Fleet Air defence fighter of 1980 challenge

[TigerHunter1945]

Messerschmitt Me 1260

In 1974, Kriegsmarine und Seeluftwaffenamt desired a replacement for aging and arguably outdated Focke Wulf Fw-890M that previously became the backbone of Kriegsmarine Naval Air Fleet since 1960s.Rapid advancement in aircraft technology soon followed notorably by present of All Weather Passive Electronically Scanned Array Radar produce by Siemens A.G .With all possibilities of mounting PESA radar into smaller aircraft,boost by appereance of newest US Navy Fighter-Attack based on Lightweight Fighter program ,Seeluftwaffenamt decide to release the RLM Specification Nr.78 to all aircraft producer in Greater German Reich which called for a twin engine next-generation fighter aircraft with limited strike and ground attack capability and would mount new Siemens NFuG 375.

in 1976 Proposal for new next generation fighter were presented by Focke-Wulf , Heinkel , Blohm und Voss , Messerschmitt and Henschel. and after series of feasibility test for new fighter Messerschmitt , Focke-Wulf and Henschel prototype were choose for further contract and were ordered to build the prototype in 1979.After series of extensive trial until 1983,Focke-Wulf proposal doesn't produce enough power to meet requirement while Henschel prototype experience in-flight stability problem and prototype crash on take-off.meanwhile Messerschmitt design although radical in appearance have superb handing capability,speed and performance.Thus Messerschmitt prototype was adopted and given RLM designation Me 1260 .Twenty preproduction aircraft were then funded and development continued using the four prototypes and the preproduction aircraft as design was very advance at the time it enter service.Further refining and development is carried until 1985 mostly from Reichlin and Peenemünde

The design were a radical one.It sports a forward mounted all moving canard that enhanced maneuverability at speed and include a blend wing-body design with overhanging boom-like twin tail.The design was supposed to maximalize its aerodynamic aspect.

In 1986 it finally joined the ranks of Seeluftwaffe with debut onboard Aircraft Carrier Europa the Me 1260 became the main fighter for the Seeluftwaffe and other Axis co-belligerent



The Me 1260 has been in service with various Axis co-belligerent,but owing to the advancement of the design mostly only based on their respective Aircraft Carrier with some exception like Italy.Empire of Japan also purchased Me 1260 for evaluation purpose in 1990s but instead modernizing their existing domestic aircraft.




General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 18 m
Wingspan: 12 m
Height: 4 m
Wing area: 55.2 m²
Empty weight: 7,600 kg
Max. takeoff weight: 25,250 kg
Powerplant: 2 × Heinkel Hirth HeS 211 turbofan
Dry thrust: 60 kN each
Thrust with afterburner: 90 kN each

Performance

Maximum speed: 2,112 km/h at 10,000 m (clean)
Combat radius: 1,500 km on air superiority configuration
Ferry range: 5,500 km with three external fuel tanks
Service ceiling: 19,000 m
Rate of climb: 400 m/s
Wing loading: 345 kg/m²
Maximum g-load: +9/−3.6g (+11g in emergencies)

Armament

Guns: 1× 27 mm (0.98 in) Mauser Bordkanonen BK-273 rotary autocannon
Hardpoints: One centerline, two underfuselage, and four underwing
Bombs: Various bombs, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles and rocket pods on four underwing, and three underfuselage pylons. Weapons carried include up to 10 RM-75 radar guided missiles, up to 10 LR IR missiles, up to 4 LfBR-67 anti-ship missiles, Raketenwerfer 58 12 cm rocket pods, 7x12 cm rockets, up to 20 SC 250 kg bombs, up to 14 Navy SC 500 500 kg bombs, up to 4 SC-1000 Number 80 1000 kg bombs, up to 10 FsRm-72 TV guided missiles.

[Deskjetser]

I tried to do something a little unorthodox for my entry. So here I have the first version of the English Electric Sea Lightning proposal, depicted with a what-if modernisation in 1978, enabling it to stay in service a little longer than its land based sister.

The BAC Sea Lightning FAW.1
During the 1960s the Royal Navy was still in possession of a world leading carrier fleet, second only to the United States Navy which was in the process of building the new Kitty Hawk class super-carriers. The British fleet consisted of the fleet carriers Ark Royal and Eagle, and two much smaller carriers; The completely reconstructed Victorious, and the much newer light carrier Hermes.

While all four of the Navy's large carriers were capable of operating the S.2 version of the Blackburn Buccaneer, only Ark Royal and Eagle were realistically big enough to accommodate both a squadron of Buccaneers and a squadron of F-4 Phantoms, which the Royal Navy originally intended to procure as its new fleet air defence aircraft.

However, very promising proposals were beginning to emerge from the British Aircraft Corporation, and its recent acquisition English Electric, which were beginning to turn heads. Among other things the remodelled Lightning was now boasting a variable geometry wing, vastly improved range, and weapons portability; Of which the latter two combined, were severely hampering the Lightning as a product for foreign export, or any ability to fill other niches that were not purely short range interception.

While on the carrier end, the increasing weight and size of modern jet fighters meant that a larger deck area was required for take offs and landings. Although the Royal Navy had come up with increasingly innovative ways to allow ever larger aircraft to operate from the small flight decks of their carriers, the limited physical life left in the existing ships, and the inability of both Victorious and Hermes to operate an air defence fighter and an effective or useful number of Buccaneers, made the order of at least two new large fleet carriers essential by the mid 1960s.

By 1963 it was announced that BAC was given the contract to start the first series pre-production of the FAW.1 Sea Lightning, and by the latter part of the mid 60s the aircraft was performing as expected. With the performance of the aircraft only set to increase further, it was decided to cancel the F-4 Phantom order, also based on cost saving and parts pool availability with the pre-existing Lightnings.

1978 FG.2 Life extension program
In 1977 a contract for the upgrade of 100 FAW into the latest FG.2 variant proposal was awarded to BAC, with certain aspects of the program being sub-contracted or partnered.

The centre-piece of the upgrade was an entirely new WCS for the latest generation of weapons, such as Skyflash, Martel, and the developing Sea Eagle; Feeding this new WCS are two new systems themselves; The FLIR system for low emissions IRST functionality and enhanced embedded air-to-ground weapons capability, and an all new RADAR package.

Due to the limited space inside the 'bullet' RADAR house, 66cm/26in wide and with 0.46m^3 volume, an antenna diameter of no greater than 24" could be utilised. Fortunately, RADAR systems had come a very long way since the conception of the now roughly 20 year old AIRPASS system. The new system was an I band pulse-Doppler RADAR system designed for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. For air-to-air operations it can incorporate a variety of search, track and track-while-scan modes to give the pilot a complete look-down/shoot-down capability. Air-to-surface modes include Doppler beam sharpened sector and patch mapping, medium range synthetic aperture radar, fixed and moving ground target track, and sea surface search. The RADAR also includes a velocity search, range-while-search, single target track, gun director, and raid assessment operating modes. The system in all takes up 0.4m^3 of the 0.46m^3 available in the nose, and transforms the aircrafts capability drastically.

Extensive upgrades in other areas included such things as a new IFF interrogator, RWR and internal ECM as well as flares and chaff dispenser, Electronic warfare system set, and an entirely new avionics suite to replace the ageing set.

Lastly, the two Rolls-Royce Avon 301R were replaced with the latest RB106 twin-spool afterburning turbo-jets, which dry, developed nearly the same levels of thrust as the old engines did wet. These engines, first run in the 50s, were now fully realised in the mid 70s, developing 15,400lbs/f dry and 21,750lbs/f wet; This leap in power allowed an even greater level of super-cruise, upward of mach 1.8 on a clean aircraft, and allowed an even greater combat radius, service-ceiling, and take-off weight.





Specifications:
Crew: 2 Abreast
Length: 16.8m / 55.1ft Pitot extended, 15.25m / 50ft Pitot folded
Wingspan: 11.18m / 36.7ft
Height: 6.2m / 20.35ft Unloaded weight, 5.3m / 17.4ft Unloaded weight tail folded
Wing area: 43.5m^2 / 468ft^2 Swept, 46.25m^2 / 498ft^2 Unswept
Empty weight: 12,565kg / 27,700lbs
Max takeoff weight: 23,585kg / 52,000lbs, 24,950kg / 55,000lbs overloaded
Internal fuel capacity: 8,228L 6,912kg / 1810gal imp. 15,238lbs

Powerplant: 2 x Rolls-Royce RB.106 afterburning turbo-jets
Dry static thrust: 68.4kN / 15,375lbs/f
Wet static thrust: 96.75kN / 21,750lbs/f
Static SFC: 1.0263lbs/lbf-hr dry, 1.7746lbs/lbf-hr wet
Weight: 1350kg / 2977lbs
Core flow: 91.6kg/s / 202lb/s @M0

Max. speed: Mach 2.35 @ 13,400m / 44,000ft, Mach 1.4 @ Sea level
Combat radius:

• ~250mi / 402km mach ~2 supersonic intercept mission profile & 10 minute loiter /w 2 x Skyflash, 4 x Sidewinder, 2 x External tank
• ~425mi / 684km mach ~1.5 supersonic intercept mission profile & 10 minute loiter /w 2 x Skyflash, 4 x Sidewinder, 2 x External tank
• ~500mi / 805km mach ~1.25 supersonic intercept mission profile & 10 minute loiter /w 2 x Skyflash, 4 x Sidewinder, 2 x External tank
• ~550mi / 885km mach ~.75 subsonic patrol profile & 60 minute loiter /w 2 x Skyflash, 4 x Sidewinder, 2 x External tank

Ferry range: 1500mi / 2,414km
Service ceiling: 18,290m / 60,000ft
Rate of climb: 300m/s / 59,000ft/min initial
Wing loading: 91.75lb/ft^2 / 447kg/m^2 @ 42,940lbs / 19,475kg
Thrust to weight: 1.01 @ 42,940lbs / 19,475kg
Max g-load: +9g -3g

Armament:
1 x ADEN 30mm Cannon

• Belly station
  • 4 x AIM-9 Sidewinder
  • 2 x 1000lbs bomb (Requires standard rail mount replacement), 3 x with pack replacement

• Wing station
  • 2 x Skyflash
  • 2 x 1000lbs bomb, 4+ /w rack
  • 2 x Martel
  • 2 x Sea Eagle
  • 2 x SNEB pod
  • 2 x External tank

• Nose station
  • 2 x Skyflash
  • 4 x AIM-9 Sidewinder (Requires standard mount replacement)
  • 2 x SNEB pod

Some Australian RAAF FAW.1 liveries



RAF & FAA FAW.1 Liveries





New England navy livery


And for anyone interested, here is an album of some of the proposals!
https://imgur.com/a/jSTZqvP

[Skyder2598]

Hello all

I was quiet busy in the last time, but I don't want to miss the next challenge, so here is my entry:





Specifications:
Crew: 1
Length: 18,97m (without pilot tube)
Wingspan: 13,26m
High: 4,57m
Empty weight: about 14.000 kg
Max. takeoff weight: about 30.000 kg
Fuel capacity: about 8.000 kg

Max. speed: 2500 km/h

Armament:
1x25mm Gatling cannon

In the original configuration the plane can equip up to three long range anti-air missiles and different medium to short range ant air
missiles on 6 wing pylons, 2 pylons under the air intake and one between them. Later versions are capable of all weapons for anti-ground
and anti-ship missions. The plane features a thrust vector steering and helmet-steering for dogfight missiles.


Hope you like it...

[Rhade]

Dammmnnn...

[Navybrat85]

Tequilapoli TF-20 Pangolin

Length: 17.06m

Wingspan: 14.93 (min. sweep angle), 7.96m carrier stowed oversweep

Height: 4.48m

Crew: 1

Powerplant: 2x GE F404-GE-402 Afterburning turbofans, 79.0kn thrust with afterburners

Performance: Mach 1.9, cruise 570 Kn.

Range: 850 nm

Armament:
1x M61 Vulcan cannon

8 Hardpoints for up to 12,000 pounds of ordinance.

[waritem]

ICAR K-83 μάντα (manta ray)

The Cretan Vαυτική αεροπορία (fleet air arm) was the first airforce to commissioned a VTOL combat aircraft with the ICAR K-64 ξίφος ( xiphos) in 1964. The aircraft was fully satisfying, being even acquired by the Ρεπουμπλικανικό Πολεμική Αεροπορία (republican air force), although the aircraft was initially intended for fleet use only. But by the mid-seventies the aircraft was already considered close to the limit of it's improuvment. In 1976 a new call for tenders was issued for a appreciably heavier aircraft.
The 11,000 kg multirole fighter (almost twice the previous aircraft) should still be a VTOL able to operate from any ship with a helipad, but with improuved performance in every aspect (speed, manevrability, payload...etc), and integreat the upcomming ASFoGe (bridge automatic loading system), sheduled to be fitted on cretan aircraft carriers.
The selected design was a short single seat aircraft with twin engines housed in widely spaced nacelles, and variable-sweep wings. Exept the 30 mm gun all weapons were housed in a remouvable pod beetwin the engines configured according to the mission.
The engines were equipped with side and rear vector thrust nozzle.
The plane was this time design from the begining to operate from rough-field operations the main air inlet could be closed completely and the auxiliary air inlet on the upper fuselage can be used for takeoff, landing and low-altitude flying, preventing ingestion of ground debris.
The overall design seems to have been higly influenced by inteligence about the russian Mig-29 then under devellopment.
The landing gear was raver unconventional with twin rear wheels reatracting in each twin tail.

The K-83a prouved higly manoeuvrable and pleasant to fly, but the range finally apired too short and the storage space in the pod to small.
An updated program was sheduled as " πρότυπο B". It added a dorsal 'hump' to the upper fuselage to house additional fuel capacity and attachement point for AA missiles were fitted on the upper side of the tails bases.

Althought this sime to be fully satisfying, the following production was moved to C serial with its side vector thrust nozzle mouved dawnward to fit the AAM under the wing base.

The overall design remained unchainged , the only signicative change beeing the addition of conformal fuel tank from the " πρότυπο E".
The k-83 was succesfull within the COMECO members airforces (international comunity leadded by Crete).
The vector thrust technology was banned for export outside the community. Therefore the K-83exp was far less expensive than the VTOL version (the variable-sweep wings were even optional) and quite succesfull on the market.

[odysseus1980]

"Ρεπουμπλικανική Πολεμική Αεροπορία" is the correct name. Being a Greek, this language is my native. On the aircraft the word "ΝΑΥΤΙΚΟ" has the "A" and "Y" very close together.

The aircraft itshelf is a peculiar design.

[Kannevets]

THE VOUGHT F74V VAGABOND: A NEW ERA OF CARRIER POWER





Following the announcement that a new class of aircraft carrier was to be built for the Royal New English Navy in 1965, there was great debate over the possibility of a new aircraft to be delivered with it. After a few years of debate between Parliament and the Navy, and then internal debate over the requirements, a request for proposals was issued to numerous companies. The aircraft was to be a tandem two-seater, twin engine aircraft capable of Mach 2.2 speeds. For armament it would carry either six heavy air-to-air missiles or a mix of ten light and medium air-to-air missiles, in addition to a 25mm revolver cannon. Among the competitors were designs by numerous foreign and domestic manufacturers, however in July of 1974 (nearly ten years after the combined carrier+fighter program was announced), it was decided that the Vought 507, a variable-geometry interceptor, was to be the winning design, and designated as the F74V Vagabond. After a year of further development, entered service aboard RNES Leviathan. Leviathan had been in service for a few years as of that July, having been commissioned formally in 1972. For those three years, the RNEN had shipped borrowed English Electric Sea Lightnings from the Royal Navy, and it was a point of great pride for a domestically-designed and built interceptor to fly from the ship. However, the Navy was not satisfied with the Pratt and Whitney E6PW engines, as they had mechanical issues across the entire fleet. Starting in 1982, all F74V airframes in service were upgraded to a new engine system, the E8GE by General Electric. The aircraft were ultimately retired in 2004, replaced with the F4N Albatross from Johnson-Wilkins Aerospace.

Crew: 2
Engines: x2 E6PW (TF30 equivalent, most airframes upgraded with F110-equivalent in 1980’s)
Armament: x1 25mm General Electric G7E revolver cannon, x4 Sea Panther missiles OR x4 Sea Leopard and x6 Sea Tiger missiles, can also be fitted with dumb bombs in extraneous circumstances.
Top Speed: Mach 2.2

And, as an extra little tidbit, I took the liberty to do a "squadron card" for the design. This is essentially what I use when doing carrier squadrons, I can simply paste over the wing parts i need to show a specific aircraft on the deck. It's in SB scale, and I can do a full chart of other views at a later date.

[Charguizard]

To everyone who commented on my submission, sincere thanks for the comments and feedback.
Thanks to your encouragement I've updated my post with a little present.

http://shipbucket.com/forums/viewtopic. ... 10#p184027

[VictorCharlie]

Springing from the Mirage G project that had itself spawned after a breakdown in a joint New Tyrannian-Sieuxerrian fighter development program started in the mid-1960s, the Aérospatiale-Dassault Mirage-Menace G program was a private venture by Dassault to develop a swing-wing, or variable geometry fighter aircraft design.

The aircraft began as a single engine swing-wing aircraft but later morphed into a twin-engine multirole combat aircraft. However the intended operator, the Sieuxerrian Air Force, was already in the midst of the "Avion de Combat Futur" (ACF) project which was supposed to create a Mach 3 dogfighting aircraft, and the Mirage-Menace program did not appeal to then-specifications.

In the mid-1970s, the Sieuxerrian Navy had finished construction and trials of the first of four Painlevé-class fleet carriers, which could hold and launch upwards of fifty combat aircraft of various sizes and types. The Dassault Faucon, which had been used successfully on the previous Clemenceau-class was slated to be the primary fighter of the new carrier, however with the looming threat of new long-range anti-shipping missiles from large formations of mutli-engine bombers and dedicated patrol aircraft, the relatively short ranged, both in weapons and radius, Faucon was seen as lacking in its ability to conduct effective fleet air defense and interception operations. The Sieuxerrian Navy sent inquiries to various domestic and foreign aircraft corporations as a result.

Aérospatiale-Dassault, in 1977, offered the Mirage-Menace to the Sieuxerrian Navy and later in the year the aircraft had begun development into being a naval fighter.

At this time, Matra was given a contract from the Sieuxerrian Navy to develop a new long range air-to-air missile to use against enemy aircraft. It would have an active-radar seeker with a terminal infrared seeker. A radar from Thompson-CSF would also be built, the three companies working closely together in development. The missile, known as the R.750 Arbalète, would be used exclusively by the Mirage-Menace for extended fleet air defense against both long-range bombers but also tactical fighter aircraft.

The program moved along well into 1982, until finally both the R.750 and the Mirage-Menace, now known just as the Menace, would be accepted. In 1983, the first squadron, Flottille 16F, would reach fully operational status. Stationed aboard the carrier Arromanches, both the carrier and her new squadron of Menace C fighters would find their first combat deployment in the Jedorian-Mozrian War in 1985.

In the war, Menace fighters flew long-range combat air patrol, escort, and fleet air defense missions and was generally well regarded and liked by her pilots. During the course of the war, the eight Menace fighters of Flottille 16F would rack up over twenty air-to-air kills with the loss of one aircraft in combat and one in an accident. Two fighter aces, Capitaine Gaston Morin and Capitaine Denis Sylvestre achieving nine kills in their aircraft, would come from the conflict.

Since the war in 1985, the Menace has been upgraded and has taken up some of the original multirole mission it had originally intended to fill in the 1960s. However, with the new Rafale, both the single and twin seat models and the new Meteor missile with a theoretical range of 300km, the mission of the Menace has come into question and by 2020 the aircraft may begin to be replaced by the Rafale.



Aircraft no. 32 from 16F. It and its pilot, Capitaine Louis Stuart, would be lost in combat.


Multiple views of the same no. 32 aircraft showing an example from 1985.

Specifications:

Crew: 2 (Pilot and Radar Intercept Officer)
Length: 19.2 m
Wingspan spread: 15 m
Wingspan swept: 8.1 m
Height: 5 m
Empty weight: 15,500 kg (34,171 lbs)
Loaded weight: 24,500 kg (54,013. lbs) (x2 Magic, x2 R.530D, x2 R.750, x2 1,000 liter drop tanks)
Max takeoff weight: 28,000 kg (61,729 lbs)
Powerplant: 2× SNECMA M53-P2 afterburning turbofans
Dry thrust: 64.7 kN (14,500 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 95.1 kN (21,400 lbf) each

Performance:

Maximum speed:
High altitude: Mach 2.2+ (1,650+ mph, 2,700+ km/h)
Low altitude: Mach 1.2 (900 mph, 1,450 km/h)

Combat radius: 1,000 km (621 mi) for interdiction mission
Ferry range: 4,000 km (2,485 mi)
Service ceiling: 18,500 m (60,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 240+ m/s (47,000+ ft/min)
Thrust/weight: 0.8
Maximum design g-load: +9 g

Armament:
Guns: 2× DEFA 554 30mm revolver cannon, 125 rpg
Hardpoints: Total 6:
two on wing-gloves, two under nacelles, two under-fuselage with provisions to carry combinations of:
Missiles:
2× R.550 Magic II
2× MICA
2-4 × R.750
2-6× R.530
2-6× Meteor
Bombs:
Various guided and unguided munitions in service
Radar:
Thomson-CSF "Giraffe" I-IV X-Band radar
Thomson-CSF "Chercheur" Infra-red search and track system