Liberal Men and Women/HAWC Next Gen Fighter Program

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HAWC is testing out the two designs for the Confederacy's next generation of fighter. Each one is using an advanced experimental aerodynamic technology. So far, 2 of each prototype have been built.

X-1 prototype

The X-1 prototype was submitted by The Cairhienen Corporation. It implements a double delta-wing design. The space in between the two sets of wings increases lift at lower velocities, and act as a ramjet at higher velocities increasing thrust. It implements an engine that has three separate exhaust nozzles, thrust vectoring, and canards which helps increase maneuverability.

Specifications

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 75 ft
  • Wingspan: 40 ft
  • Height: 23.5 ft
  • Wing area: 2x 750 sq ft
  • Empty weight: 35,000 lb
  • Loaded weight: 65,000 lb
  • Max takeoff weight: 100,000 lb
  • Powerplant: Cairhienen Corporation Triburst afterburning turbofan, 60,000 lbf (100,000 lbf w/ afterburners) and 10 degree thrust vectoring.

Performance

  • Maximum speed: Mach 3.1 at altitude
  • Cruise speed: Mach .9
  • Ferry range: 3,750 mi
  • Wing loading: 73.1 lb/sq ft
  • Thrust/weight: .92 dry, 1.54 wet

Armament

  • Guns: internally mounted double 18 mm CM18 Vulcan gatling gun, 10,000 rounds total
  • Hardpoints:
    • 4 underwing external
      • Capable of mounting any type of Cairhienen AAM or 500 lb bomb
    • 8 internal fuselage
      • Capable of mounting any type of Cairhienen AAM

X-2 Prototype

The X-2 is the Jeffersonian Engineering Corporation's submission. It includes forward swept wings and an advanced fly-by-wire system, along with high degree thrust vectoring.

The JEC recently submitted an updated X-2B model which has numerous small improvements in stability, maneuverability, processing power, range, and even software efficiency. The biggest change is fixing a bug in the fly-by-wire system software which could cause added instability in certain conditions and upgrading the fly-by-wire processors to the JP500M and RAM to 8 GiB. Another change was the delivery of a version modified for carrier operations, which is a function the X-1 could not match due to its large size and weight.

Specifications (X-2A) - 2 manufactured

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 26 ft
  • Wingspan: 40 ft
  • Height: 12 ft
  • Wing area: 175 sq ft
  • Empty weight: 22,500 lb
  • Loaded weight: 35,000 lb
  • Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb
  • Powerplant: JEC "Hyperion" afterburning turbofans, 30,000 lbf dry, 55,000 lbf wet, 30 degree thrust vectoring
  • Fuel capacity: 3,500 US gal
  • Fly-by-wire: JEC version 1.0.0a
    • 3 redundant boards each with 2 JP250M processors and 4 GiB RAM on JHB

Performance

  • Maximum speed: Mach 2.5 (1,625 MPH)
  • Cruise speed: Mach 1.5 (975 MPH)
  • Combat radius: 1,000 mi
  • Ferry range: 3,000 mi
  • Service ceiling: 100,000 ft
  • Rate of climb: >120,000 ft/min
  • Wing loading: 200 lb/sq ft
  • Thrust/weight: .86 dry, 1.57 wet

Armament

  • 2x 18 mm CM18 Vulcan cannon, 10,000 rounds total
  • 6x flechette rocket launcher, covered when not in use; creates lots of drag at high speed when opened, so it is disallowed
  • 8x internal AAM fuselage hardpoints

Specifications (X-2B) - 3 manufactured(2 normal, one carrier)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 25 ft
  • Wingspan: 42 ft
  • Height: 12 ft
  • Wing area: 200 sq ft
  • Empty weight: 20,500 lb
  • Loaded weight: 35,000 lb
  • Max takeoff weight: 60,000 lb
  • Powerplant: JEC "Hyperion" afterburning turbofans, 30,000 lbf dry, 55,000 lbf wet, 32.5 degree thrust vectoring
  • Fuel capacity: 4,000 US gal
  • Fly-by-wire: JEC version 1.0.2b
    • 3 redundant boards each with 2 JP500M processors and 8 GiB RAM on JHB

Performance

  • Maximum speed: Mach 2.5 (1,625 MPH)
  • Cruise speed: Mach 1.5 (975 MPH)
  • Combat radius: 1,100 mi w/o externals, 1,300 mi w/
  • Ferry range: 3,500 mi w/o externals, 3,800 mi w/
  • Service ceiling: 120,000 ft
  • Rate of climb: >120,000 ft/min
  • Wing loading: 175 lb/sq ft
  • Thrust/weight: .86 dry, 1.57 wet

Armament

  • 2x 18 mm CM18 Vulcan cannon, 10,000 rounds total
  • 6x flechette rocket launcher, covered when not in use; creates lots of drag at high speed when opened, so it is disallowed
    • 10x 25 mm non-explosive depleted uranium rockets
  • 8x internal AAM fuselage hardpoints per launcher
  • 2x external wing hardpoints up to 500 lb ordinance each
    • JEC AAMs (SRAAM, MRAAM, or LRAAM)
    • Light bombs (conventional, torpedo, or EMP)
    • External Fuel tanks (~125 US gal each)

Cost

  • Total project cost: 2.5 billion
  • Manufacture cost of X-1: cr250 million
  • Manufacture cost of X-2: cr175 million
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