Project Aerie

[Overkiller]

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[gooberliberation]

Hmm.... I've got a Tu-22m that probably deserves a belly full of AA-9s and AA-12s

[overscan]

Tu-160P of course...

 

[elmayerle]

Hmm, well, there was the Lockheed CL-520 land-based Fleet Air Defense Aircraft study for a P-3 with Rotadome AEW radar like that of the E-2, the radar of the F6D-1, and ten AAM-N-10 Eagle missiles, four in the weapons bay and six external under the wing center section.  Since later P-3 variants also have provisions for external carriage just outboard of the engines, later versions of this could've carried even more.  Even with the cancellation of the F6D-1 adn related systems, using the AN/AWG-9 and a mix of AIM-54s with other missiles would've made this a plausible system.  At a later date, for land air defense, it could also be integrated with long-range SAM batteris, such as the Nike-Phoenix, a joint Hughes & McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics team proposal to Japan to replace their Nike-Hercules (Nike-J) missiles; with the same upgrade (Phoenix avionics, new warhead, & new and more modern rocket motors), the US air defenses could've been quite ungraded as well as those of other countries operating Nike-Hercules variants.

[Archibald]

Tu-160P of course...

I'm very fond of this one! MiG-31 weapon system and a whole bunch of its AAMs, to hunt those C-5A and C-141s over North Atlantic  
I think there was a similar project with B-1 and F-14 weapon system... truly awesome!

Members of this forum talk reguarly about bloodhound-armed Vulcan    (think it was Radish or Wooksta, can't remember)

Heck, in France we thought about using an ASMP variant into an anti-Awacs role...
 B)  (truly a pre-Meteor with its ramjets, mach 3+ and 100 km+ range)  

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Very cool ideas!!
Especially the P-3 and B-1 ideas!!

An air-to-air Orion nowadays would probably have a Erieye or Wedgetail-like radar instead of a rotadome, a modern APG (or no APG radar at all. After all, if the radar on the top of the plane is a modern AESA one, it could probably track and design the targets) and a full load of AMRAAMs or METEORs, and maybe some Phoenix too.

Heck, in France we thought about using an ASMP variant into an anti-Awacs role...
cool.gif (truly a pre-Meteor with its ramjets, mach 3+ and 100 km+ range)

Actually, in air-to-air, a ASMP would probably have more than 400 or 500km range, as its range in air-to-ground is already 400km+ when launch at high altitude.
An air-ai ASMP could have done a good "air-air cluster missile", if you understand what I imagine: a heavy missile with a cluster load in order to destroy fighters or bombers flying in formation, or even an EMP!!

[Scooterman]

Slightly OT but wasn't it in Red Storm Rising a flight of either Bears or Backfires were looking for USN battlegroups when out in the middle of the ocean they got painted by a APG-66 radar from a Viper?  I think one of the Russian pilots made a comment about what a lone F-16 is doing way out there only to have the entire formation splashed by AMRAAMs coming from single B-1 (which uses a modlified -66 radar).

I've been wanting to model that one for awhile now......

[Archibald]

There's a bunch of these projects at the Secret project board (including Tu-160P suggested by Overscan    )  
I'll made a quick search... even the Tracker was proposed as long-range AAM platform    

[Supertom]

Well in that case you could always do a Navy coastal defence version with a P-3 Orion armed with Phoenix.

Ooooh....I get first dibs on the Phoenix-armed Orion!!!

[Archibald]

Slightly OT but wasn't it in Red Storm Rising a flight of either Bears or Backfires were looking for USN battlegroups when out in the middle of the ocean were getting painted by a APG-66 radar from a Viper?  I think one of the Russian pilots made a comment about what a lone F-16 is doing way out there only to have the eintire formation splashed by AMRAAMs coming from single B-1 (which uses a modlified -66 radar).

I've been wanting to model that one for awhile now......

Nope, no such story in Red Storm rising IHMO     Just Tu-16 shot down by a flight of F-15 in ferry flight (just before the Foch is sunk by Kingfish ASM)  

[Hobbes]

How about the Vulcan? Stick a couple of rotary launchers in the bomb bay, maybe use Red Dean, as a first line of defence over the North-east Atlantic.  

[Hobbes]

[Supertom]

Damn.  Does anyone make a 1/144 P-3 by the way?

[Scooterman]

Damn.  Does anyone make a 1/144 P-3 by the way?

Arii makes/made them.  I have several and they're VERY NICE!

[Joe C-P]

Taking out the E-2s would have been a fast way to blind a USN carrier battlegroup. Giving them a couple Sparrow/AMRAAMs might reduce that risk.

JoeP