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{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
#REDIRECT [[Volarion Shrike]]
|name= Aigios Shrike
|image=File:F-18's are refueled in Afghanistan.jpg|300px
|caption=
 
}}{{Infobox aircraft type
|type= Carrier-based multirole fighter
|manufacturer=
|designer= [[Aigios Defence]]
|first flight= 15 May 1996
|introduced= 4 January 2000
|produced=
|retired=
|number built=
|primary user= [[Belfrasian Navy|Federation Navy]]<br>See [[#Operators|Operators]]
|more users=
|status= In service
|unit cost=
|developed from= [[Aigios Ifrit]]
|variants with their own articles=[[Aigios Super Shrike]]
}}
|}
 
The '''Aigios Shrike''' is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole combat aircraft designed to be able to conduct a wide variety of missions in order to provide the best platform possible for a carrier. The aircraft has a top speed of 1,190 miles per hour at altitude and can carry a wide array of bombs and guided missile systems. It is by default armed with a single 20mm cannon in the nose and two pylons on the edge of the wings for [[Polyboros missile|Polyboros]] air-to-air missiles. The aircraft is powered by a pair of Augment GTO engines, providing an exceptional amount of thrust in both dry and afterburner modes to allow the aircraft to provide a high thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR), increasing it's load capacity and aiding its abilities as an interception fighter.
 
Introduced to the Federation Navy in 2000 to replace it's aging interceptor fleet, the Shrike quickly showed itself as an excellent aerial combatant and agile fighter, thanks to leading-edge extensions on the wings and thrust vectoring nozzles on the engines. It's large load-out abilities and subsequent development as an electronic warfare platform has allowed it to replace three separate aircraft previous in use with the Navy in favour of a common, exceptional vehicle.
 
The fighter by default comes in two variants, a single-seat and two-seat configuration. The single-seat benefits from increased fuel capacity and ammo load to assist it in air superiority missions. The two-seat version loses the fuel capacity but gains a dedicated weapons officer for use in ground attack and reconnaissance missions. Despite any disadvantages in fuel capacity, each version has the ability to mount the same kinds of weapons on the same pylons. Weight distribution means that the fighter can only carry up to five external fuel tanks for both self-usage or to act as an airborne tanker by adding an air refuelling rig to the external fuel tanks.
 
== Design and development ==
[[File:Super Hornets sit on Enterprise flight deck (Image 2 of 2) (8147748040).jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Multiple Shrikes parked on the deck of a [[Leonidas-class aircraft carrier|aircraft carrier.]]]]
The Shrike's history begins with the 1986 venture program for a modernised fighter with the requirement of exceeding the abilities of prior aircraft in service and to complement the existing interception fighters.
 
The Shrike is a twin engine, mid-wing tactical aircraft meant to conduct a wide variety of missions. It is highly manoeuvrable thanks to it's high thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR), digital fly-by-wire control system and leading edge extensions which allow the aircraft to remain controllable even at high angles of attack. The wing has full-span leading-edge flaps and segmented flaps and ailerons over the trailing edge with electronic folding mechanisms three quarters of the way down the wing for stowage when aboard ship.
 
Two angled vertical stabilisers which further aid it's manoeuvrability at high speeds and high angles of attack. The fighter also possesses two oversized sets of flaps on the leading and trailing flaps which act as flaperons, resulting in a highly able onboard flight control computer which manages the movement of the control surfaces in tandem with the pilot to ease micromanagement and to ensure the plane remains airborne at slow speeds. The angled vertical stabilisers operate in two modes, at slow speeds they operate as normal stabilisers when turning or maintaining course but at high speeds they minimise their turn angle and move inboard instead of on normal operation. This means at speeds exceeding Mach 1 the stabilisers will move inwards to turn in order to maximise on air flow while minimising structural stress by countering the flow of air at harsher angles.
 
The Shrike also features a pair of turbofan engines are capable of thrust vectoring, another design feature that aids in the fighter's incredibly agility. The cockpit of the fighter in both main variants feature a fully glass cockpit and multi-function displays which allow the plane to display a huge variety of information to the pilot, with software on board to be able to switch between anti-air and ground strike setups with ease and while on the fly. The avionics system aboard are highly modular to allow for easy upgrades to the fully digital system.
 
The avionics bus' modularity follows a trend meant to make the fighter more robust and require less downtime for maintenance and for any maintenance that does occur to be able to be conducted quickly, efficiently and without any great difficulty to the maintenance crew. Ease-of-maintenance was demonstrated during testing for the FGR.3 when an unprepared team of four people were able to remove one of the aircraft's engines in under twenty minutes without compromising on safety, structural safety, or working in a hugely expedited fashion.
 
The electronics of the aircraft have been maintained at high levels, with the most recent version incorporating an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, larger displays and a native compatibility with helmet mounted displays. The cockpit was wholly redesigned to allow for ease-of-use of the pilot while offering as much information as possible.
 
The digital and glass cockpit was further upgraded with their multi-function displays to consist of over nineteen touch-screen displays which feature anti-glare technology and an ability for the data demonstrated to be projected onto the pilot's helmet-mounted display. The upgrade also introduced the ability for the aircraft to utilise conformal fuel tanks mounted on the top of the aircraft was introduced to help further it's combat range.
 
An electronic warfare variant of the Shrike was developed three years after it's introduction in 2003 with the intention of replacing older electronic warfare platforms with a model that shares the common airframe with the Shrikes. The aircraft is capable of conducting stand-off jamming missions along with providing escort jamming abilities to mobile fighter squadrons with the added bonus of it's common shape hiding it from being singled out.
 
The plane sacrifices it's 20mm cannon for it's electronic attack equipment which is stored in the airframe but projected from emitters in the wing tips which again sacrifice their pylons. The plane is still capable of carrying ordnance on it's under-wing pylons, although it's under-body pylon is typically reserved for a jamming and targeting pod. It's usual load-out also consists of fuel tanks for extending it's mission and anti-radiation missiles for conducting Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) missions.
 
== Variants ==
[[File:Super Hornet on flight deck.jpg|250px|thumbnail|right|Shrike parked on the flight-deck of a carrier.]]
; Shrike FGR.1/A: First single-seat version put into service in 2000. Still in use with training squadrons today.
; Shrike FGR.1/B: First two-seat version, put out of service entirely in 2004 following FGR.2 release for increased abilities.
; Shrike FGR.2/A: Introductions of more proficient radar systems, and air-to-air buddy refuelling system trial and enhanced weapon systems made the FGR.2/A the air superiority fighter of choice in it's service life. Put out of service in 2008 with the FGR.3 release.
; Shrike FGR.2/B: The FGR.2/B has remained in service despite the release of the FGR.3 to conduct training and with the Federation Guard. Versions operated today feature the refurbished cockpit layout but lack the high-capacity data relays the FGR.3 possesses
; Shrike FGR.3/A: The FGR.3/A is the single-seat variant of the aircraft. It is the more common version in usage.
; Shrike FGR.3/B: A two-seat version of the Shrike, the FGR.3/B is capable of conducting extended-duration strike missions against ground targets with the assistance of the weapons officer.
; Shrike FGR.4: A prototype single-seater variant with stealth features, developed onwards into the [[Aigios Super Shrike]].
; Shrike E.1: Trial model of the electronic warfare version, a direct copy of the FGR.2/B, relying on swapped out electronics to perform it's duties.
; Shrike E.2: First purpose-made version for electronic warfare. Still in use today with the Federation Guard.
; Shrike E.3: The E.3 is a dedicated electronic warfare platform that shares the same airframe as the FGR.3 duo for maintenance commonality and ease of integration for pilots.
 
== Operators ==
 
{{flag|Belfras}}
* [[Belfrasian Navy|Federation Navy]]
* [[Federation Guard (Belfras)|Federation Guard]]
 
== Specifications==
[[File:F18 schem 02.gif|400px|thumbnail|right|Orthographical view of a Shrike FGR.3/A]]
{{Aircraft specifications
<!-- If you do not understand how to use this template, please ask at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please answer the following questions: -->
|plane or copter?=plane
|jet or prop?=jet
<!-- Now, fill out the specs. Please include units where appropriate (main comes first, alt in parentheses). If an item doesn't apply, like capacity, leave it blank. For additional lines, end your alt units with a right parenthesis ")" and start a new, fully formatted line beginning with an asterisk "*" -->
|ref=
<!-- General characteristics -->
|crew= FGR.3/A: 1 (pilot), FGR.3/B 2 (pilot and weapons officer)
|length main= {{convert|18.31|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|length alt=
|span main= {{convert|13.62|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|span alt=
|height main= {{convert|4.88|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|height alt=
|area main=
|area alt=
|empty weight main={{convert|14552|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}
|empty weight alt=
|loaded weight main= {{convert|21320|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}
|loaded weight alt=
|max takeoff weight main= {{convert|29937|kg|lbs|abbr=on}}
|max takeoff weight alt=
|more general=
<!-- Powerplant -->
|engine (jet)=Augment GTO-440
|type of jet=[[turbofan]]s
|number of jets=2
|thrust main=
|thrust alt=
|afterburning thrust main=
|afterburning thrust alt=
<!-- Performance -->
|max speed main= {{convert|1190|mph|kph|abbr=on}}
|max speed alt=
|max speed more=
|ceiling main=50,000+ ft
|ceiling alt=15,000+ m
|range main= {{convert|1458|mi|km|abbr=on}}
|range alt=
|range more=clean plus two Polyboros
|combat radius main= {{convert|449|mi|km|abbr=on}}
|combat radius alt=
|combat radius more=
|ferry range main= {{convert|2,070|mi|km|abbr=on}}
|ferry range alt=
|ferry range more=
|climb rate main=
|climb rate alt=
|loading main=
|loading alt=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
<!-- Armament & avionics -->
|guns= 1× 20mm rotary cannon mounted in nose.
|hardpoints= 11 total: 2× wingtips, 6× under-wing, and 3× under-fuselage
|hardpoint capacity= 8,050 kg external fuel and ordnance
|rockets=
|missiles= <br>
** Air-to-Air missiles:
*** [[Arbelest missile]]
*** [[Polybolos missile]]
*** [[Oxybeles missile]]
** Air-to-ground missiles:
*** [[Scorpion missile]]
** Anti-Ship Missiles:
*** [[Foreganger Missile]]
|bombs=
|avionics=
* BriteCloud Radar Decoy System
* SABR-E Scaleable Multi-Function AESA Radar
* ISR-22 Decoy Deployment System
* Thunderbolt Combat Interface
* Attached Targeting pods
}}
 
[[Category:Combat Aircraft]]
[[Category:Belfrasian Military Aircraft]]

Latest revision as of 19:41, 24 November 2024

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