Volarion Shrike

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Volarion Shrike
F-18's are refueled in Afghanistan.jpg
Role Carrier-based multirole fighter
Designer Volarion Defence Systems
First flight 15 May 1996
Introduction 4 January 2000
Status In service
Primary user Federation Navy
See Operators
Developed from Volarion Ifrit
Variants Volarion Super Shrike

The Volarion Shrike is a twin-engine supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole combat aircraft designed to be able to conduct a wide variety of missions in order to provide the best platform possible for a carrier. The aircraft has a top speed of 1,190 miles per hour at altitude and can carry a wide array of bombs and guided missile systems. It is by default armed with a single 20mm cannon in the nose and two pylons on the edge of the wings for Polyboros air-to-air missiles. The aircraft is powered by a pair of Augment GTO engines, providing an exceptional amount of thrust in both dry and afterburner modes to allow the aircraft to provide a high thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR), increasing it's load capacity and aiding its abilities as an interception fighter.

Introduced to the Federation Navy in 2000 to replace it's aging interceptor fleet, the Shrike quickly showed itself as an excellent aerial combatant and agile fighter, thanks to leading-edge extensions on the wings and thrust vectoring nozzles on the engines. It's large load-out abilities and subsequent development as an electronic warfare platform has allowed it to replace three separate aircraft previous in use with the Navy in favour of a common, exceptional vehicle.

The fighter by default comes in two variants, a single-seat and two-seat configuration. The single-seat benefits from increased fuel capacity and ammo load to assist it in air superiority missions. The two-seat version loses the fuel capacity but gains a dedicated weapons officer for use in ground attack and reconnaissance missions. Despite any disadvantages in fuel capacity, each version has the ability to mount the same kinds of weapons on the same pylons. Weight distribution means that the fighter can only carry up to five external fuel tanks for both self-usage or to act as an airborne tanker by adding an air refuelling rig to the external fuel tanks.

Design and development

Multiple Shrikes parked on the deck of a aircraft carrier.

The Shrike's history begins with the 1986 venture program for a modernised fighter with the requirement of exceeding the abilities of prior aircraft in service and to complement the existing interception fighters.

The Shrike is a twin engine, mid-wing tactical aircraft meant to conduct a wide variety of missions. It is highly manoeuvrable thanks to it's high thrust-to-weight ratio (TWR), digital fly-by-wire control system and leading edge extensions which allow the aircraft to remain controllable even at high angles of attack. The wing has full-span leading-edge flaps and segmented flaps and ailerons over the trailing edge with electronic folding mechanisms three quarters of the way down the wing for stowage when aboard ship.

Two angled vertical stabilisers which further aid it's manoeuvrability at high speeds and high angles of attack. The fighter also possesses two oversized sets of flaps on the leading and trailing flaps which act as flaperons, resulting in a highly able onboard flight control computer which manages the movement of the control surfaces in tandem with the pilot to ease micromanagement and to ensure the plane remains airborne at slow speeds. The angled vertical stabilisers operate in two modes, at slow speeds they operate as normal stabilisers when turning or maintaining course but at high speeds they minimise their turn angle and move inboard instead of on normal operation. This means at speeds exceeding Mach 1 the stabilisers will move inwards to turn in order to maximise on air flow while minimising structural stress by countering the flow of air at harsher angles.

The Shrike also features a pair of turbofan engines are capable of thrust vectoring, another design feature that aids in the fighter's incredibly agility. The cockpit of the fighter in both main variants feature a fully glass cockpit and multi-function displays which allow the plane to display a huge variety of information to the pilot, with software on board to be able to switch between anti-air and ground strike setups with ease and while on the fly. The avionics system aboard are highly modular to allow for easy upgrades to the fully digital system.

The avionics bus' modularity follows a trend meant to make the fighter more robust and require less downtime for maintenance and for any maintenance that does occur to be able to be conducted quickly, efficiently and without any great difficulty to the maintenance crew. Ease-of-maintenance was demonstrated during testing for the FGR.3 when an unprepared team of four people were able to remove one of the aircraft's engines in under twenty minutes without compromising on safety, structural safety, or working in a hugely expedited fashion.

The electronics of the aircraft have been maintained at high levels, with the most recent version incorporating an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, larger displays and a native compatibility with helmet mounted displays. The cockpit was wholly redesigned to allow for ease-of-use of the pilot while offering as much information as possible.

The digital and glass cockpit was further upgraded with their multi-function displays to consist of over nineteen touch-screen displays which feature anti-glare technology and an ability for the data demonstrated to be projected onto the pilot's helmet-mounted display. The upgrade also introduced the ability for the aircraft to utilise conformal fuel tanks mounted on the top of the aircraft was introduced to help further it's combat range.

An electronic warfare variant of the Shrike was developed three years after it's introduction in 2003 with the intention of replacing older electronic warfare platforms with a model that shares the common airframe with the Shrikes. The aircraft is capable of conducting stand-off jamming missions along with providing escort jamming abilities to mobile fighter squadrons with the added bonus of it's common shape hiding it from being singled out.

The plane sacrifices it's 20mm cannon for it's electronic attack equipment which is stored in the airframe but projected from emitters in the wing tips which again sacrifice their pylons. The plane is still capable of carrying ordnance on it's under-wing pylons, although it's under-body pylon is typically reserved for a jamming and targeting pod. It's usual load-out also consists of fuel tanks for extending it's mission and anti-radiation missiles for conducting Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD) missions.

Variants

Shrike parked on the flight-deck of a carrier.
Shrike FGR.1/A
First single-seat version put into service in 2000. Still in use with training squadrons today.
Shrike FGR.1/B
First two-seat version, put out of service entirely in 2004 following FGR.2 release for increased abilities.
Shrike FGR.2/A
Introductions of more proficient radar systems, and air-to-air buddy refuelling system trial and enhanced weapon systems made the FGR.2/A the air superiority fighter of choice in it's service life. Put out of service in 2008 with the FGR.3 release.
Shrike FGR.2/B
The FGR.2/B has remained in service despite the release of the FGR.3 to conduct training and with the Federation Guard. Versions operated today feature the refurbished cockpit layout but lack the high-capacity data relays the FGR.3 possesses
Shrike FGR.3/A
The FGR.3/A is the single-seat variant of the aircraft. It is the more common version in usage.
Shrike FGR.3/B
A two-seat version of the Shrike, the FGR.3/B is capable of conducting extended-duration strike missions against ground targets with the assistance of the weapons officer.
Shrike FGR.4
A prototype single-seater variant with stealth features, developed onwards into the Volarion Super Shrike.
Shrike E.1
Trial model of the electronic warfare version, a direct copy of the FGR.2/B, relying on swapped out electronics to perform it's duties.
Shrike E.2
First purpose-made version for electronic warfare. Still in use today with the Federation Guard.
Shrike E.3
The E.3 is a dedicated electronic warfare platform that shares the same airframe as the FGR.3 duo for maintenance commonality and ease of integration for pilots.

Operators

 Belfras

Specifications

Orthographical view of a Shrike FGR.3/A

General characteristics

  • Crew: FGR.3/A: 1 (pilot), FGR.3/B 2 (pilot and weapons officer)
  • Length: 18.31 m (60.1 ft) ()
  • Wingspan: 13.62 m (44.7 ft) ()
  • Height: 4.88 m (16.0 ft) ()
  • Empty weight: 14,552 kg (32,082 lb) ()
  • Loaded weight: 21,320 kg (47,000 lb) ()
  • Max. takeoff weight: 29,937 kg (66,000 lb) ()
  • Powerplant: 2 × Augment GTO-440 turbofans

Performance

Armament

Avionics

  • BriteCloud Radar Decoy System
  • SABR-E Scaleable Multi-Function AESA Radar
  • ISR-22 Decoy Deployment System
  • Thunderbolt Combat Interface
  • Attached Targeting pods
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