Arthuristan Dynamics/Ahuriri Aerospace Cyclone
| Arthuristan Dynamics Cyclone | |
|---|---|
| |
| Arthuristan Dynamics Cyclone | |
| Role | Heavy tactical fighter |
| Manufacturer | Arthuristan Dynamics/Falcus Designs |
| First flight | 1973 |
| Introduction | 1975 (FR1), 1988 (FRG2) |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | Commonwealth Navy (Arthurista), Commonwealth Air Force, Imperial_Air_Legion_(Tarsas) |
The Cyclone is an heavy tactical fighter, jointly developed by Arthurista, Onekawa-Nukanoa and Tarsas. Design work began in the early-70's, and accelerated in the wake of the First Abalessian War, when the necessity of a high-end air superiority fighter to replace the Continental Reaper was highlighted. Its designers believed that fighting at close quarters remained an integral part of air combat and that the new concept must be maneouverable at subsonic and transonic speeds as well as being a good missile-armed supersonic interceptor.
The Cyclone was originally to be replaced by the Tempest advanced 4.5th-generation and UFC F-29 Hurricane 5th-generation fighters in recent years. However, with costs overruns and delays repeatedly postponing the latter's large-scale introduction, and with the Tempest lacking the Cyclone's endurance and payload, many Cyclones have been refurbished and upgraded to the FGR.3 standard and it is envisaged that they will remain in service for decades to come.
Cyclone FR.1
The Cyclone project was intended to create a heavy naval fighter/interceptor to succeed the F-4 Phantom. Unlike many contemporary models, Arthuristan Dynamics rejected variable-sweep wings in favour of fixed wings for ease of maintenance in favour of mid-mounted swept-wings with vortex-inducing strakes/leading-edge root extensions for enhanced lift, high-alpha performance and subsonic/trans-sonic turning capability. The extra-lift generated by the wide body also contributed to keeping wing-loading to a minimum. The Cyclone was also designed to have excellent thrust-to-weight ratio due to its pair of Arthuristan Dynamics E74 turbofans, which developed 62kn of dry thrust and 124kn with afterburners. Its prowess as an interceptor was enhanced by its Mark 74 radar, capable of simultaneously tracking 24 aerial targets and engaging six, as well as possessing look down/shoot down capability. It was also the first Arthuristan fighter to feature an Infra-red search and tracking system. The resulting fighter was a competitive performer in both BVR interception and WVR combat, incorporating numerous innovations such as digital fly by wire, glass cockpit and HOTAS control-scheme.
Cyclone FGR.2
The Cyclone was originally only capable of air-to-air combat. The Mark 2 upgrade of the late-80s incorporated the Mark-80 radar, which retains the air to air capabilities of the Mark 74, but with additional air to ground mode. Together with the integration of targeting/navigation FLIR pods and tac-jammer, the Cyclone has matured into a formidable strike platform, able to take on missions previously flown by dedicated attack aircrafts such as the Arthuristan Dynamics Mercury. The aircraft's assumption of strike missions also led to an upgrade of its electronic warfare capabilities, with the introduction of the AN/ALQ-135 jammer. The engines were slightly uprated to the E-74D configuration, capable of generating 130kn of thrust with afterburners. Conformal fuel tanks significantly increased the aircraft's combat endurance, as well as relieving hardpoints for armaments instead of drop-tanks.
Another 80s-era upgrade integrated three key pieces of technology: off-boresight missile, helmet-mounted display and IRST for significantly improved lethality in WVR combat.
Cyclone FGR.3
The Cyclone was originally to be replaced by two advanced fighter designs - the UFC F-29 Hurricane as a 'silver bullet' force for the most demanding and dangerous operations, and the UFC Tempest as a general mutlirole workhorse. However, operational studies soon discovered that the costs of advanced 5th generation designs limits the number of Spitfire squadrons that the CAF and Fleet Air Arm may bring into service, and while the Tempest is a highly capable aircraft there remains a need for a heavy, long ranged tactical fighter.
The decision was soon made to upgrade the Cyclone. Originally, the 'Super Cyclone' design was floated, featuring canards and stealth-coating. This was pared back to a more limited deep-upgrade package which would refurbish and 'zero-hour' a reduced fleet of Cyclones, which would allow them to remain in operation until at least the mid-century.
Offensive sensors
The most important upgrades were to the aircraft's avionics and countermeasures. The FGR3 features the new Mark 4 LPI AESA radar. This is complemented by L-band emitters on the wingtips and tail, optimised for the detection of low-RCS aircraft at long range. Unlike earlier fixed plate PESA and AESA radars, the Mark 4 is tilted at an angle and mounted on a rotary 'wide field-of-view' repositioner. This enables the aircraft to overcome the fixed plate radar's issue with power drop-off at the azimuth units and allows the aircraft to track targets and guide missiles towards them at much more acute angles than before, enabling him to break earlier in a BVRAAM duel and thereby increasing his survivability.
The FGR3 has two sets of offensive IR sensors. The first, the nose-mounted AEOTS (Advanced Electro-Optical Targeting System) IRST, was designed for long range air to air detection (up to 100km). It has been upgraded with Quantum Well Imaging Photodetectors ("QWIP") technology, able to simultaneously image in multiple wavebands, including very long wavebands emitted by cool surfaces, significantly enhancing its ability to detect aircraft designed with IR stealth in mind. The second offensive IR sensor is the ARBALEST targeting pod, which includes a forward-looking thermal imaging sensor, an electro-optical TV camera and a laser rangefinder/target indicator.
Defensive sensors
The FGR3 introduced two early-warning systems. The first, the Hydra Receiver Array, is composed of a network of radar-warning receivers. While primarily intended as a defensive suite, its ability to detect low-powered beams from LPI AESA radars also allows it to be used as a powerful passive sensor with all-round, spherical coverage. This is complemented by the Silver Bow DASS (Defensive Aid Sub-System), featuring six IR detector apertures placed around the fuselage to provide all-round passive surveillance and missile-launch detection capability. Aside from their defensive function, they can also assist the pilot in acquiring targets through entirely passive means and cue weapons towards these targets.
Countermeasures
The original Cyclone relied on conventional chaff and flare dispensers to defeat radar- and infrared-guided munitions respectively.
The FGR.3 introduced a number of improvements derived from the Tempest project. The first of these is the ERIS EW Suite. Eris controls the aircraft's phased array radar jammer and, aided by the DASS system, can detect, sample, track and jam radar signals using DRFM technology. This upgrade is aimed at allowing the CAF to retire specialist electronic warfare aircraft such as the Mercury ECR, as well as significantly reducing reliance on expensive 5th-generation fighters to penetrate highly protected airspace defended by integrated air defence systems.
The updated AESA radar also has an electronic attack mode which can be used to incapacitate hostile radars. The ERIS is effective against low-frequency (VHF/UHF) search radars as well as high frequency fire control radars.
Another FGR.3 upgrade package is the BriteCloud Digital Radio Frequency Memory (DRFM) jammer, a disposable smart radar decoy device which is a direct replacement of legacy chaff systems, although it makes use of legacy old chaff-dispensing devices. Instead of flares, which are increasingly ineffective against thermal imaging technology, the FGR.3 makes use of a Directional Infrared Counter Measures suite, which utilises infra-red lasers to jam, degrade or destroy the IIR-guidance package on the tip of a missile through its aperture.
Data fusion
The avionics’ ‘data fusion’ capability allows for the presentation of the high volume and complex load of information from all these sensors as a single, easy to use picture projected into the TopSight Helmet Mounted Display, allowing for maximum combat effectiveness and minimal workload for the pilot. The combination of the helmet mounted display and spherical, all-round coverage sensors also allows the pilot to make maximum use of the capability of high off-boresight weapons in close WVR air to air combat.
Networking
Also upgraded was its networking capability. It has a new communications suite, combining Link-16 and MADL, allowing secure uplink with the CAF’s cutting edge stealth fighters through the ARTEMIS battlenet. This not only allows the fighters to share information with other units, but also enable them to share tracking, targeting and other data over the battlenet, allowing them to warn each other of potential dangers immediately after detection by one platform and guide each others' weapons towards their targets.
Kinematic improvements
Finally, the Cyclone's already impressive kinetic performance envelope was further improved with the addition of maneouverable canards, uprated engines and dual-axis thrust vectoring nozzles. The new E-20 engines produce 145kn of thrust with afterburners and allow the aircraft to supercruise without when not heavily laden, while the new canards and 2D thrust-vectoring nozzles significantly enhanced the aircraft's agility in both BVR and WVR combat. The addition of conformal fuel tanks provides a great increase in combat radius while reducing the RCS penalty which usually comes with drop tanks. The original fly-by-wire setup was extensively reworked into a fly-by-optics system.
Armaments
In many way the FGR3's most important upgrade, the upgrade introduces the 'quad-rail' missile rack system, allowing each fighter to carry up to sixteen air-to-air missiles in air superiority mode.
Specifications (Cyclone FGR3)
- Crew: 2
- Engines: 2 x Rollers Engineering E74K variable cycle thrust vectoring turbofans, 130kn each with afterburners
- Wingspan: 15.3m
- Length: 22m
- Height: 5.9m
- Empty Weight: 18,500kg
- Top speed: 2,700 km/h at high altitude
- ceiling: 17,288m
- Combat radius: 1,800km with CFT
- Sensors: Mark 2.5 AESA radar mounted on tilting wide-FOV rotating platform, IRST
- Armaments: 1 × 27mm cannon, 10,400kg of munitions
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era