Sarzonia
26-11-2005, 01:06
SZ-24 ‘Tyr’ Electronic Combat Reconnaissance (ECR) Aircraft
Background With several next-generation aircraft developed by the Incorporated Sarzonian Air Force and the Avalon Aerospace Corporation, the company debated several prospective new designs, including dedicated air defence suppression and electronics warfare aircraft. While the Detmerian Aerospace plc aircraft designed for these respective roles both performed admirably in the Sarz-Panteran War, political pressures caused by the Domestic Defence Appropriations Act and Sarzonian desires aimed toward developing a single aircraft capable of performing both roles. The ISAF and AAC both determined that such an aircraft needed to be maneuverable, stealthy, survivable, and effective in its stated role of suppressing radars and electronics. The result of the development is the new SZ-24 ‘Tyr’ Electronic Combat Reconnaissance Aircraft.
Construction The Tyr has attempted to draw from several elements of the next generation aircraft by adopting an airframe constructed of a titanium and aluminum alloy. A honeycomb frame construction provides additional strength to the design and promotes survivability, while AAC also chose to adopt non-magnetic amporphous steel, a substance that has been determined to be three times stronger than regular steel. The sturdy construction of the Tyr ensures that it has excellent survivability compared to other aircraft in its class, though with its role as an air defence suppression bird, it’s poorly suited for direct combat against aerial targets.
To enhance the stealth qualities of the Tyr, engineers have provided it with an electrochromic polymer that senses the colour, hue, and brightness of the surrounding sky and ground. An onboard computer interprets the data and changes the colour to make the aircraft virtually invisible to the naked eye. Additional Radar Absorbent Materials (RAM) used in the construction of the Tyr reduce the radar cross section of the aircraft, making it nearly impossible to detect until it’s too late.
Propulsion: With an eye toward stealth, AAC considered limiting the maximum thrust potential for the Tyr to prevent pilots from presenting a large InfaRed signature to enemy aircraft. AAC also considered designing the Tyr as a single-engined aircraft, but ultimately chose to equip the bird with two Avalon Aerospace T-9000 turbofan engines with a total thrust of 100,000 pounds. Thus, the Tyr has the capability of traveling at speeds that just top Mach 3, and can supercruise at Mach 2.4 with a corresponding sacrifice in stealth operation. Engineers at AAC and the ISAF have determined that ideal stealth flight can only take place at high subsonic or transonic speeds (Mach 0.9 to Mach 1.4).
Weapons For effective anti-radar use, the ISAF and AAC contacted Windham & Green Defence Industries to develop an anti-radiation missile in the mold of the HARM missile in use by many countries. However, the ability of the ALARM missile and various missiles used by the United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland to loiter in the event an enemy’s radar site shuts down also appealed very strongly to engineers from the ISAF. Thus, the combination of a fast missile with loitering capabilities indigenous to Sarzonia was the obvious choice for weapon system. The resulting missile, the Rapid Anti Radar missile (RAR), can travel at speeds approaching 1,500 km/hr. The RAR adopts traditional inertial guidance systems with a GPS positioning tracker that an allow the missile to ‘remember’ the location of the radar emitter. However, if launched in loiter mode, the RAR deploy a parachute if the radar emitter is shut off and descends slowly until the target lights up. The RAR then fires a secondary motor to attack the target. Besides its array of anti-radar missiles, it can also carry limited self-defence weapons, notably four Warp ELAAMs and up to ten Apollo mini-SAMs (aerial-modified Yellow Jacket mini-SAMs). Its best self-defence weapon, however, is the 32 mm ETC chain gun that comes standard with most next-generation AAC aircraft.
Electronics Warfare With the stated goal of the Tyr Project being to create a single aircraft that can fill the role of both the Wraith and the Banshee, great care was taken to adopt the best features of both in an aircraft that can sensibly fill both roles for cost-conscious air forces. The Tyr adopts the AN/ALQ.232 broad spectrum, multi-function radio frequency jammer used by the Wraith for electronics warfare while the ALR.248 launch warning indicator; AAR.249 infra-red missile plume detector systems from the Banshee have also been implemented to provide enhanced detection of enemy missile launches. In addition, the Active Electronically Scanned Array adopted in the SZ-23 Aurora patrol craft has been adopted in the Tyr to enhance scanning rates and reduce probability of detection. The AN/ALQ.222 electronics countermeasure system also found in the Wraith provides similar capabilities for soft-kill and hard-kill attacks against air defence installations.
SPECIFICATIONS
Name: SZ-24 ‘Tyr’ Force Suppression Aircraft
Manufacturer: Avalon Aerospace Corporation
Length: 20.6 m
Wingspan: 13.9 m
Height: 5.1 m
Weight: Empty: 15,920 kg; Maximum Takeoff: 34,744 kg
Armament: 1 x 32 mm ETC chain gun; 4 ‘Warp’ ELAAMs; 10 ‘Apollo’ mini-SAMs; 10 x Rapid Anti Radar missiles.
Payload: 12,000 kg
Propulsion: Two Avalon Aerospace T-9000 turbofan engines; 100,000 pounds thrust
Speed: Optimal stealth: Mach 0.85; Optimal maximum: Mach 0.9-Mach 1.4; Supercruise: Mach 2.4; Maximum speed: Mach 3.1.
Range: 1,050 km
Operational Ceiling: 32,600 m
Price: $105 million
Rapid Anti Radar missile
Length: 4.17 m
Diametre: 240 mm
Weight: 305 kg
Wingspan: 850 mm
Range: 65 km
Speed: 1,500 km/hr.
Guidance: Separate passive radar seeker and active radar homing devices for loiter mode and direct attack mode, respectively.
Warhead: Blast fragmentation; warhead weight 55 kg. Laser proximity fuse.
Price: $300,000 per unit.
Background With several next-generation aircraft developed by the Incorporated Sarzonian Air Force and the Avalon Aerospace Corporation, the company debated several prospective new designs, including dedicated air defence suppression and electronics warfare aircraft. While the Detmerian Aerospace plc aircraft designed for these respective roles both performed admirably in the Sarz-Panteran War, political pressures caused by the Domestic Defence Appropriations Act and Sarzonian desires aimed toward developing a single aircraft capable of performing both roles. The ISAF and AAC both determined that such an aircraft needed to be maneuverable, stealthy, survivable, and effective in its stated role of suppressing radars and electronics. The result of the development is the new SZ-24 ‘Tyr’ Electronic Combat Reconnaissance Aircraft.
Construction The Tyr has attempted to draw from several elements of the next generation aircraft by adopting an airframe constructed of a titanium and aluminum alloy. A honeycomb frame construction provides additional strength to the design and promotes survivability, while AAC also chose to adopt non-magnetic amporphous steel, a substance that has been determined to be three times stronger than regular steel. The sturdy construction of the Tyr ensures that it has excellent survivability compared to other aircraft in its class, though with its role as an air defence suppression bird, it’s poorly suited for direct combat against aerial targets.
To enhance the stealth qualities of the Tyr, engineers have provided it with an electrochromic polymer that senses the colour, hue, and brightness of the surrounding sky and ground. An onboard computer interprets the data and changes the colour to make the aircraft virtually invisible to the naked eye. Additional Radar Absorbent Materials (RAM) used in the construction of the Tyr reduce the radar cross section of the aircraft, making it nearly impossible to detect until it’s too late.
Propulsion: With an eye toward stealth, AAC considered limiting the maximum thrust potential for the Tyr to prevent pilots from presenting a large InfaRed signature to enemy aircraft. AAC also considered designing the Tyr as a single-engined aircraft, but ultimately chose to equip the bird with two Avalon Aerospace T-9000 turbofan engines with a total thrust of 100,000 pounds. Thus, the Tyr has the capability of traveling at speeds that just top Mach 3, and can supercruise at Mach 2.4 with a corresponding sacrifice in stealth operation. Engineers at AAC and the ISAF have determined that ideal stealth flight can only take place at high subsonic or transonic speeds (Mach 0.9 to Mach 1.4).
Weapons For effective anti-radar use, the ISAF and AAC contacted Windham & Green Defence Industries to develop an anti-radiation missile in the mold of the HARM missile in use by many countries. However, the ability of the ALARM missile and various missiles used by the United Kingdom of Isselmere-Nieland to loiter in the event an enemy’s radar site shuts down also appealed very strongly to engineers from the ISAF. Thus, the combination of a fast missile with loitering capabilities indigenous to Sarzonia was the obvious choice for weapon system. The resulting missile, the Rapid Anti Radar missile (RAR), can travel at speeds approaching 1,500 km/hr. The RAR adopts traditional inertial guidance systems with a GPS positioning tracker that an allow the missile to ‘remember’ the location of the radar emitter. However, if launched in loiter mode, the RAR deploy a parachute if the radar emitter is shut off and descends slowly until the target lights up. The RAR then fires a secondary motor to attack the target. Besides its array of anti-radar missiles, it can also carry limited self-defence weapons, notably four Warp ELAAMs and up to ten Apollo mini-SAMs (aerial-modified Yellow Jacket mini-SAMs). Its best self-defence weapon, however, is the 32 mm ETC chain gun that comes standard with most next-generation AAC aircraft.
Electronics Warfare With the stated goal of the Tyr Project being to create a single aircraft that can fill the role of both the Wraith and the Banshee, great care was taken to adopt the best features of both in an aircraft that can sensibly fill both roles for cost-conscious air forces. The Tyr adopts the AN/ALQ.232 broad spectrum, multi-function radio frequency jammer used by the Wraith for electronics warfare while the ALR.248 launch warning indicator; AAR.249 infra-red missile plume detector systems from the Banshee have also been implemented to provide enhanced detection of enemy missile launches. In addition, the Active Electronically Scanned Array adopted in the SZ-23 Aurora patrol craft has been adopted in the Tyr to enhance scanning rates and reduce probability of detection. The AN/ALQ.222 electronics countermeasure system also found in the Wraith provides similar capabilities for soft-kill and hard-kill attacks against air defence installations.
SPECIFICATIONS
Name: SZ-24 ‘Tyr’ Force Suppression Aircraft
Manufacturer: Avalon Aerospace Corporation
Length: 20.6 m
Wingspan: 13.9 m
Height: 5.1 m
Weight: Empty: 15,920 kg; Maximum Takeoff: 34,744 kg
Armament: 1 x 32 mm ETC chain gun; 4 ‘Warp’ ELAAMs; 10 ‘Apollo’ mini-SAMs; 10 x Rapid Anti Radar missiles.
Payload: 12,000 kg
Propulsion: Two Avalon Aerospace T-9000 turbofan engines; 100,000 pounds thrust
Speed: Optimal stealth: Mach 0.85; Optimal maximum: Mach 0.9-Mach 1.4; Supercruise: Mach 2.4; Maximum speed: Mach 3.1.
Range: 1,050 km
Operational Ceiling: 32,600 m
Price: $105 million
Rapid Anti Radar missile
Length: 4.17 m
Diametre: 240 mm
Weight: 305 kg
Wingspan: 850 mm
Range: 65 km
Speed: 1,500 km/hr.
Guidance: Separate passive radar seeker and active radar homing devices for loiter mode and direct attack mode, respectively.
Warhead: Blast fragmentation; warhead weight 55 kg. Laser proximity fuse.
Price: $300,000 per unit.