Tag:

planes

The story and development of the Sead Mission

by Till Daisd September 17, 2022

The Wild Weasels allow access to these contested areas, which are characterized by multiple integrated air defense systems on modern battlefields

Airpower emerged as a substantial and expanding danger to land and naval troops, cities, and industrial hubs during World War II. Both the Allied and Axis nations used radar tactically early on because of this quickly developing technology.

By spotting them before they could attack, these early radar systems posed a serious threat to the aircrews flying these daytime and nighttime operations. To combat this novel and developing technology, more sophisticated countermeasures were required as a result of their creation.

These tactical countermeasures, which involved bombing and basic intelligence-gathering methods early in the conflict, originally showed potential in the first few operations.

This marked the beginning of the mission that would later become known as the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD). Prior to the creation of a specific platform, this mission was carried out by a variety of aircraft types that were modified to meet emergency demand, but the foundation of the SEAD mission was laid by the fundamental strategies created during World War II.

American and Allied bombers and fighters either had free reign to strike their targets or they were identified and later attacked by radar-guided Anti-Aircraft Artillery (AAA) or radar-guided fighter swarms, according to U.S. Air Force (USAF) 35th Fighter Wing (FW) Historian.

Aircraft engaged in Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses missions have since refocused their efforts on locating and targeting enemy radar sites as a result of the need to prioritize their targets in order to keep up with the pace of battle.

Teams of B-25 Mitchell “hunter-killers” were also assembled in the Pacific Theatre, where they created the fundamental strategies and practices that would be applied by upcoming pilot generations. It was also the origin of the expression “first in, last out,” which describes the selfless nature of the Weasel technique.

The lead B-25 would locate Japanese radar stations using its radar detection equipment. Once they had found their target, the hunter-killer teams would fly in low and quickly to assault it with “parachute bombs” in order to destroy the radar installation and its supporting equipment.

Throughout the latter stages of World War II, the SEAD mission enjoyed consistent success, but it was hardly ever used in the Korean War succeeding in air superiority engagements. The SEAD mission did not advance for the jet age until the introduction of the Soviet Union’s radar-guided anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile (SAM) system.

American aircraft and tactics, as well as enemy technology, evolved as the Vietnam War went on. During the early phases of the Vietnam Air War, the North Vietnamese used these SAM stations to destroy aircraft and command the sky.

The North Vietnamese SAM installations were arranged roughly in the shape of a six-pointed star, with the search and guidance radar system positioned distant from the missile battery in a covert, heavily-camouflaged location.

Although some SAMs were destroyed using cunning flying techniques, U.S. aircraft lacked the armaments or skills necessary to routinely defeat them.

The United States Air Force was drawn to the threat the SAMs posed and was swiftly compelled to intervene to stop the deteriorating situation in the skies over Vietnam.

The task of creating a practical defense against the threat presented by the North Vietnamese SAMs fell to then Brig. Gen. K. C. Dempster as new electronic warfare technology advanced. He gave this new program the name “Wild Weasel” in a tribute to the WWII “ferrets”; this term has defined this special mission for more than 50 years.

By today’s standards, they took four F-100F Super Sabres and outfitted them with a relatively basic array of radars. The application was employed as a temporary fix until a better solution could be found. The first generation of Wild Weasels was this modified F-100Fs.

The SEAD mission’s purpose and the aircraft that carried it changed as a result of numerous mission successes in Vietnam and Thailand.

The Wild Weasel mission, as well as the F-105G and F-4G, were housed at the now-defunct George Air Force Base during the 1970s. The successor of the Wild Weasel mission and the F-4G Phantom II, which arrived too late to serve in Vietnam, did not engage in actual combat until late in its operational lifespan.

The program didn’t change until the 1990s, even though the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses and Wild Weasel mission rotated through a variety of aircraft over the years.

Shortly after Operation Desert Storm, the F-4G was decommissioned from active duty, and the F-16CJ became the Wild Weasel and SEAD mission’s new home.

The F-16CJ fighter-bombers, which were fiercely contested as being inferior to the F-4G fighter-bomber of the preceding generation, disproved their detractors during the initial attacks of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve.

“The F-16 is a small, powerful, and extremely agile fighter that can hold its own in a fight against any currently fielded fighter,” said Capt. Richard Smeeding, a Wild Wesel pilot belonging to the 35th FW stationed at Misawa Air Base (AB), Japan. “Combining that with the Harm Targeting System and it becomes the perfect platform to suppress and destroy enemy SAM systems.”

The F-16s got into the conflict with higher success rates compared to their Vietnam-era counterparts because they were equipped with greater weaponry, newer navigation systems, and more advanced radar-detecting abilities.

The F-16s with their Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses and Wild Weasel missions were given the chance to hone both tactics and training exercises for deployment at Misawa as the crises in the Middle East in the late 1990s subsided.

“Conflicts in the Pacific theatre are characterized by numerous integrated air defense systems,” explained Col. Timothy Sundvall, 35th FW commander. “The Wild Weasels provide access to these contested environments.”

Misawa’s F-16s and Wild Weasel mission, the only SEAD mission operating out of the Pacific, comes to the fore as the Air Force reveals its anticipated plan to maintain force projection and air superiority throughout the world.

“The 35 FW is a key component to maintaining peace and prosperity within the Pacific,” Sundvall said. “We are proud to be America’s Wild Weasel wing and bear the “WW” tail flash.”

Photo by Tech. Sgt. Fernando Serna and Leroy Simpson / U.S. Air Force

September 17, 2022 0 comment

History

When Cactus Air Force, during fended off every Japanese onslaught

by Till Daisd September 17, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The Cactus Air Force, which was primarily equipped with the rugged Wildcat fighter and the unrivaled Dauntless dive bomber, successfully repelled every Japanese onslaught

Control of Henderson Field was at the heart of the fight of Guadalcanal, which turned the tide of the Pacific War. Less than two weeks after the US Marines arrived, the unfinished airstrip was captured and made operational. The “Cactus Air Force” stationed there had a basic airfield and was low on supplies, pilots, and aircraft. However, as long as the airstrip was controlled by the Americans, the Japanese were unable to send the large convoys they required to retake the island.

The Americans had to keep Henderson Field operational in the face of constant attack from Japanese bombers and their Zero escorts, and even against battleship bombardment. The Cactus Air Force, primarily flying the rugged Wildcat fighter and the incomparable Dauntless dive bomber, weathered every Japanese assault and emerged victorious.

The key to defending Henderson Field, as described by Mark Stille in his book Guadalcanal 1942–1943, was successfully intercepting Japanese raids. Coastwatchers and radar were two of the Marines’ main means of alerting them to avoid Japanese raids. Every minute of early warning was essential since the Wildcats needed to acquire enough slow-climbing to reach their preferred interception height of 30,000 feet or higher. The airplane climbed just 500 feet per minute once it reached 20,000 feet. If inadequate early warning was available, the result was usually a failed interception.

Here’s how Cactus Air Force was able to Repel every Japanese Assault during the Battle of Guadalcanal

The fighters were controlled by a rudimentary mechanism. When the Marine air operations officer made a radar contact, he launched fighters as if it were a one-man show. The Wildcats’ effective radio range was only 10-15 miles, therefore once in the air, they were not dispatched too far from the airfield to undertake a radar-directed interception. A recovered aircraft radio fitted on his truck allowed the air operations officer to communicate with the airborne fighters. The officer who raised the air raid warning also served as an observer to spot enemy planes. Two navy officers who had completed the Navy’s fighter pilot training program arrived in Guadalcanal in October.

They had to deal with the same defective radars and poor communication between the airborne aircraft and 90mm gun batteries. One master technical sergeant was largely responsible for resolving the radar issue because he had the uncanny ability to identify the number, type, and approximate altitude of Japanese aircraft in a formation long before they were near Henderson Field. All of the radars on the island were connected by November 1942, and communication between fighters and antiaircraft guns had significantly improved. The system was able to withstand the 82 air strikes that were registered by the 3rd Defense Battalion between the beginning of the operation and November 15.

Given that the Wildcat and Zero were different in many ways and that many Marine fighter pilots lacked expertise, air tactics were critical. The commander of VMF-223, Major Smith, developed strategies that he taught to his pilots and that took advantage of the Wildcat’s strengths. Smith’s chosen attack strategy was approaching the bombers from a point where he had a 5,000-foot height advantage. After achieving this position—which was challenging given the Wildcat’s minor speed advantage over the Betty—Smith preached a diving attack with a focus on the formation’s trailing aircraft. A right-to-left diving attack across the bomber formation at a distance of 1,000 feet was the desired firing range.

This strategy had a lot of important benefits. The Japanese formation was unable to dodge it, and it posed a good shot on Betty’s weak-wing fuel tanks. It also leveraged the Wildcat’s superior dive speed to slip past any escorting Zeros. The Wildcats were instructed to exit the dive after the initial attack and do a climbing left turn before making another reassess. Smith advised the Wildcats to try again at the bombers if the Zero escort had not intervened. The intercept’s main goal was to disperse the bomber formation.

Obviously, the Zeros were not going to let the Wildcats attack the bombers without intervening, so when they did make an appearance Smith told his pilots not to get into a dogfight with the extremely maneuverable Zeros. The wise move was to clear the area or look for safety in a cloud using the Wildcat’s superior dive speed.

Lt. Col. Harold Bauer, the fighter unit commander for Cactus Air Force, issued a new order on October 23. Hendiscerned that the quality of Zero pilots had declined, and he was sure that the Wildcat pilots were now better. As a result, he instructed his pilots to engage the Zeros in dogfighting whenever possible during the Oct. 23 interception. The outcomes from that day appeared to support his judgment.

If the Marine pilots were shot down, even Japanese lines, there was a good chance they would reach the Marine perimeter and return to duty. This was made possible by the heroic work of the island’s loyal residents and coast watchers. Over half of the pilots that were shot down over or close to Guadalcanal later returned to fight.

The Dauntless crews and the Wildcat pilots both contributed significantly to the campaign’s success. Each Dauntless carried two crewmen, the pilot, and the rear gunner. There were Navy dive-bombers flying out of Henderson Field in addition to the Marine dive-bomber squadrons stationed on the island. When carrying 1,000 lb bombs, the Dauntless had a small battle radius. Dauntlesses were despatched into the “Slot” (the channel between the central Solomon Islands leading to Guadalcanal) in the morning and the afternoon to look for Japanese ships. The Japanese ships that were met the most frequently were destroyers on transport missions through the Slot.

These were vulnerable to assault if they went too close to Guadalcanal in the late afternoon or were late in leaving the waters around the island at night and had not steamed out of range by daylight. When carried out by a trained crew, dive-bombing was a precise way of attack, but any dive-bomber pilot would find it challenging to hit a ship as swift and maneuverable as a destroyer. Although strikes on destroyers were uncommon, the pilot would try to line up his attack down the length of the ship to create a larger target.

Only a few kilometers from Henderson Field, the Tokyo Express discharged its troop and supply cargo at night. It was tempting for the Dauntless pilots to launch night attacks. Given that they were operating from an unlit airfield, these were dangerous. Additionally, they were useless because the Japanese destroyer captains discovered how to remain undetected in the darkness by avoiding shooting at the dive-bombers and reducing their speed to lessen their wake.

Guadalcanal 1942-43 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

September 17, 2022 0 comment

Airshows

At the 2011 Avalon Air Show, the iconic Qantas Super Constellation Airliner spewing flames from her engines.

by Till Daisd September 16, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Setting the engines to run rich, or with a high fuel-to-air ratio, produces this stunning image

The Lockheed Constellation, often known as “Connie” by her aircrews, was a four-engined propeller-driven airliner made in Burbank, California, by Lockheed Corporation between 1943 and 1958.

By 1951, the much-loved Model 1049 Super Constellation, which boasted previously unheard-of innovations like air conditioning, reclining seats, and more restrooms, had been launched and was arguably the most famous of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. It was a plane that was ahead of its time, using at least twice as little fuel as many of today’s sophisticated aircraft and at least twice as much as the earliest jets in the industry.

Her four 3,400 horsepower per engine Wright R-3350 twin-row, 18-cylinder radial engines also contributed to these amazing capabilities.

The following fascinating video shows a Qantas Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation conducting a stunning takeoff with flames shooting out of her R-3350s during the 2011 Avalon Airshow.

</p>

It is noteworthy that this remarkable effect is produced by running the engines rich, or with a high fuel-to-air ratio. This slows down combustion and prevents detonation, allowing greater power settings (like methanol/water injection). This also implies that some gasoline cannot be burnt before the cylinder runs out of it (the unburned fuel absorbs and carried away some of the heat, which is how it cools the cylinder). It then burns when new oxygen is introduced to the exhaust stream.

The same aircraft is shown flying a midnight flyby in this additional video from the Avalon Airshow 2011; as you can see, the flames are much more visible than they were during the day.

September 16, 2022 0 comment

Military

The 5 worst USAF’s fighters

by Till Daisd September 15, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Several fighters have gotten the moniker “flying coffin” over the course of the last century of military aviation. Military aviation inevitably tests the limits of available technology and human endurance, especially when it comes to fighter and pursuit aircraft.

Even when nobody is trying to shoot you down, flying a fighter is extraordinarily risky. A capable fighter plane’s design is challenging as well. Many of the best fighters in history were initially looked upon with skepticism by their pilots; nonetheless, relatively minor improvements in engine, armament, and airframe design can transform a clunker into an elite combat machine. However, elite rank rarely endures for very long, particularly during World Wars I and II. As technology and tactics advanced, fighters that ruled the skies in one year turned into “flying coffins.”

Consequently, the gap between a great fighter and a bad fighter can be quite thin. The crucial effort is in choosing the criteria. Fighters must be assessed as strategic assets for the nation.

What is historically speaking the worst fighter aircraft? For these purposes, we’ll focus on fighters with 500 or more aircraft in production (mentioned in parenthesis); oddities like the XF-84H “Thunderscreech” need not apply.

Royal_aircraft_factory_BE2c_at_the_Imperial_War_Museum — Royal B.E.2 (3500)

Pilots and engineers probably struggled to get aircraft ready before anyone engaged in an air conflict. One of the first military aircraft put into substantial industrial production was the Royal B.E.2, which had a run of about 3500 aircraft. It was first flown in 1912 and continued to be used until 1919, albeit its duties gradually decreased as newer aircraft became available.

In a way, the B.E.2 served as an inspiration for the first generation of fighters by exhibiting all the flaws that were despised in fighter aircraft, such as poor visibility, low reliability, controllability issues, slow speed, and weak armament. The Fokker Eindecker’s introduction made flying the B.E.2 extremely risky. Improvements frequently caused more harm than good, with the plane getting gradually heavier and more prone to accidents.

Giving the first attempt a failing grade is difficult. However, the B.E.2 earns a spot on our list due to its difficulties and poor reliability as well as the British government’s choice to keep it in service much after its freshness date. In any case, the Royal Flying Corps’ tardy inability to successfully replace the B.E.2 served as fertile ground for the early proponents of the Royal Air Force, the first independent air force in history.

Finnish-Brewster-Buffalo-airplane — Brewster Buffalo (509)

The Buffalo, a short, squat, and ugly aircraft, entered service in the same year as the vastly superior Mitsubishi A6M Zero and Bf-109. The Buffalo was designed to be both a carrier-borne and land-based fighter, and some were transferred from the United States to Finland following the Winter War.

Provisions for more powerful weapons, additional fuel, and armor plates resulted in weight increases during the design phase. Unfortunately, this resulted in the aircraft being severely underpowered and unable to maneuver like its greatest competitors. Although the Finnish Air Force’s Buffalos performed admirably against the Soviets in the early stages of the “continuation war,” Japanese pilots in Zeros and Oscars slaughtered Buffalo pilots fighting with Dutch and Commonwealth air forces in Southeast Asia.

To make matters worse, the Buffalo performed poorly in the sweltering temperatures typical of the tropics. After the Battle of Midway, when the Buffalo performed appallingly against the Japanese, Marine Corps pilots referred to it as—you got it—a “flying coffin.” It was swiftly supplanted in American service by the Grumman F4F Wildcat, its more superior twin.

lavochkin-gorbunov-gudkov — Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3 (6528)

The Soviet Union of the 1930s rebuilt its military industries a little too soon, maximizing output around technology that would lag behind foreign peers. Military modernization is frequently about timing. The LaGG-3, which debuted in 1940 but was a development of the LaGG-1, served as the Soviet Air Force’s primary fighter during the German invasion of 1941. It was such a failure that pilots dubbed it “the varnished guaranteed coffin” in a play on the fighter’s acronym.

The LaGG-3 was essentially helpless in battle against the Bf-109 despite having entered service five years later. The unfortunate combination of its weak engine and light wood construction prevented it from gaining a tactical edge over bigger German fighters, and when struck, it disintegrated. It is not surprising that German and Finnish aviators outperformed their Soviet counterparts by astoundingly high margins given the wartime Soviet pilot training methods. The LaGG-3 should have stopped being produced in 1942, but due to the Soviet military-industrial complex’s agility, production continued until 1944.

Convair_F-102A_Delta_Dagger_USAF — McDonnell F-101A (807)

It was difficult to choose a candidate from the Century series. The majority of the Century Series aircraft were created when the Air Force’s strategic bombing cadre still held sway and was primarily focused on the possibility of nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union. In an effort to tackle this issue, Tactical Air Command focused on fighters heavy enough to carry nuclear weapons as well as interceptors that could catch and destroy Soviet bombers. As a result, the USAF’s aircraft were underequipped to battle the PAVNAF’s fleet of small, agile MiGs.

The F-100 was a good second-generation fighter, and the F-106 was a fully functional interceptor, so the series wasn’t a total failure. The remaining ones encountered the kinds of issues typical of a mismatched collection of technological and strategic principles. The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was an interceptor that had been turned into a fighter bomber, a strange combination. It would mostly be used as a reconnaissance aircraft. Convair’s F-102 Delta Dagger served admirably as a remote-control target drone before failing miserably in its roles as an interceptor and a fighter bomber in Vietnam.

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, popularly known as the “Missile with a Man in It,” was a fast, elegant, and lethal aircraft that earned the moniker “flying coffin” due to the over thirty accidents it experienced for every 100,000 flight hours. In Canadian service, over 50% of F-104s and over 30% of German F-104s were destroyed in collisions. The massive Republic F-105 Thunderchief deserved better since, despite being built as a nuclear bomber, it was inadequate for the conventional bombing job required by the Vietnam War and was therefore a convenient target for the SA-2s, Fishbeds, and Frescos.

The aircraft of the Century series were made by various manufacturers and were designed to carry out various tasks. The United States Air Force’s failure to envisage warfare outside of the strategic sphere, despite the fact that they were acquired in vast quantities, was the root of all of their issues.

Mig-23-DNST8908431_JPG — Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (5047)

The MiG-23, a powerful swing-wing fighter with attack and interception capabilities, was intended to be the Soviet response to the large American fighters like the F-4 and F-111. And the Flogger was undoubtedly strong. The Flogger, however, proved difficult to fly and keep up. The American “Red Eagle” pilots tasked with evaluating the Soviet aircraft’s capabilities thought the Flogger was an accident waiting to happen. Lieutenant General Robert M. Bond perished in a Flogger operated by the USAF in 1984. The Flogger was a relatively big aircraft that lacked several of the best characteristics of its forebears, notably a low visual profile.

The MiG-23 was initially meant to bolster the Warsaw Pact’s air forces, but most of the clients in the Soviet Union favored keeping their Fishbeds. In fact, because it was so challenging to maintain in service safely, the MiG-23 was essentially a cheap loss leader for the Soviet engine and technical support sectors in terms of exports. Because of their rapid engine burnout due to design, export customers who had lost favor with the Soviet Union swiftly lost access to their fighters. The Flogger has generally had a bad combat record while serving in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. It should come as no surprise that the MiG-23 will very definitely retire from service before the MiG-21.

Attention inevitably turns to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter when discussing potential additions to this list since it should surpass the 500 aircraft cap. As we have already stated, it is challenging to understand the strategic worth of the aircraft without a thorough understanding of its lifetime. For a while, we won’t know whether the JSF deserves to be on this list. For starters, it’s unlikely that the F-35 will see an accident rate anywhere close to those of the fighters on this list.

But given its enormous cost, the JSF is unquestionably a long-term contender for inclusion.

September 15, 2022 0 comment

Airshows

The legacy of the grim reapers — “Mow ’em down!”

by Till Daisd September 15, 2022

written by Till Daisd

During F-14 days, VF-101 aircrews were required to fly the Tomcat at air shows in order to exhibit the F-14 flight features

The Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 101 was reinstated in May 2012, but it wasn’t until the rollout ceremony for the delivery of the U.S. Navy’s first F-35C Lightning II at Eglin AFB on October 1, 2013, that it was formally reinstated. The 33rd Fighter Wing is the joint USAF, U.S. Navy, and USMC F-35 training unit. With the arrival of the first F-35C, the Grim Reapers changed their name to the Lightning II Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). Prior to the squadron’s dissolution in 2005, Fighter Squadron (VF) 101 served in this capacity for legendary aircraft like the F-4 Phantom and the F-14 Tomcat.

The legendary World War II naval aviator Jimmy Flatley founded the Grim Reapers as VF-10 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. He gave the squadron the nickname “Grim Reaper” and the motto “Mow ’em Down!” because that is exactly what the unit did when its Grumman F4F Wildcat pilots did while shooting down numerous Japanese planes over the Solomon Islands. When he taught the art of aerial fighting to the squadron’s young pilots, including navy aviators like Edward L. Feightner and Martin Carmody, Flatley became the first Grim Reapers commanding officer and started the squadron tradition of teaching fighter pilots.

The Grim Reapers, which had been disbanded in 1945, were reactivated as VF-101 in 1952, and they initially flew a variety of fighters, including the Vought F4U Corsair, the McDonnell F2H Banshee, and the Douglas F4D Skyray, before transitioning to the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in the 1960s.

The fates of the Grim Reapers and the Flatley family crossed once more when the VF-101 started flying the Phantom and James Flatley III, who was Jimmy Flatley’s son and the pilot who completed 21 full-stop landings and takeoffs in a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aboard the USS Forrestal, was made a Grim Reaper while the squadron was based at NAS Oceana and training fighter pilots and Radar Intercept Officers (RIOs) Similar to Jimmy Flatley, James Flatley III attained the rank of Rear Admiral while making contributions to the naval aviation community in the “Flatley family style.”

The VF-101 started operating and training aircrews and maintainers in the F-14 in January 1976, and the Grim Reapers continued to be the only F-14 FRS when the VF-124 Gunfighters, the west Tomcat training counterpart, was disbanded in 1994. When it was an F-14, VF-101 aircrews were also required to fly the Tomcat at air shows in order to exhibit the F-14’s flying capabilities.

Pilots from other services were similarly impressed by these displays, as Brian Shul, a former U.S. Air Force SR-71 Blackbird pilot, explains in the book Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Bye-bye, baby!

“I was at the big Nellis air show, and everybody was buzzing about the first public demo of the F-22. Lots of generals in the bleachers, the whole deal. The F-22 demo was just plain lame. Hard deck of 1000 feet AGL (Above Ground Level), weak turns, no high-speed passes. Like they’re afraid to break the thing, which they were. Who’s up next on the schedule? Why, the Tomcat, of course. These guys just beat the place up. Flog this Air Force mercilessly. The crowd goes bananas, and I’m yelling along with them. Tell me who those two lunatics were, and I’ll buy them a cocktail.”

According to Erik Hildebrandt in his book Anytime, Baby!, Hail and Farewell to the Final Navy F-14 Tomcats, the VF-101 was unable to break away from the Flatley family even throughout its tenure as an F-14 FRS. When the Black Knights were deployed on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom, James “Seamus” Flatley IV, who received training from the Grim Reapers at NAS Oceana, served as the VF-154 Commanding Officer. During this time, the VF-154 detached five of its F-14A and five of its aircrews to Al Udeid airbase in Qatar to support the Special Operations.

The VF-101 was closed in August 2005 because no new Tomcat aircrews were required when the unit was passed over to become the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet FRS, which was in the process of replacing the F-14 at the time. James the Third, Seamus, and Mrs. Flatley attended the Grim Reapers’ dissolution ceremony with the Flatley family. Up until May 2012, when the squadron was re-established to train a new group of naval aviators, they were given the squadron flag for preserving the Grim Reapers’ customs.

The final F-14 Tomcat tactical demonstration by Lt. Jon “Rocco” Tangredi (pilot) and Lt. Joe “Smokin'” Ruzicka was shown at the NAS Oceana Airshow in 2005. (RIO).

Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Daniel J. McLain and Photographer’s Mate Airman Jhi L. Scott / U.S. Navy

September 15, 2022 0 comment

History

The restoration of the atomic trials B-52 Stratofortness bomber

by Till Daisd September 14, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The B-52B of the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History is the only BUFF that has ever dropped an atomic bomb

The Boeing B-52B Stratofortress serial number 52-0013, which was restored by the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been finished.

Through Indiegogo, a platform for funding creative projects that is directly backed by donors, the ambitious crowdfunding effort to repair the historic Cold War-era bomber was successfully started in April 2016 and has since secured the funds required to finish the restoration.

A long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber, the B-52 Stratofortress. The Boeing-built Stratofortress, which went into service in 1955, remained the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF) primary long-range heavy bomber during the Cold War, and it is still a significant component of the USAF bomber force today.

Before production came to an end in the fall of 1962, over 750 were constructed. The B-52, often known as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fucker) by its aircrews, has broken numerous records during its long career. Three B-52Bs accomplished the first non-stop jet aircraft round-the-world voyage on January 18, 1957. The flight took 45 hours and 19 minutes, and only three aerial refuelings were necessary.

“Our B-52 at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History is truly Albuquerque’s airplane,” said Jim Walther, Museum Director. “This airplane was delivered directly from Boeing to Kirtland in 1955, and it was never assigned to another Air Force base in all its existence.”

Only four B-models are available for public viewing, including this one. Additionally, during Operation Redwing in 1956 and Operation Dominic in 1962, the Museum’s B-52B Stratofortress, which is currently the largest item on display, was employed for atomic testing in the Pacific. The atomic bomb it dropped during testing is still the sole B-52 in existence. Albuquerque’s B-52B was taken off the list when the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1963 and was eventually delivered to the Museum, originally known as the National Atomic Museum, in 1971.

Major Jerry Hanks, Project Manager and Heritage Park Restoration Coordinator (who also oversaw the productive restorations of the Museum’s F-16 Fighting Falcon and B-29 Superfortress in 2015), with assistance from Museum staff, volunteers, supporters, and organizations with personal ties to the Museum and the historic aircraft, started work on the B-52B Stratofortress in April. The B-52B received bodywork as well as a fresh coat of primer and paint during restoration.

Noteworthy The B-52 repair is a part of “Operation Preservation,” a multi-year effort to repaint and renovate the historic aircraft in Heritage Park, a nine-acre outdoor exhibit section of the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. On nuclearmuseum.org, you can donate to future Operation Preservation projects.

Thanks to Jennifer Hayden, National Museum of Nuclear Science & History Director of PR & Marketing

Photo by National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

September 14, 2022 0 comment

Israeli Air Force First Aerial Victories 1170x585 1

History

Israel Air Force’s first two unrealized aerial victories

by Till Daisd September 13, 2022

written by Till Daisd

On June 3, 1948, the Israeli Air Force won its first two aerial battles, according to popular opinion. However, that day no aircraft was shot down

The first two aerial victories for the Israeli Air Force/Defence Force (IDF/AF), which was then in its early stages, are commonly regarded as having occurred on June 3, 1948. ‘Everybody knows’ – and this is a ‘matter of fact’ that’s so firmly and widely accepted that it must be ‘beyond any doubt’ – that on that day Mordechai ‘Modi’ Alon has ‘shot down’ two Douglas C-47 Dakotas of the Royal Egyptian Air Force (REAF) over Tel Aviv.

This is not only a ‘claim’: it’s ‘confirmed’ by the ‘legendary’ photo attached to this post. Or isn’t it?

The IDF/AF have acknowledged it formally, and it has been recorded in history as such. It makes little difference that the Israelis never disclosed any gun-camera images or wreckage images, that there are no reports of any captured or slain Egyptian crew members, or that there is any other type of proof — “facts” — supporting the two in dispute allegations.

Actually, the only thing that is “beyond any doubt” in this situation is that Alon attacked a formation of two REAF C-47s that were being escorted by a pair of REAF Spitfires while flying a single Avia S.199 (a Czechoslovak-made variant of the Messerschmitt Bf.109G).

How is that? The two C-47s in question were altered to accommodate the addition of bomb shackles beneath their fuselages. And in revenge for an earlier Israeli bombardment of Amman, they bombed Tel Aviv (the capital of what was then Transjordan).

Alon approached near enough to start firing by taking advantage of the two Egyptian Spitfires’ low flight speed (they had to fly slowly since C-47s couldn’t fly much faster). Surprisingly, he damaged one of the two C-47s before disengaging instead of shooting off his propeller (which happened frequently enough with Israeli S-199s).

The Dakota’s crew was required to do an emergency landing on a beach close to Isdud. A day or two later, it flew the aircraft back to Egypt after having it repaired.

What happened to the other C-47? Nothing. It returned to Almazza AB, near Cairo. Namely, no C-47s were ‘shot down’ in this clash.

In other words, it is a myth that Modi Alon shot down two Egyptian C-47 Dakotas over Tel Aviv on June 3, 1948. The truth is that during that battle, just one of the Egyptian Dakotas sustained damage.

…and the photo supposedly shows ‘Alon pursuing’ or ‘shooting down an Egyptian Dakota over Tel Aviv’?

It’s actually showing one of REAF C-47s escorted by one of REAF’s Spits. How comes this is ‘facts’?

Since it was translated from the operational diary of what was then known as the “Tactical Air Force,” it reads: “REAF’s units forward deployed at el-Arish AB, in Egypt’s Sinai.”

The Story of Israeli Air Force First Two Aerial Victories that Never Were

Photo by Bukvoed via Wikipedia

September 13, 2022 0 comment

Military

The stealth YF-118G: the unknown stealth fighter

by Till Daisd September 13, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Unlike the F-22 or F-35 stealth fighters, the stealth YF-118G is undoubtedly not a household brand and will never enter production like the NGAD. But for a variety of reasons, this plane will always have a special position in aviation history.

A group of engineers from McDonnell Douglas’ Phantom Works created and tested the Bird of Prey, a special stealth fighter that was hidden in Area 51’s secrecy, throughout the 1990s. The “YF-118G” Bird of Prey, unlike most stealth programs, wasn’t intended for active service, but parts of its design and manufacture are still finding their way into Uncle Sam’s hangars today.

But this amazing and exotic airframe’s audacity and eventual success may have had the greatest long-term impact on America’s defense system. While most stealth programs are notorious for being expensive, the Bird of Prey cost less than the price of one F-35 today to get from a pad of paper to the skies over Area 51.

The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, the first operational stealth aircraft, was secretly introduced to service by the U.S. Air Force in October 1983. Even though the Nighthawk was given the “F” prefix, which is reserved for fighters, and even had the nickname “stealth fighter,” it was not a fighter at all. The F-117 Nighthawk was an attack aircraft masquerading as a fighter, but make no mistake: it was an attack aircraft, unlike anything the world had ever seen. It had no onboard radar, no guns, and a payload capacity limited to two 2,000-pound bombs.

The Nighthawk served as a turning point for the very direction of aviation technology and air warfare doctrine among the world’s most powerful nations after decades of focus on developing faster, higher-flying aircraft to overcome enemy air defenses.

The Nighthawk was slower and heavier than the F-15s and F-16s in Air Force hangars, but in a world where the F-117 had a radar cross-section of only a little over a tenth of an inch, America’s smallest fighter had a radar cross-section of 82 square feet (0.11 inches).

The F-117 Nighthawk was virtually undetectable to enemy radar, so to speak. The team at McDonnel Douglas’ Phantom Works had stealth goals of their own, and they had just the man they needed to pursue them. Less than ten years later, as Lockheed’s YF-22 and Northrop’s YF-23 competed for the Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Fighter contract, bringing the world’s first true stealth fighter to fruition, the team at McDonnel Douglas’ Phantom Works had stealth goals of their own.

In contrast to Lockheed and Northrop, whose high-performance stealth fighters benefited from direct tax support, McDonnell Douglas was responsible for paying the whole cost of the creation of their new stealth aircraft.
They chose Alan Wiechman to lead the effort to ensure that none of that money was wasted. Before working to create Lockheed’s Sea Shadow, which aims to equip stealth warships for the U.S. Navy, Wiechman gained experience in stealth at Lockheed’s Skunk Works, where he worked on the Have Blue program and its operational descendant, the aforementioned F-117 Nighthawk.

After the Air Force rejected McDonnell Douglas’ Advanced Tactical Fighter proposal in favor of Lockheed’s YF-22 and Northrop’s YF-23, McDonnell Douglas hired Wiechman to jump-start their low-observable efforts on track and to help in the establishment of their Phantom Works division.

Wiechman’s name doesn’t appear as frequently in the annals of aviation history as some other great engineers from the era, including Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. In fact, among the “Secret Pioneers of Stealth Aviation,” according to Aviation Week, he may be the engineer with the “lowest profile.”

However, widespread recognition isn’t always a reliable indicator of achievement. In fact, Wiechman made so many contributions to stealth aviation that the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) honored him with a Technical Achievement Award for his work in Low Observable aircraft design before the Bird of Prey was even declassified.

“Because of Wiechman’s work, the United States gained a 15-year lead over potential adversaries that it has not relinquished, and the effectiveness of his designs and products has been thoroughly proven in combat operations,” the award read. Due to budget constraints, Wiechman’s team at the Phantom Works used a rapid prototyping technique, which was revolutionary at the time, to create their new stealth aircraft.

The Phantom Works team employed computers to help in their design work, modeling performance to the best of the era’s computing capabilities, as opposed to designing physical prototypes, putting them to testing, making adjustments, and fielding new prototypes for further testing.
As a result, they were able to create prototype parts that were far more similar to the final product than was possible with earlier methods.

The YF-118G team, however, used other inventive methods as well to construct this revolutionary aircraft. Additionally, they made use of innovative single-piece composite structural designs that did away with many body panel seems that could jeopardize an aircraft’s stealth profile.

One of the trickier parts of building stealth aircraft is getting rid of any noticeable seams or microscopic gaps between the body panels that are linked to the aircraft. In fact, some contend that it’s still a problem for Russian stealth jet designs today.

However, Wiechman and his group didn’t want to create every component from scratch, so they used as many commercially available parts as they could to cut costs and speed up the design process.
With only 3,190 pounds of thrust, the Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5C turbofan engine would have been more at home in a Cessna business aircraft.

The rudder pedals, control stick, and throttle were taken from an A-4 Skyhawk, while the ejection seat, control stick, and throttle were taken from an AV-8B Harrier. Colonel Doug Benjamin, an Air Force test pilot, once jokingly remarked, “The clock was from Wal-Mart and the environmental control system was essentially a hairdryer.”
Four years after the program’s start, in 1996, Wiechman’s team was prepared to demonstrate the viability of their strategy with a flyable prototype.

They had built a technology demonstration with a single engine and one seat that was around 47 feet long, making it slightly longer than an F-16 Fighting Falcon. With an overall span of just 23 feet, or 10 feet less than the F-16, its angular, gull-shaped wings drastically differed from other fighter designs.

The fuselage was blended, and the tail portion was entirely absent, marking the most obvious deviation from conventional fighter design. The aircraft’s shape, the use of movable or flexible covers to disguise gaps, and the placement of the engine deep inside the fuselage—behind a curved inlet duct and in front of an infrared and acoustic defusing exhaust outlet—all contributed to the design’s holistic approach to stealth.

The Bird of Prey was given that moniker after the Klingon warship originally shown in “Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” because of the aircraft’s odd design and combative stance once it was finished.

Air Force Colonel Doug Benjamin flew the YF-118G Bird of Prey for the first time over Groom Lake, better known as Area 51, on September 11, 1996.

Boeing’s Bird of Prey, like its namesake, which would cloak to hide from hostile starships, relied on stealth rather than outstanding performance to accomplish its mission.
Col. Benjamin lifted the aircraft off the ground while leaving the landing gear extended, which revealed the first of several issues.

The platform had performed well during the wind tunnel testing, but all of the tests were done with the landing gear retracted.

Benjamin quickly understood that the gear’s drag was at least three times worse than they had anticipated.
Additionally, the aircraft had stability problems, which were gradually and painstakingly fixed during subsequent flights.
With the one Bird of Prey prototype they had built, the crew completed 37 additional successful flights over the course of the next three years. Benjamin and two Boeing test pilots, Rudy Haug and Joseph W. Felock III flew the aircraft.

By the time it made its final flight in 1999, the aircraft was thought to be aerodynamically stable without the kind of computer correction that contemporary stealth fighters depended on. This was true even though it had gull wings and a tailless design.
The stealthy aircraft’s maximum operational ceiling of 20,000 feet meant it could fly less than half as high as a World War II P-51 Mustang, and its cruising speed of only about 300 miles per hour was slower than a C-130 Hercules. However, like the F-117 Nighthawk Wiechman worked on before it, the Bird of Prey wasn’t intended to outfly the fighters of its day.

Its goals went much beyond that. The Phantom Works team had demonstrated their ability to construct a stealth aircraft for less than $67 million. That means that Wiechman’s Phantom Works successfully created, prototyped, and flew a clean-sheet stealth platform for about $111 million, or less than the price of one F-35B today, when adjusted for inflation to modern money.

“Early investments in technology demonstration projects such as Bird of Prey have positioned Boeing to help shape our industry’s transformation,” Jim Albaugh, president, and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems said in 2002.
“We changed the rules on how to design and build an aircraft.”

Boeing’s Bird of Prey made its final flight in 1999, but its journey was far from over.
The X-45A Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle, which flew for the first time just months before the Bird of Prey was officially presented to the public in 2002, included the innovations and lessons acquired during the development.

The X-45A was created by Boeing’s Phantom Works, just like the Bird of Prey, but unlike its Klingon cousin, it had an automated flight system.

Boeing claims that the X-45A’s design was largely inspired by the Bird of Prey program. The UCAV incorporated features from its predecessor’s angular design, which defeated radar, and distinctive dorsal intake.
The X-32, which ultimately lost out to Lockheed Martin for the Joint Strike Fighter contract just one year after the Bird of Prey program was shut down, was developed by Boeing using some of the design strategies used for the Bird of Prey.

Today, there are no platforms in service that can draw a direct lineage to Alan Wiechman’s unusual Bird of Prey, and that may be part of the reason it’s not a frequently discussed facet of the American stealth technology race that came at the twilight of the Cold War.

A lesson America has struggled to learn in the decades since the Bird of Prey prowled the skies over Area 51 is that it doesn’t always need a bottomless budget and twenty years’ worth of delays to develop a stealth fighter. However, for a brief period in the 1990s, the Phantom Works showed that.
Atop the museum’s F-22 Raptor in the Modern Flight Gallery of the National Museum of the United States, Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the only YF-118G Bird of Prey ever built.

September 13, 2022 0 comment

History

The Story of ‘The Backbone of Reich Defence’

by Till Daisd September 12, 2022

written by Till Daisd

Hitler praised the Me 410 as the “backbone of the Reich air defense” after observing a demonstration of one with a BK 5 cannon in November 1943

The Me 210 initially took to the skies in September 1939, with the intention of serving as a progressive development of the twin-engined Bf 110 Zerstorer. The Luftwaffe continued to work on the Me 210 and its replacement, the Me 410, in spite of the problems with the Bf 110. The Me 210 actually evolved into the Me 410 in late 1942 with improvements to the wings and fuselage in addition to more power.

Both planes were used as heavy fighters, fighter-bombers, platforms for reconnaissance, and interceptors. The Me 410 was equipped with a 30 mm cannon, 21 cm underwing mortars, and the massive Rheinmetall BK (Bordkanone) 5 five-centimeter cannon, which was designed to take on the USAAF’s four-engined bombers.

The Luftwaffe Technisches Amt had issued a requirement for a gun with a muzzle velocity of at least 600 m per second and a rate of fire of 300 rounds per minute. The idea was to have a weapon capable of inflicting almost certain damage on enemy bombers, but without the attacking aircraft coming within range of the enemy’s defensive fire. This is according to Robert Forsyth in his book Me 210/410 Zerstorer Units.

The paradox was that even though accuracy and extremely low dispersion were necessary, it would be unable to fire at a high rate of fire due to the heavy-caliber ammunition needed. Every shot had to be significant. The Me 410 and Ju 88 were the two aircraft chosen to test this weapon.

Officers on the staff of the General der Jagdflieger first suggested using a five-centimeter cannon in the Me 410 to E.Kdo 25 in July 1943. They envisioned using a five-centimeter KwK (Kampficagenkanone) 39 tank gun, which belonged to the Wehrmacht. It was believed that a bomber might be brought down with just one five-centimeter strike using the Revi 12C/D or Zielfernrohr ZFR 4A telescopic sight. However, the ZFR 4A needed a lot of practice, gunnery expertise, and the ability to maintain a stable firing position for an extended period of time in order to be used effectively.

The alterations required to fit the big gun into an aircraft such as the Me 410 were thought acceptable, given that this would avoid the development of a new weapon. The cannon would become fully automatic if a magazine was added, and it could be constructed as a single unit with the gun, mounting, and magazine-feed system for simple interchangeability. Electro-pneumatic loaders were used for loading, and an electric primer was used to fire the ammo. Two hydro-pneumatic cylinders positioned above the gun cradle served as the recoil absorbers.

The Me 410 and the Colossal Five-Centimetre BK 5 Cannon: the Story of ‘The Backbone of Reich Defence’ — *Basic side-by-side comparison of the Me 210 and Me 410 wing planforms*

The bomb-bay doors were removed and a ventral fairing was used in place of them on the Me 410 to secure the back portion of the gun to the main spar. The installation of the gun turned out to be so successful that the ventral fairing’s outline only required to be expanded from the original design by around 100 mm at its deepest point. The rear of the panel had a cartridge ejection aperture with an internally mounted chute.

A perforated muzzle brake allowed the muzzle blast to be evenly spread over the airframe, preventing any damage and avoiding the need for reinforcement. The only issue was that it was difficult to keep the gun heated at altitude, therefore heating came from the crew compartment.

A Steinbock, a sizable transportable hydraulic jack, was used to raise the gun into a Me 410. A rope was used to secure the muzzle end of the barrel to the Steinbock arm, which was then pumped up until the mounting’s back was tilted upward. The gun and Steinbock were then brought in from underneath the fuselage and lifted until the clamp of the setting mechanism lined up with the plate attached to the main spar. After that, two locking bolts were screwed in. The mounting of the gun was held in place with the aid of a gimbal ring, a pair of lateral bracing tubes, and a suspension stirrup.

It appears that by the end of October 1943, Galland’s office had changed its mind about the BK 5 and now thought that a rapid-fire weapon like the MK 103 would be preferable. Hitler said that the Me 410A-1 was the “backbone of the home air defense” after seeing a demonstration of one with a BK 5 cannon in November. The Me 410 must be dedicated to Reich defense, and two Gruppen or a Geschwader must be outfitted with the aircraft and weaponry, according to the Fuhrer.

Given the lack of additional cannons, Goring had the guts to tell Hitler that only two or three aircraft could be fitted with the BK 5. Considering that the majority of Me 410s had been assigned to bomber Gruppen for missions over England, the Reichsmarschall gave Generalfeldmarschall Mitch the go-ahead to begin outfitting two Gruppen with 45 cannon-equipped aircraft each on January 12, 1944. Two days later, in response, Milch wrote to Goring;

`The first experimental aircraft have been equipped with a 50 mm gun. Since this gun can no longer be delivered, a conversion for a new 50 mm gun had to be carried out within a very short period of time. This new gun is installed in a different manner. The first delivery of ten guns was to be made in December. This was not possible since the magazine feeding device which we constructed suffered stoppages due to broken belt links, whereby the cartridge was hitched to the belt conveyor table. These defects have now been eliminated. There have been difficulties experienced with the high-explosive shell we developed on account of casting defects in the casings and also with respect to its dispersion because of the rotating bands. Alterations are being carried out in the plants. The results have still to be tested.’

Following the original investigation at Tarnewitz into the BK 5-equipped Me 410 V2, Deutsche Lufthansa at Berlin-Staaken began work on adapting the gun for aerial usage. The finished weapon was mounted on aircraft of II./ZG 26 as the Me 410A-1/U4 beginning in early February 1944 after just over three months of testing, during which time significant belt-feed and jamming malfunctions had been resolved.

In order to resupply, the Gruppe relocated from Hildesheim to Oberpfaffenhofen, and by February 8th, Staffel 5 had 12 cannon-equipped aircraft. Despite the fact that the weapon was still having electrical issues, minor switches were discovered to be easily breakable, and ammunition belts continued to fall apart, trial operations were promptly launched over southern Germany and Austria. Additionally, the BK 5’s feed and recoil mechanisms were not designed to withstand the G-forces of airborne combat, and it was uncommon to fire more than one shell without the weapon jamming. The addition of an improvised cleaning device helped to some degree to address these problems.

However, in most cases, Goring and the high command’s insistence that the units use large-caliber guns turned out to be a mistake. Instead of developing guided rockets, it would have been preferable to employ unguided rockets.

When the daylight war over the Reich reached its peak in October 1943, the USAAF was forced to accept that unescorted, deep penetration formations could not provide sufficient self-defense. Although these missions resulted in unacceptable levels of loss, they still compelled the Luftwaffe to engage in aerial combat, causing attrition to a degree from which the Germans would find it challenging to recover.

On October 10, the Kommodore of ZG 26, Major Karl Boehm-Tettelbach, led his Bf 110s, together with Me 410s of III./ZG 1 from Hesepe and Osnabruck, in an attack on the marshaling yards at Munster against B-17s of the 3rd Bomb Division. The 14th Bombardment Wing was particularly hard damaged by the Zerstorer in a mass attack from the rear near Munster, after the 3rd’s B-17s, which had been abandoned without any escort owing to bad weather over England, had already been mauled by single-engined fighters. In fact, the Bf 110s of ZG 26 claimed to have destroyed 14 B-17s, making it their single most successful day. On the other hand, and somewhat surprisingly, the Me 410s of III./ZG 1 did not return with any laurel.

Early October sorties by I./KG 51 also had little success. In a return to the aircraft industry targets that had proven to be so costly to the USAAF in August, 229 of the 291 B-17s that were dispatched managed to reach Schweinfurt on the 14th. The Me 410s of I./KG 51 took off from Horsching under Jagdfliegerfuhrer Ostmark and flew west until they established visual contact close to Schweinfurt, where the bombers had already dropped their ordnance on the city’s ball-bearing plant.

The Messerschmitt aircraft pursued the bombers into the enemy formation while following them and firing their mortars. Once more, the highly efficient defensive fire of the bombers trapped the Me 410s, and while the Gruppe was lucky to escape without damage, it made no claims. Prior to being deployed for missions over England, it turned out to be the unit’s final such mission.

Me 210/410 Zerstorer Units is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by U.S. Air Force, The PIPE and Mike Freer via Wikipedia

September 12, 2022 0 comment

Military

F-22 Raptor vs Su-57 Felon

by Till Daisd September 10, 2022

written by Till Daisd

The fifth-generation fighter market is going to get more competitive, as evidenced by Russia’s formal designation of the PAK-FA/T-50 jet as the Sukhoi Su-57. All six countries—the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and Korea—are developing fifth-generation designs of their own, but only three of them—the F-22 Raptor, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and the Chinese J-20—are already in service. People are questioning how the Su-57 will compare to the F-22 Raptor once it becomes operational given the rising tensions between Russia and the United States, NATO on the one hand, and Russia on the other.

Similar to the F-15C Eagle, which it was initially intended to replace, the F-22 Raptor began life as a dedicated air superiority fighter. The F-117A Nighthawk stealth “fighter” was the first operational stealth warplane constructed by Lockheed Martin, who also designed and built the aircraft.

Due in significant part to its emphasis on stealth and mobility, the YF-22 fighter prototype beat the Northrop YF-23 Black Widow II in a fly-off in 1990. The F-22 was built with stealth as a core component, and the plane’s stealthy profile was partially determined by simulations run on the Cray supercomputer, one of the first supercomputers. With wings that were formed like diamonds and sharp, faceted surfaces, the F-22 design enhanced sensor evasion. While the huge, vertical, canted tails lessen the fighter’s infrared signature from some angles, the speed brake, weapon bay doors, and engine exhausts are serrated to diminish the radar signal of the aircraft.

In addition, radar-absorbent materials and paint are also applied to the aircraft’s metallic surfaces. The F-22 was made much more agile, especially at high angles of attack, thanks to the employment of the Cray supercomputer. Thrust vectoring in the pitch axis is a critical F-22 characteristic that enables the aircraft to employ engine power and maneuver at high angles of attack to gain an advantage in dogfights. The huge bubble canopy, which provided the pilot with a great view, was the largest single piece of polycarbonate manufactured while the F-22 was in production. A pilot is better able to notice and respond to hazards in the visual range thanks to maneuverability and visibility.

The F-22 is propelled by two F119 after-burning turbofan engines, which provide a combined thrust of 70,000 pounds, which is 40% more than the F-15 Eagle. Because it can’t carry extra fuel tanks into battle, the Raptor’s engines increase its range by enabling it to supercruise at Mach 1.4 without using afterburners. The primary sensor of the aircraft, the AN/APG-77 radar, is built to out-range adversary threats, identifying and categorizing them before the Raptor does, giving the American jet the advantage of not just seeing but also firing first.

Three weapons bays are available on the Raptor, two of which can hold a single AIM-9M/X Sidewinder infrared guided missile and a third belly bay that can hold six AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided missiles with a maximum range of 65 miles. JDAM satellite-guided weapons and up to four 600-gallon fuel tanks can also be stored in the center compartment. The right-wing root of the F-22 conceals a twenty-millimeter M61A2 six-barreled Gatling gun with enough ammo for little under five seconds of continuous fire.

The information on the Sukhoi Su-57 is much less. Seven years of test flights have not revealed all there is to know about the aircraft. What is known is that Sukhoi had difficulty developing the aircraft, especially crucial parts like the engine. 2019 was the year for the first operational aircraft to join the Russian Aerospace Forces. Although they are both fifth-generation fighters, the Su-57 and F-22 Raptor have quite different design philosophies. The Raptor placed a strong emphasis on mobility and stealth. Contrarily, the Su-57 prioritizes maneuverability and speed, making it comparable to the YF-23 Black Widow II.

According to experts, the Su-57 is an updated version of the Su-27 Flanker with increased maneuverability while maintaining low radar observability. According to aviation author Piotr Butowski, a plane with considerable static instability may move “much more at supersonic speeds than any previous fighter.” For avionics, fuel, and weaponry, the internal volume is increased by the blended wing design.

The performance of the Su-57 is greatly influenced by its two engines. The thrust output of each Saturn izdeliye 30 engine is intended to range from 24,054 to 35,556 pounds, with the top end falling within the capabilities of the F-22’s F119 engines. These are designed to propel the aircraft to supercruise speeds of up to Mach 1.5. Unfortunately, the izdeliye 30 is having issues, therefore the first 12 of Moscow’s new planes will be powered by two Su-35-like Saturn AL-41F1 afterburning turbofan engines that provide a combined 65,000 pounds of thrust.

The L402 electronic countermeasures suite and the N056 Byelka radar system will be installed on the Su-57. The 101KS Atoll electro-optical package, which includes an infrared search and track system, will help the pilot track and engage targets with infrared-guided missiles at shorter ranges while L-band arrays will be the fighter’s primary way of detecting stealth aircraft at longer ranges.

The Su-57’s two substantial internal armament bays are positioned side by side and occupy nearly the whole length of the aircraft. Up to four K-77M beyond visual range radar-guided missiles can fit in each compartment. The K-77M missile, also known by the NATO codename AA-12 Archer, has a bigger body than earlier models of the K-77 and an active electronically scanned array radar seeker, which enable it to engage highly maneuverable targets at distances of up to 100 miles. Additionally, the K-74M2 short-range infrared-guided missiles are kept under the underwing fairings of the aircraft.

The two aircraft each have various benefits depending on the range according to their varied design priorities. Priorities and armament of the Su-57 support the identification and eradication of threats at great distances. The Su-57’s radar must be able to identify stealth aircraft at a distance, which is essential to this tactic. The aircraft can react fast and retreat from battles it cannot win thanks to its concentration on speed. However, the Su-57’s combination of mobility and infra-red search and track will make it a lethal opponent once the two opposing fighters are close to visual range.

On the other side, the F-22 Raptor places a strong emphasis on mobility and stealth. Long-range opponent detection is another capability of the F-22, and if it can avoid hostile radar, it can set up an ambush before the enemy is even aware it is there. As a result, the F-22 has a higher chance of seizing the initiative first and winning the conflict before the two aircraft can get into the visual range of one another.

The F-22’s stealth must shield it from the prying eyes of Russian radars, which is essential to the Raptor’s strategy. Given that we don’t know how maneuverable the Su-57 is, it’s tough to predict who would win a dogfight. However, the Russian jet’s infrared search and track system—which the American stealth fighter lacks—will be a significant advantage in combat.

One of the best aircraft in the world and the current leader in performance is the F-22 Raptor. For the first fifth-generation fighter to achieve operational status, the Su-57 could demonstrate to be a strong and deserving rival in a variety of ways. Our world will be significantly worse off as a result of their conflict, should they ever meet. We can only hope that the only thing we ever get to do is speculate about the encounter.

September 10, 2022 0 comment

Newer Posts

Older Posts