Airmanship KnowledgeLearning Outcome 3
Part 2No 1 Group Air Combat
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Revision 2.00
Airmanship KnowledgeLearning Outcome 3
Know the aircraft in service with the Royal Air Force
Contents
No 1 Group – Air Combat – Typhoon– Tornado GR4 / GR4A – Tornado F3– Harrier GR9 / T12– Joint Combat Aircraft
Typhoon
Reporting Name Typhoon
Role Letters & Marks T1A / F2 / T3 / FGR4
Role Multi-Role Fighter
Typhoon T1A
Typhoon F2
Typhoon T3
Typhoon FGR4
Typhoon FGR4
Detail Differences – T1A vs T3
Typhoon T3 has the PIRATE FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor mounted on the port-side of the nose
Typhoon T1A / T3 are primarily used for pilot conversion training but are fully combat-capable
All Typhoon T1s had a modification to the fuel system to become T1As
Detail Differences – F2 vs FGR4
Typhoon FGR4 has the PIRATE FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) sensor mounted on the nose
FGR4 upgrade introduced air-to-surface capability to Typhoon. All F2s will be upgraded to FGR4
Typhoon F2 and FGR4 are the frontline combat variant of Typhoon.
Typhoon F2 is used in the air-to-air and Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) roles only
Typhoon
• Manufactured by the Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK via the Eurofighter consortium
• High performance, single seat, multi-role fighter aircraft designed to perform air superiority and ground attack missions with a full range of air-to-air and air-to-surface weapons.
• Twin-engine delta wing design with canard foreplanes and fly-by-wire controls for maximum agility
• Advanced avionics including ECR-90 CAPTOR Radar, Helmet-Mounted Symbology System (HMSS) helmet-mounted sight and voice control input.
Typhoon Technical Data
WING SPAN 10.50MLENGTH 15.96MCREW 1 (2 in T1A / T3)MAXIMUM SPEED 1,147kts (2125km/h)
(Mach 2.0) at 36,090ft
ENGINES Two Eurojet EJ200Turbofans
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
Reporting Name Tornado
Role Letters & Marks GR4 / GR4A
Role Ground Attack /Reconnaissance
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
Tor
nado
GR
4 / G
R4A
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
Tornado GR4 / GR4A
• Variable geometry wing, all-weather ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft.
• Terrain-following radar, Forward Looking Infra Red (FLIR) and night-vision goggles allow unrestricted operations day or night
• LITENING III Laser Designation Pod allows self-designation of ground targets for laser guided bombs.
• Carries full range of air-to-surface weapons as well as RAPTOR pod for tactical reconnaissance
• Linescan system enables the GR4A to conduct low-level, tactical reconnaissance.
Tornado GR4/A Technical Data
WING SPAN 13.9M fully forward
8.6m fully swept
LENGTH 16.45M
CREW 2
MAXIMUM SPEED 800kts (1480km/h)
(Mach 1.2) at sea level
ENGINES Two turbo union RB199
turbofans
Tornado F3
Reporting Name Tornado
Role Letters & Marks F3
Role Air Defence
Tornado F3 was retired from service in March 2011
Tornado F3
Tornado F3
Tornado F3
Tornado F3
Tor
nado
F3
Tornado F3
Tornado F3
• Retired from service March 31st 2011.• Developed from the Tornado GR1 as a long-range air
defence interceptor.• Variable sweep wing for high supersonic speed or high
loiter duration.• All-weather day/night operation with beyond visual-
range engagement capability.• Patrols for over 3 hours at 300nmls from base.• Carried AMRAAM and ASRAAM air-to-air missiles• Secondary air defence suppression role added in 2003
using ALARM missiles
Tornado F3 Technical Data
WING SPAN 13.9M fully forward
8.6M fully swept
LENGTH 16.7M
CREW 2
MAXIMUM SPEED 800kts (1480km/h)
(Mach 1.2) at sea level
ENGINES Two Turbo Union RB199
turbofans
Comparing F3 & GR4T
orn
ado
F3
To
rnad
o G
R4
Longer nose
AMRAAM Missiles on stretched fuselageFLIR
The Tornado Test
4
2 3
5
1
Harrier GR9 / T12
Reporting Name Harrier
Role Letters & Marks GR9 / T12
Role Ground Attack & Reconnaissance
Harrier GR9 / T12 was retired from service in December 2010
Harrier GR9
Harrier GR9
Harrier GR9
Har
rier
T12
Harrier GR9 / T12• Harrier GR9 was a ground attack and Close Air Support
aircraft capable of V/STOL (Vertical / Short Take-Off Landing)
• Harrier T12 was a twin-seat training variant for training new pilots and was fully combat capable
• Aircraft were operated by 1 Sqn and 4 Sqn RAF and the Naval Strike Wing of the Fleet Air Arm under Joint Force Harrier
• Operated from both land bases and Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers.
• Capable of operating day and night and in all weathers.• Carried a full range of air-to-surface weapons
Harrier GR9 / T12 Technical Data
WING SPAN 9.24MLENGTH 14.46MCREW 1 (2 in T12)MAXIMUM SPEED 640kts (1186km/h) at
sea levelENGINE One Rolls-Royce
Pegasus 105 vectored-thrust
turbofan
Joint Combat Aircraft
Reporting Name Joint Combat Aircraft
Role Letters & Marks
Role Multi-role land- and carrier-based strike fighter
Joint Combat Aircraft
Join
t Com
bat A
ircra
ft
Joint Combat Aircraft
Joint Combat Aircraft
• JCA is UK designation for US-built F-35 Lightning II• Low-observable multirole fighter/attack aircraft• Planned in-service date of 2020 to replace Harrier GR9
in RAF and Royal Navy service and operate from land bases and new Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers
• Sophisticated avionics and weapon-targeting systems including helmet-mounted weapons cueing
• UK JCA is based on F-35C carrier variant. F-35 is also available as a conventional takeoff variant (F-35A) and Short Takeoff & Vertical Landing STOVL variant (F-35B)
Joint Combat Aircraft Technical Data
WING SPAN 13.1M (9.1M foldedLENGTH 15.52MCREW 1MAXIMUM SPEED Mach 1.8ENGINES Pratt & Whitney F-135
turbofan
Questions?