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Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1864.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 June 1954 831 Military Aircraft 1954 GROUND ATTACK The favoured aircraft for low-level attacks on ground targets continues to be the adapted single-seat jet fighter, though Sweden (where a very great deal of ground-attack experience has been accumulated over many years) is soon to introduce an all-weather two-seater in this role. Contrary to the usual sequence of develop ment, this machine—the Lansen—is also foreseen as a fighter. Such a relatively heavy and elaborate type appears to be widely at variance with the NATO specification for an attack aircraft to support ground forces. This is reported to call for a machine weighing less than 5,000 lb and capable of Mach 0.95 for 30 per cent of its mission and of 350 kt for the remainder. Rate of roll must be at least 100 deg/sec at Mach 0.9 at sea level and take-off, to clear a 50ft obstacle within 3,000ft, must be possible from a grass field. A typical operation would entail 150 miles at 350 kt, eight to ten minutes' search at the same speed, and the attack. The aircraft would then clear the target zone by 90 miles at Mach 0.95, after which it would return to base at low speed. The specification calls for an armament of either two 20 mm guns with 200 rounds, or two 30 mm guns with 120 rounds. Possible external loads include twelve 3in rockets, two 500 lb bombs and two napalm tanks. For air-to-ground attack, a radar gunsight would be unnecessary; a gyro-sight with provision for rocket-aiming would suffice. Light armour is required. Not unexpectedly, the aircraft demanded must be robustly constructed, simple to maintain, and to have easy turn-round for high-intensity operations out of forward airfields. Pressurization is called for, as well as provision for a g-suit: air brakes should be fitted. Electronic equipment should include radar homing gear. U.H.F., D.M.E. and I.F.F. The aircraft would operate mainly at low levels, but it should, in an emergency, be capable of adaptation as a high-level intercepter—it is for this eventuality that die radar homing is specified. Specialized anti-tank "missile platforms," such as the Potez 75, may find an application in future warfare, as indeed may the very simple light and economical machines typified by the Fletcher FD-25B Defender. The design philosophy behind this last-named aircraft is summarized by its makers thus: "The FD-25B is not intended to operate in the "wild blue yonder'; that area belongs to the jet and its highly trained pilot. Nor is the jet designed for close-in ground support—'blasting out' those ever present tight little enemy pockets which are so costly to our ground forces in time and lives. Such jobs require the services of a small, light weight, but highly manoeuvrable airplane capable of delivering pin-point destruction on the enemy.' GREAT BRITAIN Avro Fighter/Bomber. Designed to meet the NATO require ments outlined in the introduction to this section, this projected machine is a delta, developed from the 707 research family. The makers claim that it will be able to land without trouble on a minimum p.s.p. runway with room to spare, and take off in half the minimum requirement. It will carry a heavy mixed load of rockets, guns and bombs, and is designed to exceed NATO requirements in terms of speed and range. It will have no tail. Price is quoted as "a third of that of the conventional fighter." de Havilland Vampire F.B.5 and F.B.9. Although Vampires still remain in fighter squadrons of the R.Aux.A.F., it is as a ground-attack aircraft that this type is now primarily considered. The F.B.5 and 9 are similar, except that the 9 has a refrigeration unit and other detail modifications. Numerous export versions are generally similar. Vampire ground-attack loads are eight 60 lb R.P.s and two 500 lb bombs, but the bombs can be carried only if the auxiliary fuel tanks are dispensed with, whereas in the later Venom an external armament load heavier than that of the Vampire can be carried with tip tanks in place, de Havilland Venom F.B.I and F.B.4. Seen below carrying two 1,000 lb bombs, the Venom F.B.1 is also adaptable—as is the F.B.4—for a variety of bombs of other calibres, for clusters of small bombs, rocket projectiles, and no doubt for napalm tanks. Built-in armament is four 20 mm guns. Gloster Meteor F.8. Although the special ground-attack development of the Meteor, described at some length in the former review of this series, has not passed into production, the standard Meteor F.8 fighter was used with notable success in Korea, with an armament of eight or sixteen 60 lb rocket projectiles. FRANCE Potez 75. The most detailed appreciation of this unique air craft yet published appeared in Flight of May 14th and began: "Few Englishmen would be able to appreciate the full implica tions of the problem which first suggested to M. Henri Potez the development of a specialized 'defence vehicle'; yet this particular problem has always existed for the Continental nations, whose land frontiers are so much more easily invaded than England's moated shores. Whereas our first line of defence lies in the skies over and beyond the Channel and North Sea, French soil must always be considered vulnerable to direct ground attack by fast- moving armoured columns. This was poignantly demonstrated during the initial German break-through in the Ardennes in 1940: the Germans thrust rapidly straight to the Channel coast, and the defenders on the ground found themselves unable to bring effective weight to bear on the enemy's relatively dispersed armoured spearheads. The situation was confusingly fluid, and the roads were hopelessly cluttered with fleeing refugees. "It was this state of affairs that led the eminent French aircraft designer to study the possibilities of an effective weapon which, operating away from roads yet using natural cover, could be employed to attack the armoured spearheads while they were still on relatively unconsolidated territory. The eventual result of the study was die Potez 75. It is a machine which must be considered as an army missile-launcher that flies." The Potez 75 weighs 5,280 lb all-up and has a Potez 8-D32 engine giving 480 h.p. for take-off. It is intended to operate at very low levels from unprepared ground—even from tilled land or stretches of road. Using trees and buildings as cover, it would stalk a target "on the deck," thus avoiding possible radar detec tion and delaying visual sighting until it was too late to bring concentrated flak to bear. The guided missiles intended for the aircraft are still more or de Havilland Venom F.B.1 (D.H. Ghost), with two 1,000 lb bombs.
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