Oxidentale Jet Works Mi-14 Harpy Eagle
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| Mi-14 Harpy Eagle | |
|---|---|
 Single seat and twin seat Mi-14 variants in flight. | |
| General information | |
| Type | Multi-role Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Oxidentale Jet Works |
| Status | In production |
| History | |
| Introduction date | Mid 2007 |
The Oxidentale Jet Works Mi-14 Harpy Eagle (Mi - Mimbuku or 'Spear" in Reze) is a 5th generation fighter developed by Oxidentale Jet Works, a consortium that was incorporated by Santh Corp of Sante Reze, Falcus Designs of Orun Redisus, XXX of The Mutul, and Jointly Blessed United Aircraft Corporation of Itayana in order to develop new generation advanced aircraft. The Mi-14 was the first new 5th generation fighter to be developed in Oxidentale in order to introduce new market alternatives to the UFC F-29 Hurricane, the other major 5th generation fighter in Ajax. The fighter has been deployed extensively in the Republican Aerospace Corps and has been delivered to several squadrons in the Royal Redisan Air Force and the Lunar Air Fleet of Itayana as well with more planned for introduction by 2023. The program is divided amongst corporations with Soluzini Hade holding a 40% stake and the remaining 60% divided amongst other participants. Falcus Design's funding was primarily acquired through the government of Orun Redisus.
Operational History
Designation and testing
Introduction into service
In December of XXX, the Royal Redisan Air Force and the Reze Air Force announced that the Mi-14 had achieved Initial Operational Capacity. It was also announced that the first production units would be delivered to the 4th Air Regiment of the Royal Redisan Air Force based in Atica in March of XXX with Sante Reze taking delivery of an additional twenty units that same month. Production commenced in two different facilities, the Air Factory Complex in Zardoyare, Sante Reze; and Falcus ME Works facility in Aethas in Redisus. A third facility in Danguixh, The Mutul was announced in June of XXX as being repurposed for primary production in order to reduce program input costs and facilities maintenance for Oxidentale Jet Works. Limited numbers of aircraft would be built at the other two facilities with a much reduced workforce, as the Falcus ME Works facility was also responsible for supporting and producing Me-550 as well as producing components and upgrade packages for Me-510 aircraft.
The first production aircraft arrived at Nelsilon Air Base in Atica in 2007.
Maintenance and training
In terms of maintaining the aircraft, each aircraft requires a full maintenance package every 400 flight hours. The bulk of the maintenance is the stealth coatings, which require renewal and repair regularly. Early coatings experienced rain and moisture related issues early on in the aircraft's life cycle due to the tropical, humid weather across Oxidentale where the aircraft is primarily utilized. Several additional coating formulae have been released since with the latest Next Generation Stealth Coating Formula released in 2019 and retroactively applied to aircraft coming in for maintenance. In 2019, the aircraft had a cost of 40,239 solidus per flight hour to operate. Maintenance and repairs are handled at a few specific bases in deploying nations.
Deployments
Operational problems
Mi-14 aircraft have primarily had issues with long term viability of sensitive technology. In order to cut development costs, initial avionics were not made modular as it was underestimated how fast computing technology would advance. By 2010, costly upgrades would be required to bring the aircraft up to an improved operational capacity. This was resolved in 2011 with the integration of the Orun Modular Avionics System from the Me-550. Older aircraft were retrofitted with this system, which finally allowed upgrades to be carried out cheaply without major design and developent expense.
The ejection system experienced initial issues in 2007 when it was determined the integrated helmet could get hung up and cause great peril to the pilot when ejecting. This required a fully removable helmet design to be introduced in 2008. Improvements to the flight suit followed with a specially designed flight suit for Mi-14 pilots to avoid having detachable vital monitoring probes all over the cockpit. Both of these function on their own wiring harnesses built into ths seat. Both of these greatly improved pilot usability.
Future Upgrades
Mi-14 aircraft have been recommended by OJW to be in service through 2035 at least. With the 2016 release of the newly developed Next Generation In Flight Informational Interface, the Redisan military has announced that Mi-14 aircraft are expected to serve through 2040 at the earliest.
Design
Overview
The Mi-14 is a fifth generation multirole combat aircraft that is considered a third generation stealth technology under the Royal Redisan Air Force Technology Classification System. It is the first aircraft in any of its respective national air forces to introduce full Supermaneuverability, supercruise, stealth, and sensor fusion. It incorporates cropped-delta wing technology borrowed from older Reze aircraft designs with modern high performance control surfaces such as leading-edge flaps, flaperons, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizers, and all-moving horizontal tails (stabilators); for speed brake function. The twin R320 three spool turbofans are closely spaced and incorporate pitch-axis thrust vectoring. Each engine produces 20,000 kg of thrust each and allows the aircraft to reach speeds of mach 2 under full afterburner. Though not initially so, later variants have been configured for STOL in order to utilize at different airfields. An operational VTOL variant has also been produced but is not currently utilized outside of Orun Redisus.
In order to facilitate multiple mission roles, the aircraft comes with both internal weapons bays and external hardpoints, which can be unloaded or effectively removed which allows extreme control over sources of parasitic drag. The aircraft is fully equipped to perform air to air combat at heights of 54,000 feet which provides a significant improvement on deployment range of air to air missiles and additional effective range for JDAMs. The higher operational altitude also improves the operation of sensors and weapons systems. The airplane's structure contains a significant amount of high-strength materials to withstand stress and heat of sustained supersonic flight. Respectively, titanium alloys and bismaleimide/epoxy composites comprise 42% and 24% of the structural weight.
Armament
The Mi-14 is equipped with a powerful suite of weapons to give it the ability to comfortably fulfill many missions profiles. The primary armament load for the Mi-14 is carried in three external weapons bays, one large central bay and two smaller bays at the base of each wing. The main bay is split along the center of the aircraft and can accommodate five air to air missiles and two additional missiles can be stored in the smaller bays for additional engagement. The bays are all modular, allowing rapid reconfiguration for different payloads. Larger weapons take up more space, allowing less to be carried, while smaller payloads allow for more to be carried. Each bay is equipped with a hydraulic system for rapid operation of the bay doors, which only need to be open for a second to launch weapons. Hydraulic arms quickly actuate and release the weapons. Four additional hardpoints can be removed or added for external weapons loads, electronic warfare pods, recon pods, and extra fuel tanks as necessary.
A Reaper XM 30 mm revolver cannon is located in the left wing root behind a retractable door. The determination of a powerful main armament was made early on for capable dogfighting. The design team was displeased with the performance of the previous models, which had been extensively tested aboard other aircraft. It was improved upon and deployed as the reaper XM. The gun has six barrels and is capable of up to 6,000 rpm. The revolver design also allows the weapon to fire rapidly, preventing any individual barrel from heating up excessively. Though the aircraft carries limited ammunition for the cannon, it was determined that the speed at which encounters happen would rapidly see ammunition depleted regardless.
Stealth
The Mi-14 was designed to be difficult to detect and track by radar. RCS reductive measures include airframe shaping such as alignment of edges, fixed-geometry serpentine inlets and curved vanes that prevent line-of-sight of the engine faces and turbines from any exterior view, use of radar-absorbent material, and attention to detail such as hinges and pilot helmets that could provide a radar return. The Mi-14 was also designed to have decreased radio emissions, infrared signature and acoustic signature as well as reduced visibility to the naked eye. Flat thurst vectoring nozzles reduce heat output and lower the possiblity of infrared missile tracking locking onto the aircraft. Various measures were undertaken on the airframe as well with the application of a special topcoat and active cooling of leading edges to manage the heat buildup from supersonic flight.
It was determined that the aircraft would be less reliant on RAM due to the maintenance-intensive aspect of the material and its susceptibility to adverse weather conditions. Later models include a Signature Assessment System which delivers warnings when the material is degraded enough to necessitate repair. The exact RCS has not been released but OJW officials have stated that the aircraft has roughly the same cross signature as a bird or marble. It is also possible to mount a Luneburg lens reflector to mask RCS.
Avionics, Controls, and Cockpit
Variants
| Variant | Notes |
|---|---|
| Xi-14-M1 | Initial prototype variant that first flew in 2005. Several key modifications were requested by various partner nations before production approval. |
| Xi-14-M2 | Second prototype that flew in late December of 2006 incorporating requested changes. Accepted for production starting early 2007. |
| Mi-14-M1 | Initial production variant beginning deliveries in 2007. |
| Mi-14-M2 | Improved production variant introduced in 2010 with modular avionics systems. |
| Mi-14-M2.CV | VTOL equipped carrier variant released in 2012 for operation on X carrier. |
| Mi-14-M3 | First cycle refresh introduced in 2016 with updated avionics systems. First aircraft to employ the Next Generation In Flight Informational Interface, which uses virtual reality to provide a 360 degree interactive visual display of the aircraft's surroundings inside the pilot's helmet. |
| Mi-14-M4 | New life cycle refresh VTOL variant for service on X carrier ordered by Sante Reze. Two squadrons are set to be operational by early 2022. |
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: 1-2
- Length: 20 m (66 ft)
- Wingspan: 12 m (39 ft)
- Height: 4 m (13 ft)
- Empty weight: 20545.5 kg (45,200 lbs)
- Max. takeoff weight: 71,907.5 kg (158,196.5 lbs)
- Powerplant: 2 × R320 three spool turbofans , 20,000 kgf (44,093 lbf) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: Mach 2+
- Cruise speed: Mach 0.9
- Combat radius: 1,200 km (746 mi)
- Ferry range: 3,240 km (2,013 mi)
- Service ceiling: 19 km (62,336 ft)
Armament
- Cannons: 1x 30 mm cannon
- Missiles: 8x various air to air missiles
- Other Ordinance: Additional ground attack munitions as required in different configurations.
Operators
See Also
Comparable Aircraft