| Welcome to CONSORTIA, a military storefront run by a member of the online government simulation game NationStates. We hope you enjoy your visit. You are currently viewing our forum as a guest. To avoid spam accounts registration has been disabled on this board. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you cannot use. |
| F-40A Whirlwind (LJF-1 Vârtej) - League Joint Fighter; Multirole fighter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Nov 28 2010, 01:41 PM (914 Views) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Etoile Arcture | Nov 28 2010, 01:41 PM Post #1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Administrator
|
![]() F-40A Whirlwind (LJF-1 Vârtej) ![]() F-40A "Whirlwind" in Block 10 configuration, the basis of the LJF-1 "Vârtej" Delian League Joint Fighter (LJF). As is typical for Etoilian combat aircraft it bares no unit markings and only the bare minimum of national insiginia. BACKGROUND Development: The League Joint Fighter (LJF) program is a 40-year, US$25 trillion dollar investment by the Delian League and its partner nations to design, develop, produce and sustain a next generation mulitirole fighter. Designated the LJF-1 "Vârtej" (Atrean for "whirlwind") it will replace thousands of legacy aircraft in service with over a dozen navies and air forces' of the alliance. Selection of the LJF-1 was on the basis of an open competition for international suppliers held during 2010, with Aerodyne Inc. eventually winning with its F-40A "Whirlwind" multirole fighter. The basic requirements set for the LJF-1 are for a highly survivable first-day-of-war deep strike platform able to defend itself by out-flying and out-fighting any current or projected threat aircraft. Aerodyne leveraged much of its experience from their line of successful low observable fighters including the F-26A Tempest and the F/A-38A/B Sentinel during the design process. In the LJF-1 the company further advanced the state-of-the-art into the region of all-aspect broadband stealth thanks to shaping, planform arrangement and conformal antennas; supermanoueverability and high angle of attack (AOA) agility through continuous aerodynmamic control surfaces and three-dimensional thrust vectoring; and high range and endurance thanks to a low-drag aerodynamic configuration and variable cycle engines. DESCRIPTION Overview: The LJF-1 "Vârtej" (F-40A "Whirlwind" in Etoile Arcture service) is a 5.5 generation single-seat, twin-engine, swing-role, naval fighter/interceptor designed to perform day/night all-weather precision ground attack, maritime strike, air interdiction and fleet air defence roles. It is among the top-tier of NationStates high performance 5+ generation carrier-based multirole aircraft, including the Lyran Arms LY-910 "Shadowhawk" (Lyras), Ares F/A-77A "Kovas" (Space Union and Soviet Bloc), Wayford Belmont F3 Mk.II Corsair (Tippercommon), and Altman Urbauer (UNADS) F-29A Warrior (Virana). The F-40A/LJF-1 combines offensive counter-air and deep penetration strike capabilities in a single platform with a heavy emphasis on very low observability (VLO) and interoperability among League nations. It can deliver a wide range of munitions, and is rated for delivery of nuclear gravity bombs. The F-40A/LJF-1 can undertake all the following missions and roles:
Construction: The F-40A features a low drag all-wing tailless airframe that enhances range, endurance and payload, and complex structural shape to achieve instability and low radar cross section (RCS). The central features are a chined forebody, trapezoidal fuselage, a near-lamba wing of cranked-arrow delta planform with highly-swept leading edge, cranked trailing edge and aft-rounded tips, twin all-moving ruddervators (combined rudder/elevator), cheek-mounted diverteless box inlets with serpentine inlet ducts that hide each engine face, low-observable engine nozzles that are also masked from most aspects by the ruddervators, and large volume twin parallel internal weapon bays. Airframe construction is a mix of lightweight titanium and scandium aluminium alloys, carbon fibre composites, high temperature thermoset plastics and polycarbonates. The internal structure including fuselage and wing subframes, ribs, spars, stringers, bulkheads, longerons, intakes, ducts, plus the landing gear bays and weapon bays are forged from scandium aluminium alloys of low density, high specific modulus and excellent fatigue strength. Hardened areas including the forward fuselage, around the cockpit, wing spars, landing gear, fuel tanks, fuel lines, engine bays and engine nozzles are made from heat treated Ti-6A1-4V titanium alpha-beta alloy. The aircraft's load-bearing skin, control surfaces and bandpass resonate radome are constructed from carbon fibre-reinforced epoxy resin composites fabricated as aeroelastically tailored skin-core sandwiches using resin transfer molding (RTM). Thermoplastic-matrix composites are used in the gun bay, landing gear bay and weapon bay doors, and all conformal apertures, and optronics bays are covered by furnace-grown single-crystal sapphire glass flush windows. The outer mould line is smoothed to reduce drag and minimise RCS, with gaps around access panels, landing gear and weapon bay doors, and wing and flap hinges blended into the mould line using conductive form-in-place (CFIP) sealant and flexible conductive blade seals on leading and trailing edges to eliminate radar reflective gaps, with corrosion resistant multi-layered radar absorbing material (RAM) applied to the inlet ducts. All exterior surfaces are treated with a conductive primer and topcoat that is rain erosion and salt air corrosion resistant, has low infra-red emissivity, high resistance to nuclear flash, as well as radar absorbent to minimise RCS signature. Accommodation: The cockpit is enclosed by a panoramic clamshell canopy that is high mounted for good sight lines during take offs, approaches and landings. The canopy is a clear piece of injection moulded Zone 1 optical quality monolithic polycarbonate that offers impact resistance against bird strikes, structural strength to resist aerodynamic loadings, and dielectric properties that screen electronic emissions generated in the cockpit. The transparencies are treated with anti-reflective sun glare and laser protective coatings, and features sloping to match the angle of the fuselage to minimise RCS signature. The canopy is hinged behind the pilot, actuated by a hydraulic mechanism, securing to the fuselage by pins and an inflatable seal that retains cockpit pressure and resists chemical/biological and environmental agents. The environmental control system (ECS) provides engine bleed air for the canopy seal, windshield anti-fog and anti-ice system, cockpit pressurisation, and anti-g suit pressure. The canopy jettison system uses pyrotechnics to eject from the aircraft during an escape. The pilot is seated in a modified Martin-Baker Mk.16E zero/zero (i.e., zero altitude and zero airspeed) high speed ejection seat that incorporates a fully automatic rocket-boosted emergency escape system and parachute descent system controlled by digital event sequencer. It is mounted in an articulated mechanism allowing adjustable seat back angles between 15° (semi-upright posture) and 55° (reclining posture). The seat automatically reclines as g rises during agile manoeuvring, working in unison with the anti-g flight suit to mitigate a key human factor constraint on aircraft performance by protecting the pilot from A-LOC (Altered Level Of Conciousness) and G-LOC (G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness). The system allows for a manual override by the pilot for setting an optimal seat back angle for comfort (most expressing a preference in the 34-45° region), and is equipped with a pyrotechnic retract mechanism to instantly return the seat to the upright position on activation of the escape system. The lightweight bucket-type seat itself weighs only 89 kg constructed from aluminium and composites and can accomodate the 3rd-99th percentile of aircrew sizes (both male and female) for maximum crewing flexibility. It is well cushioned with head and neck support while wearing helmet-mounted displays and night vision goggles, and ergonomically designed for comfort to enhance pilot endurance. The seat assembly consists of a underseat ejection gun/rocket motor, lateral thrust motor, ejection control handle, safe/armed handle, leg restraint snubbers, emergency restraint release handle, shoulder harness control lever, seat height actuator switch, pin puller, and lower harness release mechanism. The parachute assembly includes the parachute container and parachute canopy and drogue. The seat survival kit assembly includes automatically activating emergency oxygen system and radio locator beacon, and a rucksack that contains an automatically inflating single seat life raft and survival aids. Powerplant: The F-40A/LJF-1 is powered by dual side-by-side Powerdyne F155-PWR-203VCE augmented turbofans spaced 50 cm off the aircraft centerline and producing 177.9 kN static thrust each. The F155 powerplants, updated versions of the variable cycle engines used on the F-26A "Tempest", are capable of adjusting their bypass ratio to the optimum for a given flight regime using a double bypass concept in concert with a core-driven fan stage. The engine can operate in double bypass at low power when high fuel efficiency is required, and single bypass to achieve high specific excess power allowing supercruise on dry thrust. Thrust control is provided by a triple-redundant full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system, with 32-bit PowerPC MPC5554 based electronic engine controller (EEC), mounted on each engine casing that constantly monitors the engine's performance to ensure stable stall-free operation throughout the operating envelope. A high manoeuvre envelope and short take-off and landing (STOL) performance is achieved using independent three-dimensional multi-axis thrust vectoring without any of the flow and performance losses associated with two-dimensional pitch angle only thrust vectoring. Each engine exhaust is fitted with an Axisymmetric Vectoring Exhaust Nozzle (AVEN) consisting of a three-bearing joint that can deflect or reverse thrust, and a three-dimensional convergent-divergent nozzle with universally pivoting joints between each divergent and convergent flap to vector the exhaust flow in any direction at a maximum deflection angle of ±20°. The nozzle features slot type ejectors that induct ambient cooling air from the atmosphere to supplement engine supplied cooling air to minimise infra-red signature, and sawtooth edges to reduce RCS. Flight characteristics: The aircraft is unstable in the pitch (longitudinal) and yaw (directional) axis with negative static stability. Stabilisation is provided by the Vehicle Management System (VMS), a four-channel architecture i.e. quadruplex-redundant full-authority digital automatic flight control system that differentially operates the aerodynamic control surfaces, vectored thrust system and nosewheel steering. These grant a high angle of attack (AOA) agility across the full flight envelope including instantaneous rolls, rapid decelerations, zero side-slip, and high stall recovery. The aircraft has excellent wind over deck (WOD) and crosswind landing performance, with enhanced control authority during carrier landings. Fibre-optic air data sensors provide feedback for the VMS. The planform features a near-lambda cranked-arrow wing with a highly swept leading edge allowing good area ruling and low supersonic drag that enhances supercruise performance, and a low sweep trailing edge that produces high lift at low wing loadings for enhanced cruise and loiter performance. The wing has a low induced drag and aeroelastic properties that produce high subsonic turning performance without affecting performance in other regimes. Rudimentary chines on the forebody blend into the wing leading edge producing vortex lift and directional stability for high agility at increasing angles of attack. Pitch and roll control is provided by full span leading and trailing edge double slotted flaps on the wings, and yaw control by split ailerons at each wingtip, with independent upper and lower surfaces that act simultaneously as both drag rudders and ailerons. All-moving V-tail ruddervators also provide strong pitch, roll and yaw control authority at up to ±70° AOA at low and high speeds. These allow for enhanced post-stall maneuverability and off-axis pointing of the aircraft to track enemy targets. The flight control actuator system is based on lightweight electro-hydrostatic actuators. They are driven by linear output actuators that convert electrical input energy into hydro-mechanical power. Stick and throttle commands are interpreted by adaptive reconfigurable control laws based on neural networks by the Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS), that also provides stability augmentation to overcome physical damage and malfunctions. The control surfaces can maintain acceptable handling qualities, after engine failure, or with one or both thrust-vectoring nozzles locked in a fixed position. Thrust vectoring can alternately be used to augment the aerodynamic controls and compensate for battle damage to control surfaces. In single-engine out situations a surviving engine can vector obliquely off the centerline to minimise the undesirable yaw and drag effects of an off-centreline origin of thrust. The F-40A/LJF-1 is fully rated for safe single-engine launches and recovery at maximum bring back weights. Landing gear: The aircraft has a fully retractable tricycle-type undercarriage consisting of a cantilevered nose gear and semi-levered main gear with shock absorbers to handle hard landings on aircraft carrier flight decks, and a retractable launch bar that attaches to the shuttle on a catapult launcher, and a arrester hook system. The landing gear, launch bar, stinger tailhook and bay doors are hydraulically operated and electrically controlled and sequenced, with the gear locked in the extended position by drag braces. Lightweight carbon brakes of superior heat resistance, wear and braking efficiency are fitted to all wheels augmented by an adaptive electric powered and microprocessor controlled anti-skid system that prevents wheel locking in wet and icy conditions. Emergency brake pressure and nose wheel steering can also be supplied by an emergency accumulator fed by redundant hydraulic lines. The gear is certified for steam catapult launches and the tailhook for arrested recoveries, and is fully compatible with Electro-Magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) and Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG). Avionics: The F-40A/LJF-1 features an integrated modular avionics (IMA) architecture based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), open architecture, modular, flexible, upgradeable, line-replaceable unit (LRU) computer modules with combined processor, power, and cooling capacity. The avionics system architecture is a quadruplex-redundant optical (fly-by-light) system with attributes including volume efficiency, electromagnetic interference (EMI) immunity, low power requirements, low thermal footprint, low mass, low latency and high bandwidth. It consists of a quartet of Vehicle Management Computers (VMC) interconnected through four redundant 3.4 gigabit Fibre Channel Switched Fabric (FC-SW) multi-mode optical fibre avionics buses, able to operate in parallel or redundantly to handle all aspects of the digital automatic flight control system including fuel, electrical and hydraulic system controls. AN/AYK-47 mission computers provide processing, fusion and display of data from sensors, communications, navigation, weapons management, and defensive aids, and circuit card assembly (CCA) boards that control utilities and subsystems equipment also communicate via the avionics buses. The network uses multiple high-speed point-to-multi-point (P-t-MP) serial interconnects based on FireWire-based MIL-1394 (SAE AS5643) Fibre Channel links and transceivers that provide full-duplex, multi-mode, robust, deterministic, fault-tolerant, reliable performance with the ability to handle high volumes of data, and graceful degradation that reconfigure/reroute signals around failure and battle damage. These computers are likewise COTS components, consisting of compact high performance single board computer (SBC) modules containing field programmable gate array (FPGA) custom logic processors and high density Flash memory hardened against ionising radiation, plugged into 3U form-factor VME64x monolithic backplanes that provide high-bandwidth fabric with fibre-optic interconnects and PCI Mezzanine Card (PMC) expansion slots. The processors are based on the Freescale QorIQ AMP (Advanced Multiprocessing) platform that embeds a quad-core PowerPC e6500 multi-threaded processor with AltiVec floating point/vector processing unit and six-core StareCore digital signal processor (DSP) on a single low power 64-bit multi-processor system-on-chip (MPSoC) integrated circuit. LynuxWorks LynxOS-178 provides a safety-critical ARINC 653-2 and POSIX-compliant time and memory partitioned fault-tolerant Unix-like real-time operating system environment certified to the DO-178B avionics standard. Software is written in the Ada 2005/2012 structured, statically typed, imperative, wide-spectrum, and object-oriented high-level computer programming language. The avionics software contains 100 million source lines of code (SLOC) and took 30,000 man years to write, though this is still a third fewer lines of code than was used to write the latest version of Microsoft Office. Situational awareness: The LJF-1/F-40A is equipped with a Synergy Electrodynamics AN/APG-84(V)2 Advanced Multifunction Integrated Radio Frequency System (AMIRFS) as its primary fire control radar. The APG-84 is a 33 kW peak radiated power, liquid-cooled, solid-state, 8-12.5 GHz I/J band (X band), ultrawide band active electronically scanned array (AESA) coherent pulse Doppler multimode radar. It combines an integrated radio frequency (RF) subsystem with a multifunction array that offers digitised channels with advanced digital beamforming (DBF), space-time adaptive processing (STAP), and agile wideband waveforms including multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques, to generate multiple low peak power waveforms and modulations across a wide range of microwave frequencies and unpredictable pulse patterns. The radar provides three-dimensional (i.e. bearing, elevation and range) multi-channel precision tracking with high resistance to interference and jamming, clutter rejection filtering, target/decoy discrimination, and low probability of detection (LPD)/low probability of interception (LPI) performance to limit counter-detection by enemy electronic warfare (EW) systems. The system has frequency-agile pulse Doppler track-while-scan (TWS) capability to detect, locate, track, classify and identify up to 250 moving targets at 360+ km, and prioritise and engage 40 air targets or 20 ground or sea targets simultaneously at the full engagement envelope of air-to-air and air-to-surface weaponry with enhanced weapon aiming for multiple kills in a single pass. Non-cooperative target recognition (NCTR) can identify air targets by classifying powerplants through jet engine modulation of radar returns (aka fan blade counting). Multifunctional apertures, adaptive processing and automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithms enable long range, beyond visual range (BVR) first shot/first kill capability, all-aspect (nose-on, tail-on, crossing) and all-altitude (look-up, look-down), non-cooperative identification of conventional and low observable air, ground and sea targets operating in severe jamming and ground and wave clutter environments, decoy descrimination and foilage penetration. It has synthetic aperture radar (SAR) modes including strip-map, spotlight and scan, inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) modes for superior range resolution, multiple air, ground and sea surface search modes with high sea state/high clutter rejection filters, Doppler beam sharpening (DBS) terrain mapping modes, simultaneous air and surface fixed and moving target indication modes, and provides an adjuct capability to the electronic warfare suite including sidelobe nulling, interference blanking and jammer classification, and support for communication and datalink waveforms. The APG-84 features a large 90 cm planar array antenna containing 2,200 gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN-on-SiC) monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers with a transmit output ranging from 3 to 15 watts at a maximum 35% duty cycle, arranged in a brick architecture of transmit/receive (T/R) integrated multichannel module (TRIMM) subarrays. The radar aperture has a 120° field of regard and 60° elevation providing full look up/look down and shoot up/shoot down capabilities, via hundreds of electronically steered agile beams generated by X band digital receiver/exciter (DREX) modules through transmit/receive module (TRM) beamformers. The back-end radar processing system, comprising a AN/AYK-49 mission computer, is a 6U rack VME64x backplane that clusters eight replaceable SBC modules with a total of 32 quad-core processors and 32 six-core digital signal processors to create a 2,000 gigaflop massively parallel processing "supercomputer-in-a-box". Processors are housed in a rugged shock resistant liquid-cooled chassis, the large heat flux and thermal load of the radar and computers being controlled by a actively pumped two-phase liquid cooling system using synthetic polyalphaolefin (PAO) nanofluid, a highly efficiently heat transfering dielectric coolant, circulating in a closed-loop liquid flow-through (LFT) capillary system around the solid-state electronics. Passive 360° full spherical situational awareness is provided by a Emerson Optronics AN/ASQ-251(V) Distributed Aperture Ranging and Targeting System (DARTS). It provides 4π steridian passive sensor coverage of all four quadrants, and dorsal and ventral aspects using six multispectral staring-type focal plane array (FPA) sensors with very large format (768×576 pixel) galium arsenide (GaAs) quantum-well infrared photodetector (QWIP) thermal imagers. Operating in dual-band 3-5 µm medium wave infra-red (MWIR) and 8-12 µm long wave infra-red (LWIR) and the 320-380 nm near ultraviolet (UV) spectral ranges they can see through specific atmospheric windows i.e. wavelengths transparent to weather and other environmental effects, obscurants and optical clutter. DARTS offers continuous passive omni-directional surveillance of the battlespace with fire control quality tracking of multiple, simultaneous threats, using IR/UV sensor fusion and two-colour descrimination to detect and track laser, infra-red and ultraviolet energy from missile seekers, track engine exhaust and missile plumes (launch point detection), cue countermeasures effectors and weapons, and provide all-weather day/night vision for precision pilotage. The high sensitivity sensors can operate over extremely long distances, tracking thermal emissions as far as 1,500 km away and making optical target detections up to distances of 300 km, with performance limited only by slant range and the visual horizon. A second complimentary passive optronic system comprises a Emerson Optronics AN/AAQ-249(V) Foward Looking Infra-Red Search and Track (FIRST) system consisting of dual stereoscopic electro-optic (EO) sensors situated in the port and starboard wing roots. They are protected behind flush conformal facetted sapphire windows that offer a 70° field of view for an array of megapixel (1280×1024 pixel) staring type detectors. These comprise a high spatial resolution infra-red search and track (IRST)/forward looking infra-red (FLIR) thermal imager using indium galium arsenide (InGaAs) corrugated quantum well infra-red photodetector (C-QWIP) dual FPAs to perform simultaneous dual-band (multi-spectral) imaging in the 3-5 µm MWIR and 8-12 µm LWIR atmospheric windows to see through weather and obscurants; a two megapixel (1600×1200 pixel) 3-CCD colour daylight and 1-CCD monochrome low light level continuous optical zoom TV camera; an AES-108 PROFILE eye-safe three-dimensional lidar system based around a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet) solid state coded scanning laser that performs designation, ranging and marking for for cooperative engagements, GaAs FPA large format (640×512 pixel) 800 nm-2.5 µm short wave infra-red (SWIR) multi-band laser tracker; and embedded 66-channel GPS receiver module. Capabilities include multiple target tracking (MTT), and classification and prioritisation of threats and targets. Using image signal processor (ISP) and digital signal processor (DSP) adaptive realtime processing FIRST provides passive, non-cooperative target recognition (NCTR) using narrow-beam interleaved search and track (NBILST) (aka synthetic pseudo-imaging) to recognise surface targets, discriminate targets from decoys, and defeat camouflage and concealment. Operating modes include a single-channel scanning IRST air-to-air mode for wide area air surveillance, dual-channel imaging FLIR air-to-air/air-to-surface mode for enhanced target/decoy discrimination, high resolution daylight or low-light level TV mode for long range detection, and fused infra-red and TV channels for enhanced stand-off range target recognition. The embedded GPS generates geo-coordinate positions of all targets that can be shared over secure datalinks. PROFILE measures 3D wind profiles in addition to marking targets for wind-corrected delivery of weapons and cargo. On-board sensor fusion between the FIRST/PROFILE optronic and APG-84 fire control radar can create unjammable integrated optronic/radar target cues. A pair of low latency, bi-directional, high throughput 8.5 gigabit/sec ARINC 818-2 Avionics Digital Video Bus (ADVB) point-to-point (P-t-P) networks transport the processed radar video and electro-optic/infra-red (EO/IR) channels from all sensors to the mission computers and cockpit displays. Communication, navigation and identification: The Synergy Electrodynamics AN/ASQ-236(V) Integrated Communications, Navigation and Identification System (ICNIS) provides centralised, dual-redundant, management and control of aircraft radio frequency (RF) apertures to provide communications, navigation and identification (CNI) functions including radio communications, radar altimeter, identification friend-or-foe (IFF), and navigation and landing aids. The core mission system is a AN/ARC-242(V) Multi-Band Radio Communications System with integrated AN/AYK-48 mission computer that provides information/sensor fusion, shared situational awareness, and intra/inter-flight voice and data links. Based on Synergy Electrodynamics JEWEL Waveguide/Airwave modular wideband secure electronic countermeasure (ECM) resistant digital radio transceiver system it features a software defined radio (SDR) wideband radio frequency (RF) front end architecture with multiple, multi-protocol, programable baseband DSP processor (BDP) radio communication transcievers software configurable across multiple waveforms.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Etoile Arcture | Oct 5 2015, 12:48 PM Post #2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Administrator
|
Instrumentation: The Air Warfighter Interface 2.0 (AWI 2.0) is at the heart of the avionics system providing automation to ease pilot workload, using both the high-throughput mission computers and shared low latency realtime datalinks to fuse on and off-board flight, system, sensor and weapon information. This data is instantly available via cockpit displays, a Panoramic Heads-Up Display System (PANHUDS) and a flight helmet with Morpheus Mark 2 Helmet Mounted Display and Cueing System (MK 2 HMDCS). PANHUDS utilises a single curved wide-angle holographic combiner with a 20° x 30° total and instantaneous field of view to provide altitude, heading, airspeed, angle of attack, bank angle, pitch scale, load factor (g), etc, along with enemy tracking information. The Morpheus/MK 2 HMDCS is an integrated flight helmet system superior to all binocular head mounted displays currently on the market that fully eliminates all bulk, neck strain and centre-of-gravity issues and preserves full pilot periheral vision. The lightweight Morpheus system features a visor-projected single spherical holographic display that uses magnetic head trackers and infrared retina trackers to accurately track the pilot's gaze and project collimated colour-coded symbology and superimposed (1:1) realtime imagery and synthetic vision into their field of view. Sensor fusion allows the pilot to see through the aircraft like it is a glass bottom boat to track targets with full 360° situational awareness and cue missile shots at high off-boresight angles. The system employs a Gaze-based Point And Click (GPAC) and Cursor On Target (COT) interface that fully supports audible and visual cues, designation of targets over-the-shoulder at off-boresight angles by eye movement, and access to common aircraft functions without having to break visual contact with an adversary. A Direct Voice Input (DVI) interface provides instant access to these key aircraft functions via a highly accurate speech recognition module that uses Markov pattern matching algorithms, while the intercommunication system incorporates a voice module that provides synthetic voice and tonal alarms for pilot feedback and warning. The "office" has a clean, uncluttered, highly ergonomic configuration with all cockpit displays and controls always within easy sight and reach for the pilot at maximum recumbent seat angles. The cockpit instrument panel features a central full-width touch-sensitive 20-by-50 cm Multi-Function Touch Display System (MFTDS) as the primary display and three smaller 15-by-20 cm secondary displays in the centre column and left and right side consoles that are driven by high speed 24-bit graphics controllers. These units have Samsung active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) screens of high-luminance, high-contrast, high-resolution, and unlimited viewing angle. The touch interface utilises infra-red LED detectors that accurately track gloved hands with ten points of contact for high accuracy and responsiveness. The primary display can be divided into a main image, four planes or six smaller full motion images, with engine data, hydraulic systems, information on control devices, communications, digital moving map, sensor channels and all other systems and subsystems viewable at both primary and secondary displays. An up-front control (UFC) panel is located beneath the primary display allowing easy keypad data entry and input of parameters into the digital autopilot and avionics computers. Operational and mission information can also be securely entered during the pre-flight phase via a data port on the panel using a AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loader (SKL) portable computer. The primary flight controls are arranged as a Voice, Throttle And Stick (VTAS) system including the above-mentioned Direct Voice Input (DVI) interface and Hands On Throttle And Stick (HOTAS) controllers comprising a side-stick controller (SSC) and a split throttle that can be swapped for either side of the cockpit. These controllers employ high sensitivity magnetic sensors, adjustable haptic feedback and have 14 user-programmable buttons. The side-stick has a pitch and roll trim hat switch, weapon release pickle button, gun/missile trigger, target management button, countermeasures management button, nosewheel steering button, display management selector, air refuelling release switch, air-to-air/air-to-ground mode toggle switch, autopilot/nosewheel steering disengage paddle switch and expand/field-of-view pinky switch. The split throttle has a grip and a finger lift to control the left and right engine thrust levels, communications toggle switch, speed brake switch, throttle designator controller, sensor toggle switch, slew controller hat switch for pointing sensors, target designation controller, countermeasures management switch, velocity vector cage/uncage button, speed brake switch, exterior lights pinky switch and automatic throttle control (ATC) engage/disengage switch. Left and right adjustable rudder pedals provide yaw/roll inputs, nosewheel steering and braking. Pilot aids: Safeguards are provided by a Pilot Health Monitoring System (PHMS) that uses expert system algorithms to determine whether a pilot has become spatially disoriented, become extremely fatigued or dehydrated, fallen in to deep unconsciousness, or has otherwise been incapacitated or expired in-flight. Optical sensors built in to the Morpeheus flight helmet monitor the pilot's vital signs and physiological functions with realtime measurement of blood flow (perfusion), pulse rate, and SpO2 (peripheral capillary oxygen saturation) to detect life-threatening situations such as hypoxia, A-LOC (Altered Level Of Conciousness) and G-LOC (G-force induced Loss Of Consciousness); and infra-red eye trackers to measure visual and proprioceptive responses for pilot equilibrium and orientation. A Disorientation Recovery System (DORS) monitors for extreme control inputs by the pilot including departure from controlled flight at very low airspeeds and at high and low angle of attacks, excessive roll rate, excursion to an unsafe altitude, and other uncontrolled manoeuvres. The pilot will receive audio-visual warnings through the helmet mounted display, including clear voice instructions piped through the audio system. If the pilot fails to take corrective action (due to sensory illusion) or is detected as unable to (due to temporary unconsciousness, incapacity or even death), DORS automatically engages the autopilot to recover the aircraft to a straight level flight condition. The pilot can also manually engage either DORS or the Automatic Spin Recovery System (ASRS) for departure recovery by executing a "push", "pull" or "knife-over" manoeuvre. - Life support: These include oxygen generation, anti-g protection and personal cooling. These consist of:
Self protection: Electronic countermeasures are based around a high gain X-band Radio Frequency Threat Warning and Countermeasure System (RFTCM) fully integrated with expendable countermeasures (EXCM) to provide full spherical coverage and threat detection, deception, disruption and defeat against enemy target acqusition systems. These include radio frequency (RF) source detection and jamming, radar warning, cueing anti-radiation missiles with home-on-jam targeting, mid-wave laser warning recievers and missile approach warners, coded pulsed directional IR and optical UV missile seeker jamming, launched expendeable countermeasures and decoys, and a programmable miniature fibre-optic towed decoy (FOTD) using digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) to capture and retransmit hostile RF signals to fool and spoof enemy sensors and weapon seekers. All aspect low observability, being key to signature management and aircraft survability, is achieved through airframe, inlet and exhaust shaping with radar absorbant structure (RAS) used to minimize scattering from hard edges and radar absorbant material (RAM) to reduce scattering from surface breaks. Serpentine inlets hide engine faces from radars and two-dimensional exhausts minimise infra-red signatures. A clean configuration using internal-only stores, comformal antennas and flush sensor bay windows achieves further reduced radar reflections, weight, and drag. Electro-magnetic emissions are also carefully controlled by a signature management subsystem that is part of the avionics suite, and a Topcoat paint system is applied to the exterior to divert RF and IR energy away from the aircraft. The result has been a total measurable radar cross section (RCS) of only 0.0001 square metres or -40 dBsm (decibels per square metre). - Defensive aids: The AN/ALE-57 Towed Expendable Radio Frequency Decoy (TEXRFD) is an expendable reel-launched aircraft self-protection towed decoy containing an active multimode radio frequency (RF) deception jammer and radar seduction decoy. A complete system consists of an onboard techniques generator (TG), multimode electronic frequency converter (EFC) and motor driven reel-out/reel-in (RORI) payout mechanism, a flexible high tensile and high temperature resistant towline with inner bidirectional fibre-optic signal cable, aerodynamic flying pod with variable drag fins for steering in the airflow, and quad microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) solid-state RF power amplifiers and broad-beam antennas. Threat RF signals are received and analysed by the aircraft electronic warfare suite and tactics chosen and implemented through the techniques generator. The decoy can perform three defensive functions effective against monopulse and home-on-jam (HOJ) threats: (1) noise jamming (supression) to confuse acquisition and tracking radar; (2) pulse repeater jamming (deception) through retransmission of tracking radar signals to break radar lock; and (3) active decoy (seduction) to lure missiles safely away by simulating the radar cross section (RCS) of the aircraft conbined with avoidance aircraft manoeuvres. - Armament: A single 20mm/85 M61A2 Vulcan six-barrel Gatling aircraft cannon occupies a ventral bay along the belly, located offset to the right, and is normally hidden behind a flush sliding door. The complete gun system consists of the M61A2 cannon, a Linear Linkless Ammunition Handling System (LLAHS), gun door/gun port with blast deflector and gas purge system. The magazine is located left of the gun and consists of a 220-round closed loop ammunition feed and a second conveyor to transport empty casings back to the magazine. Both are powered by an integral 42 hp motor-driven hydraulic drive system. Ammunition used is of the multi-purpose semi-armour piercing high explosive incendiary (SAPHEI) type and is electrically fired. The gun uses electro-optics, laser rangefinder and a predictive radar gunsight for aiming at all speeds. The small, lightweight Gryazev-Shipunov 30mm GSh-301 recoil-operated single-barrel autocannon, firing high explosive incendiary (HEI) ammunition, is alternatively provided as an export option for Delian League customers. Stores are carried internally in twin parallel ventral weapons bays aft of the gun bay and hidden behind sawtooth edged door seams for a clean low observable configuration. There is no provision made for external stores carriage as even a single store can increase overall aircraft RCS by as much as 1 m² significantly compromising low observable characteristics. Event sequencing of the bay door open/close cycle and munition ejection cycle is under two seconds to minimise aircraft RCS exposure during weapon employment. The ventral gun and weapon bay positions allows for simultaneous gun ammunition upload and download of empty casings, and upload/offload of missile reloads for rapid turn-around and high sortie generation rates. Each weapon bay is 4.35 metres long (15 cm longer than on the YF-40 prototype) with a centre bulge to accommodate a single outsized store. There is sufficient volume to fit either six air-to-air weapons with clipped wings on up to three ejector racks (inside door rail, twin rail and triplex rail), or a single 2,000 lb munition or 330 US gallon fuel pack on a 'wet' (i.e. plumbed for fuel) centre bay hard point, and a single self defence air-to-air weapon on an inside door launch rail. Each rack has a stores interface, umbilical cable connect and quick disconnect mechanism. All weapons in the internal weapon bays are rated for supersonic release and high-g turns for off-boresight launches, using non-pyrotechnic pnuematic trapezoid ejectors to safely clear the bays. Plume deflectors on the bay doors protect the aircraft from the rocket exhaust flame. The AN/AYQ-24(V)1 Stores Management System (SMS) provides all weapon inventory and control functions and communicates with carriage stores (racks and launchers) and mission stores (bombs and missiles) via a dual-redundant 1.0625 gigabit AS5653B High Speed Network using 75 ohm coaxial cable. Based on the Fibre Channel Switched Fabric (FC-SW) standard it carries digital video, digital audio and data messages replicating both MIL-STD-1760C Aircraft/Store Electrical Interconnection System (AEIS) and MIL-STD-1553B data bus protocols, as well as timing pulses, GPS RF signals and low voltage electrical power. The SMS is quadruplex-redundant using VME64x-based single board computer (SBC) modules powered by Freescale PowerQUICC e500 32-bit system-on-chip (SoC) processors that run Ada software in a Wind River VxWorks mission-critical real-time operating system (RTOS) environment. Each stores station is controlled by an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that automatically sequences weapon releases. The ejector racks have MIL-STD-8591 aircraft store interfaces that include Zero Retention Force Arming Unit (ZRFAU) installations with electro-mechanical suspension devices and arming/fusing solenoids. These interfaces can be modified when handling non-MIL-STD stores for Delian League and foreign service using a combination of data converters, coupling adaptors and custom fire control software, including emulation of the complete Sukhoi Su-35S armament computer in a virtual machine (VM) sofware hypervisor running on the SMS computers. Ordnance: A wide range of stores, to a total of weight of 2,994 kg (6,600 lb), can be carried on six internal hard points. The LJF-1/F-40A has been rated for a wide range of current and projected future precision stand-off weapons compatible with MIL-STD interfaces.
* Stores interface requires data converter and coupling adaptor on hardpoint.
YF-40 Whirlwind - Advanced concept demonstrator aircraft originally developed to Etoile Arcture Maritime Force (EAMF) requirements and using avionics from the F-26A Tempest, first flying in 2006 and entered into the League Joint Fighter (LJF) competition by the manufacturer in 2010. Slightly larger and heavier than the final production models; 10 built during the Engineering and Manufacturing Design (EMD) phase of the original program. LJF-1 "Vârtej" Tranche 1 - Full Scale Production (FSP) version, selected by the Delian League as its joint multirole fighter. Based on the YF-40 with a number of refinements based on user input during the critical design review (CDR). These include a reduced span to improve spot factor on aircraft carriers; lengthened internal weapon bays with centre bulge for outsized weapons to improve stores carriage; and avionics changes including Air Warfighter 2.0, Delian League Common Datalink (CDL), Disorientation Recovery System (DORS) and Autonomous Return-to-Base System (ARBS). Achieved initial operating capability (IOC) in the latter part of 2010 with EAMF operational conversion wings; sold to a number od Delian League nations, with a production run expected to run into the tens of thousands of airframes. F-40A Whirlwind Block 10 - Current production version of carrier-borne single-seat fighter for Etoile Arcture. Near identical to the LJF-1 bar some minor differences in electronics and software to meet specific EAMF service requirements; 6,000+ delivered through 2014. F-40A Whirlwind Block 20 - Selected by the Etoile Arcture Aerospace Forces (EAAF) in 2014 as the new long range interceptor aircraft to supplement the F-26A Tempest Block 20 fighter aircraft in the air domination role; to meet EAAF requirements a number of airframe changes have been made including swapping of the probe inflight refuelling receptable for a dorsal boom receptable, installation of a drag chute system in the rear fuselage (the retractable tailhook is retained for emergency situations in event of wheel brake failure), and ...; 400+ delivered to date. SPECIFICATIONS
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| « Previous Topic · Fixed Wing Aircraft · Next Topic » |








12:51 AM Jul 11