Fifth generation of 50 fighters years
Ten years do not cease disputes around odious F-22 "Raptor". The appearance of the F-35 “Lightning II” - the “budget” version of a generation fighter — added fuel to the fire: if even the large and expensive “Raptor” does not always meet the requirements, then what can we expect from a single-engine fighter with a limited range of onboard equipment? In general, the “fifth generation” is born in terrible agony - the demands made on such fighters are very vague, and sometimes impossible to implement in practice.
One of the main conditions is to reduce the visibility of the aircraft in the radar and thermal ranges. The second condition: supersonic cruising speed. The third is super-maneuverability. Often these three factors are “mutually exclusive paragraphs”: powerful engines and perfect aerodynamics conflict with the requirements of the stealth technology. In addition, the fifth generation fighter should be equipped with the most modern avionics and be easy to pilot.
Meanwhile, even 50 years ago, a serial aircraft was created that meets the many requirements of the “fifth generation” and flew in supersonic cruise mode. As you may have guessed, it will be about the A-5 “Vigilante” deck bomber.
When ballistic missiles were small, and Yuri Gagarin was still in school, the United States and the Soviet Union were faced with the urgent problem of delivering nuclear weapons. US put on strategic bombers, aircraft carriers and deck Aviation. In 1953, the North American aircraft manufacturer, on its own initiative, began work on the search for a promising replacement for the A-3 Skyworior subsonic bomber.
The company was not mistaken - in 1955, the US Navy officially announced a competition for the creation of just such an aircraft. The engineers were given a task comparable in complexity to the creation of a “fifth generation fighter”: the NAGPAW project (North American General Purpose Attack Weapon) involved the development of a supersonic all-weather strike aircraft capable of operating from the decks of heavy aircraft carriers like Forrestal. The only task of the aircraft was the delivery of nuclear ammunition to targets in the enemy’s territory.
In August, 1958, the new aircraft made its first flight, and a year later the Navy signed a contract for the supply of 55 supersonic carrier-based bombers weaponswho received the terrible name A-5 "Vigilanti" ("participant of the Lynch Court"). Marine pilots liked the new technique: in 1960, one of the “vigilantes” set a world record, rising to a height of 28 kilometers from 1000 kg of cargo.
You will laugh, but the A-5 aircraft created half a century ago did indeed meet most of the requirements for modern fifth-generation fighters:
Vigilanti realized without problems a supersonic cruising flight mode (2000 km / h at an altitude of 11000 m).
Moreover, the deck-based bomber had an important constructive element characteristic of the modern technology “stealth” - the placement of standard weapons on the internal suspension. An internal bomb bay was integrated between the two engines in the fuselage, which contained two 1000-pound bombs (2х450 kg). From the point of view of the “stealth” technology, the all-round vertical tail also contributed to the reduction of the aircraft’s radar visibility.
There was also some semblance of “supermodernity”: a heavy “vigilante” more than once participated in training fights with fighters, achieving phenomenal results. Already on the third bend, the Vigilanti hit the deck of the F-8 Krusader (Crusader) fighter and could chase it for a long time.
The super-bomber had good dynamics and acceleration properties, the climb rate of easily equipped Vigilanti reached 172 m / s. Practical ceiling - 19000-20000 meters. In theory, the bomber was calculated for more, but the basing on the deck of an aircraft carrier worsened its flight characteristics. In order to reduce the area occupied by the aircraft on the deck, the wing ends using hydraulic actuators were folded up, and the upper part of the keel was deflected to the side. We had to drag a heavy tail hook (landing hook), and the Vigilanti design and chassis were designed for high dynamic loads when landing on the deck of the ship, which resulted in an even greater increase in the weight of the airframe (it was forbidden to use titanium in the aircraft design).
Vigilante was a very large, heavy and extremely high-tech product for its time. He carried a whole range of innovative solutions: bucket-like adjustable air intakes, roll spoilers, instead of classic aileron, and even an on-board computer (hung every 15 minutes). For the first time in aviation, the aircraft was equipped with an electric remote control system (there was no mechanical connection between the rudders and the steering wheel). Like any deck aircraft of the US Navy, the Vigilanti received a system for refueling in the air. As a result, the price of the "vigilante" has risen to 100 million dollars in today's prices. By the way, Americans are still confident that the MiG-25 interceptor is copied from the A-5, although the external similarity still does not mean anything.
When meeting with the A-5 bomber, you cannot immediately guess that the car is double. Only one seat is visible behind the glazing of the cockpit canopy. The second crew member, the navigator, is sitting somewhere in the fuselage of the aircraft. His presence is given out by two tiny portholes on the sides of a bomber.
And then there was a misunderstanding: in the 1960, the underwater strategic missile carrier "George Washington" with the Polaris ballistic missiles came out for combat patrols. The rapid evolution of rocket technology put an end to the Vigilanti project, making the placement of nuclear weapons on the decks of aircraft carriers ineffective. Super hero was out of work ...
An attempt to adapt the Viglante to the performance of percussion tasks was a fiasco - even with the use of additional external pylons for the suspension of weapons, the heavy aircraft lost in efficiency to the Phantom fighter-bomber.
A small remark. With the beginning of the Vietnam War, it turned out that the US Navy had a lot of different technology, but there was not a single normal strike aircraft: the SkyHock lightweight cheap А-4 was too weak, and besides, it could not work at night and in adverse weather conditions. "Phantom", despite the stated "universality" and "all-weather" not far from the "Skyhawk". All-weather aircraft in bad weather does not fly (Murphy's law). The military was not satisfied with either the combat load of the “Phantom” or its too high speed, which made it impossible to defeat point targets. An attempt to reanimate the ancient piston A-1 "Skyrider" (a kind of deck IL-2) gave a limited positive result - he could not replace the jet aircraft. Well, chasing the trucks on the Ho Chi Minh trail on a huge Vigilanti was complete madness. It was necessary to urgently launch the A-6 “Intruder” subsonic attack attack aircraft of the carrier-based platform with a powerful sighting system and a combat load of 8 tons. But this was not enough - in the future, they designed another light fire support machine, the A-7 Corsair, based on the Kruseyder F-8 fighter.
By that time, the 63 A-5 "Vigilante" bomber was added to the deck aviation structure. Satisfied North American managers went to drink Martini to the Hawaiian Islands: they fulfilled the contract, the rest is not their problem. And sea pilots were sorry to abandon brand new cars with unique flight characteristics. It was necessary to think of something urgently.
“You will go to the scouts!” Decided the naval experts, strictly looking at the crooked recruit. And "Vigilanti" did not shame their expectations, turning into a specialized long-range reconnaissance RA-5C. (the letter "R", from the English word reconnaissance always means reconnaissance modification). In the internal bomb bay they put cameras, additional fuel tanks and covered this equipment with an enlarged fairing.
With the outbreak of active hostilities in Southeast Asia, the Vigilanti became the “eyes” fleet - As part of the wing of each aircraft carrier, there was always a RA-5C link. Deck scouts hung for hours over the positions of the North Vietnamese army, photographing targets before and after air strikes. In the second case, work was associated with a particular risk - the Vietnamese air defense was in a state of full combat readiness and was filled with a thirst for revenge. The "vigilantes" were saved only by 2M speed and maximum flight altitude. And that is not always - the wreckage of 27 Vigilanti fell in the jungle.
RA-5C performed well in a new role; in the middle of 60, the fleet ordered a new batch of reconnaissance aircraft. North American turned on the conveyor and stamped another 91 Vigilanti. Aircraft of this type flew until the end of the 70-ies and were decommissioned in November 1979. AT stories they remained as naval aviation as sophisticated aircraft on which new technologies and ideas were developed. The pilots still remember with surprise how these monsters were put on deck (although this is not the limit - in the fall of 1963, the Hercules military transport aircraft made 20 successful landings on an aircraft carrier).
You probably noticed, dear readers, that this story was written with a bit of irony. Of course, the A-5 "Vigilante" did not stand close to the fifth-generation fighter. Despite the same wing load with the Su-35 (380 kg / sq. Meter), the low weight of the Vigilanti did not allow him to perform the Pugachev Cobra or other most complex aerobatics. As for the comparison of avionics - I suppose there are no comments here.
But the fact that 50 years ago, managed to create a combat aircraft, many of the features of which correspond to the fifth-generation fighter, makes you wonder. At the same time, the Vigilante was designed as a double bomber, and its designers did not even have thoughts of super-maneuverability or notorious stealth. Modern engineers lead the battle for supersonic without the use of afterburner, the best minds solve the problem of stealth, for example, where to find a place under the internal weapons compartment. And often, possessing state-of-the-art computer-aided design systems, new materials and nanotechnologies, they cannot cope with this task. It is amazing how the creators of Vigilante managed to achieve such amazing results with the help of primitive technical solutions.
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