Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Dassault-Convair F-114 Mirage - 119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New Jersey ANG, 1965

During the Spring of 1961 the incoming Secretary of Defence Robert S. McNamara left no stone unturned in his search for efficiencies in procurement and operational costs and his attention soon turned to the Air Defence units of the Air National Guard (ANG). At the time the ANG units were operating a mix of early 1950's jet fighters such as the F-84 and F-86 alongside the hot ships of the 'Century Series' with some fanciful and expensive plans on future re-equipment by advanced versions of the F-106 and, looking further ahead, the F-108. But McNamara soon put these plans in jeopardy by setting his whizz-kids to work on a lower cost solution.

Adoption of the F-4 Phantom II by the USAF was all well and good but this was an expensive beast even when considering 'commonality' and with several hundred aircraft to replace another solution was needed. Envious eyes were soon turned to Europe where two excellent single-engined Mach 2 interceptors were entering service - the Saab Draken and the Mirage III and 'Project Zeus' was an exhaustive study into the operational effectiveness and expected cost-savings of both types measured against re-starting the recently closed F-106A production line. Studies continued through 1961 and early 1962 and, when published in May 1962, 'Project Zeus' revealed that the Mirage IIIC offered the best combination of price and performance. Crucially, it further outlined that only a minimum change version would yield sufficient cost savings as plans to re-engine the Mirage with the J-79 and to introduce the Hughes MA-X radar (essentially a scaled-down version of their MA-1 integrated fire control system as fitted to the F-106A) reduced the gains to zero.

With Convair's hopes of further F-106A production dashed they readily agreed to partner Dassault and licence-produce the Mirage IIIC for the USAF soon designated as the F-114A. Production commenced in late 1963 and the type entered service in May 1964 with the 119th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the New Jersey ANG. The F-114A served until the early 1980's with most replaced by the F-16A (ADC).

USAFMIRAGE3C01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFMIRAGE3C02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFMIRAGE3C03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFMIRAGE3C04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Avro Canada CF-109 Athena - No.425 'Alouette' Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, 1965

RCAFJ-8FINBACK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFJ-8FINBACK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFJ-8FINBACK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Avro-Mikoyan Archer - No.425 'Alouette' Squadron, Republic of Canada Air Forces, 1967

RCAFMIG-21SM01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFMIG-21SM02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFMIG-21SM03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFMIG-21SM04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RCAFMIG-21SM05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The stock MiG-21SM with the same decals used on the Finback. I'm beginning to like the Fishbed...

[SPINNERS]

BAC Lightning F.53H - 59th Tactical Fighter Wing, Hungarian Air Force, 1992

The revolutions of 1989 generally had a domino effect across Eastern Europe and Hungary soon followed Poland and in March 1989 the government bravely declared the anniversary of the 1848 Revolution a national holiday and this was soon followed by the reburial of former Prime Minister Imre Nagy (executed after the 1956 Revolution) and calls for Soviet forces to leave Hungary. Popular opposition to the Communist regime continued eventually leading to Mátyás Szűrös declaring Hungary a republic on October 23rd, 1989 and the free elections of March 1990. However. with Soviet forces withdrawing fast the Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Légierő) was soon short of equipment and spares and when the Soviet MiG-29's departed from Tokol in 1991 the air defence of Hungary rested with literally a handful of poorly maintained MiG-21's.

During the late 1980's British Aerospace had bought back many of the surviving Saudi Lightning F.53's and had hoped to sell them to Austria (whose air force were hard-pressed to intercept a business jet) but the deal fell through and the Lightnings had continued to lanquish at Warton prompting a tentative offer to sell them to Hungary at a knock-down price. In May 1991 the UK Government bought 24 of the ex-Saudi Lightning F.53's and gifted them to the Hungarian Air Force in a move believed to have orchestrated by President George H. Bush. Arriving in August 1991 the Lightnings were operated by the 59th Tactical Fighter Wing at Kecskemét AFB and served until 1998 when they were replaced by MiG-29's donated from Germany and Poland.

MAGYARLIGHTNINGF53H01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MAGYARLIGHTNINGF53H02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MAGYARLIGHTNINGF53H03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MAGYARLIGHTNINGF53H04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

MAGYARLIGHTNINGF53H05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This uses the splendid Lightning F.53 from Expansion Pack 2, some new decals by me and some stock Polish 3-digit numbers.

[SPINNERS]

British Aerospace Hunter FGA.9C - No.74 (Aggressor) Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1983

In April 1976 the 527th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor Squadron activated at RAF Alconbury flying the F-5E in the 'aggressor' role training USAF and NATO forces by teaching and demonstrating soviet air tactics under the title of Dissimilar Air Combat Tactics. RAF pilots who encountered the 'aggressors' began to wax lyrical about the experience and soon RAF chiefs had decided to form a similar training squadron and reactivated No.74 squadron in 1977 equipped with Hunter FGA.9's from the recently disbanded Wittering wing. Initially operating from RAF Wittering the squadron moved to RAF Brawdy in 1979 with a semi-permanent detachment based at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.

In 1979 the incoming Conservative government conducted a review of Britain's defences and this saw the RAF being authorised to form a third Lightning squadron and convert 88 Hawk T.1 trainers to T.1A standard (adding Sidewinder capability) to serve as short-range interceptor aircraft for point defence alongside the radar-equipped Phantom and Tornado F.3 aircraft. In addition, No.74 squadrons Hunters were upgraded to FGA.9C standard adding Sidewinder capability and new inner-wing pylons plus scabbed-on chaff and flare dispensers. The reworked Hunters served in a variety of colour schemes and remained in service until 1991.

RAFHUNTERFGA9C04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9C05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFHUNTERFGA9C06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another Hunter was released today - the FGA.73 as used by Oman and it comes in two versions and three camo schemes - and all for £2.54! The new DLC (downloadable content) feature is proving very popular and is a good move by the sim developer.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F/A-4J Skyhawk - 3rd Hikotai, Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces, 1983

JASDFA-4J01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFA-4J02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFA-4J03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFA-4J04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFA-4J05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Third Wire Kiwi A-4K was released recently and it was closely followed by the Japanese F-4EJ - so this 'what if' kinda covers them both!

[SPINNERS]

Douglas A-4ED Skyhawk - Esk726, Royal Danish Air Force, 1966

RDAFA-4K01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFA-4K02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFA-4K03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Kiwi green skin from the new A-4K DLC with Danish markings (and serials from the F-100D).

[SPINNERS]

Myasishchev M-12 - Protivo Vozdushnaya Oborona Strany, 1971

During early 1959 Soviet intelligence reported back to the Kremlin disturbing news on the rapid progress of two of the United States top aerospace programmes, the B-70 and the A-12 (forerunner of the SR-71) followed by news that proposals were being made for a follow-on interceptor based on the A-12. Faced with two Mach 3 aircraft penetrating Soviet air defences (and a Mach 3 interceptor defending the USA) the Soviet Air Force secretly announced two urgent counter programmes. One was for a new interceptor allocated to the Mikoyan Design Bureau (which would eventually see service as the MiG-25 'Foxbat') whilst the other was for a clandestine copy of the proposed A-12 allocated to the Myasishchev Design Bureau and to be made in both interceptor and reconnaissance versions.

The Myasishchev M-12 project started in late 1960 and is believed to have been helped by a Soviet sleeper cell working within 'Project Archangel' and although this was refuted by both the CIA and Lockheed the heavily reported 'cyanide suicides' of two separate Burbank couples on the night of April 25th, 1963 is believed to have linked to the uncovering of a Soviet sleeper cell. What is undeniable, however, was the fast progress of this urgent Soviet programme which saw the prototype M-12 first fly in February 1964 barely a year after the first flight of the A-12 and apart from the flying start given by clandestine means Myasishchev were also assisted by Tumansky's work on the R-15-300 engine originally designed for the Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb drone and later modified for the use in the Ye-155 (MiG-25). Tumansky quickly produced a scaled-up R-15-300 to produce the R-25-500 'Saturn' engine two of which powered the M-12. It is alleged that the scarcity of titanium alloy in the Soviet Union at that time meant that there was only enough titanium for the M-12 and that Mikoyan were forced to use stainless steel in their contemporary MiG-25.

The aircraft was officially revealed during the 1967 Domodedovo air show but unlike the Ye-155 the aircraft did not appear in the static park but made a medium altitude pass with the aircraft being announced as a reconnaissance aircraft. Entering service in 1971 the aircraft acquired the NATO codename 'Fastfox' but the M-12 was kept heavily under wraps and is believed to have passed out of service by 1976.

SOVIETF-12A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-12A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-12A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-12A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II - HävLLv 31, Ilmavoimat, 1974

During the late 1960's McDonnell Douglas realised that the fast-falling unit price of the Phantom could open up more export opportunities for the F-4 especially in downgraded and/or lightweight versions. A study into a single-seat export version of the new baseline F-4E called the F-4EF was initially proposed for the West German Luftwaffe before they sensibly adopted the two-seat F-4F and McDonnell Douglas then re-focused their efforts on a spin-off version of the F-4F for export with limited offensive capability and designed for air defence only. Designated F-4EN (believed to have initially stood for F-4E for neutral countries but subsequently changed to F-4E for Nordic countries) McDonnell Douglas initially pitched the F-4EN to Finland and were rewarded with a contract for 72 aircraft the first of which entered service with HävLLv 31 in 1972.

FINLANDF-4E04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDF-4E02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDF-4E03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDF-4E01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Redrawn Lynx emblem on tail, new design patch on intake (based on photo of cloth patch) and new roundels.

[SPINNERS]

Kestrel FG.2 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, 2002

ROYALNAVYKESTREL01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYKESTREL02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYKESTREL03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYKESTREL04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is Julhelm's cracking little Kestrel V/STOL fighter-bomber and his upload includes a nice template making it easy to knock-up a grey Royal Navy machine.

[SPINNERS]

SAAB/BAe Kestrel FG.1 - No.14 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1983

RAFKESTREL01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFKESTREL02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFKESTREL03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

@ Pyro-Manic - yes, it's a stumpy little thing but very well behaved. I'm not sure if it's a real world 'paper' project or a design by Julhelm himself.

[SPINNERS]

Convair 201 - VF-84 'Jolly Rogers' United States Navy, 1983

USNCONVAIR20105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNCONVAIR20106 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNCONVAIR20107 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNCONVAIR20108 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Julhelm keeps refining his Convair 201 and it's a cracker. No input from me, just my screenshots of his beautiful 3D model and fantastic 'Jolly Rogers' skin.

[SPINNERS]

SAAB/BAe Kestrel FG.3 - No.6 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1991

RAFKESTREL04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFKESTREL05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFKESTREL06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21UM - Republic of Paran Air Force, 1977

PARANIMiG-21UM01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANIMiG-21UM07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This lovely 3D model is from 'AmokFloo' (aka Florian) and comes with these two skins (plus a couple of others) so I've added my Parani star and fin flash markings plus the stock Arabic numbers.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan/BAe Flogger F.3 - No.11 Squadron, RAF Gulf Command, 1991

RAFFLOGGERF301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFFLOGGERF302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFFLOGGERF303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFFLOGGERF304 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

How the Flogger might have looked in RAF service at the time of Operation Granby!