F-18FL French Navy

[Hammer-nikit]

Yo ho! Yo ho!

Regards!

Hammer

[Archibald]

I'm In!!! I agree to do that... no problems!!!  

[Archibald]

Hammer Nikit I downloaded and red your post on the WWIII thread (about the straits crisis and the rest).  We talked about a A-380 transport bomber... but Air&Cosmos had the idea before us, on April 1st 2005 ( ). I scanned the article yesterday... Here's what the A380 MTB (Multirole tanker bomber) would like according to the magazine...  

[GTX]

Archibald,

Nice picture. Reminds me of some of the B-747 cruise missile carrier proposals:



Interestingly, I also remember seeing a A-340 bomber proposal - though I can't seem to find the picture now.

regards,

Greg

[Archibald]

Thanks GTX... It was akind of testimony because, as you can read on the right, I'm now...
Targeted for assasination by JMNs... hope its not because of my stuborn attitude concerning Mirage IV in the thread "RAAF alternatives"  ^_^
I must call the Eraser (lot of fun with this movie yesterday. Remember it? ) and change my identity...  

[Hobbes]

Hammer Nikit I downloaded and red your post on the WWIII thread (about the straits crisis and the rest).  We talked about a A-380 transport bomber... but Air&Cosmos had the idea before us, on April 1st 2005 ( ). I scanned the article yesterday... Here's what the A380 MTB (Multirole tanker bomber) would like according to the magazine...

And if we add some Meteors and Amraams, it'll take the "largest multirole fighter" title from the Nimrod    

[Archibald]

Or an AWG-9 weapon system on the nose... and thousands of  AIM-54 Phoenix on the cargo bay
(AIM-54 : 250kg. A380 Cargo load 150 tons+ ...  

[Hammer-nikit]

You guys are joking but in my opinion there is a growing opportunity nowadays for a BBJ/ACJ class long range anti aircaft patrol aircraft armed with over 100 internally carried BBVR (Beyond-Beyond-Visual Range) missiles such as the Russian R-33 "Phoenixsky" and some even longer range 20 KS-172 acting as some sort of "flying SAM base" (yeeah! I now if the missiles are launched by aircraft they can never be SAMs.. ) but they would replace the SAM units and would be extremely mobile and thus less vulnerable much easier to redeploy in times of crisis.... They'd be great for expeditionary warfare and for operating against naval fleets in the high ocean.

If you want to buy american, who knows, Standard II missiles may do...

Can you imagine four lines of four "missile tubes" placed diagonaly inside the narrowbody's fuselage allowing for a 16 missile salvo shot of R-33s? Missiles leaving through the roof and the missile's fire and smoke through the underbelly of the BBJ/ACJ?

The airframe would be cheap to purchase and to maintain highly compatible with the thousands of civilian 737s and A319s around the globe... Dont-forget the mandatory under-wing 4 AIM-9x/ASRAAM/R73s for self defence...

Crazy but exciting concept!

Regards,

Hammer.

[Hammer-nikit]

By the way beautiful artwork this of the A380 MTB... Loved it!

Hammer

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Well, sorry to interupt the interresting discution (really interrsting, I'm serious), but war continues in Comoros!!

And here we are for the following of the phase two




PHASE TWO: Evacuate and secure the extraction points
PART 2


-03:20AM: Just while the last commandos was dying under the Frogfoot fire, another bloody battle start a hundred kilometres western... Having most of the fighters based in Comoros destroyed by the cruise missiles tasks, the Mozambique Air Force immediately send its continental based Flanker and Fulcrum to the Comoros and Mayotte...

But refuelled over Mahajanga (West Madagascar), the two Mirage 4000 squadrons are now ready for their mission: protect the Marine's tasks by prevent every Mozambican attempt to bomber Comoros or Mayotte.
The Mozambican pilots had some advantages, including the proximity of their bases and even a couple of light Chinese Y-8 AWACS, while the Mirage were supported by their tankers and the E-2D and E-3F AWACS...
And the new METEOR missile was a little better than the R-77... But the French pilots had to base the battle over their tactics, cause even with better missiles, you cannot destroy all the target in BVR shots, moreover when there are half a hundred of foes against only 24 friends...
With 4 METEOR and 6 MICA under the wings and fuselage, each Mirage had an incredible firepower... But even if the Mig-29 will carry more air-to-ground weapons than BVR missiles, a single Flanker could carry 12 missiles... Last generation missiles, right, but still very dangerous!!

-03:22AM: The first METEOR are ejected under the Mirages' fuselages and immediately, the E-2s take the control of their guidance while the Mirage jump down to the sea in order to avoid Flankers' riposte...
When the first J-11 explodes, already 76 R-77, PL-16 and R-27 missiles were in flight...
The evasive actions of French pilots were perfectly executed, some pilots succeeding in launching more missiles during their manoeuvres.  And "only" 3 Mirage were hit while a dozen of Mozambican fighters were destroyed or seriously damaged, not including the following target of the already fired MICA missiles...

With the new EMP warhead, the new MICA-EM was the most lethal weapon of the entire French Air Force... They haven't the range of the METEOR but they probably will counter the large number of Fulcrum and Flanker, with their 25m wild destruction area (and 60m+ wild damage area)... Or they hope so...

-03:29AM: For few minutes, other sporadic BVR shots happened... With 18 J-11 and Mig-29 destroyed against 4 Mirage destroyed or damaged, the French had the best kill ratio for the moment... But they still are 20 against 32 or so enemies... And there is no time for BVR anymore...
It's time to see what the new version of the MICA is able to do...

At this time, everything was so fast and chaotic that the AWACS operators will have to see the tapes of the battle one more time to understand what really happened...
In only 5 or 6 seconds, more than 50 aircrafts were blended in a confused dogfight... Hundreds of missiles were fired, dozens of ejection seats cleaved through the air. Thousands 30mm bullets of both side, the high explosive warhead of the Chinese and Russian missiles, the beautiful electronic lightning of the MICAs' explosions, all of that illumine the night suddenly.
And then after 2 or 3 minutes, everything stopped...

The biggest air battle since Vietnam War ended as far as it started... A couple of Mig-29 and 3 Flankers most of them damaged, bingo in both fuel and weapons, left the battle area to the west ASAP.

On the other side, 16 remaining Mirage 4000 were flying to the east... It clearly appears that at least 5 of them will finish their operational life time in museums, if only those flying burned steel parts are able to "land" without exploding...

And if a couple of NH-90 are already on their way to rescue the 5 ejected French pilots, at least 5 more empty caskets will came back to France...

-03:36AM: On their way back, the surviving Mirage 4000 crossed the way of the 18 Mirage 4000 and Mirage F1F that had to take their place over the Mozambique Channel...
And after seeing the pity state of the remaining Mirage 4000, the pilots in the second wave won't say a single word for minutes...

If the Mozambican Air Force want to continue the battle, it will be a very long night for everybody...





Lost aircrafts in air-air combat

Mozambique:
-J-11 Flanker:      21
-Mig-29 Fulcrum:  24
-Su-25  Frogfoot:   1

France:
-Mirage 4000: 10  (including two lost because the pilots prefer an ejection than a landing with such damaged aircrafts)

I will later include the SAM and AAA lost (I think at least 10 Hornet and helicopters were destroyed by SAM at this time of the battle...




Hope you like my first real air battle description...
No profile for the moment. I have a new one ready and waiting for days, but I won't post it until it appears in the back story and well, I have no time for much writing for the moment...

[GTX]

Thanks GTX... It was akind of testimony because, as you can read on the right, I'm now...
Targeted for assasination by JMNs... hope its not because of my stuborn attitude concerning Mirage IV in the thread "RAAF alternatives" happy.gif
I must call the Eraser (lot of fun with this movie yesterday. Remember it? ) and change my identity...

I guess I got off easy - I'm just classified as some other sort of engineer

By the way, here is another picture of the B747 cruise missile carrier.  It was proposed during the late 1970s and was to carry between 70 and 90 ALCMs.  The missiles were to be launched through a side door at the rear.



Regards,

Greg

[Archibald]

PD7, lovely backstory!
Hammer nikit what you say about the A-380 remind the idea of the "flying cruiser" in fashion during the 30's -40's...

[B777LR]

I think ill use this scheme for my F-18B

[Archibald]

Oh yes, do it! The Frenchmen of the forum will back you in your work  

[anthonyp]

I think ill use this scheme for my F-18B

You mean this one:



More pics