Speed: Mach 2.4
Range: 1,750 nm
Combat Radius: 800nm (1,480km)
Wingspan: 42 feet
Length: 50 feet
Crew: 1
Radar: APG-77v1 (216NM/400km range)
AEQ/AS-2 Wing&Tail mounted L-band (~80km range)
Armanent: -x1 RK-23-1 23mm Rotating Cannon
- x14 Hardpoints (2 wingtip, 8 underwing, 4 internal)
Additional Equipment:
AN/ALR-94 Radar Warning Receiver & ECM
AN/AAR-56 Missile Warning System
ESQ-2000 Cat Eye Passive IRST
LIDACS-III Counter-Measure Suite
Cost: $45 million USD
Acessibility: High
Jungle Camo
Info
Named after an extremely deadly snake found in the deserts and jungles of Australia, this super-maneuverable fighter was designed by Edisto-Kalmov Defense Corp as a generation 4.5 air-superiority dog fighter. This aircraft was the locally-produced competitor to the Su-37 in a contest for "super-maneuverable air-supperiority fighter" in the early 2000's, and was ultimately selected for the role while the aforementioned Flanker-F instead served as a basis to re-factory upgrade all Su-27MK's in use by Inyurstan forces.
The Tiapan is designed with air supremacy in mind, and while it lacks any real capability to attack ground targets, it serves as a masterful and agile fighter capable of tackling almost any threat in the skies. A thrust-vectoring nozzle and forward canards give it both speed and agility, while flexible composite materials give its wings stability when performing high-G force maneuvers. It is also the only known aircraft in the world capable of pulling a low-altitude inverted stall dive - better known as the "Limos Burrow" - in Limos testing grounds where a prototype model successfully escaped the bore sight of its competitor and was able to get the hostile aircraft into its own boresight.
Enhanced missile technology give it a long-range punch over many of its competitors, while still keeping the sheer lethality in close-combat.
Propulsion is provided by twin Kojima K5O engines, each of which provides 170kn trust. K5O, a variable cycle engine - one that varies the bypass ratio by different flight regimes. In general, K5O operates in two modes, one intended for flight while second intended for dogfighting. The engine was fitted digital control system made by Nihonese company named Washi, which portrays the engine's status and information on a liquid - crystal display screen inside the pilot's cabin. While the system itself is highly intelligent and capable of differing between different flight modes to allow the pilot to focus on combat, it also can be controlled manually with such system if such need occurs. Variable cycle engine allows for better fuel efficiency. To counter natural problems that appear with variable cycle engines, such as complexity, high weight or costs, K50 uses simple pressure driven valves, ceramic matrix composite materials and 3D printing technology to build certain parts, which allow it to greatly reduce the issues that would traditionally haunt it if this system was employed as typical variable cycle engine. Both engines are fitted with three dimensional trust vectoring nozzles, which combined give IEK-88B supercruise capability.
*A special variant, the IEK-88N, for use on carriers can be purchased for export.
Additional Systems Data
It is designed largely for its ability to carry up to three of the AIM-54Y2 Ultra Pheonix long-range air-to-air missile, a local upgraded production of the American AIM-54 Pheonix; with an improved range of about 152 nautical miles (280km) and an Active Radar Target Detection Device (TDD) as its seeker mechanism.
The AIM-54Y2 has since been replaced in service by the C-300 XLRAAM.
The RK-23-1 "Salamandre" rotating cannon is a 3-barreled 23mm electric-motor powered 'Gatling Gun'. It has a total of 2,400rpm but has the option of firing at 1,600rpm in order to conserve ammo. The rounds are also high-explosive and laced with incendiary elements such as thermite and zirconium to ensure even grazing hits will cause serious damage.
LIDACS-III is the most recent version of the LIDACS (Laser Infra-red Detection And Counter-measure Sytem) family. This is a serious of 9 dual-mode Infra-Red and Electro-Optical sensors mounted on various sections of the aircraft to give a near-360* - or mores appropriately termed "Practical 360*" - coverage for missile warning. The system automatically deploys MJU-39/40 flares in response to heat-seaking/IR missile threat, however flares can also be manually deployed by the pilot. To defeat the threat of radar-guided weapons, this system employs a defensive DRFM jammer to create false radar targets on the enemh warhead's seaker. LIDACS-III also warns of laser-lock, and emits a seperate signal to the pilot allowing them to manually evade rather than wasting flares.
