Talaharan Air Corps

UCDF Air Corps
UCDF Air Corps
ⵛⴰⵛⵀⴰⵜ ⵏ'ⵀⴰⵔⴱⵉⴳⵏⴰ; Šašhat N'Harbigna
	Roundel of the Talaharan Air Corps
Active	Since 1922; 102 years ago
Country	Talahara
Type	Air force
Role	Aerial warfare
Size	438 aircraft; 31,400 personnel
Part of	United Communes Defense Forces
Colours	Black; Red; Steel blue
Engagements	List Liberation of Kirthan;
Commanders
Commander-in-Chief	Executive Council
Executor of Defense	Taos Jebar
Defense Committee Senior Representative	General Zidan Šawis
Defense Committee Enlisted Representative	Wing Sergeant-Major Siman Anamar
Insignia
Roundel
Roundel (low visibility)
Fin flash

The Talaharan Air Corp, (Takelat: Šašhat N'Harbigna N'Talahara; ⵛⴰⵛⵀⴰⵜ ⵏ'ⵀⴰⵔⴱⵉⴳⵏⴰ ⵏ'ⵜⴰlⴰⵀⴰⵔⴰ), officially the United Communes Defense Forces Air Corps, is the aerial warfare branch of the United Communes Defense Forces. The UCDF Air Corps has a fleet of 432 aircraft, including 285 fixed-wing combat aircraft. The branch consists of 31,375 personnel with further administrative assistance from the Black Guard Corps as well. The senior representative of the Air Corps at the Defense Committee is General Zidan Šawis. Wing Sergeant-Major Siman Anamar holds the elected representative seat.

The main missions of the Talaharan Air Corps are air defense, local air superiority, and aerial border patrolling. The Air Corps also supports the Navy Corps in littoral defense and maritime aviation.

The UCDF Air Corps was founded in 1922 with the advent of combat-effective fixed-winged aircraft. Previously, military aviation and aerial reconnaissance units were maintained by both the Army Corps and the Navy Corps. The early Air Corps had two major divisions: the wing division and the airship division. The airship division declined in use and development as fixed-wing aircraft advanced to faster, well-armed, and comparatively more durable units. In 1936, the Air Corps was reorganized with airships taking an ancillary role.

The new organization replaced the two air divisions with a set of air groups under a central command group. At present, there are six air groups, including the command group. Each air group generally has two wings under their command. Each wing has its own airbase, housing up to three squadrons.

History

Talaharan semi-rigid airship, c. 1908

Prior to the inception of the Air Corps, balloons, airships, and early fixed-wing aircraft had been employed by both the Army Corps and Navy corps as observation platforms and limited bombing units. The Second West Scipian War saw the introduction of massed air doctrine in the region. While the United Communes of Talahara did not participate in the conflict, independent observers reported on novel use cases and the development of air doctrine to the military theorists of Talahara. In 1922, the UCDF Air Corps was founded as the fourth branch of the Defense Forces.

AGMA T47 Swift fighter plane, c. 1937

The new Air Corps was divided into two divisions. The first division consolidated the dirigible airship assets of the Army Corps and Navy Corps into a single organization, with airship groups as the immediate subgroup assigned to land or sea missions. The second, initially smaller division was the wing division, with three wing groups eventually filled with three squadrons of fixed-wing craft each. Throughout the 1920s, the wing division grew substantially, with three wing groups growing to five by the end of the decade. Fixed-wing technology was also advancing rapidly, accelerated in Talahara with the 1933 Joint Development Agreement with Tyreseia and the covert acquisition of foreign aircraft. At the same time, the airship division remained largely stagnant. Faster fixed-winged aircraft were able to enter and exit target zones for reconnaissance faster than the airships, and the dirigibles were too slow to evade fire from planes in exercises, even despite the fact that they could bombard targets from higher elevations. As the use cases for airships diminished, the airship division began to crawl back their numbers.

In 1936, the Air Corps was reorganized into four air groups, with wings organized beneath. The airship division was effectively folded into the fixed-wing division, with remaining airships merged into airlift or reconnaissance wings. For all intents and purposes though, the United Communes terminated further developments of airship technology. Fixed-wing aircraft would continue to advance rapidly. By the second half of the 1940s, jet engines were being developed for military applications. Talahara and Tyreseia developed a testbed jet engine in 1948 and had its first prototype jet fighter in the air by 1950. The AGMA P58 Lightning first entered into active service in 1951.

AGMA P58 Lightning jet fighter-bomber, c. 1953

The Liberation of Kirthan was the first service-wide deployment of the UCDF, though only a handful of jet fighters was available for deployment during the operation. The Army Corps's land invasion of the Yisraeli-backed Protectorate of Tarshish was backed by naval landings and air power. In addition to bombing strategic targets at the onset of the raid, Talaharan aircraft maintained air superiority and provided close air support for ground troops. The Liberation took two weeks, at the end of which the Protectorate surrendered and the territory was restored to the United Communes.

Despite the limited participation of jet fighters in the Liberation, the operation had served as a test case for several technologies and the Rubric Coast was quickly on the heels of other international developments in jet aircraft with the first test flight of the AGMA P61 Lightning II in 1956. The United Aeronautics Syndicate was established as Talahara's first wholly-domestic aircraft design and production firm in 1955 and their first combat aircraft, the N65 Vindicator entered into service in 1961, quickly becoming the mainline fighter of the Talaharan Air Corps by the end of the decade. The introduction of the Vindicator also saw the air doctrine pivot towards an emphasis on air superiority and interceptors, paralleling advances in armour and artillery which, in theory, mitigated the loss of effective close air support.

By the latter half of the 1970s, military thinking had tempered on pure air superiority doctrine. Thus, the necessity for a multirole fighter had become evident to the Air Corps. The NA87 Spirit introduced the United Communes's first multirole fighter. Less than a decade later, a dedicated attack aircraft variant was developed from the Spirit, the NA87/95 Sunray. The most recent development in the Talahara fleet is the NA107 Chainbreaker, another multirole aircraft with greater payload capacity and advanced systems which entered service in 2004. Over the past two decades, active service aircraft have undergone major upgrades in payloads, electrical systems, and engine power.

Structure and organization

Air Command & Development Group	Air Group 1	Air Group 2	Air Group 3
1 Wing - Air Command & Flight School 5× NA87/95T Trainer 6× MT81 Dragonfly 11 Wing - R&D X48/70 Chainbreaker Classified projects UAV Command	2 Wing 15× NA107 Chainbreaker 15× NA87 Spirit 15× NA87/95 Sunray 4 Wing 15× NA107 Chainbreaker 15× NA87 Spirit 15× NA87/95 Sunray	5 Wing 21× TMT72 Griffon Vulture 8× MI74 Leopard 1× TAT116 Lifeline 15× MT97 Heron 9 Wing 12× MI74/C9 Gannet 6× NT70 Seamaster	8 Wing 45× MI74/C10 Scarab 12 Wing 15× NA107 Chainbreaker 15× NA87 Spirit 15× NA87/95 Sunray 17 Wing 30× NA107 Chainbreaker 6× NB68 Warlord
Missile Command	Air Group 4	Air Group 5	Air Group 6
1^st Air Defense Battalion 6× VT3 Sky Serpent SAM 3× 15T0 Starstrike Interceptor 2^nd Air Defense Battalion 6× VT3 Sky Serpent SAM 3× 15T0 Starstrike Interceptor	6 Wing 15× NA107 Chainbreaker 2× WMT103 Raven 2× MT22 Dragonfly 2× TMT72/96 Black Vulture 14 Wing 30× NA107 Chainbreaker 15× NA87/95 Sunray	18 Wing 15× NA107 Chainbreaker 2× WMT103 Raven 2× MT22 Dragonfly 2× TMT72/96 Black Vulture 20 Wing 30× NA107 Chainbreaker 15× NA87/95 Sunray	7 Wing 21× TMT72 Griffon Vulture 8× MI74 Leopard 1× TAT116 Lifeline 15× MT97 Heron 10 Wing 36× TNM91 Razorwind

The UCDF Air Corps has eight organizational groups, six of which are standard air groups and two of which are special command groups. The first command group is the Air Command & Development Group. Air Command has two wings: 1 Wing - Air Command & Flight School and 11 Wing - Research & Development. 1 Wing includes both the central headquarters for the branch and flight schools for helicopters, fixed-wing rotorcraft, and jet aircraft primarily based out of Gawawa. The second command group, Missile Command, is made up of two air defense battalions which are armed with anti-air and missile interceptor missiles deployed from various emplacements across Talahara. The six air groups each contain a mixture of multirole combat wings and special service wings, including airlift, search and rescue, maritime aviation, and attack helicopter wings.

Equipment

Aircraft

Fixed-wing jet aircraft
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Quantity	Notes
NA107 Chainbreaker		Talahara	Multirole combat aircraft	165	4+/++ generation, two 30mm internal autocannons and 14 hardpoints with 9.5 tonnes ordnance capacity
NA87/95 Sunray		Talahara	Attack aircraft	75	4th generation, 9 hardpoints with 6.5 tonnes ordnance capacity
NA87 Spirit		Talahara	Multirole combat aircraft	45	4th generation, two 30mm internal autocannons and 9 hardpoints with 6.3 tonnes ordnance capacity
NB68 Warlord		Talahara	Strategic bomber/reconnaissance aircraft	6	Bomb bays with 10.7 tonnes ordnance capacity
TAT116 Lifeline		Tsurushima	Aerial tanker	2	Fuel capacity of 111 tonnes, cargo capacity of 45 tonnes
Fixed-wing propeller aircraft
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Quantity	Notes
TMT72 Griffon Vulture		Tsurushima	Transport aircraft	42	Cargo capacity of 16 tonnes, transport capacity of 93 infantry, 88 paratroopers, or 62 stretchers
MT97/C1 Egret		Talahara	Transport aircraft	20	Cargo capacity of 7.5 tonnes, transport capacity of 78 infantry or 52 stretchers
MT97 Heron		Talahara	Transport aircraft	10	Cargo capacity of 5.5 tonnes, transport capacity of 48 infantry or 32 stretchers
WMT103 Raven		Wazheganon	AEW&C aircraft	4
TMT72/96 Black Vulture		Tsurushima	ELINT aircraft	4
NT70 Seamaster		Rubric Coast	Maritime patrol aircraft	6	Carries two anti-ship missiles and internal bays for 2 tonnes of bombs, mines, or torpedoes
MT81 Dragonfly		Talahara	ISTAR/trainer aircraft	10
MX115 Fang		Talahara	Reconaissance UAV	3	Unmanned
MX118 Claw		Rubric Coast Tsurushima	MALE UAV	5	Unmanned
Rotary-wing aircraft
Model	Image	Origin	Type	Quantity	Notes
TNM91 Razorwind		Tsurushima	Scout/attack helicopter	36	One 30mm autocannon, 6 hardpoints with a capacity of 2 tonnes
MI74 Leopard		Rubric Coast	Utility helicopter	16	Can transport up to 16 passengers or 10 stretchers, can be equipped with a door-mounted 20mm autocannon and two 7.5mm machine guns
MI74/C10 Scarab		Rubric Coast	Medevac/tactical transport helicopter	45	Can transport up to 28 passengers or 18 stretchers, can be equipped with two 7.5mm machine guns and two unguided rocket pods
MI72/C9 Gannet		Rubric Coast	SAR helicopter	12	Can transport up to 24 passengers or 16 stretchers

Missiles

Model	Origin	Type	Notes
VT3 Sky Serpent	Wazheganon	Surface-to-air missile	11 km range 9 km flight ceiling 1,200 m/s top speed 73kg overall weight 13kg warhead
15T0 Starstrike	Wazheganon	Missile interceptor	120 km range 20 km flight ceiling 1,531 m/s top speed 450 kg overall weight 15 kg warhead
ET0 Dark Sky	Wazheganon	Cruise missile	560 km range 280 m/s top speed 1,300 kg overall weight 450 kg warhead
ET1 Black Earth	Wazheganon Talahara	Anti-runway cruise missile	140 km range 280 m/s top speed 1,230 kg overall weight 10 × 50 kg submunitions
WXT3 Armiger	Wazheganon	Anti-radiation missile	200 km range 990 m/s top speed 220 kg overall weight 20 kg warhead
0T1 White Night	Rubric Coast	Air-to-air missile	60 km range 1,400 m/s top speed 112 kg overall weight 12 kg warhead
66T1 Black Night	Rubric Coast	Air-to-air missile	200 km range 1,550 m/s top speed 190 kg overall weight 25 kg warhead
TXT98 Shortbow	Tsurushima	Air-to-air missile	35 km range 1,000 m/s top speed 95 kg overall weight 10 kg warhead
TXT99 Longbow	Tsurushima	Air-to-air missile	120 km range 1,500 m/s top speed 222 kg overall weight 20 kg submunitions
AM39T2 Shipbreaker	Rubric Coast Wazheganon	Anti-ship missile	70 km range 319 m/s top speed 780 kg overall weight 165 kg warhead
50T0 Sabre	Talahara	Precision-guided munition	50 km range 100 m/s top speed 340 kg overall weight 250 kg warhead
30T0 Falcon	Wazheganon	MCLOS missile	12 km range 10 km flight ceiling 450 m/s top speed 520 kg overall weight 240 kg warhead
24T1 Sunburst	Talahara	Air-to-surface missile	11 km range 450 m/s top speed 49 kg overall weight 9 kg warhead
27T4 Lance	Wazheganon	Anti-tank missile	4.5 km range 240 m/s top speed 24.5 kg overall weight 6.5 kg warhead

Ranks and insignia

Officer ranks

	OF-9	OF-8	OF-7	OF-6	OF-5	OF-4	OF-3	OF-2	OF-1
Insignia
Takelat name	ⴰⵎⵖⴰⵔⵉⴳⵏⴰ	ⴰⵎⵖⴰⵔⵉⴳⵏⴰⵏⴰⵢⵉⴱ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⵣⴻⵔⴷⴰ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵔ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ ⵏ'ⴰⴼⴰⵍⵉⵙ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔ	ⴰⵎⵣⵡⴰⵔⵛⵉⵔⵡⴰ	ⵎⴰⴽⵜⵉⴱⵙⵉⵏ	ⵎⴰⴽⵜⵉⴱⵢⴰⵏ
Transliteration	Amɣarigna	Amɣarignanayib	Amzwar N’Zerda	Amzwar N'Ifrar	Amzwar N'Afalis	Amzwar	Amzwarširwa	Maktibsin	Maktibyan
Translation	General	Vice-General	Group Commander	Wing Commander	Squadron Commander	Commander	Adjutant- Commander	Lieutenant II	Lieutenant I

Enlisted ranks

	OR-9	OR-8	OR-7	OR-6	OR-5	OR-4	OR-3	OR-2	OR-1
Insignia
Takelat name	ⵎⵧⴽⴰⴷⴻⵎⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵔ	ⵎⵧⴽⴰⴷⴻⵎⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⴰⴼⴰⵍⵉⵙ	ⵎⵧⴽⴰⴷⴻⵎⵀⵍⵓ ⵏ'ⴰⵢⴰⵍ	ⵎⵧⴽⴰⴷⴻⵎⵀⵍⵓ ⵉ'ⵎⴰⵎⴰⵜⴻⵔ	ⵎⵧⴽⴰⴷⴻⵎ ⵉ'ⵎⴰⵎⴰⵜⴻⵔ	ⵅⵓⵛⴽⵔⴰⴷ	ⵅⵓⵛⵙⵉⵏ	ⵅⵓⵛⵢⴰⵏ	ⵜⴰⵍⵉⴱⵉⴳⵏⴰ
Transliteration	Mokademhlu N'Ifrar	Mokademhlu N'Afalis	Mokademhlu N'Ayal	Mokademhlu I'Mamater	Mokadem I'Mamater	Xuškrad	Xušsin	Xušyan	Talibigna
Translation	Wing Sergeant-Major	Squadron Sergeant-Major	Flight Sergeant-Major	Watch Sergeant-Major	Watch Sergeant	Aviator III	Aviator II	Aviator I	Air Cadet