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Loading...So, here’s my first drawing of 2018. It certainly took far longer than I anticipated with having to rework numerous elements as it progressed and even starting over completely at one point. So, a month behind schedule it’s finally done. Like my previous drawing, it’s more of a design rendition than anything else. Unlike my previous drawing, this one is a mostly original design as opposed to a modification of an existing design. I call it the ‘F-24A Ghost Hawk’. The name itself is something of an oblique reference to the YF-23, as one of the two prototypes was named the ‘Grey Ghost’. It incorporates design elements from the YF-23, F-22, Su-57, & F-35 as well as some of my own ideas and concepts.
The plane (in the fictional AU it resides in) would be jointly developed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries drawing on some of the experience from the ATD-X/ Shinshin X-2 project. Most of the technology for this plane already exists and it would use “off the shelf” components extensively (with a lot of avionics being shared with the F-35 Lightning II and the F/A-18 Super Hornet). About the only exception would be the AN/APG-84 radar. Even this wouldn’t really be an example of new technology as it’s basically an AN/APG-81 with a larger antenna and different track-and-scan abilities (It can track 48 aerial targets simultaneously and attack 16 of them, or attack up to 4 surface targets at once. The APG-81 can track 23 aerial targets and attack 19 of them, or attack 1 surface target). This radar is slaved to a rear facing AN/APG-83(v2) that allows the F-24 to turn away from an enemy target while continuing to guide a missile towards it. My next drawing project will most definitely be more expressive and far less technical. For anyone who wants to know, the F-24’s specs would be as follows:
Northrop Grumman/Boeing/Mitsubishi F-24A Ghost Hawk
General characteristics
– Crew: 1 (pilot)
– Length: 65ft 7in (20m)
– Wingspan: 45ft 10in (13.95m)
– Height: 15ft 6in (4.72m)
– Wing area: 876 ft2 (81.4 m2)
– Empty weight: 39,400 lb (17,875 kg)
– Loaded weight: 67,200 lb (30,485 kg) Air-to-air mission configuration
– Max. takeoff weight: 87,000 lb ( 39,645 kg)
– Fuel capacity: 24,000 lb (10,886 kg)
– Powerplant: 2 x Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-120 afterburning turbofans with thrust vectoring in pitch-axis
– Dry thrust: 26,400 lbf (117.4 kN) each
– Thrust with afterburner: 38,400 lbf (170.8 kN) each
Performance
– Maximum speed:
– At altitude: Mach 2.25+ (1,485+ mph, 2,395+ km/h)
– Supercruise: Mach 1.9 (1,254 mph, 2,020 km/h)
– Range: 1,700 nmi (1,955 mi, 3,150 km) on internal fuel
– Combat radius: 820 nmi internal air-to-air configuration (943 mi, 1519 km), 685 nmi (with 100 nmi in supercruise) (788 mi, 1,269 km)
– Ferry range: 2,260 nmi ( 2,600 mi, 4,190 km) with 2 external fuel tanks
– Service ceiling: >65,000 ft (>19,800 m)
– Rate of climb: >55,000 ft/min (>280 m/s)
– Maximum g-load: +9 g
Armament
– Guns: 1x 30mm (1.18in) GIAT 30/M791 autocannon with 210 rounds
– Hardpoints: 4 x underwing hardpoints (2 wet) with a capacity of 18,000 lb (8,160 kg), 2 x fuselage equipment hardpoints (which can alternatively each mount a Sidewinder missile), 6x internal bays with a capacity of up to 9,800 lb ( 4,445 kg); total payload capacity is 23,000 lb ( 10,430 kg) with provision to carry combinations of:
– Missiles:
– Air-to-air missiles:
– AIM-120D AMRAAM
– AIM-9X Sidewinder
– AIM-132 ASRAAM
– AIM-152C ALRAAM
(Typical A2A loadout 8x AIM-120D, 2x AIM-9X)
– Air-to-surface missiles:
– AGM-88 AAGM
– AGM-158 JASSM
– AGM-65 Maverick
– Brimstone missile / MBDA SPEAR 2
– SPEAR 3
– Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)
– SLAM-ER
– Anti-ship missiles:
– AGM-84 Harpoon
– Joint Strike Missile (JSM)
– Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)
– Bombs:
– Mark 82, 83, or 84 GP bombs
– Mk.20 Rockeye II cluster bomb
– Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCWD) capable
– Paveway series laser-guided bombs
– Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)
– Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) series
– AGM-154 JSOW
Avionics
– AN/APG-84 AESA radar (forward facing)
– AN/APG-83(v2) AESA radar (rear facing, slaved to the AN/APG-84)
– AN/AAQ-37 (v2) Distributed Aperture System (DAS)
– AN/ALR-94 radar warning receiver (RWR) 250 nmi (287 mi, 463 km) or more detection range
– AN/AAR-56 Missile Launch Detector (MLD)
– AN/AAQ-40 E/O Targeting System (EOTS)
– BAE Systems Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS)
– Northrop Grumman AN/ASQ-242 CNI system
– Helmet-Mounted Display System (HMDS)
Stealth requirements will be “descoped” and it can still be capable of firing missiles or dropping bombs from drop tank pylons, but surveillance and destroying targets will not be its main mission. Reducing the low-observable requirement is expected to make things easier for existing UCAAS competitors. With lower stealth requirements the aircraft will probably be a conventional shape with distinct wings, body, and tail rather than the more blended and largely tailless shape common to current stealth designs. This less stealthy shaping will limit its ability to operate in contested airspace, but favors lower cost and Boeing and General Atomics submissions as well as opening the competition to potential new entrants.