'S) during the Sunday free practice session.
2010 Swift 017.n
Formula Nippon
 Formula Nippon 2010 Rd.2 Motegi: Loïc Duval (Docomo Team Dandelion Racing) during the Sunday free practice session.
2010
Swift FN09
Formula Nippon
 Motorsport Japan 2010: Swift FN09's front wing.
2011 Swift 014.a
Formula Nippon
Michael Mallinen
racing in rain at the 2011 SCCA National Runoffs.
2012 Swift 014.a (Toyota) SCCA National Championship Runoffs Jason Byers holds his arm up to the crowd after winning the Formula Atlantic class at the 2012 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
2013 Swift 014.a (Toyota) SCCA National Championship Runoffs French racing to a third-place finish in C Sport Racer at Road America during the 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs[25]

Aviation

Beginning in 1997, Swift diversified into aerospace/aviation markets, working with major companies including Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, Sikorsky, and others. Swift has also worked for governmental agencies such as NASA.

Notable Aviation products of Swift

Year Name Type Image Title Role
2001 Northrop Grumman Bat Reconnaissance
UAV
 During experimentation conducted by U.S. Fourth Fleet and Navy Warfare Development Command (NWDC), the Northrop Grumman Bat unmanned aircraft system flies over the joint high-speed vessel USNS Spearhead (JHSV-1) during its maiden flight off of a U.S. Navy vessel in the Straits of Florida. Engineering, Analysis & Manufacturing
2007 Eclipse ECJ / 400 Civil utility aircraft Eclipse ECJ at Airventure 2007. Engineering, Analysis & Manufacturing
2013 Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton Maritime unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aerial vehicle and patrol aircraft MQ-4C Triton Test Flight with Multi-Intelligence Upgrade Supporting Northrop Grumman in the design and manufacturing of composite structures.
2015 Sikorsky S-97 Raider Reconnaissance and
compound helicopter
 S-97 Raider in flight Engineering, manufacturing, etc.[26]
2017 Echo Voyager Autonomous underwater vehicle(AUV) Engineering & Manufacturing (Details are confidential)

[27]

2017 Swift020/021
UAV
 Swift020 flying over Kobe 2018 Design, manufacturing
2019 Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant
Compound helicopter
 A Boeing-Sikorsky flight demo of the SB-1 Defiant, the SARA, and the S-97 Raider at the William P. Gwinn airport in West Palm Beach, FL, Feb. 20, 2020. A major portion of the airframe structure was designed and manufactured at Swift’s facility in San Clemente, California by an integrated team of Swift and Boeing employees.[28]
2019 Sikorsky Raider X Reconnaissance and attack compound helicopter Swift Engineering worked with Sikorsky on FARA Raider-X helicopter. A major portion of the airframe structure is designed and manufactured at Swift’s facility in San Clemente, California.[29]
2021 Lockheed Martin X-59 Quesst Experimental supersonic aircraft NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the ramp at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, California during sunrise, shortly after completion of painting. With its unique design, including a 38-foot-long nose, the X-59 was built to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, or faster than the speed of sound, while reducing the typically loud sonic boom produced by aircraft at such speeds to a quieter sonic “thump”. The X-59 is the centrepiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to solve one of the major barriers to supersonic flight over land, currently banned in the United States, by making sonic booms quieter. Engineering, Analysis & Manufacturing
2021 Swift Crane
UAV
 Swift Crane flying over Awaji Island, Hyogo 2023 Design, manufacturing<
2021 Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE) [ja] High-altitude platform station First test flight at Spaceport America in New Mexico, USA in July 2020 Design, manufacturing

Killer Bee

Swift Engineering designed, built, and delivered the runway-independent Killer Bee blended wing

UAV and its mobile launch/retrieval system in 2002. Northrop Grumman bought the Killer Bee UAV product line from Swift Engineering, and renamed it as the Northrop Grumman Bat in April 2009.[30] It has been used primarily as an ISR
gathering tool, and features a 10-ft wingspan with 30-lb payload capacity.

Eclipse 400

In 2007 Swift Engineering produced the prototype Eclipse 400 single-engine jet aircraft under contract to Eclipse Aviation. The aircraft was built in secrecy at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and first flown on 2 July 2007.[31] Swift supplies high-strength, low-weight composite parts and assemblies to several aerospace industry customers. Engineering consultancy and designing and producing tooling for composite parts are further aspects of the business.[32]

Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant

Swift Engineering Inc. joined the Sikorsky-Boeing team in 2015 to support the development of the Sikorsky–Boeing SB-1 Defiant Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD), with the design and manufacturing of a significant portion of the airframe structure.[33]

Swift020/021

In 2014, Swift started developing the Swift020 fully electric, fully autonomous VTOL UAS. This aircraft is runway-independent and transitions to horizontal flight through its autopilot software.

quadrotor but transitions to efficient fixed-wing forward flight without additional launch and recovery equipment, vastly reducing operational time and cost.[36][37]
It has a 4-meter wingspan, 2–3 hours of endurance, and a 1.5-kg payload.

Swift Crane

The Swift Crane [ja; simple] is a VTOL unmanned aerial vehicle designed and developed by Swift Engineering. It is a fixed-wing design and can take off and land vertically. This drone features a large wing and four propellers. Swift Engineering initially released the Swift020 model, which was primarily used for research and development purposes, and later upgraded it to the Swift021. The latest version of the drone, the Swift Crane, is a commercialized variant.[38]

Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE)

In 2018 Swift proposed to design, fabricate, and fly a

high-altitude long endurance (HALE) UAS with flight tests including 24-hrs, 48-hrs, and 7-days during the Phase 2 timeline for NASA.[39] All operations, ground control, safety, reviews, and payload will be included in these test flights and within the proposed 2-year timeframe.[40] Swift HALE completed its first test flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico in 2020.[41]

Naval technology

XLUUV submarine

In 2017, Swift Engineering designed, fabricated, and delivered QTY 10, 10-ft Iridium NEXT payload adapter cylinders, and structures for a 50 ft. XLUUV unmanned submarine.

Structure

Swift Engineering is the parent of a diverse set of subsidiaries.

Subsidiary Business Executive Leader
Swift Xi Inc. Engineering Company Nick Barua - COO[42]
Swift Autonomy A complete
UAS
suite service company 		Hamilton Rencurrel, Caleb Joiner
Hyperkelp Ocean data as a service company [43] Graeme Rae -
CEO

Recognitions

References

  1. ^ "US developer and manufacturer of drones. SWIFT Engineering establishes company in Kobe". JETRO. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "Nick Barua: Creating Opportunities through Innovation". Medium. March 22, 2024. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  3. ^ "Revolutionizing Drone Technology to Empower the Bahamas". swift autonomy. August 23, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "Rekindling The Flame". Archived from the original on August 25, 2006.
  5. ^ "First Win PR" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 7, 2011.
  6. ^ Henderson, Martin (September 24, 1997). "HIRO AT LARGE". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  7. ^ https://www.panasonic.com/global/corporate/history/konosuke-matsushita.html/ Archived November 6, 2021, at the Wayback Machine The Founder, Konosuke Matsushita
  8. ^ "Dr. Nick Barua: Multi-Faceted Career of Yale Physicist to Japan's Business Icon". May 11, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  9. ^ Egan, Peter (March 1984). "Swift DB-1, Testing the new Formula Ford national champion". Road and Track. pp. 61–63.
  10. ISBN 087938-807-2
    .
  11. ^ Zurschmeide, Jeff (July 2017). "They Can't Do That... Can They?". Sports Car Magazine. SCCA. pp. 32–37.
  12. ^ "2009 Formula Nippon cars to be made in USA".
  13. ^ Pruett, Marshall (August 28, 2012). "INDYCAR: Swift Files 2014 Indy Lights Proposal". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on August 30, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  14. ^ "1989 Swift DB-1 Formula Ford". May 18, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  15. ^ "Swift DB2 Sports 2000". March 1, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "Breaking Swift DB3". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  17. ^ "Swift DB4 Formula Atlantic". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  18. ^ "1990 Swift DB5-L Spec Sheet". January 7, 2010. Archived from the original on January 7, 2010. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
  19. ^ "Swift 007.i chassis, which was driven by Micheal Andretti". September 28, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  20. ^ "1998 Swift 008/014 Formula Atlantic". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  21. ^ "1999 Swift 010.c Indycar". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  22. doi:10.4271/2002-01-3301
    . Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  23. ^ "Swift 016 Formula Atlantic". December 2, 2002. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  24. ^ "Racecar-Engineering". December 11, 2007.
  25. ^ "2009 National Points" (PDF). Cen-Div SCCA. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 16, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  26. ^ "High-Speed Scout And Attack Compound Helicopter". Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  27. ^ "Fully Autonomous Extra Large Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (XLUUV)". Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  28. ^ "Swift Joins Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant Team To Deliver Next Generation Vertical Lift". Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  29. ^ "Swift Engineering Selected for the Design and Construction of FARA Airframe for Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company". December 23, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  30. ^ "Bat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)".
  31. ^ Trautvetter, Chad (July 2007). "Eclipse Goes Solo with Concept Jet". Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  32. ^ https://minijets.org/en/300-500/pwc-610f/eclipse-concept-jet/ Eclipse Concept Jet (ECJ)
  33. ^ "Swift Joins Sikorsky-Boeing Defiant Team to deliver Next Generation Vertical Lift" (Press release).
  34. ^ Press (May 1, 2020). "Swift UAS Teams Break New Ground in Japan". sUAS News - The Business of Drones. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  35. ^ "Swift Engineering Inc. successfully flies VTOL drone Swift020 in Kobe, Japan". sUASNews. November 5, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  36. ^ "Swift021 – A Fully Autonomous VTOL UAS". Swift Engineering.
  37. ^ Schroth, Frank (April 29, 2017). "Swift Engineering's VTOL Solutions for the UAS Industry – the Swift 020".
  38. ^ "Long-Range Drone Takes Off, Lands like a Bird". The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  39. ^ "NASA Small Business Partnership Prepares Drone for 30-Day Science Flights". August 4, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  40. ^ "Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), Phase II". Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  41. ^ Swift Engineering (July 20, 2020). "American made Swift High Altitude Long Endurance UAS Completes Landmark Flight" (Press release).
  42. ^ "Nick Barua: Creating Opportunities through Innovation". March 15, 2023. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  43. ^ "HyperKelp Collaborates with Northrop Grumman to Monitor Glacier Melt". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  44. ^ "JEC Innovation Awards Program 2012 - 13 companies rewarded for their composite innovations". JEC Group. February 16, 2012.
  45. ^ "Aviation Week — November 11/18 2013". Aviation Week | The Complete Archive.
  46. ^ "Swift Ultra Long Endurance (SULE) Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), Phase II".
  47. ^ "Govt signs $17 mil. contract for drones". The Nassau Guardian. December 17, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  48. ^ "Swift Engineering Selected for the Design and Construction of FARA Airframe for Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company". Bloomberg.com. December 23, 2019. Retrieved January 14, 2021.

External links

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