A VIPER 1200 CNC fiber placement system and off-line composite programming system supplied by Cincinnati Machine, which is part of Cincinnati Lamb (Hebron, KY) have been used to produce a one-piece carbon-fiber fuselage developed by a consortium of European firms. Measuring 4.5-m long by 2-m at its widest point, the fuselage was produced in the UK at BAE Systems Ltd., which is the coordinator of the Full-Barrel Composite Fuselage (FUBACOMP) project. FUBACOMP, an Anglo-French-German composites research program, is dedicated to advancing European capabilities in utilizing fiber placement technology. The $13.2 million FUBACOMP research project funded by the European Union's Fifth Framework program is aimed at reducing airframe mass through the maximum possible use of composite materials.Cincinnati Machine's VIPER Fiber Placement System is shown placing preimpregnated carbon-fiber slit tape on a barrel fuselage section.

Designed by Dassault Aviation in conjunction with BAE Systems, the one-piece business-jet fuselage was manufactured using preimpregnated carbon-fiber slit tape and honeycomb core. Automated fiber placement enables manufacturability of a single-piece fuselage that can replace typical business jet structures made up of many individual components and thousands of fasteners.

The VIPER fiber placement system used to manufacture the FUBACOMP structure combines the advantages of tape laying and filament winding with advanced computer control and software. With its seven axes of motion, the VIPER system is particularly suited to highly contoured structures. High contour, variable wall thickness, and cut-out sections are all produced to near-net configuration. Less material is wasted in the initial lay up, and postprocess machining, and material-removal operations are reduced.

Incorporating patented features and the industry's only PC-based control designed for composites manufacturing, the VIPER is a versatile system providing advanced composites manufacturing benefits that reportedly include faster fiber-placement processing times, consistent part-to-part quality, scrap savings in the range of 65%, the reduction or elimination of hand layup, and the ability to automatically compact prepreg material directly on top of honeycomb core. The VIPER series includes three sizes of systems: VIPER 1200, VIPER 3000, and VIPER 6000. All three systems are currently applied in the manufacture of single-piece barrel fuselage sections, including multiple VIPER 3000s for Raytheon's Premiere 1 and Hawker Horizon aircraft and multiple VIPER 6000s for the Boeing 787, as well as the VIPER 1200 used for the FUBACOMP structure.