Top news from the world of military aviation in 2021
Photo by: kremlin.ru
2021 turned out to be extremely remarkable for various events, one way or another connected with the military aviation different countries. This applies, first of all, to fighters and attack UAVs.
If we talk about countries, then Russia and China were the most marked in the past year.
Tests of the main American novelty - the B-21 strategic bomber - were postponed (in 2019 it was reported that it could make its maiden flight in December of this year).
The first flight of the Russian Tu-160 bomber, assembled from scratch, was also shifted to the right. Now it should be expected no earlier than the beginning of next year.
F-15EX (USA)
On February XNUMX, a fighter flew into the sky for the first time F-15EX Is the most advanced aircraft in the F-15 family. In particular, he received a Raytheon AN / APG-82 radar with an active phased antenna array (AFAR), a "glass" cockpit, a system for displaying important information on a helmet-mounted display and a new mission control computer.
Photo: Boeing
The main feature of the F-15EX lies in the armament: the aircraft is positioned as "the most heavily armed fighter".
I must say, these are not empty words.
The vehicle can carry up to 22 air-to-air missiles, as well as a variety of air-to-surface ammunition, including hypersonic weapon up to 22 feet long and weighing up to 7 pounds. "
In total, the US military expects to purchase up to 200 F-15EX fighters.
KF-21 Boramae (South Korea)
The presentation of the KF-21 fighter was held in April at the headquarters of the South Korean aircraft corporation Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI).
While the KF-21 has all the hallmarks of stealth technology, it is neither invisible nor fifth generation.
Boramae carries weapons on external holders, which means it cannot in any way meet the requirements of stealth technology.
Because of this, the fighter is often referred to as generation 4,5 or 4 plus.
In the configuration shown, the aircraft is 16,9 meters long and has a wingspan of 11,2 meters.
It has an AFAR radar and ten points of suspension: six under the wing and four under the fuselage. The power plant is based on two General Electric F414-GE-400K engines. The crew is one person.
In the future, they may create a two-seater version.
Su-75 Checkmate (Russia)
The main novelty for the Russian-speaking community is undoubtedly the new generation Su-75 fighter, which was officially shown at MAKS for the first time.
The presentation was slightly spoiled by the fact that the first photos leaked to the Web even before it began and gave a general idea of the fighter.
The aircraft is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration with a V-shaped tail. The fixed air intake is located under the fuselage and has an extended lower lip.
The Su-75 received one engine and has pronounced signs of stealth technology.
The armament is housed inside, the combat load is 7 kilograms. On internal holders, it can carry up to five air-to-air missiles, as well as air-to-surface weapons, including such ammunition as K400BE, KAB-029, K500BE (UPAB-08B-E), KAB-500, KAB -250LG-E, X-250, X-38MK59, X-2USHK (E), Thunder-E58 and Thunder-E1. The vehicle has no built-in armament.
Usually the plane is positioned as an export plane, however, as of now, there is no information about a single firm order from foreign clients.
Perhaps, in the future, the car will be adopted by Russia itself.
The first flight of the Su-75 is scheduled for 2023.
Double J-20 (China)
The outgoing year can be called Chinese without exaggeration.
What is even the first flight of the first in the world worth? stories a fifth-generation two-seat fighter.
The car, however, was not an absolute novelty.
Firstly, it was created on the basis of the J-20, which Beijing has already produced in the amount of more than 150 units.
Secondly, information about the development in the PRC of a two-seater "five" went on the Web long before the first photos of the fighter.
And yet this is a very significant event, which could have far-reaching consequences: both for China and for the entire world aviation.
The fact is that the plane is being considered in the context of a potentially revolutionary concept of unmanned wingmen. It is for UAV control that a co-pilot can come in handy.
In this regard, it is appropriate to recall that Russia also wants to get its own fifth-generation two-seat fighter. It will be built on the basis of the Su-57, and the S-70 Okhotnik is sometimes considered as an unmanned wingman.
Deck version FC-31 (China)
Like its "big brother" J-20, the Shenyang FC-31 fighter has long been no secret to anyone.
The car made its first flight on October 31, 2012. Since then, the Chinese have built only a few prototypes, leaving many to forget about the project.
At various times, they talked about its possible problems, as well as the fact that they want to supply the plane to foreign customers.
The real purpose of the fighter became known in October, when a photo of the first flight of its carrier-based version, which received the unofficial designation J-35, was posted on the Web.
Even a quick glance was enough to see the differences from the base version.
The aircraft received a fundamentally different flashlight, which made it look like the American F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing fighter. At the same time, one must assume that China does not set itself the task of creating a VTOL aircraft.
In favor of this, in particular, speaks the design of the chassis, which is very different from that of the F-35B and is more similar to the one that we see on the F-35C, designed for ejection launch.
The novelty has a pull rod for attachment to the catapult shuttle and a folding wing.
The rest of the J-35 is similar to its progenitor. The car has two engines, V-shaped tail and one pilot's seat. The weapon is placed inside to maintain stealth.
New version of "Hunter" (Russia)
At the end of the year, the most ambitious Russian project from the world of the UAV made itself talk about.
At the Novosibirsk Aviation Plant named after V.P. Chkalov, a new sample of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) S-70 "Okhotnik" was rolled out.
Photo: rostec
“The main feature of the new Okhotnik is the flat engine nozzle. Due to this, the radar visibility of the machine is reduced. In addition, for drone a new ground control post is being created, designed to meet the requirements of the military. These solutions will significantly increase the capabilities of the machine,”
- Sergey Chemezov, General Director of the State Corporation Rostec, commented on the event.
Work on the "Hunter" program began in 2011. The first apparatus with a "conventional" round nozzle first took to the skies in 2019.
It is noteworthy that the characteristics of the "Hunter" (we are talking about both versions of the UAV) are still not known for certain.
According to observers, it can use a wide range of air-to-surface weapons: in support of these words, a bomb was first shown dropped by Hunter in December.
Still from the video "Russia-1"
The combat load is estimated at three tons (sometimes they even talk about eight), and the take-off weight of the UAV can be about 25 tons.
Possible missions include reconnaissance, strikes against ground targets, and even air combat.
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