Airmanship KnowledgeLearning Outcome 3

Part 2No 1 Group Air Combat

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Revision 2.00

Airmanship KnowledgeLearning Outcome 3

Know the aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force

Contents

No 1 Group – Air Combat – Typhoon– Tornado GR4 / GR4A – Tornado F3– Harrier GR9 / T12– Joint Combat Aircraft

Typhoon

Reporting Name Typhoon

Role Letters & Marks T1A / F2 / T3 / FGR4

Role Multi-Role Fighter

Typhoon T1A

Typhoon F2

Typhoon T3

Typhoon FGR4

Typhoon FGR4

Detail Differences – T1A vs T3

Typhoon T3 has the PIRATE FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor mounted on the port-side of the nose

Typhoon T1A / T3 are primarily used for pilot conversion training but are fully combat-capable

All Typhoon T1s had a modification to the fuel system to become T1As

Detail Differences – F2 vs FGR4

Typhoon FGR4 has the PIRATE FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor mounted on the nose

FGR4 upgrade introduced air-to-surface capability to Typhoon. All F2s will be upgraded to FGR4

Typhoon F2 and FGR4 are the frontline combat variant of Typhoon.

Typhoon F2 is used in the air-to-air and Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) roles only

Typhoon

• Manufactured by the Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK via the Eurofighter consortium

• High performance, single seat, multi-role fighter aircraft designed to perform air superiority and ground attack missions with a full range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.

• Twin-engine delta wing design with canard foreplanes and fly-by-wire controls for maximum agility

• Advanced avionics including ECR-90 CAPTOR Radar, Helmet-Mounted Symbology System (HMSS) helmet-mounted sight and voice control input.

Typhoon Technical Data

WING SPAN 10.50MLENGTH 15.96MCREW 1 (2 in T1A / T3)MAXIMUM SPEED 1,147kts (2125km/h)

(Mach 2.0) at 36,090ft

ENGINES Two Eurojet EJ200Turbofans

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

Reporting Name Tornado

Role Letters & Marks GR4 / GR4A

Role Ground Attack /Reconnaissance

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

Tor

nado

GR

4 / G

R4A

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

Tornado GR4 / GR4A

• Variable geometry wing, all-weather ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft.

• Terrain-following radar, Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) and night-vision goggles allow unrestricted operations day or night

• LITENING III Laser Designation Pod allows self-designation of ground targets for laser guided bombs.

• Carries full range of air-to-surface weapons as well as RAPTOR pod for tactical reconnaissance

• Linescan system enables the GR4A to conduct low-level, tactical reconnaissance.

Tornado GR4/A Technical Data

WING SPAN 13.9M fully forward

8.6m fully swept

LENGTH 16.45M

CREW 2

MAXIMUM SPEED 800kts (1480km/h)

(Mach 1.2) at sea level

ENGINES Two turbo union RB199

turbofans

Tornado F3

Reporting Name Tornado

Role Letters & Marks F3

Role Air Defence

Tornado F3 was retired from service in March 2011

Tornado F3

Tornado F3

Tornado F3

Tornado F3

Tor

nado

F3

Tornado F3

Tornado F3

• Retired from service March 31st 2011.• Developed from the Tornado GR1 as a long-range air

defence interceptor.• Variable sweep wing for high supersonic speed or high

loiter duration.• All-weather day/night operation with beyond visual-

range engagement capability.• Patrols for over 3 hours at 300nmls from base.• Carried AMRAAM and ASRAAM air-to-air missiles• Secondary air defence suppression role added in 2003

using ALARM missiles

Tornado F3 Technical Data

WING SPAN 13.9M fully forward

8.6M fully swept

LENGTH 16.7M

CREW 2

MAXIMUM SPEED 800kts (1480km/h)

(Mach 1.2) at sea level

ENGINES Two Turbo Union RB199

turbofans

Comparing F3 & GR4T

orn

ado

F3

To

rnad

o G

R4

Longer nose

AMRAAM Missiles on stretched fuselageFLIR

The Tornado Test

4

2 3

5

1

Harrier GR9 / T12

Reporting Name Harrier

Role Letters & Marks GR9 / T12

Role Ground Attack & Reconnaissance

Harrier GR9 / T12 was retired from service in December 2010

Harrier GR9

Harrier GR9

Harrier GR9

Har

rier

T12

Harrier GR9 / T12• Harrier GR9 was a ground attack and Close Air Support

aircraft capable of V/STOL (Vertical / Short Take-Off Landing)

• Harrier T12 was a twin-seat training variant for training new pilots and was fully combat capable

• Aircraft were operated by 1 Sqn and 4 Sqn RAF and the Naval Strike Wing of the Fleet Air Arm under Joint Force Harrier

• Operated from both land bases and Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers.

• Capable of operating day and night and in all weathers.• Carried a full range of air-to-surface weapons

Harrier GR9 / T12 Technical Data

WING SPAN 9.24MLENGTH 14.46MCREW 1 (2 in T12)MAXIMUM SPEED 640kts (1186km/h) at

sea levelENGINE One Rolls-Royce

Pegasus 105 vectored-thrust

turbofan

Joint Combat Aircraft

Reporting Name Joint Combat Aircraft

Role Letters & Marks

Role Multi-role land- and carrier-based strike fighter

Joint Combat Aircraft

Join

t Com

bat A

ircra

ft

Joint Combat Aircraft

Joint Combat Aircraft

• JCA is UK designation for US-built F-35 Lightning II• Low-observable multirole fighter/attack aircraft• Planned in-service date of 2020 to replace Harrier GR9

in RAF and Royal Navy service and operate from land bases and new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers

• Sophisticated avionics and weapon-targeting systems including helmet-mounted weapons cueing

• UK JCA is based on F-35C carrier variant. F-35 is also available as a conventional takeoff variant (F-35A) and Short Takeoff & Vertical Landing STOVL variant (F-35B)

Joint Combat Aircraft Technical Data

WING SPAN 13.1M (9.1M foldedLENGTH 15.52MCREW 1MAXIMUM SPEED Mach 1.8ENGINES Pratt & Whitney F-135

turbofan

Questions?