Altomare C.11 Spettro
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| Altomare C.11 Spettro | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Air superiority, Multirole combat aircraft |
| National origin |  Luminerra
|
| Manufacturer | Altomare Aviation |
| First flight | May 11, 2001 |
| Introduction | November 21, 2011 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary user | Lumenic Air Force |
The Altomare C.11 Spettro is a single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft built by Altomare Aviation for the Lumenic Air Force.
History and development
In 1989, following the success of the Altomare A.86 Ombra during the closing stages of the Omandan Continental War, the Lumenic Air Force submitted a request to Altomare Aviation to design and produce a multirole tactical fighter aircraft with an emphasis on air combat utilizing similar stealth technologies. In early 1990, Altomare approached the Lumenic Air Force with upgraded version of the A.86 aircraft, utilizing newer engines which would give the aircraft afterburning capability, a new and improved ground-attack radar with air to air capability and a larger weapons bay capable of carrying air-to-air missiles, including the Vaccari Dardo III, Dardo IV and Lancia missiles, as well as redesigned stabilizers and a “double-slotted” trailing edge, granting the aircraft greater handling characteristics than the current production A-3, along with a redesigned cockpit and elevators, and a reduction in wing sweep from 50 degrees to 42 degrees. This design was accepted by the Air Force in 1994, with 36 aircraft ordered to replace existing Altomare A.86 aircraft. A purchase order of 144 additional aircraft was canceled in early 1995 by Colonnello generale Abilio Alejandro, then commander of the Lumenic Air Force, stating that the CA-94 did not meet the original proposal issued in 1990, and was not suitable for future combat engagements, and that the Air Force should instead be focusing on an air superiority oriented aircraft utilizing stealth characteristics, citing examples of both equipment and tactics employed by the Licanan Air Force during the ongoing conflict. Abilio submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Defense in 1995 which required a newly designed aircraft to make use of composite materials and lightweight alloys, stealth technology, and demonstrate the ability for supercruise operation while being able to operate from runways no longer than 2,000 feet in length. The Ministry accepted the proposal and further orders of the CA.94 we're officially scrapped.
In 1997, Athar Aviation proposed the initial design for the Altomare C.11 and in 2001 the first prototype aircraft, designated X-201219 and often nicknamed Abilio's Angel, flew for the first time from Adrall Field. The 21 minute initial test flight ended in near disaster when test pilot Marta Castrillo was forced to eject from the aircraft. Aircraft X-201219 crashed into a field approximately 97 miles southwest of Adrall Field. A team of engineers and security personnel were sent to remove the wreckage and testified that the plane had almost completely disintegrated. Castrillo noted that the aircraft was extremely difficult to control an that the computer compensation device, designed to make minute adjustments in flight to allow the pilot to more easily control the aircraft, did not seem to function at all.
Altomare returned with a newly designed prototype , the X-200318, in 2003. The aircraft's basic shape had been changed significantly diamond-shaped wing configuration, a profile with substantial area-ruling to reduce aerodynamic drag at transonic speeds, and an all-moving V-tail. All of these modifications were believed to significantly increase the aircraft stability in flight. In regard to the compensation device, Athar brought in several members of the original design team for the Athar A-3's computer-aided system, and a new program was developed which would provide better computer-aided control to the pilot. During the redesign phase, the Lumenic Air Force increased the runway operation length from 2,000 feet to 3,000, thereby allowing Athar to remove the aircraft's thrust reversers and reduce the size of the engine nacelle housings, thereby saving weight and allowing for a more aerodynamic design. X-200318, with Marta Castrillo piloting, took off from Ardall Field on March 30th, 2005. The second test flight lasted for 121 minutes and was generally successful. The design as accepted by the Air Force after further testing, including suitability testing against both ground and air launched missiles, as well as cannon fire from aircraft and ground based systems. In 2011he Lumenic Air Force ordered an initial 36 aircraft, the first of which arrived in November of 2012.
Although initial the C.11 was considered to replace the Scorza C.96 Squalo, its extremely limited air to ground and multi-mission capability forced the Lumenic Air Force to reconsider this. As such, it is very likely that the C.11 will serve alongside the C.96E and C.96F well into the future.
Operational history
Variants
- C.11: Production variant
- C.11A: A planned tandem seat production for training and strike missions. Due to the C.11's poor multi-mission performance, this version was not ordered into production.
Operators
- Luminerra
32° Stormo
- 321° Gruppo Caccia
- 322° Gruppo Caccia
- 333° Gruppo Caccia
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1 (pilot)
- Length: 67 ft 5 in (20.60 m)
- Wingspan: 43 ft 7 in (13.30 m)
- Height: 13 ft 11 in (4.30 m)
- Wing area: 900 ft2 (88 m2)
- Empty weight: 29,000 lb (13,100 kg)
- Loaded weight: 51,320 lb (23,327 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 62,000 lb (29,000 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × MAM-21456 afterburning turbofan, 35,000 lbf (156 kN) each
Performance
- Maximum speed:
- At altitude: Mach 2.2+ (1,450+ mph, 2,335+ km/h)
- Supercruise: Mach 1.6+ (1,060+ mph, 1,706+ km/h)
- Range: over 2,790 mi (over 4,500 km)
- Combat radius: 750–800 nmi (865–920 mi, 1,380–1480 km)
- Service ceiling: 65,000 ft (19,800 m)
- Wing loading: 57 lb/ft2 (265 kg/m2; at loaded weight)
- Thrust/weight: 1.36
Armament
- 1 × 30 mm Srad CDR-3080 cannon
- Air-to-air mission loadout:
- 4 × AIM-15 beyond-visual-range missile
- 2 × AIM-92 infrared homing air-to-air missiles
- 6 x AIM-95A long range air-to-air missiles
- Air-to-ground mission loadout:
- 2 × 450 kg (1,000 lbs) AAB-450/97 or 8 × AAB-96/06 guided bombs
- 2 × AIM-15 medium-range air-to-air missiles
- 2 × AIM-95 short-range air-to-air missiles
- 4× under-wing pylon stations can be fitted to carry drop tanks or weapons, each with a capacity of 5,000 lb (2,270 kg). However, if mounted, external hardpoints will compromise the stealth of the fighter.
Avionics
ECONLU C/ARA-11 active electronically scanned array radar
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era