DAS-5 Angrboda
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| Profile (n/a) | |
| DAS-5 Angrboda | |
|---|---|
| Design details | |
| Type | Bomber |
| Manufacturer | Detmerian Aerospace |
| Design No. | DAS-5 |
| Unit cost | B.1: $300 million |
| Service dates | 2004-present |
| General characteristics | |
| Crew | 4 |
| Length | 45.56 m |
| Wingspan | 38.12 m |
| Height | 8.28 m |
| Empty weight | 87574 kg |
| Payload | 62000 kg |
| MTOW | 242000 kg |
| Flight characteristics | |
| Engines | 4 × IMW ATG-11F |
| Speed | Mach 1.62 |
| Manoeuvrability | g |
| Thrust loadings | Military: 0.218 (cl.)–0.175 (max.) Reheat: 0.327 (cl.)–0.263 (max.) |
| Fuel fraction | 0.51 |
| Range | 12000 km |
| Ceiling | 20000 m |
| Rate of climb | |
| Armament | |
| Internal | See Characteristics |
| External | See Characteristics |
| Operators | |
| UKIN | |
- Angrboda: (Norse mythology, "Herald of Sorrow") A giantess and the mate or mistress of the trickster Loki. Angrboda spawned three monsters: the gigantic wolf Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent Jormungand, and the goddess of death Hel.[1]
The DAS-5 Angrboda[2] is supersonic intercontinental interdiction and strike aircraft with limited low observability (i.e., stealth) characteristics designed by Detmerian Aerospace for the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Air Force (RINAF) in response to the 1994 Defence Ministry White Paper, Strategic Forces for the Twenty-First Century. The type entered operational service in 2004 with the 81 (Bomber) Squadron.
Contents
Introduction
When the Defence Ministry published the 1994 White Paper, the RINAF had been without a heavy bomber since the retirement of the last Avro Lancaster in 1947. At the time, Strike Command was making do with surplus Blackburn Buccaneers from the Royal Air Force[3], which had replaced the ill-regarded Lockheed Starfighter in 1986.
Before the White Paper, the RINAF envisaged no replacement for the Buccaneers that were rapidly nearing the end of their useful service life. The Air Staff had instead pressed for the replacement of its equally aged Mirage III fighters that had proven woefully ineffective against late twentieth-century aggressors. Faced with an unprecedented budget increase, the RINAF searched for modern aircraft that would fulfil its many requirements. For their fighters, both the RINAF and the Royal Isselmere-Nieland Navy (RINN) selected the Dassault Rafale[4], allowing both services to maintain their existing force levels. Finding a long-range bomber was a much more difficult proposition.
Eventually, in the absence of foreign interest, the RINAF reluctantly asked a domestic firm, Fennerby Aerotechnics, to enter the Strategic Bomber 21 competition. Fennerby Aerotechnics had never designed a combat military aircraft before. Indeed, in recent years the firm had only produced a few artillery spotting and liaison aircraft for the Defence Forces. The last combat aircraft the firm produced was in 1954 when it stopped the line on the licence-produced Gloster Meteor. Despite this lack of recent experience, the engineers at Fennerby felt themselves up to the task.
At first, the engineers at Fennerby struggled with the design requirements. One group emerged with the Fennerby Aerotechnics Project 101 (FAP-101), a shoulder-winged design harkening back to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. The FAP-101 was to be an enormous aircraft with six large turbofan engines and a maximum take-off weight of around 250 tonnes, but one that was entirely incapable of travelling at supersonic speeds except in a dive. Another section of engineers took a leaf from the variable geometry wing (VG) of the Rockwell (now Boeing) B-1 and the Tupolev Tu-160, drafting the FAP-102. The '102 was a competent design, but one that improved little on the two foreign designs. The last design, the FAP-103, seemed a complete no-hoper. It would be large and ungainly, have an indecent take-off take-off requirement, and looked somewhat like an abomination. The engineers, however, insisted that emerging technologies would markedly improve the aircraft's handling and reduce its radar cross-section (RCS) below that of the B-1B: a minuscule one square metre (1 m2). Faced with both Rockwell and Tupolev's unwillingness to sell, the RINAF selected the FAP-102 and FAP-103 for testing.
As Fennerby's engineers began working with remotely piloted models of the new designs, the firm contacted Isselmere Motor Works and Demers Turbines for powerplant designs. The airplane manufacturer had worked with both firms in the past and was confident both could design an engine able to meet the FAP-102 and 103's needs.
Construction
The Angrboda is a blended wing-body design with twin outwardly canted vertical stabilisers, no horizontal tail. The wing's leading edge is a compound-sweep design, ranging from 69° to 36° and a 12.57° trailing edge sweep, with two winglets at a variable 57°-30° dihedral to improve cruise efficiency. The fuselage belly is broad and flat, serving as a lifting body, with the four ATG-11 engines in two underwing nacelles.
The ATG-11F gas turbine engines of the DAS-5 were initially slated to be embedded within the fuselage to shroud their infra-red emissions and to shield the fan-compressor blades from radar, but the internal volume penalty outweighed the gain in stealth. Since the Angrboda was to be as a high-speed penetrator aircraft, the engineers at Fennerby situated the engines in two underwing pods of two engines each, hiding the turbine faces from look-down radar. At altitude, the complex intake design reflects much of a radar pulse back into the aircraft, reducing the strength of the radar return, whilst baffles within the intakes themselves either absorb or otherwise attenuate radar returns.
Carbon-fibre and thermoplastics combined with more exotic radar absorbent materials make up much of the the Angrboda's skin, reducing its reflected signature as well as the aircraft's weight. The sawtoothed edges of maintenance panels, hatches, and weapons bays reflect radar waves at odd angles, further reducing the aircraft's RCS. Dielectric ceramic panels comprise most of the wings' leading edges. Lightweight titanium alloys comprise most of the tail section and engine pods as well as forming the structural basis within the three main weapons bays, whilst the landing gear is made of high strength steels.
Sensors
The Angrboda's main sensors are a pair of frequency-hopping, low probability of intercept (LPI) active electronically scanned array (AESA) multiple agile beam radars (ABR) using synthetic aperture radar technology for precise navigation, enhanced target detection, and accurate weapons delivery. The forward array consists of about 2000 transmitter/receiver (T/R) modules and the rear array of 1500 modules. Both arrays may operate as active transmitter/receivers for air and/or ground searching and tracking, terrain-following radar (simultaneous with the previous), passive receivers, narrow beam jam-resistant LPI communications systems, or as broadwave jammers (across their transmitting frequency band).
Apart from its radar arrays, the Angrboda is equipped with specialised electronic protective measures (EPM) and electronic support measures (ESM) equipment for deception or decoy jamming, blanket jamming, and nullification. It possesses very capable radar warning and laser warning arrays as well as a sensitive missile plume detector. The DAS-5 may be equipped with the GDS.94 Flamingo or GDS.95 Firefly autonomous decoys that may be carried within the bomber's four internal missile bays or on an external hardpoint.
The Cockpit
The cockpit is completely night vision goggle (NVG) compatible. Pilot and co-pilot have each been equipped with a wide angle head-up display (HUD) with a monochromatic head-down display (HDD), as well as three polychromatic multi-function displays (MFD) as well as several backup analogue steam gauges.
Each crewmember similarly has reference to a helmet-mounted display (HMD) enabling them to react swiftly to incoming threats or changing target information. The system has been designed with modern aerial combat in mind, simplifying information to fundamentals and may, if desired, prompt the operator with several response options.
Operational Service
Characteristics
Crew: 4; pilot, co-pilot, offensive and defensive systems operators
Cost: $300 million
Wings: span: 38.12m; area: 386.68m2
Fuselage: length: 45.56m; height: 8.28m
Powerplant: 4 × Isselmere Motor Works ATG-11F (156 kN max. (35,117 lb st) max. a/b, 104 kN max. dry (23,411 lb st) each)
Mass: Empty: 87574 kg (193,068 lb); Clean take-off: 194693.2 kg (429,225 lb); Maximum take-off: 242000 kg (533,518.67 lb)
Performance: Operational maximum velocity at altitude Mach 1.62, cruise velocity: Mach 0.86; clean, ASL: 1,125 km/h; Range (maximum internal fuel): 12000 km; Service ceiling: 20 km (65,617 ft)
Weapons bays: 3 ventral bays (each rated at 12000 kg; bays 1 & 2 may act as a single long bay), 4 missile bays (4 × 400 kg each, for GDS.94 Flamingo decoy, GWS.74A Kestrel, or 2 GWS.65A Kite)
Hardpoints/Stations: 8 hardpoints for an additional 20000 kg; 4 fuselage hardpoints (each rated at 4000 kg), 4 wing hardpoints (each rated at 2250 kg).
Payload: maximum (max. internal fuel, take-off): 42000 kg (92,594 lb); maximum (reduced fuel load): 62000 kg (136,687 lbs.)
Fuel fraction: 0.51 (internal, with JP8; 0.49 with JP4) – 112,930 litres (24,841.62 Imp. gal, 29,836.2 US gal)[5]
Thrust loading: maximum: 0.327 (clean) – 0.263 (max. load); military: 0.218 (clean) – 0.175 (max. load)
Wing loading: 503.5 kg/m2 clean take-off; 625.84 kg/m2 maximum take-off
Electronics suite
Computers: AEQ.12 environmental awareness module; 4 × AEL.17 fuel and stores management modules; 4 × AEW.16 flight control modules; AEL.16 ground crew accessible module; 8 × AEQ.17 engine control and monitoring units; AEQ.244 threat management system
Computer systems: AEI.9 operating system
Displays: 3 × IDU.218 damage control; IDU.221 sensor management (pilot/co-pilot); IDU.219 sensor management (OSO); IDU.220 sensor management (DSO); 2 × IDU.273 threat management; 2 × IDU.277 threat management (OSO, DSO); 2 × AVQ.69 head-up displays; 2 × IDU.275 hybrid navigation system; 2 × IDU.276 fuel and engine; IDU.274 horizontal situation display; 6 × IDU.267 multifunction displays (pilot, co-pilot); 6 × IDU.278 multifunction displays (OSO, DSO); 4 × AVQ.71 helmet-mounted display/sights
Radars: ARQ.237 (fore); ARQ.236 (aft)
Optronics: AAS.249 infra-red search and tracking turret; ASQ.241 forward sensor optronics (APQ.232 laser designator/range-finder, AVS.231 charge-coupled device)
Navigation: ARN.209 millimetric Doppler altimeter; ARN.225 TACAN aerial; ASN.252 hybrid navigation system (APN.249 LINS; ASN.250 GPS); ARN.253 ILS aerial; ARN.257 terrain profiling and matching system; ASW.265 autopilot; ARN.268 microwave landing system
Communications: ASQ.18 multifunction information distribution system (MIDS); ASC.224 satellite communications system; ZSW.259 UAV control datalink; ARC.291 secure HF aerial; ARC.292 secure VHF aerial; ARQ.294 ADF aerial; 2 × ARC.301 secure UHF aerials; ARC.302 secure L-band aerial; 2 × ARC.303 secure S-band aerials
Electronic countermeasures/Electronic support measures
Assessment: ASX.255 combined interrogator transponder; AEX.256 target recognition system
Warning: ALR.225 RWR; APR.218 LWR; AAR.249 missile plume detector system; ALR.248 launch warning indicator system
Countermeasures: ALE.209 chaff/flare ejectors (8 × 30-cell); ALE.212 Cuckoo towed deception jammers (4 × 3-cell); ALQ.234 self-protection jammer; ALI.262 integrated countermeasures system (ICMS)
References
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External links
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Topics on Isselmere-Nieland |
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