Aviation Monthly Options

[Cobretti]

Hey guys, this is the first installment on a magazine style review of the weapons and technology used in the ROTR world. I'll be doing most of the US aircraft first, I do plan on moving on to other faction's aircraft later on and perhaps expanding to ground vehicles, firearms, and warships. (Ever wanted to learn more about the Spirit of Freedom and it's sister ship?) Here's the first part:

Aviation Monthly: September 203x
United States Airpower, Part I
- Written by Amy Kelly
As tensions rise in Eurasia over the recent skirmishes in Africa and economic stagnation in Russia, so too has the specter of another major war in Europe and the eventual American involvement. Despite the downfall of NATO after the ill-advised US retreat from Europe 15 years ago, the Bradford administration maintains a strong anti-Russian expansionist policy and indications hint at possible military and economic action in favor of the European Continental Alliance should hostilities break out.

Ever since the Second World War, the United States military has relied extensively on air dominance to achieve battlefield superiority. As any member of the USAF or Naval Air Force can tell you, no US soldier or Marine on the ground has been killed by enemy aircraft since the Korean War. Even after the post GWOT cutbacks, the US military has maintained a strong Air Force and naval air capabilities, and seeks to further expand said capabilities in an ever more dangerous world. This article seeks to explore information about the aircraft used today by the various branches of the US armed forces.

TRANSPORT/AIRLIFT:
Though the majority of heavy airlifting by the USAF is done today by conventional aircraft such as the C-130J Super Hercules and C-17B Globemaster III, VTOL aircraft have become a more and more capable replacement for helicopters and light cargo transport.

Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey: Although the V-22 Osprey had a troubled development phase, today it serves as the main medium lift aircraft used by the US Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy. Even though newer designs such as the V-25 Goshawk are planned to eventually phase out the Osprey, it still sees heavy use as a transport aircraft by American combat forces and will see heavy use in the foreseeable future.

Bell-Boeing V-25 Goshawk: The V-25 Goshawk is one of the newest aircraft used by the US Armed forces, and is the end result of the JMR-Heavy Future Vertical Lift program. By the end of the last decade, the US Army desired a new VTOL transport to replace the aging CH-47 Chinook fleet, which had been wearing out through heavy use in the past two decades. Although the Army had declined to take part in the V-22 program, they looked with interest in the further development of tiltrotor aircraft. The V-25 Goshawk was the intermediate step between the light V-22 Osprey and the heavy V-34 Starlifter II. Compared to the CH-47 Chinook, the V-25 is capable of carrying more cargo faster, longer, and at a higher altitude. As an infantry carrier, it can transport a platoon of infantry or a single Cougar MRAP or HMMWV. In contrast to the Osprey, the Goshawk is a semi-tilt-wing with 250% more wing surface, roughly 60% of which tilts along with the engine nacelles, and a lifting body, significantly improving glide capability and allowing to remove the fancy - and heavy - transmission, converting the engines to straight-up carbon composite turbine turboprops with only standard reduction gearboxes remaining. Today, the US Army and US Navy are the main users of the V-25 Goshawk whilst the USMC and US Air Force are considering purchasing them to replace their aging Ospreys.

Bell-Boeing V-34 Starlifter II: The first examples of the V-44 entered the late prototype testing phase during the end of the GLA War, but budget cutbacks slowed its entry into service until quite recently. By the end of the last decade, the US Army desired a new VTOL transport to replace the aging CH-47 Chinook fleet, which had been wearing out through heavy use in the past two decades. Although the Army had declined to take part in the V-22 program, they looked with interest in the further development of tiltrotor aircraft. As the end result of the Bell-Boeing Quad Tilt Rotor program, the V-34 is the direct replacement of the CH-47 Chinook and the CH-53 Super Stallion, and is planned to phase out the C-130J Super Hercules. The quad tilt rotor engines give it a cruising speed of over 350 knots and allow it to land in places the C-130 cannot. It is capable of carrying around 26,000 kilograms of cargo (or several M5A1 Schwarzkopf �Crusader� light tanks or IFVs), or 110 paratroopers/150 infantry.

Lockheed-Martin C-130J Super Hercules, Boeing C-17B Globemaster III, & Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy: When heavier lifting is required by the US military’s expeditionary forces, the fixed wing airfleet comes into play. Though the C-130J Super Hercules and C-5M Super Galaxy are old (yet proven and popular) designs, the more advanced Boeing C-17B Globemaster III is an increasingly common sight in the US Air Force as well as the air forces of other nations. The C-17 underwent a mid-life upgrade even before the newer export production run, including double-slotted flaps, an additional main landing gear on center fuselage, more powerful engines (F-117-PW-200 turbofans) and other systems for shorter landing and take-off distances, a LANTIRN AN/AAQ-13 pod and passive radar installed into the nose, and an optional bulkhead separating the troop bay from the cargo bay for passenger comfort.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed the first part, stay tuned for Part 2!

This post has been edited by DerKrieger: 29 May 2014, 15:52

[Cobretti]

Ok folks, there will be two more US aircraft that will be mentioned in the next update but this just about does it for the US faction. I haven't quite decided on what to do next but I am taking suggestions if people have anything technical about the RotR verse that they want to see me write about!

Aviation Monthly: December 203x:
US Airpower, Part V
by Richard Wynorski

BOMBERS:

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress: The long-serving B-52H is projected to remain in the USAF inventory until the 2040s, a historic record for service length of a combat aircraft. Even though strategic bombers are an arguably obsolete concept the B-52 is a cost-effective means of delivering large amounts of JDAMs and cruise missiles on target.

Boeing B-1B Lancer: Though the B-1B Lancer's role is quickly being superseded by the F/B-40 Aurora the B-1B still sees service when large weapons payloads are a requirement. The B-1B has been upgraded with more advanced electronics systems, RAM coating (though the design of te aircraft renders it less effective than that used on the B-2), the capability of carrying the latest generation of ordinance, and new F101-GE-203 afterburning turbofans that allow the aircraft to reach a top speed of Mach 2 as well as featuring new bypass contours to improve stealth from IR sensors.

Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit: Consistent upgrades to the B-2 airframe have ensured its utility even today. In addition to upgrades to the avionics and computer systems, the B-2 (and all other stealth aircraft) has received a new, more economical radar absorbent coating that doesn't require climate controlled hangars as well as upgraded GE F118 engines that are stealthier and cheaper to maintain. The B-2 is also the only aircraft capable of carrying the GBU-57 Block 3 Massive Ordinance Penetrator, a 30000 lb bunker-buster warhead that was famously used against the GLA in the later stages of the campaigns in the Middle East. When armed with the AGM-214 Waverider HSSW cruise missile, the B-2 Spirit finally has a standoff nuclear capability.

Northrop-Grumman F/B-40 Aurora: The aircraft we know today as the F/B-40 Aurora's history stretches a long way back into the 1980s, where DARPA, along with Northrop and Lockheed's Skunk Works experimented with a hypersonic reconnaissance aircraft intended to replace the SR-71 Blackbird. This first generation Aurora had a top speed of Mach 4-5 and was powered by liquid methane-fulled ramjet engines. At the time, there was no way to correctly deploy bombs or other ordinance from an aircraft moving at such high speeds.
The development of more sophisticated spy satellites and the end of the Cold War put an end to the Aurora project in the mid 90's. The project lay dormant though the technology developed for the engines would live on in spaceplane concepts and a new generation of rocket boosters.

DARPA was currently running a black project program designed to produce a hypersonic bomber, and Northrop-Grumman saw a perfect opportunity to recycle their Aurora and F/B-23 projects. Additionally, the USAF was also seeking for a new medium strategic bomber design to replace their aging B-1B and F-117 aircraft. The resulting aircraft was dubbed the Aurora after the code name for the original prototype aircraft.

The new Aurora was powered by two ramjet engines in an over-under configuration which were far more efficient and sophisticated than the engines of the original 1980's design. General Electric's new ramjet design used methylcyclohexane (MCH) as fuel and thermal management medium instead of the cryogenic methane of the original engine. MCH has roughly ten times the energy capacity of hydrocarbon fuels and is much safer and more practical to store and utilize than hydrogen or methane, important due to the extreme heat generated due to atmospheric friction when moving at high speeds and for avoiding IR detection. The principle behind MCH thermal management is based on a catalytic reaction transforming MCH into Toluene and Hydrogen, which are then used to fuel the aircraft. A fuel pump pressurizes the fuel to avoid boiling, and the preheater heats the fuel to the proper reaction temperature while removing heat from a secondary coolant. After preheating, the fuel passes through the catalytic heat exchanger/ reactor before being ignited by the engines. The secondary coolant, Syltherm, circulates to the hot spots to maintain skin temperatures to within specified tolerances. At low speeds, the Aurora's ramjet engines act as normal turbojets; at hypersonic speeds the compressor and turbine are switched off so the engines can operate as ramjets. However, there is a cost. The fuel consumption when in hypersonic mode is significant as is the heat buildup from both the ramjet and atmospheric friction. Normally hypersonic mode is used when carrying out an attack or when going sub-orbital, and the pilot conserves fuel by flying at high altitude at a subsonic speed after the attack is complete. The F/B-40A was capable of reaching Mach 6 in the atmosphere and was capable of boosting the engine enough to reach sub-orbit for short periods of time. The fuselage of the aircraft was primarily made of titanium alloy with the outer edges being made of Inconel, a heat-resistant stainless steel. At Mach 5 speed the leading edges of the air-frame would glow red above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

As for avionics, the F/B-40 Aurora has an APG-81 LPI AESA radar based on the same radar used in the F-35. This gives the F/B-40 Aurora high-resolution SAR imaging, improved resistance to jammers, and ECM capabilities. Two APG-W-29 L-band AESA radars are implemented in the wings, and a tail-mounted APG-T-24 X-band AESA is also standard. It also incorporates the ALQ-110 Next-Generation Jammer, which uses six AESA arrays for all around coverage, a full digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammer, a stealthy version of the ALQ-41 Distributed Aperture System, an internal contraphasic radar jammer, and chaff and flares.

Needless to say the Aurora being submitted to the Next Generation Bomber competition was a surprise to the USAF. Northrop-Grumman had managed to deliver DARPA's hypersonic bomber project early in time for the Next Generation Bomber. Though the Aurora was highly expensive, it was deemed to be far more cost-effective than purchasing both a subsonic Next Generation Bomber and a more advanced 2037 Bomber. The USAF adopted the aircraft as the F/B-40 Aurora and intended it to replace the F-15E Strike Eagle and the B-1B Lancer. The “fighter� designation has generally been accepted as misinformation to mislead foreign intelligence agencies; though the F/B-40 could feasibly be used as an interceptor there is no evidence suggesting that it is routinely used as such.

After the full entry of US troops into the Middle East and Central Asia as a result of the Global War on Terror, the F/B-40 Aurora had its time to shine in combat. The new aircraft was used as a deep strike bomber whenever speed was needed, and the F/B-40 was forward deployed at RAF Lakenheath, Diego Garcia, Bagram, and Andersen AFB during the conflict in addition to deployments in CONUS at Whiteman, Barksdale, Mountain Home, Seymour Johnson, and Eglin. Common armaments for the F/B-40 Aurora included the JDAM series (including the GBU-31(V)4/B “bunker buster� bombs) and the devastating GBU-44 10,000 lb thermobaric bomb.

Despite its numerous successes during the war the F/B-40 Aurora's service record was marred due to the infamous Aurora scandal and the later Shakhdara incident. The Aurora was initially a top secret project that was to be revealed as the USAF's Next Generation Bomber at some later date. However, a few Air Force staffers carelessly leaked recordings and non-critical, but still classified information about the aircraft to an anonymous source. The Air Force staffers were subsequently discovered and punished but the proof of the F/B-40 Aurora existing was already out there for all to see.

The Shakdara incident came about from the aftermath of a successful covert mission to destroy a well defended convoy of GLA moving black market nuclear and chemical weapons to Afghanistan through a pass in the Shakhdara mountains of Tajikistan ended up as a PR embarrassment for the USAF when one of the Aurora strike aircraft which carried out the mission was shot down on egress over Pakistan when returning to Diego Garcia. The F/B-40 Aurora pilots had decided to fly low to avoid possible detection and international incident by Russian or Chinese radar whilst in contested airspace. As mentioned before, the Aurora had little defense from possible enemy aircraft if its fuel was low and caught at low speeds. When the Auroras were returning to Diego Garcia at low altitude over Pakistani air space, GLA fighters on the ground were able to spot the aircraft and were able to intercept them with surface-to-air missiles. Despite the Aurora's stealth features, the GLA managed to shoot down one of the aircraft, its pilot managing to eject and evade capture before being rescued. The pictures of the wreckage were circulated widely online by GLA agents and the heretofore secret operation was now public knowledge. With the Incirlik attack and public reveal of the Aurora broadly in the public mind the USAF had yet another serious blunder on their hands, made even worse since it involved one of their most advanced black projects.

Despite the Shakhdara incident, the F/B-40 Aurora served well during the Global War on Terror, and it became feared among the GLA for its capability to drop a GBU-44 bomb anytime, anywhere, with absolutely no warning. Lockheed Martin and Boeing even developed an even faster variant, the F/B-40B, with a more powerful engine capable of Mach 8 flight in the atmosphere as well as an A-THEL anti-missile laser for defense. These Aurora bombers were given a flat black paint scheme instead of the grey camouflage of the F/B-40As and the F-22 & F-35.

After the war the Aurora's future was in question due to the high cost of producing and maintaining the aircraft. It was due to the skilled manipulation and arguments of General Eugene Griffon that Congress allowed the production run of the aircraft to continue as per the original plan. Today the Aurora serves in the USAF under more auspicious circumstances.

General Characteristics:

* Crew: 1; may have unmanned capability
* Length: 35 m (115 ft)
* Wingspan: 20 m (65 ft)
* Height: 6 m (19 ft)
* Wing area: 125 m² (1,345 ft²)
* Empty weight: 29,480 kg (65,000 lb)
* Max takeoff weight: 71,215 kg (157,000 lb)
* Powerplant: 2× scramjet/turbine (500 kN est. thrust) each

Performance:

* Maximum speed: Mach 5-6 at altitude (unknown at sea level); F/B-40B; Mach 8+ at altitude
* Combat radius: over 2,400 km (1,500 mi)
* Service ceiling: over 100 km (62 mi)
* Thrust/weight: unknown
Fuel types

* MCH
* Possible use of MHD (MagnetoHydroDynamics) technology.

Armament/Equipment:
Max Payload: 3,600 kg (8,000 lbs) internal ordinance capacity, optional pylons on wings adding additional 8,000 lbs of ordinance. Capable of carrying nuclear weaponry.
Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance, and command & control equipment allowing the Aurora’s pilot to direct friendly forces. C4ISR and AESA radar standard.

This post has been edited by DerKrieger: 23 Sep 2015, 19:29