Posted on 09/15/2014 7:19:21 AM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
The Israeli air force is developing a short field operating capability for its Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, based on the use of a rocket-assisted take-off.
A first test is scheduled for next year, with the air force having decided to develop such a system for its F-16A/B, C/D and I-model variants.
Rocket assistance can be used by some military transports to provide additional thrust when an aircraft is heavy or a runway is short.
As part of the new plan, rockets will be placed under the wing of the F-16 and released after they have burned out.
Close attention will be paid to aircraft safety, according to an article in the Israeli air force magazine, which reports that the addition will havea "meaningful" effect on the F-16's aerodynamics.
In recent years the Israeli air force has taken steps to allow uninterrupted operations in a situation where its bases come under attack. The most realistic scenario is heavy rocket attacks on its facilities, some of which were targeted during the recent Protective Edge operation in the Gaza strip.
Other measures include the ability to rapidly fix damaged runways.
Can’t be good for them. I can see that in a doomsday situation you want to get everything in the air you can, but you wouldn’t want to do it every day.
“I am of the opinion that Israel would be better off designing a smaller STOL capable A-10 Warthog equivalent. Something that can takeoff and land on a couple hundred feet of roadway; able to knock out tanks; able to provide ground fire support; and spend a long time in the air.”
A modernized version of the Swedish JA-37 Viggen sounds exactly like it would fit the bill.
It was designed to be simple to fix, operated from dispersed locations like remote roads with minimum support, and with good STOL performance, range, and loads.
The Swedes assumed they would have to operate far from their already-destroyed established bases if they ever went to war with Russia.
Imagine what they could do with that design using modern materials and electronics.
“Seems like drones are the air force of the future. So many possible uses.”
Drones have two huge Achilles heels.
Communications, and programming. Both have to be unbreakable for it to be effective.
And I heard about this guy that put one on his Chevy Impala and ran it into a cliff...
What... Like the F-16 isn’t already enough of a hotrod for ya? Yeesh.
And it also worked in 1958 for a zero-length launch F-100 Super Sabre -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oImq1glnOds
B-47 was one beautiful airplane.
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A prototype was built and flown in 1990 -
It is the Scaled Composites ARES (Agile Responsive Effective Support).
Did they ever find his body?
I was thinking of quick-reaction range extention by allowing the aircraft to take off using military power instead of afterburner.
One of the big advantages (other than reducing compressor stalls, etc) in putting the big GE engines into the B and D model Tomcat was that in a good number of configurations the planes could be launched without needing afterburner.
Ever see the later model F-16s? Particularly the D models that Israel flies (Barak and Sufa versions)?
They are definitely NOT the LWF hot rods from the mid-late 70s. Pods, blisters, enlarged spines, over-fuselage conformal fuel tanks and then really big (2000lb class) PGMs.
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