Improvement and development of the hottest active

Improvement and development of active multi-purpose fighter

active multi-purpose fighter includes F-15, F-16, Su-30, "Rafale", "typhoon" and "Gripen", all of which have their own improvement plans. The improvement of the active multi-purpose fighter mainly focuses on the avionics equipment, followed by the improvement of the engine. As the development cycle of the modern fighter is longer and longer, and the development cost is higher and higher, the improvement of the active fighter has become a long-term trend. The active multi-purpose fighters include F-15, F-16, Su-30, "Rafale", "typhoon" and "Gripen", all of which have their own improvement plans. The improvement of active multi-purpose fighter mainly focuses on avionics equipment, and the improvement of avionics equipment mainly focuses on radar, including the addition of active electronic scanning array antenna (AESA); Secondly, the improvement of engine; The improvement of the airframe mainly focuses on increasing the fuel capacity of the aircraft to increase the range. The integration of newly developed weapons for active multi-purpose fighters is also an important part of the improvement of these fighters

basic characteristics of multi-purpose fighter

multi-purpose fighter should have at least several basic characteristics in order to complete the assigned task. The first is survivability. If the fighter does not have this, the enemy can firmly control its airspace, forcing the fighter to only dare to launch weapons outside the firepower circle, reducing the precision of weapon delivery. Fighter formations must be able to detect ground and air threats, and then protect themselves through evasion or combat

the second point is that aiming at the sensor is very important. At present, the ability of fighter to find and accurately attack targets depends on the use of these sensors, including radar and photoelectric devices, which can provide real-time aiming data to pilots and weapon systems

the third point is to choose weapons that can solve all targets. Precision guided bombs and modern short-range air-to-air missiles are necessary. It is best to equip medium-range air-to-air missiles and weapons launched outside the firepower circle. Some fighter buyers take sensor system and weapon system as the decisive factors when choosing fighter

a central requirement of fighter aircraft is support. Fighter aircraft is a highly integrated system, which requires the active participation of manufacturers (including improvement and training) before users can use it normally

f-15 will adopt 15 new technologies

Boeing's f-15k fighter has won the new fighter procurement project in South Korea. The first of the 40 f-15k orders will be delivered in 2005 and the last in 2008, which means that the F-15 production line can be opened until at least 2008. Boeing has adopted 15 new technologies on the f-15k, including apg-63 (V) 1 radar, the third generation forward-looking infrared system, helmet indication system and a new fire control system. The fire control system can be used to launch some new weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM), ground attack missiles outside the fire circle - delayed response (slam-er), aim-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missiles and aim-9x "rattlesnake" missiles

Raytheon's apg-63 (V) 1 radar is more advanced than the apg-70 radar installed in the F-15E, which is reflected in the installation of new receivers/radiators, signal processors, and improved transmitters. The radar was originally used to improve the reliability of f-15c/d radar. It uses the same processor instruction device as apg-70, and can provide the same air to ground mode as apg-70

f-15k can be equipped with apg-63 (V) 2 radar, which is the only fighter radar with source electronic scanning array antenna (AESA) in the world. The U.S. Air Force has an f-15c squadron equipped with this radar. Except for AESA, power supply and controller, the rest of (V) 2 radar is the same as (V) 1. Other new features of f-15k include Northrop Grumman's latest alq-135c electronic countermeasure (ECM) system, which contains a new jammer for low band threats (such as surveillance radar). The aircraft is equipped with an advanced display core processor (ADCP) developed by Honeywell based on commercial technology

South Korea chose Ge F110 engine for its f-15k, which can also be equipped with Pratt Whitney F100 engine. The combat mission radius of f-15k is no less than 1850 kilometers required by South Korea in the new fighter project

"Rafale" F3 maximum takeoff weight will be increased to 27 tons

"Rafale" F1 standard fighter has begun to be equipped with the French navy. Dassault, the manufacturer of the aircraft, won the contract to develop f2/batch 05 standard model in January 2001. F2 is an export-oriented type, which introduces air-to-surface radar mode and forward optical system (OSF), and will carry laser indicating pod, scalp cruise missile and infrared guided "Mika" air-to-air missile. The "Rafale" F2 model can be delivered for the first time before the end of 2004

"Rafale" fighters still need to pay special attention to some manufacturing in the process of maintenance. The shaped fuel tank (CFT) has been tested in April 2001. It has less resistance than the under wing auxiliary fuel tank, and can free up the under wing hanging points to hang other equipment. A pair of conformal but with regard to different experimental subjects, the sum of the capacity of the fuel tank is 2300 liters. After installing a pair of conformal fuel tanks, Rafale can complete a high low high attack mission with a radius of 1850 kilometers under the condition of mounting two scalp missiles, four Mika missiles and three disposable auxiliary fuel tanks with a volume of 2000 liters

at the beginning of 2001, the "Rafale" development team including Dassault, SNECMA and Thales agreed to develop AESA of rbe2 radar and M engine with increased power for "Rafale" f3/batch 10. AESA will adopt the technology developed by Thales/bae under the "airborne multimode solid state active array radar (amsar)" project, which has a larger detection range and higher reliability than the current "gust" radar. F3 will also introduce high-definition synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mode, which can be used to launch global positioning system (GPS)/inertial guidance weapons. AESA can attract users who are not equipped with early warning aircraft. The thrust of M engine is expected to be 20% higher than that of m currently installed in "gust", from 75 kn to 90 kN. Therefore, m needs extensive redesign, and only 40% of the parts may be the same as m; The inlet may also have to be redesigned. After installing m and CFT, Dassault aims to increase the maximum take-off weight of Rafale F3 to 27 tons

Dassault also has f4/batch 15 model plan, which has not been defined yet, and will not be in service before 2010. It is expected that this model can be equipped with meteor extended range missiles and can be used to manage unmanned combat aircraft

"typhoon" will compete with JSF in the third stage

the production of Eurofighter's "typhoon" fighters will be divided into three stages, 148 in the first stage and 236 in the second and third stages respectively. The difference between the "typhoon" produced in the first stage and the developed aircraft is that the fuel carrying capacity increases by 800 kg; The inner structure of the wing is strengthened, so that the inner pylon of the aircraft can carry larger loads. The "typhoon" delivered at the initial stage will be installed with production software package 1 (PSP), which is mainly used for training. Then "typhoon" will replace PSP2 software package, which will include data link and part of electronic warfare system. In April, 2005, "typhoon" will begin to install psp3 software package to make the aircraft reach full combat capability

the "typhoon" produced in the first stage does not have the ability to launch autonomous precision weapons. Britain's goal is to make its own "typhoon" have this ability by 2005

the configuration of the "typhoon" produced in the second stage has been determined. It will be able to carry new weapons and install new software to carry out more kinds of tasks (such as air to surface attacks). The second stage production model will be delivered from 2006

the third stage production "typhoon" will compete with the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) of the United States, with the goal of replacing the F-16 and F-18 of European countries. This type of aircraft will undergo some radical improvements, including the new radar with AESA, and take measures to reduce the radar reflection cross section. New engine technology is also considered for this type of aircraft, including the installation of thrust vectoring and the modification of tail nozzle, so that the supersonic cruise speed of the aircraft can reach m1.3 ~ m1.35. This machine may also be equipped with conformal oil tank

f-16 will usher in the second spring

f-16 project now gives people the feeling of "youthful glow", but if you look at the prospects of F-16 four years ago, people will feel very confused: there are few orders left, whether from the U.S. military or from abroad. However, since then, Lockheed Martin has won several large contracts to enable it to make further improvements to the F-16. These contracts will enable the production of the F-16 to continue beyond 2008, although JSF will be put into production at that time

f-16 is the 60th batch of "desert Falcon", which was developed for the United Arab Emirates; At present, the production of 80 "desert falcons" for the United Arab Emirates has started, and the first aircraft is scheduled to fly at the end of 2003

60 batch F-16 has no prototype, and some parts of this model (such as engine and some antennas) will be installed on 50 batch F-16 for flight test

60 batch F-16 is a large takeoff weight (22700 kg) aircraft, equipped with conformal fuel tanks. The conformal fuel tank can hold about 1360 kg of fuel. A high-speed and heavy load test flight was carried out in December last year. The machine is equipped with GE's f110-ge-132 engine, with a maximum thrust of 145 kn, and adopts the pneumatic and structural technology of yf120 engine, integral turbofan and afterburner; The efficiency of the fan is improved, and the service life of the engine is also improved

the apg-80 agile beam radar (ABR) of 60 batches of F-16 adopts some tail processors similar to those of the advanced 50 batches of F-16 radars. ABR is integrated with the forward-looking infrared aiming system of the aircraft, sharing space, power and cooling, and using similar processors. The forward-looking infrared aiming system includes a laser indicator for countering air and ground targets; It is installed on the nose, and there are two small sensor turrets in front of the windshield. The coal mines on the lower surface of the aircraft inlet need a certain reaction time, and the navigation forward-looking infrared system is installed

60 batches of aircraft are equipped with integrated electronic warfare systems, including optical fibers and towed decoys. The cockpit of the plane was redesigned, with three pieces of 13 cm × 18 cm LCD, a front and upper control panel of LCD and a set of standby flight instrument system. The data storage and transmission device of the machine has two important functions: terrain reference navigation and ground anti-collision system

the avionics system of batch 60 F-16 includes an advanced mission computer (AMC) and an optical fiber network, which use commercial off the shelf technology. AMC uses c++ language, which replaces the modular task computer using Ada language. Its characteristics are that it reduces unique parts, and c++ programmers are easier to find. However, the disadvantage of AMC and optical fiber network is that they reduce the versatility of 60 batches of F-16 and 50/52 aircraft, making it difficult to transplant the characteristics of 60 batches of aircraft to early models

for 50/52 batches of aircraft, Lockheed Martin company is using the funds of the US air force to integrate (V) 9 radar and a complete set of new weapon systems, including joint air to surface fire outer circle missile (jassm), joint fire outer circle weapon (JSOW) and wind correction ammunition dispenser (wcmd)

"Gripen" will integrate a batch of new weapons

the funds for developing AESA for "Gripen" ps-05/a radar have been in place, and it is scheduled to test fly on a "lightning" aircraft in 2005. Gripen plans to integrate a number of new weapons, including meteor, IRIS-T short-range air-to-air missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and 350 km range powered firepower weapons outside the circle. Saab, the manufacturer of Gripen fighter, recognized that