This is the law of the airways:
Rising to the heights, we look down.
And day after day it bothers us
Steel turbines are a hot whistle.
Rising to the heights, we look down.
And day after day it bothers us
Steel turbines are a hot whistle.
Those who are observing flights from the earth are worried about other issues. For example, how long a combat mission of a fighter can last. Note, we focus on tactical (front-line) aviation, because everything is clear with strategic. Bombers and scouts are able to fly around the clock. The current record belongs to the "stealth" B-2, which continuously circled in the air for two days (44,3 hours).
The fighters of the fourth generation, to surprise, show no less impressive results. Despite its “front-line” mission, a close cockpit and a modest, by the standards of strategic bombers, fuel reserves, the duration of the flights exceeds all expectations. The record flight of the F-15E Four from the 391 Squadron of the US Air Force, which stayed in the air for 15,5 hours, was a record one!
The record was not an educational setting. It was a routine sortie, during which the aircraft "lingered a little" over the combat area. An air-to-air and air-to-surface combat patrol flew from a / b in Kuwait to be over Afghan in three hours. There the fighters spent nine hours, periodically attacking targets that reconnaissance "opened". And, came back to Kuwait.
F-15E over the Hindu Kush range. The sighting containers of the LANTIRN system, air-to-air missiles, a pair of suspended tanks, guided bombs with GPS and laser guided type GBU-12 are visible on the suspension of the multipurpose fighter.
It may seem suspicious that the “Eagles” had to refuel 12 times, but, from the aviation point of view, this looks like the right decision. Aviators love it when the fuel needle hovers around MAX. And they use every opportunity to maintain this holy and obvious tradition.
For combat conditions there must be a strict fuel standard, for example, at least 50 or even 75%. Pilots are trying to prevent the arrow from dropping below this value. And as often as possible, they "pump up" kerosene, as soon as they have such an opportunity. And if it is not there, they will be able to hold out for a long time in the air until the end of the battle or the arrival of a new tanker. In this case, and keep full tanks.
As practice shows, they always have the opportunity. Tanks of the KS-10 tanker (based on the passenger DC-10) are designed for 160 tons of fuel. And let a part of this reserve be spent on the journey of the tanker from an air base on the other continent, but the balance is enough to “fill up to the neck” with a lot of fighters.
The United States Air Force has in its active service and in reserve the order of 450 air tankers, not counting the suspension kits to turn part of the fighter jets into tankers (war is unpredictable).
In peacetime, it is too expensive to pay salaries for military pilots, because the Yankees leased KC-10 to private firms. For example, Omega Aerial Refueling Services. Tankers with civilian crews constantly “hang out” in the areas of hot spots and places for conducting exercises of NATO countries.
Private company tanker fueled drone X-47
And you say - aircraft carrier. Required airfield in the ocean. Ha ha ha, in what century do these people live?
Modern fighters have proven the technical ability to carry out combat missions lasting 15 + hours.
It is clear that this is already overkill. If you need to fly for days on end 365 days a year, it would be worthwhile to think about finding a closer air base.
But this happens only occasionally. And the domestic HQ did not take a single time at all - the Hmeimim airbase was found in Syria. And in Afghanistan - airfields Kandahar, Shindand, Bagram. However, if ours and the Americans are required, they will fly thousands of kilometers.
15 hours - a record. And how many departures lasted for 8-9-10 hours? According to the participants themselves - routine.
There is no reason to argue here, 70 years ago, armada of the “Fortresses” under cover of hundreds of Mustangs with PTB flew to Berlin, moreover, the fighters had a supply of fuel (15-20 minutes) for an air battle with the Messerschmitts, after which all returned to the airfields of Albion. The route is a thousand km long in 3.
One can imagine what the modern “Drying” and “Efki” are capable of, having twice the cruising speed, the normal combat radius in 1000 km and, in addition, in-flight refueling systems!
Already - the fifth generation with its formless supersonic, even more adapted to long flights.
Mechanics
The turbine is spinning - the technician is standing, the turbine is standing - the technician is spinning.
Skeptics will certainly point to the impossibility of constantly patrolling at a great distance even by the forces of the whole air regiment. Despite the seeming simplicity of the task, all the equipment, flight and technical staff will not know peace.
In the air - the carousel. Two couples arrived in a given area, those whom they changed laid on the opposite course, and at the aerodrome they are already on the rise of the new four. Plus, another group expects in constant readiness - in case of unforeseen situations.
It looks like this combat work. The problem is that a modern aircraft passes a large THU before departure, in terms of dozens of man-hours per flight hour 1. Some fighters, as a rule, are not capable due to serious problems identified. As a result, even a whole regiment may have problems solving the above task.
Or maybe they will not. Exact standards and coefficients are unknown to us, therefore, let us turn to known facts.
In 2001, the aircraft wings of the aircraft carriers Vinson and Enterprise ensured that three pairs of fighters were constantly in the airspace of Afghanistan to launch operational strikes at the request of the ground forces.
The irony of the situation was that the Americans did not manage to bring aircraft carriers closer to the shores of Afghanistan than on the 1000 km. And the deck of the "Hornet" had to overcome a narrower distance than ground-based aircraft from air bases in the United Arab Emirates (Al-Dafra).
So what's the moral? With the help of two air bases (even if floating - essentially does not change), it was possible to ensure long-term (for months) constant patrols at a distance of 1000-1300 km, with many hours of hanging of the six “Hornets” over the mountainous regions of Afghanistan.
This was possible due to the fact that the fighters did not have to replace each other every hour. Sometimes they were airborne for 10 hours. Five refueling. The six sent to the mission "hung" over Afghan for long hours, until they were replaced by a new group. At this very time, the rest of the aircraft and flight personnel calmly sunbathed in the sun in the Arabian Sea. For 30-35 sorties per day from each aircraft carrier, for such an air group - a warm-up, baby-talk.
The Yankees themselves say that they could fly more often, if the barmalei had more bases, caches, and other targets suitable for aviation. And instead of aircraft carriers - be a normal coastal air base, with powerful F-15, capable of surfing the sky for 10-15 hours, the intensity of patrols could increase even times!
As for the combat readiness of aviation compounds, many facts are known when it approached 100%. Even for the most complex aviation systems of the fourth generation.
Thus, in the middle of the 1980-s, the 36th TFW air wing, located at Bitburg Air Base (FRG), had an operational readiness of 92%, and, thanks to the convenience of the infrastructure of the German airfield and the preparation of those. personnel fighter fighter and suspension arms before the new departure of the F-15 took only 12 minutes. The minimum take-off time for the alarm attendant was equally minimal, the record was 3,5 minutes (with the standard 5 minutes).
Also, according to open sources, at the "Tim Spirit-82" exercise, a group of 24 "Needles" made 233 training flights a day. It is clear that those flights were carried out under a simplified program and planes flew nearby. But all this gives us confidence that modern airplanes are not a pile of unfit trash that lies sprawled in a repair hangar for days.
There would be a normal base and a team of experienced, trained techies.
The experience of civil aviation also indicates the same thing, where planes do not stand still, regularly making transcontinental and transoceanic flights.
Daily routes of civil airlines
In this situation, the author feels some awkwardness and guilt in front of readers for so often mentioning foreign aircraft. But understand correctly: the review is purely educational in nature, and similar data on the number of combat missions and combat readiness of the Su-27 in open sources are not available.
American Efki were given as an example. And I do not see a single reason for the Russian VKS not to be able to do what the Americans are doing. Just look at the combat work of the group on the a / b Hamim. Work well, like a clock!
The saga of a tired pilot
Tired of what? What time in my life I sat at the helm for two shifts?
In 1937, Colonel Gromov 62 hours spent hours his plane, not letting the rudder out of his hands and freezing in the cabin above the North Pole.
And now, of course, the pilots are not the same. Comfortably lounging in a warm chair, having a full set of automation systems, a urinal and autopilot, and in some cases also a partner operator, of course, 10 will not be able to fly for hours.
Although there is nothing to argue about. In the first part of the article, a lot of REAL cases were described when modern fighters spent in the air for 10-15 hours. Q.E.D.
PS If you can not find the pilots, contact your truckers. Those almost without stopping lead their wagons for 11 hours per day (restriction by law, which is desperately violated). Not having autopilot, but having a dense stream of vehicles and multi-stage "mechanics". Going And offer them a pilot s / n - fly.
The cabin of the Su-34 has unprecedented measures of comfort: a bed, a toilet and a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave. It is designed for long-haul flights.
Epilogue
Briefly. The listed cases allow to draw the following conclusions.
1. Modern tactical aviation is capable of covering up (i.e., organizing round-the-clock patrols with the possibility of rapid amplification) to any selected area on any continent of the Earth.
2. From the point of view of the Russian Aerospace Forces, there are all possibilities for covering the inland seas (the Baltic, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Black Sea) - aviation tightly blocks these “puddles”. There would be at least a handful of fighters and tankers available.
There is no doubt about the technical feasibility of such an idea (see the examples above).
3. There is the possibility of a solid cover of the coastal zone of the seas and oceans at a distance of 1000-1500 km from the coast. However, the combination of "coastal zone" is already incorrect. These are already open sea areas.
4. Russian VKS flying from air bases in the Far East, guaranteed not to be able to cover the Philippines and Easter Island. But they do not need this.
5. Percussion operations on the principle of “flight there - flight back” without prolonged locking in the air take even less time and can be successfully carried out on another continent, at a distance of THOUSAND kilometers from the base. Without the help of aircraft carriers and airfields jump.
Do not forget, we are not talking about strategic aviation, but about "ordinary" multi-purpose fighters.
In the 1982 year, with only five combat-ready Super Etandars (max. Takeoff weight of all 12 tons) and the only piston tanker, Argentine aviation took out British ships in the Atlantic, at a distance of about 1000 km from the airfield on Tierra del Fuego.
In 1986, a group of American F-111 bombed the capital of Libya from the territory of Great Britain (flight over the Bay of Biscay - turn over Gibraltar - flight along the entire coast of North Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria - hook over the desert, turnaround and exit to the rear of the Libyan air defense system - and return on the same route). Returned before dawn.
6. This material was a detailed answer to the debate about the prospects of deck aircraft. The facts show that with the development of jet thrust, increasing speeds and the emergence of new technologies to increase the duration of flights, the age of aircraft carriers has come to an end. Just as the cruisers and battleships with artillery weapons became obsolete in their time.
Airplanes no longer need to constantly carry an airfield behind them, while suffering many adversities and hardships associated with increased accident rate, less combat load and inadequately high cost of the most "floating airfield" with a crew of thousands of sailors.
7. As you know, 71% of the surface occupies the ocean, but do not forget that the solid surface is evenly distributed throughout the globe.
Six large continents have connecting “bridges” in the form of entire archipelagoes. And in the open ocean, literally at every turn, there are islands and atolls. Even in the equatorial part of the Atlantic, where there is supposedly nothing, there are two pieces of land - oh. St. Helena and Fr. Ascension (by the way, the British-American air base).
About Pacific Polynesia-Micronesia is not even worth talking about. Where do the Yankees keep their stealth? That's right, at the Anderson airfield on Fr. Guam. In the same place, during inter-wing flights, guests are flying fighter wings.
And where are the B-1B "Lancer." Air Base Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
So it turns out that the above “coastal zone 1000-1500 km” gives almost complete coverage of the oceans of the globe.