F-58

The F-58 Cougar is a long-range stealth multirole fighter. It was jointly produced by AMIndustries Aerospace (AMInAe) and the Asgarnian Air Force Design Collaboration Bureau. It entered service on 8 June 2007 with the Asgarnian Air Force, replacing the aging F/B-150C/E that served for many years; marking a new chapter of the AAF.

Development

Armament

The Cougar's life started out as the XF-58. The design was made by a team of aeronautical engineers, taking them about one thousand man-hours. The design was transferred from computer to model, with the model being used for simulation testing in wind tunnels. The design proved to be effective, and the aircraft's first frame was built in 2004.

While the frame was in development, another team of weapons and systems engineers began developing a state-of-the-art weapons system to be used on the fighter. The original weapons design called for:

A) an integral cannon above 20mm caliber,
B) an internal weapons bay capable of containing ten standard missiles,
C) the capability of the use of permanent, stealthy external hardpoints,
D) the capability of the use of stealthily-designed targeting pods off of the wing, and
E) standard countermeasure systems.

The design team tackled the cannon first, as the final production-series aircraft would likely be built around the gun. The team experimented with the 23mm, 25mm, and 27mm series of cannons and settled on the D/DGu-27F 27mm twin-barrel design provided by David & David. The gun would feature several improvements. First, a bore evacuator would be fitted, preventing fouling. Secondly, a recoil booster would improve the fire rate, and finally a back-up system allowing the gun to fire from a single barrel should the a barrel become jammed were all installed. The gun's firing port would be located in the right wing root, with a fast-moving cover to preserve the stealth capabilites of the aircraft. The gun would be fed by 425 rounds of ammunition in a linkless belt system.

The weapons bay was the second project to tackle. The team decided upon a fast rail launching system. The system would focus on a 10-shot drum that fed two rails — one on each side — that would eject the missile with 15G's of force. The speed would preserve the stealth capabilites. With the internal weapons bay project finished, the next requirement was met with the use of angular pylons, once again preserving the precious stealth capability. There are four underwing pylons and two wingtip pylons.

A new targeting pod system was developed just for the F-58, the AAN/TP-4H. It utilized an angular design that housed an all-in-one pod consisting of a laser designator, T.V. camera, laser reciever, infrared reciever, and FLIR/IRST unit. The system fit onto a small angular hardpoint under the left air intake.

The final hurdle to complete the weapons system was met with the AAN/CM-P-20N. The system jammed missile radars, broadcasting several false targets; and it also decieved radar-guided missiles by way of a small chaff launcher under the exhaust nozzle.

Powerplant

The F-58 uses David & David's new DD-1000FX engine that features thrust vectoring and supercruise capability.

The powerplant was was chosen by way of a contest, with most major Asgarnian aircraft powerplant manufacturers entering. However, the odds were in David and David's favor; as they are the default powerplant provider for the AAF.

Several tests were performed, and the DD-1000FX outperformed all other competetors.

Fuel

The F-58 carrys an internal fuel tank with 21,500 pounds of jet fuel.

The aircraft also carrys a conformal fuel tank system to suppliment the internal fuel tanks that feed into the engine, and it is capable of carrying external drop-tanks.

Electronics

The F-58 features a "glass cockpit" that displays all main information on three 5" x 4" touch-screen monitors. There are also several smaller screens that show other facets of the aircraft's information such as airspeed, altitude, attitued, etc. The Cougar also features a HUD system that redisplays some main information so the pilot doesn't have to look down, away from flying.

The aircraft features the AAN/R-FX2 over-the-horizon radar system, that is capable of detecting and tracking targets at 425 miles. As a secondary targeting system, an infrared detector was mounted on the underside of the aircraft's left air intake, to prevent enemy aircraft from locking on to the radar system.

The aircraft also features the AAN/I-FX1 information suite, that links every F-58 to all other F-58's; sharing targets, target/battlefield information, and commands. Included is the TI-84C GPS link-up system and the TI-96R supercomputer system.

The F-58 also sports the HGB-F4/U tracking and terrain mapping Doppler radar, that feeds into the TI-96R's digital mapping system, displaying an extremely accurate 3-D map of the aircraft's surroundings.

Production

The aircraft is produced wholly at two main facilites; AMInAe's Balkan City plant and David & David's Garrison plant.

Variants

The F-58 comes in two varieties, F-58AA and F-58AB. The F-58AA is the standard production variant with one seat; and the AB model features two seats.

Specifications

• Crew: 1-2
• Length: 50' 6" (15.37 m)
• Wingspan: 35' 0" (10.65 m)
• Height: 17' 4" (5.28 m)
• Wing area: 459.6 ft² (42.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 26,000 lbs (12,000 kg)
• Loaded weight: 44,400 lbs (20,100 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lbs (27,200 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 David & David DD-1000FX afterburning turbofan with supercruise capability
  • Dry thrust: 28,000 lbf (128 kN)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 43,000 lbf (191 kN)

• Maximum speed: Mach 2.7
• Range: 1,200 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,200 km)
• Combat radius: 600 nmi (690 mi, 1,110 km)
• Rate of climb: Classified
• Wing loading: 91.4 lb/ft² (446 kg/m²)
• Thrust/weight:
  • Full fuel: 1.22
  • 50% fuel: 1.61

• Armament
  • 1 x D/DGu-27F twin-barrel 27mm cannon — loaded with 425 rounds of High Explosive Armor Piercing Tracer ammunition (tracers on every round).
  • 10 Missiles/bombs in internal drum with two fast-launching rams
  • 6 Pylons for mixed ordinance