Aymovski Ay-04

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Ay-04
File:Ay-04MBK side.png
Ay-04MBK
Role Carrier-capable Fighter-bomber
National origin  DSRA
Manufacturer Aymovski
First flight 31 December 1968
Introduction 8 June 1972
Status In service
Primary user  DSRA
 Anikatia
Produced 1968–1993
Number built 3,000+
Unit cost
Ay-04DKI: UR$11.8 million (flyaway cost, 2001)
Ay-04MBK: UR$25 million (flyaway cost, 2001)

The Aymovski Ay-04 (CDI reporting name: Fossor) is a twin-engine variable-geometry carrier-capable fighter-bomber aircraft developed by the Aymovski Aircraft Corporation. In the late 1960s, the Anikatian Air Force and Navy were seeking to replace and consolidate their current fleets of aircraft. The Ay-04 was designed to operate for the Anikatian Naval Aviation and replace the aging Ay-01. The new Ay-04 was also intended to complement the older MyL-3 interceptors within in the Anikatian Air Force. It was the first attempt by the Anikatia to design a variable-geometry and look-down/shoot-down radar. The Ay-04 was originally envisioned as a pure air interceptor aircraft. Although its design proved flexible enough that ground-attack and later twin seat all-weather strike derivative, tactical reconnaissance and electronic warfare variants, were later developed. It remains in service within Anikatian Air Force and Naval Aviation, and various air forces to which it was exported. It was produced in huge numbers with over 4,000 aircraft built.

The Ay-04A entered service with the Anikatian Air Force in 1972 and Navy in 1974 onwards. Later models include dedicated ground attack and electronic warfare variants. Along with numerous updates such as improved engines, semi-glass cockpits, modern radar and IRST sensors, increased fuel capacity; some aircraft have also been equipped for aerial refuelling.

History

In 1961's just ten years after gaining independence the Republic of Anikatia had already produced it's first fighter aircraft the MyL-3 a twin seat interceptor. an ambitious by ultimately successful program that bolstered the national industries. However, it was not without considerable assistance that came from former colonial power Belfras. The MyL-3 was designed strictly as a interceptor so while it has excellent for a high speed and climb rate, it is not able to perform combat turns or any sort of dog fighting ability. This role was serviced by the older subsonic BAU Cutlass fighters which were also produced domestically as improved the Ay-01 and were rapidly becoming obsolete. The Anikatian Naval Aviation requested a main front line fighter as in trials the MyL-3 proved completely unfit for carrier operations and after one fatal accident trial with the type on the Grokantyia (CVL) in 1962 all work on a naval variant was cancelled in favor of a completely new design. It was during this period that the discovery of variable-geometry wings were becoming popular solution to deal with complex flight roles and conditions such as carrier operations. Designers saw this as a way to achieve low speed landings and take offs from an aircraft carrier and still provide high super sonic performance. In addition the air force needed a aircraft that could operate from shorter runways as the current MyL-3s needed very long runways which, combined with their limited range, restricted their tactical usefulness. The radical compact large twin engine variable-sweep wing fighter design was born. It proved very promising with it's successful maiden flight taking place on 31st December 1968. It was immediately approved for production before it's first carrier launch was taken. While still retaining some of the speed of the MyL-3 the new aircraft was far more maneuverable. It entered service with the Air Force in 1972, and with the Navy from 1974.

Design

The Ay-04 is a twin-engine variable-geometry carrier-capable fighter aircraft. While a radical and advanced design for its time the Ay-04 was also designed to be a very cost-effective combat aircraft that can perform various kinds of missions and maintain around-the-clock readiness. From the 1967 with the new socialist regime taking power it's design was simplified and offered as a striped down export variants given to government friendly to the new regime. While that gave Anikatia and it's allies the quantitative advantage at the time, it led to a inaccurate impression of the aircraft abilities particularly the later variants which could be a very potent threat. It was produced in a wide variety of variants eventually able to fulfill roles from interceptor to ground attack and later even electronic warfare.

While earlier designs had intakes with variable ramps, allowing a maximum speed of Mach 2.34 (2,485 km/h, 1,544 mph), at altitude as the interception missions required. Later ground attack and strike versions which are almost exclusively used for low-level missions, have had the actuators for the variable intakes removed to reduce weight and maintenance. This has no effect on low-level performance, but absolute maximum speed and altitude are cut to Mach 1.35 (1,653 km/h, 1,027 mph).

Cockpit

The cockpit features a conventional centre stick which is used for pitch and roll control while rudder pedals control yaw. A throttle is located to the left of the pilot. The pilot sits in a Wallis-Thornton WTK-12DE zero-zero ejection seat which has had impressive performance in emergency escapes. The cockpit has conventional dials, with a head-up display (HUD) and a Svalov-1DE helmet mounted display, but no HOTAS ("hands-on-throttle-and-stick") capability. Emphasis was placed on making the cockpit similar to the earlier Ay-01 and other Anikatian aircraft for ease of conversion, and cost saving rather than on ergonomics. Since the Ay-04MBK upgrade models have been redesigned to incorporate more contemporary features with the latest models having a semi "glass cockpits" with some modern liquid-crystal (LCD) multi-function displays (MFDs) and HOTAS like controls.

Avionics

The baseline Ay-04 are equipped with a AKI/RAL AKL-2R-1 look-down/shoot-down coherent Pulse-Doppler radar and Daesungkhu & Namkoong Type 1068 central analog computer. Tracking range against a fighter-sized target was only about 35 km (19 nmi) in the frontal aspect. The aircraft also features electronic countermeasures (ECM) and RAL-02-1P Gangjun radar warning (RWR) systems, chaff/flare dispensers, fighter-to-fighter data link, and a precise inertial navigation system. The AKI/RAL AKL-2R-1 radar was an advanced new design, with a twisted-polarization cassegrain antenna and traditional analog signal processors, coupled with a new Daesungkhu & Namkoong Type 1068 analog computer. A useful feature the Ay-04 is the Kyoungcho General Industries Tgk-4G, IRST in an "eyeball" mount forward of the cockpit canopy.

The later variants were outfitted with the newer more advanced Pulse-Doppler radars and there have been plans to modernise and update aircraft with new Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars. Applied Kinetics and Rakovski Aeronautics have developed an AESA radar upgrade kits for the Ay-04. These later variants used an an evolution of the AKI/RAL AKL-2R-1 with new systems derived from the AKI/RAL K05R series, which has has greater range and resolution, as well as 10 operating modes, including ground-mapping, Doppler beam-sharpening, ground moving target, sea target, and track-while-scan (TWS) for up to 15 aerial targets, and engage eight targets simultaneously in the attack mode.

Powerplant

The Ay-04 is powered by a two Daesungkhu & Namkoong DVT-02 turbofan engines, the exact version of this propulsion system depending on the variant. The later variants were powered by a Daesungkhu & Namkoong DVT-02R-40E2 which developed around 110 kN (11,250 kgf, 24,802 lbf) each this engine gives more thrust and a lower specific fuel consumption than earlier variants of the engines.

Operational history

Anikatia

Nazali

The People's Republic of the Nazali received extensive support and DSRA equipment from the 1967 and until 1979. They received a fleet of 108 Ay-04DKI, 48 Ay-04DBI, 36 Ay-04KLI and eight Ay-04UBK trainers, and also later in the war were provided around 10 newer Ay-04BKRs. During the Nazali War, PRNAF Ay-04s were heavily involved, flying air-to-air and air-to-ground sorties. They took part in many air combats with URE Lawley F-8 Stingray, Lawley Mullinix F-9 Skyray, and many other Emmerian fighters scoring many victories but also suffering many losses. The exact combat record is not known with many differing claims from DSRA, URE, Free Pardes and Otterup Pact sources.

For many years, the participation of Anikatian aircrews in the Nazali War was widely suspected by the United Republic forces, but consistently denied by the Democratic Socialist Republic of Anikatia. Since the end of the Cold War, however, Anikatian pilots who participated in the conflict have begun to reveal their role. Anikatian aircraft were adorned with Nazalite markings and pilots wore either Nazalite uniforms or civilian clothes to disguise their origins. For radio communication, they were given cards with common Arabic words for various flying terms spelled out phonetically in Anikatian characters. These subterfuges did not long survive the stresses of air-to-air combat, however, as pilots routinely communicated (cursed) in Anikatian. Anikatian pilots were prevented from flying over areas in which they might be captured, which would indicate that the Democratic Socialist Republic of Anikatia was officially a combatant in the war.

The DSRA never acknowledged that its pilots ever flew over Nazali during the Cold War. Emmerians who intercepted radio traffic during combat confirmed hearing Anikatian-speaking voices, but only the Nazalite combatants took responsibility for the flying. The Anikatian fighters operated close to their home bases in the People's Democratic Republic of Saarland, limited by the range of their aircraft, and were guided to the air battlefield by good ground control, which directed them to the most advantageous position. Due to the huge logistically challenge of supplying and operating from within People's Democratic Republic of Saarland most DSRA units were based near coastal areas avoiding the largely wild rain forests inland closer to the Nazali border.

When People's Republic of the Nazali was overrun by Islamic Republic of the Nazali forces on 21 December 1979, approximately 658 aircraft were captured by the Islamists. Of that number, 38 were Ay-04s, along with complete spare engines, spare parts, and some ground support equipment. Several of the Ay-04s left over from the Nazali War were decommissioned and put on display at museums in Nazali. Others were pushed into service with the Islamic Republic of the Nazali forces until eventually the lack of proper maintenance and lack spare parts grounded all the aircraft captured. It is thought that several Ay-04s may have been captured by United Republic forces during the war, and sent back to the Emmeria for evaluation and advanced study of DSRA aviation technology.

Goredemabwa

Variants

Y-04 ("Fossor-A")
Initial prototype, was not carrier capable.
DQ-04T ("Fossor-H")
Retired aircraft converted into remote-controlled target drones used for weapons and defensive systems research by the Anikatian Air Force and Anikatian Naval Aviation.

Fighter variants

Ay-04A ("Fossor-A")
Pre-production version used as testbeds, entered service in 1972. Differed from later variants and had smaller canopy.
Ay-04DKI ("Fossor-A")
Single-seat carrier-capable, downgraded export version (Communications data-link systems removed, IRST removed, radar downgraded, uses older less powerful engines) This was an export variant, as the Ay-04K was considered too advanced to be exported to many Third World countries. It was otherwise similar to Ay-04K, but it had the simplified communications data-link systems, smaller downgraded radar, and the IRST was removed. Obviously, this variant had no BVR capability, and the only air-to-air missiles it was capable of using were the short range IR-guided missiles and the some semi-active radar homing (SARH) missiles. The avionics suite was very basic. This variant was produced between 1972 and 1978 and exported principally to Ashizwe.
Ay-04KLI ("Fossor-B")
Single-seat carrier-capable, export version. This was an export derivative of the Ay-04K originally intended to be exported to Otterup Pact countries, but it was also sold to many other allies and clients, as most export customers were dissatisfied with the rather primitive Ay-04DKI. It actually came in two versions. The first one was sold to OttPac allies, and it was essentially identical to Anikatian Ay-04K, with small changes in "identify friend or foe" (IFF) transponders and communications equipment. The second variant was sold outside of OttPac nations and it had a different IFF and communications suite (usually with the datalink removed), and downgraded radar, which lacked the electronic counter-countermeasure (ECCM) features and modes of the baseline radar system.
Ay-04K ("Fossor-B")
Initial single-seater fighter version that entered service with the Anikatian Air Force and Anikatian Naval Aviation in 1974. A modification program has started and 31 of these will be upgraded to MKU standard.
Ay-04UBK ("Fossor-C")
Initial production two-seat operational conversion trainer. The two-seat version of the K variant. The space for the two-seat cockpit is provided by a relocation of avionic equipment and a 10% reduction in internal fuel; two-seat variant are otherwise fully combat-capable. It can be configured for training or as a strike aircraft.
Ay-04PF ("Fossor-D")
Single-seater specialized air-defense interceptor variant that entered service with the Anikatian Air Force.
Ay-04PFM ("Fossor-D")
Modernisation of the dedicated interceptor variant that entered service with the Anikatian Air Force.
Ay-04MKU ("Fossor-D")
Advanced fighter variant, improve maneuverability, especially during high angles of attack (AoA). The cockpit significantly updated, one colour liquid crystal MFDs and one smaller monochrome LCDs. The flight-control system was modified to improve handling and safety in high-AoA maneuvers. New upgraded AKI/RAL K05R Radar systems adapted from the Ay-05 fighter were added, which featured improved modes for look-down/shoot-down and close-in fighting along with improved ECM resistance, which made co-operative group search operations possible as the radars would now not jam each other. The new power plant has a improved thrust, fuel capacity was slightly increased along with weapons load.
Ay-04UBT ("Fossor-C")
The two-seat version of the advanced MKU variant. It can be configured for training or as limited ground-attack abilities.

Ground-attack variants

File:Ay-04MBK 3-view.png
diagram of a Ay-04MBK
Ay-04DBI ("Fossor-E")
A downgraded export variant dedicated for ground attack. It lacks a radar, in-flight refueling, was lighter via removing carrier landing capability. Instead used basic ground attack sight systems and laser rangefinders.
Ay-04BK ("Fossor-F")
A full all-weather tactical strike, ground-attack fighter version based on the DBI, these were exported to OttPac countries—but not to Third World customers and thus had and small but updated radar with the additional air-to-ground modes, an improved navigation/attack system fitted, along with the a laser rangefinder fitted under the nose and additional radar warning receivers mounted on the intakes.
Ay-04BKR ("Fossor-G")
A unarmed twin seat reconnaissance variant of the BKT Its cannon is replaced with a infra-red reconnaissance system allowing low level operations. Updated navigation system fitted along with camera equipment fitted under the nose.
Ay-04MBK ("Fossor-D")
Advanced two-seat all-weather long-range strike and ground-attack variant, incorporating many of the upgrades found on the MKU along with significantly updated all-weather air-to-ground radar system while retaining its secondary air to air ability, upgraded mission computer, full authority digital fly-by-wire system and inflight refueling.
Ay-04MKR ("Fossor-H")
Advanced twin seat reconnaissance variant, incorporating many of the upgrades found on the MBK along with significantly updated all-weather air-to-ground radar system. Its cannon is replaced with a infra-red reconnaissance system allowing low level operations.
Ay-04EKM ("Fossor-K")
Dedicated twin seat electronic warfare variant based on the MBK. intended for Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) role, The EKM has sensors to detect radar usage and is equipped with anti-radiation missiles and ECM pods.

Operators

Current

 Anikatia
Template:Country data Saarland
Template:Country data Goredemabwa
Template:Country data Bariya

Former operator

Template:Country data Democratic Socialist Republic of Anikatia
Template:Country data Saarland PDRS
 Bogoria
Template:Country data Nazali People's Republic of the Nazali
Template:Country data Nazali
Template:Country data People's Socialist Republic of Goredemabwa

Specifications (Ay-04MKU)

Diagram of Ay-04MKU

General characteristics

  • Crew: One / Two (UB)
  • Length: 19.1 m (62 ft 9 in) ()
  • Wingspan: Spread, 19.2 m (63 ft), Swept: 9.67 m (29 ft 33 in) ()
  • Height: 5.76 m (18 ft 11 in) ()
  • Empty weight: 14,016 kg (30,900 lb) ()
  • Loaded weight: 27,500 kg (60,626 lb) ()
  • Max. takeoff weight: 29,937 kg (66,000 lb) ()
  • Powerplant: 2 × Daesungkhu & Namkoong DVT-02R-40E2 turbofans afterburning turbofans, Wet: 110 kN (11,250 kgf, 24,802 lbf) ()Dry: 76.5 kN (7,800 kgf, 17,196 lbf) each

Performance

Armament

  • 1 x 20 mm Esk-20k twin barrel auto cannon with 220 round or 1 x 30 mm Esk-30k auto cannon with 220 round.
  • 7 hardpoints (3 wet): 4 x wing glove pylons, 2x fuselage, 1 x centerline for up to 8,000 kg of weapons and fuel tanks, including:
  • 70-100 Km range beyond visual range active missiles
  • Imaging infrared short range missiles
  • Air-to-surface missiles
  • Air to sea missiles
  • Anti radiation missiles
  • Laser guided weapons
  • Runway penetration bombs
  • General purpose bombs
  • Training bombs
  • Countermeasures (Flares, Chaff)
  • Up to 3 external drop tanks (2× under-wing 1,500 litres, 1× under-fuselage 1,700 litres for extended range/loitering time)

Avionics

  • AKI/RAL AKL-2R-1 all-weather multimode Pulse-Doppler Radar system
  • Kyoungcho General Industries Tgk-4G Infrared search and track (ISRT) sighting system
  • Dietrich Osterhagen Electrics Limited R-1285-6C multi-function radio/ navigation communications system
  • QB-32 Active staging radar jamming systems.
  • RAL-02-1P Gangjun RWR

Notable appearances in media

Aymovski Ay-04s played the part of the enemy strike fighter aircraft in the 2013 film, Top Aces.

See also

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