Messerschmitt Me 524

Messerschmitt Me 524
An Ordenite Luftwaffe Me 524 in flight
Role	Fighter
National origin	Ordenite Reich
Manufacturer	Messerschmitt
First flight	1994
Introduction	2003
Primary user	Ordenite Luftwaffe
Unit cost	$125 million (flyaway cost 2020)

The Messerschmitt Me 524 is a twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed by Messerschmitt for the Ordenite Luftwaffe. The aircraft's development began in the 1980s as the TKF-90 (Taktisches Kampfflugzeug 90, Tactical Combat Aircraft 90), a concept for an advanced fourth generation air superiority fighter aircraft to replace previous generation fighter aircraft in Ordenite Luftwaffe service.

Design

Airframe

The Me 524 is designed for high subsosnic and supersonic agility and combines a rear mounted tailless delta wing with a 45-degree sweep with close-coupled canards placed behind the canopy. The aircraft is inherently aerodynamically unstable and uses a quadruply redundant digital fly-by-wire control system to maintain stability during flight. Roll control is achieved via trailing edge elevons, pitch control is via the canards, and roll control is via rudders on the twin outwardly canted tail fins. The aircraft uses a tricycle landing gear system with a single dual-wheel landing gear in the front which retracts backwards and two single wheel gears in the rear which retract forwards. The aircraft features an extensive application of composite materials and is constructed by weight from 70% carbon fiber reinforced composites, 15% aluminum and titanium alloys, 12% glass fiber reinforced plastics, and 3% other materials. Although not designed as a stealth aircraft the aircraft does feature a number of radar signature reducing features including radar absorbing material (RAM) coatings on the forward fuselage and S-duct shaped intakes which partially conceal the engine fans from view.

Cockpit

The Me 524 features a glass cockpit with a Hands On Throttle-And-Stick (HOTAS) control design with center control stick and left hand throttles. The cockpit includes a wide-angle heads-up display (HUD) and three multi-function displays (MFD) which display navigational and mission data, aircraft status and electronic warfare information, and sensor and fire control information. The cockpit also includes integrated direct voice input (DVI) system which allows a range of aircraft functions to be controlled by voice commands from the pilot. A head-mounted display (HMD) system is integrated with the cockpit as standard and allows for the targeting of High Off-Boresight (HOBS) missiles. The pilot's seat is inclined rearwards at 30° to provide better pilot g-force tolerance during maneuvering and to provide a better external pilot view. Emergency pilot escape is provided by a "zero-zero" ejection seat with the canopy being jettisoned by two rocket motors. An on-board oxygen generating system and provides air to the pilot without having to use on board liquid oxygen cylinders.

Avionics

The Me 524's avionics suite includes a multi-mode radar, infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, GPS/INS navigation system, defensive aids suite (DAS), instrument landing system, and tactical air navigation and communications sensors. The avionic suite employs an integrated modular avionics (IMA) architecture which hosts all the aircraft's various avionics system on an internal high speed computer bus system.

The Me 524 was originally fitted with the FuG 436 "Neptun" (Neptune) radar, an X band passive electronically scanned array (PESA) multi-mode radar capable of detecting and tracking targets out to 250 kilometers with the ability to track up to 20 simultaneous targets and guide missiles to up to six targets at once. On current aircraft the FuG 436 "Neptun" has been replaced by the FuG 480 "Berlina", an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar employing over 2,000 GaAs T/R modules which provides greatly superior detection range and reliability compared to the previous generation radar. The FuG 480 radar supports various air-to-air modes as well as air-to-ground modes including high resolution synthetic aperture radar mapping and ground moving target indicator modes. The antenna is mounted a gimbal allowing the antenna to swivel 40° to either side of the centenarian, giving the aircraft's radar a field of view of 100° on either side of the aircraft's centerline. In addition to the radar the Me 524 carries an infrared search and track (IRST) system mounted forward of the windscreen on the left side of the aircraft which provides passive target detection and tracking to complement the radar in air-to-air detection mode.

The Me 524 employs an integrated defensive aids suite (DAS) which combines radar and laser warning receivers, active jammers, missile warning sensor and chaff/flare dispensers to protect the aircraft from air and surface launched missile threats. The combined ESM (electronic support measures) and radar-warning-receiver (RWR) system employs antennas blended into the aircraft's fuselage and tails which provide 360° detection and <1° accuracy direction finding of threat radars signals in the 0.5 -40 GHz range. Detected radar signals are identified using an on-board threat database which identifies the radar and displays it's characteristics and direction on the cockpit electronic warfare display. The system also includes four laser warning receivers (LWRs), two located on the forward fuselage in front of the canards and the other two located on the the rear fuselage behind the wing, which provide 360° detection of laser range finders (LRF), laser target designators (LTD), and laser beamriding threats (LBR) directed at the aircraft. The active jamming component of the defensive aids suite uses digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammers mounted in two removable wingtip pods with 360° azimuth coverage which provides for both noise and deception-jamming of hostile radars in the 2–18 GHz range. The jamming pods also each contain a single expendable towed radar decoy (TRD) which can be deployed at speeds up to mach 2 and is towed behind the pod using a 100 meter kevlar cable. The jamming system is controlled from one of the multi-function displays in the cockpit and when activated by the pilot will automatically attempt to jam any radar threats the DAS system deems a threat to the aircraft. The missile approach warning system (MAWS) component of the aircraft's DAS incorporates six solar blind UV imaging sensors placed around the aircraft's fuselage which provide completely passive 360° spherical detection and tracking of incoming missile threats. The aircraft's radar warning, laser warning, and missile warning sensors are connected to a common Countermeasure Signal Processor (CSP) unit which analyzes DAS sensor data, determines whether an incoming missile is radar and/or infrared or laser guided, and automatically deploys chaff or flares as necessary. The aircraft carries two wing mounted chaff/flare dispensers each which can dispense up to 160 packets of chaff or 160 flares.

Engines

The Me 524 is fitted with two Junkers Jumo 109-090 low-bypass afterburning turbofan engines each capable of providing up to 85 kN of dry thrust and 145 kN of thrust in afterburner. The engine combines various advanced features including integrally bladed rotors (IBRs(, single-crystal turbine blades, wide-chord fan blades, and an integrated health management and FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) system. The high specific thrust of the Jumo 109-090 engines allows the Me 524 to cruise at supersonic speeds without afterburners (supercruise) with a maximum supercruise speed of mach 1.2-1.3 with a typical air-to-air combat load. Air is fed into the engines using twin variable engine intake ramps located below a splitter plate under the front fuselage.

Armament

The Me 524 has a total of 13 hardpoints including 5 semi-recessed hardpoints under the fuselage and 4 hardpoints on each wing which can carry a combined 10,400 kg of external payload including air-to-air missiles, bombs, rockets, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, targeting an/or navigation and reconnaissance pods, and 1000-litre drop tanks. The Me 524 also carries a single Mauser BK-27 revolver cannon in the starboard wing root with 150 rounds of ammunition. The BK-27 is a single barrel, gas operated revolver cannon which fires 27 mm x 145 mm high-explosive minengeschoss (mine-shell) ammunition at a rate of fire of 1700 rounds per minute.

Specifications

General Characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 20.00 m
• Wingspan: 16.40 m
• Height: 5.60 m
• Wing Area: 81.6 m²
• Empty Weight: 16,500 kg
• Loaded Weight: 28,000 kg
• Max Takeoff Weight: 34,500 kg
• Powerplant: 2 × Junkers Jumo 109-090 Afterburning Turbofans, 85 kN thrust each dry, 145 kN thrust each afterburner

Performance

• Maximum Speed: Mach 2.3 (2,450 km/h) at altitude
• Range: 4,000 km
• Service Ceiling: 18,945 m
• G limits: +9 / -3
• Rate of Climb: 300 m/s
• Thrust/Weight: 1.05

Armament

• Guns: 1 × 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon with 150 rounds
• Payload: 10,400 kg on 13 external hardpoints