Prévoyance Héron Noir

Prévoyance Héron Noir
Héron Noir demonstrator at Le Aigle Airshow, 2013
Role	Air superiority, Multirole combat aircraft
National origin	Notreceau Ostlichtor Pequenoya
Manufacturer	Prévoyance
Designer	Prévoyance
First flight	October 7th, 2011
Introduction	November 11th, 2017
Status	In service
Primary users	Notreceauen Airforce Notreceauen Navy

The Prévoyance Héron Noir (English: Prévoyance Black Heron) is a single-seat, single-engine, all weather fifth generation multirole fighter with stealth capabilities. The Héron Noir is designed to conduct a variety of air combat missions including air superiority, ground attack and maritime strike. The family of Héron Noir aircraft include three models: Héron Noir M conventional carrier based, Héron Noir C conventional take-off and landing and the Héron Noir SJ short take-off and landing model.

In 1999 the National Directorate of Notreceau initiated the Programme de chasse de nouvelle génération (Next Generation Fighter Program) with the aim of fielding a new 5th generation fighter that would incorporate stealth technologies into its design and would specialize in strike missions. In 2001 Prévoyance was chosen as the primary design company to proceed with the project and began to develop prototypes and technology demonstrators. Following significant cost overruns during research and development a proposal to extend the program to several partner nations in 2003 was approved by the Department of Defense Research and Development. After several proposals, the program was extended to include (Pequenoya Company), and (Ostlichtor Company) to help shoulder development costs and increase production capacity for the new aircraft in 2005.

The design and testing phase continued until 2011, at which point the original scope and many of the technologies integrated into the project had changed and developed over time. Despite these setbacks and the challenges of effectively rebuilding and redesigning the fighter during the development process, the Héron Noir did successfully achieve first flight in 2011. A further six years of development was required to successfully integrate new radar and stealth packages into the airframe, but finally, the project was declared completed in 2017 at which point the Héron Noir entered full service in Notreceau, Pequenoya and Ostlichtor.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 45.01 ft (13.72 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft (10.97 m)
• Height: 17.32 f (5.28 m)
• Wing area: 590 ft² (54.8 m²)
• Empty weight: 22,490 lbs (10,201 kg)
• Loaded weight: 38,966 lbs (17,675 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 41,500 lbs (18,824 kgs)
• Powerplant: 1 × Solaire M2012-77 derivative afterburning turbofan
  • Dry thrust: 28,000 (125 kN)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 43,000 lbf (191 kN)

Performance

• Maximum speed:
  
  • At sea level: Mach 1.1
  • At altitude: Mach 1.6
• Combat radius: 978 mi (850 nmi, 1,574 km)
• Service ceiling: 50,000+ ft (15,240+ m)
• Rate of climb: 50,000 ft/min (254 m/s)
• Maximum g-load: +9.0 g

Armament

• Guns: 1 x GIST 30 30 mm autocannon
• Hardpoints: 6 × external pylons on wings with a capacity of 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) and two internal bays with a capacity of up to 5,700 lb (2,590 kg). with a capacity of up to 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) of stores
• Missiles:
  
  • MD.2113 Mystique or MD.2115/MD.2213 Rouchet IR-guided air to air missiles
  • MD.2214 Javelot beyond-visual-range missile
  • MD.2322 Chercheur anti-radiation missile
  • MD.2433 Piquer anti-ship missile
  • MD.2542 Sabrer or MD.2523 Aie
  • MD.2451 Tuerie nuclear air launched cruise missile
• Bombs:
  
  • BD.2521 340 kg (7,50 lbs) guided bombs
  • BD.2642 cluster bomb
  • BD.2623, BD.2622, and BD.2621 general-purpose bombs
  • BD.2721, BD.2722, BD.2723 laser-guided bombs

Operators

• Notreceau
  • Notreceaun Air Force
  • Notreceauen Navy