Your Nation's Air Force Mark II:

[Axis Nova]

A stealth aircraft is never, ever going to go on a strafing run of any kind.

[Axis Nova]

All the cool people use quick suborbital hops to get around anyways.

[Axis Nova]

It's clear we need high-altitude zeppelins armed with defensive air-to-air missiles as our flying command centers.

This is a thing I actually do, though, being me, I also mix in lasers. Also they're more like giant radar stations than anything else.

[Axis Nova]

Does anyone have any info on how effective the X-44 Manta's thrust vectoring scheme was?

[Axis Nova]

Thank you for your answer, however, is it not feasible that you could determine these things mathematically? You can easily calculate air resistance and I imagine that there has been enough research done on conventional shaped charges that you can tell how far a kinetic stream would travel in atmo. Much of the research on what type of liner would be used in a weaponized CH has been done. On the off chance you have not already checked it out, read this http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/r ... onvent.php. The SS-18 Satan has a throw weight of around 9.8 US tons, an Orion pulse unit weighed about 1.3 tons. You can easily see how you could scale that up and replace the Tungsten liner with something more effective for in atmo. flight.

The beam would disperse in the upper stratosphere at best, probably sooner given how effective the magnetosphere is at deflecting ionized particles. Casaba howitzers are useless against any target protected by an atmosphere or more than about 300-500 km away due to inverse square law.

As for rods from god which I think I saw mentioned earlier, lifting one rod into orbit would take a Saturn V class booster. To make things better, atmospheric drag would slow the rod down to terminal velocity long before impact unless it descended far too rapidly to survive atmospheric entry.

Rods from god are generally only economical if you already have an established space industry and can manufacture them up there without needing to launch them.

[Axis Nova]

Here's an NS worthy Idea: A lockheed CL-1201, a theoretical nuclear powered transport with a 1.120 foot wingspan and an almost 12 million pound gross weight, stuffed full of minuteman-III ICBMs. With a payload weight of 2,300,000 ibs the Cl-1201 would theoretically be able to carry up to 29 minuteman-III missiles. It's the closest thing you;re going to get to a flying SSBN although with the size of the thing it be pretty easy to spot with satellites or OTH radar.

(Image)

Bit late to the party.

Pictured. The only NS Aircraft capable of air dropping the Ground Combat element of a Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Huh, interesting. I use something kinda like this that Bretton came up with before he stopped playing, but that one's more conventional in shape rather than mostly a flying wing.

You should consider adding air to air lasers to the thing; it has more than enough juice and size to have quite a few, and with those it'd be virtually immune to attack by missiles.

[Axis Nova]

Given the general propensity of people on NS to shoot anything that moves (and some things that don't), I imagine that international flights might form convoys, complete with escort fighters, in some areas.

[Axis Nova]

I'm considering banging out an aircraft roughly around C-5 size, that has as it's primary armament several lasers in the 400-500kw range, powered by a small nuclear reactor (assuming the engines can't generate enough juice to run things). It's purpose would be to basically orbit over a battle space and make it a no go zone for enemy missiles, artillery, helicopters, and pretty much any non-stealth aircraft (as anything it can see, it'd be able to zap). Probably wouldn't be bad at making life miserable for soft targets on the ground, too-- admittedly, lasers arn't terribly efficient at prodding ground targets compared to air targets, but on the other hand it's not like ammo is an issue.

Should be possible to do it more or less entirely in MT, concerning current developments in the field.

[Axis Nova]

I'm unsure if it's as plausible as you think it is. I don't know enough to be sure though. The main thing I'm unsure of is the ability for the aircraft to carry both a reactor and multiple solid state lasers of that power. For the unbuilt Convair X-6 the total weight of the reactor, engines and crew shielding was around 80 tons. The C-5's payload is around 135 tons. For a not-C-5 This would give you 65 tons. I don't know enough about the mass of solid state laser weapon systems to say whether or not that's enough for everything you'd need. Also keep in mind you'd probably need a much beefier reactor than the X-6 had in order to power multiple lasers. I'm unsure of how much mass that would cost you as most of those 80 tons is shielding and I don't unsure of how the increase the amount in shielding you'd need to compensate for the increased power of the reactor.

The NB-36 had a 3MW reactor for testing, crammed into a smaller aircraft with a lower payload than the C-5. Shouldn't be a huge problem, considering a laser in the 150kw range is under development for the Predator C. I can't imagine a 500kw model would weigh that much more. Giant reactor outputs are not needed, either- the aircraft would have 4-6 lasers at most and it's unlikely to be firing them all at once.

[Axis Nova]

I'll expand on my last post, as I typed it on my tablet (and that's a pain in the ass since, well, tablet typing). The NB-36 and the X-6 are both from many decades ago, and reactor technology has only gotten better and lighter since then-- there are proposals for small reactors of between 10 and 50 MW in output, that weigh around 10 tons, including built in shielding. That is, in fairness, just for the central core, of course. But it shows that you can do it with less weight than back then.

[Axis Nova]

I'm hesitant to believe in a 50 MW Aircraft reactor that is 10 tons including all of the shielding the aircraft will carry. Also keep in mind that many reports on nuclear aircraft list the mass of the reactor's shielding and the mass of the crew's shielding as separate masses. For the X-6's nuclear propulsion system only around 5 tons was reactor. Of the remaining weight more than 48 tons was devoted just to shielding (30 for the reactor, 18 for the crew). For the other reactor designs I've sen dozens of tons of shielding is par for the course. You might be able to cut down the weight of the reactor itself, but the density of lead has, to my knowledge, not decreased significantly within the past 50 years.

Actuallllllly, you'd be surprised. Now we can use borated-poly (relatively light) with a considerably smaller amount of lead to mop up what gets left over from the gamma-ray-window of borated-poly. (Not an actual window). Any metal helps. Distance helps. Not caring about shielding the sides, top or bottom of the aircraft helps (aka, shielding only the operators)
Lots of better materials in general, to include those that don't get activated nearly as much, so you need less shielding now and can perform maintenance earlier after shutdown.

This is one of the things I was looking at-- first thing I did was go and look up some current small modular reactor designs. Note that I don't actually need something with such a high output (50MW is completely excessive for my purpose, even 10MW is still too much).

[Axis Nova]

This is one of the things I was looking at-- first thing I did was go and look up some current small modular reactor designs. Note that I don't actually need something with such a high output (50MW is completely excessive for my purpose, even 10MW is still too much).

I'm not sure how comparable those are to aircraft reactors although the power densities are roughly the same. As for 50MWe being excessive for an aircraft reactor your main goal isn't generating power it's powering the engine. I'm unsure of the X-6's reactor's output but the smaller of the two reactors with its 40MW seems comparable to the one that powered HTRE-3 which was the closest thing to a flight worthy engine(I don't recall the exact number but I think it was in this ballpark). The larger reactor (200MW) has about half the thermal power of a design I do have the numbers for but which was intended for a 6 engine mach 1.5 bomber so I think needing a reactor of that power (400 MW) is excessive.

Actuallllllly, you'd be surprised. Now we can use borated-poly (relatively light) with a considerably smaller amount of lead to mop up what gets left over from the gamma-ray-window of borated-poly. (Not an actual window). Any metal helps. Distance helps. Not caring about shielding the sides, top or bottom of the aircraft helps (aka, shielding only the operators)
Lots of better materials in general, to include those that don't get activated nearly as much, so you need less shielding now and can perform maintenance earlier after shutdown.

Have any more info you could elaborate on this? I know for most of the educing shielding needs via distance was already taken into account and the shield's already used a plastic (I'm unsure which) in addition to the lead.

Er, the reactor in this aircraft would be powering only the lasers. It'd be using conventional jet engines for propulsion.

[Axis Nova]

Er, the reactor in this aircraft would be powering only the lasers. It'd be using conventional jet engines for propulsion.

I'd seriously reconsider this. Nuclear Reactors are heavy and you're already carrying one so you may as well get your full money out of it. Using nuclear engines would actually mass less on take-off then a conventional propulsion system (A full fuel load for something like a C-5 can be over 150 tons) seeing as you'd be carrying most of the mass of a nuclear propulsion system already. In addition having the reactor power the engines will significantly increase your endurance.

If I don't carry fuel, then I'll still need to carry something else as a heat sink, so...

This is an MT design for export and I want to keep it fairly simple. I certainly could cheat and use lots of fancy metamaterials to largely get around having to deal with the heat so much, but that's not really an MT thing.

[Axis Nova]

Update on the laser plane thing I've been working on: carrying a large amount of liquid (jet fuel or otherwise) to use as a heat sink may not be neccesary. Apparently there's already some almost ready for deployment technologies that do fine for cooling without needing excessive amounts. Though there isn't enough info yet to know if they can really be scaled up for high output lasers...

This was the first thing I was looking at... it seems a little sketchy to me since there isn't a ton of info.

This seems like the more practical option, it explains clearly how it works, and the thing uses pretty much no power other than a small amount of air drawn off of the engines. It also appears scaleable, and likely would be compatible with an entirely nuclear powered engine option.

[Axis Nova]

It's quite a ways outside my area of expertise, but how does a conventional turbine engine combined with a pulse detonation engine sound? Think a configuration similar to a P&W J58. If you could get it to work you'd have something that's basically efficient at any speed between zero and mach 5.

[Axis Nova]

I'm PMT. ;p

[Axis Nova]

As far as Su-50 vs F-22 goes, it's worth noting that a) the F-22 actually exists, and works pretty well, while b) at present the Su-50 is nothing more than Russian vaporware. And even when it's finished it will STILL be inferior to the F-22.

[Aztec Hegemony]

Eurofighter C-16Z Typhoon as the Primary Jet Fighter of the Aerial Corps of the Aztec Hegemony

Eurofighter C-16Z Typhoon is the primary jet fighter since 200 units have been produced from 2004 until 2014.
It is a multirole jet fighter which is armed with air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles, and a radar jammer.

[Bahano]

The Bahano Air Force is fairly small, compared to other nationstates. It has 4 squadrons(101, 201, 301 and 401) and 1 Flight demonstration teams(The Grey Ghosts).

Each Squadron is made up for 2 Fighter Wings(6 aircraft apiece), 1 Tactical Support Wing(6 Aircraft) and 1 Training Wing(6 aircraft plus 3 spares).

[*]101 and 201 fly Hawker Hunters(12 armed with AIM-9 Sidewinders, 6 armed with AGM-65 Maverick's, and 6 armed with camera's and smoke dispensers). Both Squadrons are assigned to Air Defense Duties, protecting Bahano Airspace.

[*]301 Squadron flies the F-105G Thunderchief(The Fighter Wings assigned to 301 Squadron are assigned to SEAD/Wild Weasel duties). [301 Squadron is due to replace their Thunderchiefs in 2-3 years with the NGWW(Next Generation Wild Weasel) aircraft that is being solicated by the Air Ministry.]

[*]401 Squadron flies the Blackburn Buccaneer, and are given Anti-Shipping Duties and mount licensed copies of the French Exocet ASM. [401 Squadron is also due to replace their Buccaneer's with newer aircraft].

[*]The Grey Ghosts, Bahano's flight demonstration teams fly 2 of each of the aircraft used by the Bahano Armed Forces, painted in alternating bands of light and dark grey.

[*]The Bahano Fleet Air Arm maintains two Squadrons(505 and 506 Naval Air Squadrons) onboard the Bahano Aircraft Carrier BNS Blenheim. They fly A-4SU Super Skyhawks.

[Balat]

Balat does not formally have an "air force" per se, but in theoretical warfare requiring planetary landings, our space fighters, the Spartans, are more than capable of taking action on air, being able to bombard and offer support for land forces, as well as engaging enemy fighters. Some twenty thousand fighters are available for use in the Space Fleet, however due to a severe shortage of manpower, only about two thousand of those are even possibly operation, and some other two thousand being outfitted with remote controls.

Type: Space combat fighter
Purpose: Space superiority and anti-ship strike role
Length: 40 metres
Width: 7 metres
Height: 13 metres
Armament: 2 twin-linked 4 cm laser cannons on dorsal mount
4 2 cm neutron beam cannons in front prow mounts
or
4 cm Gatling guns
or
4 8 cm rapid fire laser cannons
or
4 2 cm fibre fletchette guns
Crew: 1
Units: 20000

[Barisea]

Barisea is set in two eras, with an 1830s era in the mainlands and modern tech defending the very outskirts.
Obviously, the earlier era cannot have planes, but the modern part does. A new fighter, invented by The Barisea royal vehicle guild, the I-1 Dragon, named for it's maneuverability, Is now officially the all-purpose Interceptor fighter, with 60 in the Barisea royal navy.
It is a interceptor more maneuverable than the Sukhoi Su-30, And has an standard load of four 25 mm cannons, 30 1 ft x 1 ft x 8 ft Unguided rockets stored in clever if I may say so "pockets" in the wings. Also, an external fuel tank, a radar Jammer and two anti-runway bombs. Although this may seem like a lot, compared to many fighters during and after world war II, this is a very light load. The interceptor's main advantage is it's maneuverability, being able to turn faster than the opponent.

[Barisea]

Look, the cannons are smaller, I normally use the imperial measurement system, not metric, they are NOT fast firing, The rockets are extremely basic, and I'm again really bad at calculation, so they are more likely 1-2 ft long, and 1/8th-1/4th an inch wide. Sorry.
To answer how it is more maneuverable, it has flaps near the far back corners of the wings, sort of like acting like a lever, The engines have flaps to direct the thrust, It being a version of VTOL, it can go directly up, at an angle, etc. Lastly, there are little thrusters on the following points: both wings, and the head of the plane. The Sukhoi Su 30 has a similar shape to the Dragon, and with the use of thrusters, the flaps, and the VTOL capabilities, this makes it more maneuverable. I forgot to mention that the engines are something called an plasma drive, which has already been invented, and is very fuel efficient.
Also, the loading of weapons is, as I mentioned with good reason, quite light compared to most military planes. The craft is maneuverable, and fast, and NOT heavily armed, making "Interceptor " the only fitting classification.
Also, my air force having only 70 craft, 60 of which are the I-1 Dragons, my air force is not OP at all. In fact, my country relies in it's natural defenses and allies to keep it safe. Oh, and the reason we can't bring the modern tech into the mainland is we have a few enemies on the continent that are stronger, and they would wage a very costly war to prevent any advantage caused by the modern tech.

[Barisea]

EXCUSE ME! But I don't do fantasy games, and I'm using my knowledge of the laws of physics to make it effective as best I can!
Also, I borrowed the Plasma Drive from a current invention!
Look at this link.
http://www.industrytap.com/nasas-new-vasimr-plasma-engine-reach-mars-39-days/33646
And this one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Specific_Impulse_Magnetoplasma_Rocket
So, none of this is at all "Clearly borrowed from fantasy games"
Also, I borrowed the VTOL from the british harrier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrier_Jump_Jet
So look these over

[Barisea]

Ok. I'm trying to create a craft that has low grade weapons barely enough to get the job done. my country is defensive. Any suggestions to achieving an craft that has superior maneuvering but not well armed? The craft would use the rockets only when the superior maneuvering was used to position it in a way allowing for the unguided rockets to work

[Barisea]

Dear Spirit of Hope: Aside from the 10 troop transports, the Dragon is the only plane in the air force, and only 60 are in the force. They have to be just enough to support, defend and lead attacks on land, air, and sea. that doesn't mean they have to be perfect at all. I fact, I want them to be relatively weak, but to be just competent enough to get the job done. Besides, the dragon has an upside of being great to show off it's speed and maneuverability.