Cheppali GF-19 Garuda

GF-19 Garuda
Role	Multirole fighter
Manufacturer	Cheppali International
First flight	20 April 1990
Introduction	9 July 1995
Status	In active service
Primary user	Tennai
Program cost	US$30 billion
Unit cost	$25 million

The Cheppali International GF-19 Garuda is a Tennaiite twin-engine, all-weather multirole fighter designed and built by Cheppali International. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Garuda is intended to perform air supremacy, interdiction, aerial reconnaissance, in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions.

Many of the aircraft’s avionics and features take advantage of the work carried out on the GF-20 Berunda and expand upon it. Some features that were included during development were direct voice input, AESA radar, and an integrated IRST sensor. The aircraft is available in two main variants: Garuda A twin-seat land based version and the Garuda B twin-seat carrier-based version.

Design

Radar Signature

Survivability is an important feature of the Garuda’s design. The Tennaiite Air Force and Navy took a "balanced approach" to survivability in its design. This means that it does not rely on very low-observable technology, i.e. stealth. Instead, its design incorporates a combination of signature reduction, advanced electronic-warfare capabilities, reduced ballistic vulnerability, use of standoff weapons, and innovative tactics that collectively enhance the safety of the fighter and crew in an affordable manner.

The Garuda's radar cross-section was reduced greatly from some aspects, mainly the front and rear. The design of the engine inlets reduces the aircraft's frontal radar cross-section. The alignment of the leading edges of the engine inlets is designed to scatter radiation to the sides. Fixed fan-like reflecting structures in the inlet tunnel divert radar energy away from the rotating fan blades.

The Garuda also makes considerable use of panel joint serration and edge alignment. Considerable attention has been paid to the removal or filling of unnecessary surface join gaps and resonant cavities. The Garuda uses perforated panels that appear opaque to radar waves at the frequencies used to cover various accessory exhaust and inlet ducts. Careful attention has been paid to the alignment of many panel boundaries and edges, to direct reflected waves away from the aircraft in uniformly narrow angles.

While the GF-19 is not a stealth fighter, it will have a frontal radar cross-section an order of magnitude smaller than prior generation fighters. Additional changes for reducing RCS can be installed on an as-needed basis.

Cockpit

The Garuda's glass cockpit was designed around the principle of data fusion—a central computer selects and prioritizes information to display to pilots for simpler command and control. The primary flight controls are arranged in a hands-on-throttle-and-stick (HOTAS)-compatible configuration, with a right-handed side-stick controller and a left-handed throttle. The WSO (Weapon systems officer) is also provided with flight cobtrols and can take over flying, though with reduced visibility. The seats are inclined rearwards at an angle of 29° to improve g-force tolerance during maneuvering and to provide a less restricted external pilot view. An intelligent flight suit worn by the pilot and WSO is automatically controlled by the aircraft to counteract in response to calculated g-forces.

Great emphasis has been placed on pilot and WSO workload minimisation across all operations. Among the features of the highly digitized cockpit is an integrated direct voice input (DVI) system, allowing a range of aircraft functions to be controlled by spoken voice commands, simplifying the pilot's and WSO’s access to many of the controls. The DVI is capable of managing radio communications and countermeasures systems, the selection of armament and radar modes, and controlling navigational functions. For safety reasons, DVI is deliberately not employed for safety-critical elements of the aircraft's operation, such as the final release of weapons.

For displaying information gathered from a range of sensors across the aircraft, the cockpit features a wide-angle holographic head-up display (HUD) system, two head-down flat-panel color multi-function displays (MFDs) as well as a central collimated display. These displays have been strategically placed to minimize pilot and WSO distraction from the external environment. Some displays feature a touch interface for ease of human–computer interaction (HCI). A head-mounted display (HMD) has been integrated to take full advantage of its AAMs missiles. The cockpit is fully compatible with night vision goggles (NVG).

In the area of life support, the Garuda is fitted with an ejection seat, capable of operation at zero speed and zero altitude. An on-board oxygen generating system, eliminates the need to carry bulky oxygen canisters. The Garuda's flight computer has been programmed to counteract pilot disorientation and to employ automatic recovery of the aircraft during negative flight conditions. The auto-pilot and autothrottle controls are also integrated, and are activated by switches located on the primary flight controls.

Avionics

The Garuda’s core avionics systems employ an integrated modular avionics (IMA). This architecture hosts all the main aircraft functions such as the flight management system, data fusion, fire control, and the man-machine interface. According to Cheppali, the IMA greatly assists combat operations via data fusion, the continuous integration and analysis of the various sensor systems throughout the aircraft, and has been designed for the incorporation of new systems and avionics throughout the Garuda's service life.

The Garuda features an integrated defensive-aids system, which protects the aircraft against airborne and ground threats. Various methods of detection, jamming, and decoying have been incorporated, and the system has been designed to be highly reprogrammable for addressing new threats and incorporating additional sub-systems in the future.

The Garuda has a quadruplex digital fly-by-wire system, as well as a digital flight-control system that detects and corrects for battle damage. Initial production models used the ML/M-2032 radar, later replaced by the ML/M-2052 active electronically scanned array (AESA). The ATFLIR (Advanced Targeting Forward Looking InfraRed), is the main electro-optical sensor and laser designator pod for the Garuda. The communications equipment consist of an AN/ARC-210 VHF/UHF radio and a MIDS-JTRS low volume terminal for HAVE QUICK, SINCGARS and Link 16 connectivity.

Specifications (Garuda A)

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 18.7 m (61 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)
• Height: 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 73 m² (790 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 13,000 kg (28,660 lb)
• Gross weight: 16,100 kg (35,494 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 11,000 l (2,900 US gal; 2,400 imp gal) internal fuel
• Powerplant: 2 × Gikrabanda G1120-229 afterburning turbofan, 130 kN (29,000 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

• Maximum speed: 2,901.78 km/h (1,803 mph; 1,567 kn)
• Maximum speed: Mach 2.35
• Range: 4,000 km (2,485 mi; 2,160 nmi)
• Combat range: 2,000 km (1,243 mi; 1,080 nmi)
• Ferry range: 10,000 km (6,214 mi; 5,400 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 m (66,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 350 m/s (69,000 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 220 kg/m² (45 lb/sq ft)

Armament

• Guns: 1 × 30 mm Kala cannon
• Hardpoints: 12 total;6 × under-wing, and 6× under-fuselage pylon stations with a capacity of up to 9,000 kg (20,000 lb) of stores,
• Rockets:
  
  • 4 x rocket pods (each with 19 x 70 mm rockets)
  • 4 x rocket pods (each with 4 x 217 mm rockets)
• Missiles:
  
  • Air-to-air missiles:
    • Katteri-7 MRMS
    • Katteri-9 SRMS
    • Katteri-120 ALRMS
    • Steel Arrow VADMS
    • Viper-4
    • Viper-5
  • Air-to-surface missiles:
    • AGM-65 Koḷḷaikkāraṉ
    • AGM-88 ARMS
    • AGM-158 JASSM
    • AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon
  • Anti-ship missiles:
    • Boeing Harpoon
    • Penguin missile
• Bombs:
  
  • CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
  • CBU-89 Gator mine
  • CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
  • Mark 84
  • Mark 83
  • Mark 82
  • GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
  • GBU-10 Paveway II
  • GBU-12 Paveway II
  • GBU-24 Paveway III
  • GBU-27 Paveway III
  • Joint Direct Attack Munition
  • Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser
  • B61 nuclear bomb
  • B83 nuclear bomb
• Others:
  • SUU-42A/A Flares/Infrared decoys dispenser pod and chaff pod or
  • AN/ALQ-131 & AN/ALQ-184 ECM pods or
  • LANTIRN, Lockheed Martin Sniper XR & LITENING targeting pods or
  • Up to 3 × 660 US gallon drop tanks for ferry flight/extended range/loitering time

Avionics

• ML/M-2052 AESA radar
• ACE-6 computer
• Razor 112 Helmet-mounted display system