Gruening F9M Osprey

Gruening F9M Osprey
An F9M on the deck of the Marina during carrier trials in 2021.
Role	Stealth aircraft Multirole fighter
National origin	Meridon
Manufacturer	Gruening Defense Aerospace
First flight	14 August 2021
Introduction	17 August 2023
Status	In limited service
Primary user	Meridon Defense Forces
Produced	2021-present
Number built	21 initial production, 10 pre-production
Unit cost	86.1 million MD (F9M A)

The Gruening F9M Osprey is a Meridonian carrier-capable, supersonic, single engine, single seat, twin tail, stealth jet fighter, created by Gruening as a readily-available derivative of the F7M Wedgetail to respond to an urgent requirement of the Meridon Defense Forcess for the acceleration of its fighter modernization program. Utilizing a large pool of common components including engines, control surfaces, avionics, weapons systems, and software,

Envisioned to supplement and replace older models of aircraft in service with the Meridon Defense Forces and increase commonality, the project is unique in that it is the first joint venture of a fighter aircraft from the initiation of the project to include both Air Forces and Navy design inputs since the 1960s- prior, Air Force fighter designs had fallen through, resulting to the utilization of Navy designs, as was the case for the F5M Lynx and the F6M Wasp programs.

The Wedgetail was designed from its inception to be a multi-role oriented stealth fighter capable of most combat mission sets required of fighter aircraft, including air superiority, ground attack, close air support, electronics warfare, maritime strike, reconnaissance, interdiction, and the employment of standoff weaponry. The Wedgetail is also unique in that it is one of the few aircraft globally that features compatibility for both 'probe and drogue' and boom- method refueling, owing to differing operational requirements from the Air Forces and Navy; this being along with the Ausaine F6M Wasp.

Marketed as a 5.5 generation fighter, the aircraft's software and airframe are designed with modular architecture to be capable of future upgrades, as this aircraft is planned to serve for the majority of the 21st century.

The Wedgetail is currently being introduced to flying squadrons in the Air Forces and Navy where it is replacing both F5M and F6M airframes in certain capacities.

Design

Cockpit displays of the F7M Wedgetail, seen here behind a B6M. Along with full-panel glass displays, the Wedgetail includes a number of innovative design features, including the lack of a traditional heads-up display for a helmet-integrated display and the utilization of a side-stick control mechanism.

Operators

Current Operators

• Meridon- 22 in service.

Specifications (F7M)

Initial production variant F9M A.

General Characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 51 ft 6 in (15.7m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft 2 in (11m)
• Height: 14 ft (4.2m)
• Wing Area: 510 sq ft (47 m2)
• Empty Weight: 28,320lb (12,487 kg)
• Max Takeoff Weight: 51,020 lb (23,142 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hollon AFT11 afterburning turbofan producing 28,500lbf (military power) or 43,500lbf (afterburner)
• Fuel Capacity: 14,500lb internal, 2x optional 267gal (1,756lb/797kg) external tanks

Performance

• Maximum Speed: Mach 2.02 (2494 km/h, 1,549 mph) at altitude
• Service Ceiling: 54,000 ft (16,459) +
• Rate of Climb: 41,000 ft/min plus (208 m/s)
• Wing Loading: 100 lb/sq ft (492 kg/m2)
• Thrust/Weight: 0.85 at maximum gross weight

Armament

• Guns: 1 × Type 40 25mm cannon with 450 rounds
• Payload: 6x internal hardpoints, with option for 4x wing-mounted hardpoints, capacity of 17,000lb (7711kg)
  • 4x centerline internal weapons bay hardpoints
  • 2x fuselage weapons bay hardpoints for SRAAM/equivalent
  • 4x optional (2x per wing) external hardpoints

Avionics

• TA-46E active electronically scanned array radar
• AE-161D radar warning reciever
• AO-62 electro-optical distributed aperture system (EO-DAS)
• AE-202 Electronic Warfare/ Defensive Electronic Countermeasures System
• AO-104 electro-optical multifunction targeting system