AFHB-4 Balena Heavy Bomber

Vulcan AFHB-4 Balena
A Cacertian Royal Air Fleet AFHB-4 on a maritime patrol
Role	Strategic heavy bomber
National origin	Cacerta
Manufacturer	Vulcan Aeronautics
First flight	3 October 1952
Introduction	11 March 1956
Status	In active service
Primary user	Cacertian Royal Air Fleet
Produced	1952—1993
Number built	100+

The Vulcan AFHB-4 Balena (Whale) is a four-engine, turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform currently in service with the Cacertian Royal Air Fleet. Introduced in 1956 as part of the Royal Air Fleet’s Strategic Long-Range Aviation division, it served as the main strategic bomber of the Air Fleet until it was superseded by the Spettro but continues to serve as a maritime patrol craft and reserve stand-off missile platform. It is expected to remain a part of the Air Fleet’s arsenal well into 2040.

Variants

AFHB-4

Production variant of the original AFHB-4; it was the only variant not fitted with a refueling probe.

Operators

• Cacerta; Cacertian Royal Air Fleet—112 AFHB-4s of differing variations in service with the Royal Air Fleet.

Specifications (AFSB-3)

General Characteristics

• Crew: 6 - 7 (pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, communications systems operator, navigator, tail gunner, additional navigator)
• Length: 46.2 m (151 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 50.1 m (164 ft 4 in)
• Height: 12.12 m (39 ft 9 in)
• Wing Area: 300 m² (3,300 ft²)
• Empty Weight: 90,000 kg (198,416 lbs)
• Gross Weight: 171,000 kg (376,990 lbs)
• Max Takeoff Weight: 188,000 kg (414,469 lbs)
• Powerplant: 4 × RKD-12 turboprop engines
• Propellers: 8-bladed contra-rotating fully-feathering constant-speed propellers

Performance

• Maximum Speed: Mach 0.8 (925 km/h, 575 mph) at altitude
• Cruising Speed: Mach 0.6 (710 km/h, 440 mph)
• Range: 15,000 km (9,300 mi, 8,100 nmi)
• Service Ceiling: 13,716 m (45,000 ft)
• Rate of Climb: 10 m/s (2,000 ft/min)
• Wing Loading: 606 kg/m² (124 lb/ft²)

Armament

• Payload: 45,000 kg (99,208 lb) within internal weapons bays