Today, these aircraft must perform a wide panoply of tasks; from traditional Air Superiority missions, to Close Air Support; the Suppression and Destruction of Enemy Air Defences; and Strategic Reconnaissance; to name just four. All of which must be undertaken using a single airframe which can interchange between these missions with the minimum of fuss.
Combat aircraft in production around the world fall squarely within the MRCA category as these aircraft can ably perform an array of missions with little or no modification. Moreover, all these aircraft fall within the so-called ‘4.5 Generation’ MRCA category. What does this mean in practice? 4.5 Generation aircraft are essentially a product of the post-Cold War era. While the end of the tense East-West standoff between the Soviet Union- and United States-led politico-military blocs heralded a reduction of defence spending in the optimistic hope of a more peaceful world, the consequence of this was that several procurement programmes in the offing at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s were either postponed, scaled back or cancelled outright.
This added cost and delays to the programme, but was arguably cheaper than designing a separate strike aircraft from scratch. Similarly, other airframes which were already in production during the late-Cold War such as the United States’ General Dynamics/Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon and McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-15 Eagle families had their designs overhauled during the 1990s, and the early part of this century, to utilise their airframes as baseline designs for aircraft better suited to the military realities of the post-Cold War world.
Beyond the backdrop of the strategic changes which heralded the arrival of the 4.5 Generation combat aircraft, technological advances had their role to play in characterizing these platforms. Contrary to their predecessors, 4.5 Generation jets placed an increasing emphasis on technology, notably the use of software to control both aircraft and their subsystems, while taking advantage of the miniaturization of electronics which resulted in an increasing level of functionality but without a huge increase in the physical size of circuitry.
While it is difficult to neatly define a 4.5 Generation combat aircraft, several attributes are shared across airframes. They include design features and capabilities intended to minimize the aircraft’s radar signature; sophisticated data and voice communications; advanced optronic sensors,the employment of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radars, highly maneuverable airframe designs, state-of-the-art powerplants providing the aircraft with high cruising speeds, and the wherewithal to accommodate a large and varied weapons load. This article will examine several European, American and Russian 4.5 Generation combat aircraft, providing an overview of their current status, and how these designs may develop in the future.
With its first combat deployment under its belt, following the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) participation in NATO’s Operation Unified Protector over Libya in 2011 to protect that country’s civilians against attacks by forces loyal to its ousted leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Eurofighter Typhoon is aggressively chasing export orders. At the same time it is undergoing some important modernization initiatives.
Recent Typhoon orders have been forthcoming from Oman, which has purchased twelve of the airframes with deliveries to commence in 2017. These aircraft are expected to include the Euroradar Captor-E AESA system which will be ready for use on the Typhoon by circa 2015. Oman joins Saudi Arabia and Austria as export customers for the aircraft. BAE Systems, which builds the jet for the RAF and for the Royal Saudi Air Force, will build the airframes for Oman. The company is currently in negotiations with the Saudi Arabian government regarding the purchase of an additional 72 airframes beyond the 24 Tranche-2 configuration machines which it has already sold to the Kingdom. Riyadh has asked for the final 24 examples of this 72-aircraft order to be upgradable to the Tranche-3 specification to be rolled onto new-build and legacy Typhoons in the future. Tranche-3 modifications will include the Captor-E radar discussed above, new defensive aids subsystems and also MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile.
The Meteor is also scheduled to equip Saab’s JAS-39C/D Gripen MRCA, along with the Dassault Rafale-F3B/C/M (see below). In January this year the Swedish government, which is acquiring the aircraft for the Flygvapnet (RSAF/Royal Swedish Air Force), ordered 60 JAS-39E/F variants of the Gripen. Of all the European 4.5 Generation combat aircraft, the JAS-39 Gripen has arguably enjoyed the healthiest order book in terms of the number of countries it has been sold to. Deliveries of the aircraft to the RSAF are expected to commence in 2027. The JAS-39E/F was formerly known as the JAS-39NG (Next Generation).
Among other improvements, this aircraft will be outfitted with a Selex Galileo Raven ES-05 AESA. Recent customers include Switzerland which is ordering 22 JAS-39E/F variants with deliveries expected to commence in 2018, and to conclude three years later, pending the signing of a contract to this end by 2014. Other modifications for the JAS-39E/F include a long range and loiter time, supercruise (the ability to sustain flight at transonic speeds), improved self-protection and a larger weapons load-out. Beyond Sweden and Switzerland, the Gripen is also chasing prospective MRCA orders in Croatia, to which it has offered eight examples.
Both the JAS-39C/D and the Eurofighter Typhoon (see above) are the great rivals of Dassault’s Rafale-F3B/C/M MRCA. Also a veteran of NATO’s Libya campaign, the aircraft is furnishing the Armée de l’Air (French Air Force), and the Marine Nationale (French Navy). The Rafale spent many years in the commercial wilderness trying, and failing, to secure export orders. This hex was broken early in 2011 when the aircraft was selected by India as the preferred candidate to fulfill the country’s 126-airframe Medium MRCA completion. At the time of writing (late January 2013) negotiations were continuing between Dassault and the Indian government regarding the drafting of a contract for the Rafale’s acquisition. Away from India, the Rafale is competing against the Typhoon (see above) for an acquisition contract in the United Arab Emirates. At home, modifications are continuing for the aircraft which have included the clearance of the Thales RBE-2 AESA radar on the Rafale in October 2012.
F-15SE Silent Eagle
Boeing’s F-15SE Silent Eagle is a radical reworking of McDonnell Douglas’s original F-15 Eagle combat aircraft. The F-15SE features substantial levels of low-observable technology and is designed to perform sorties in harms’ way during the first day of an air campaign when an adversary’s ground-based air defences may still be a significant threat. Development work on the F-15SE is continuing, with the aircraft undergoing wind tunnel tests of its Conformal Weapons Bay (CWB) in June 2012. The CWB is a key part of the aircraft as it will enable weapons to be stored inside the fuselage rather than on external hardpoints to help preserve stealth. Radar-absorbent coatings also help to reduce this signature, while a digital electronic warfare system improves aircraft self-protection. The cockpit is equipped with touch screens, a helmet-mounted display and fly-by-wire avionics.
F-16E/F Fighting Falcon
Like Boeing, Lockheed Martin is also taking its legacy designs forward, most notably touting a significant upgrade package for the company’s F-16 Fighting Falcon family of aircraft via its proposed F-16V configuration. Unveiled in February 2012, the F-16V specification will include an AESA radar and a new mission computer. The so-called ‘Viper’ upgrade package will be available to customers both as an upgrade package for existing aircraft, and for installation onboard legacy F-16s.
Questions remain regarding the prospective evolutions of Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Several modifications are due to be rolled out across the Super Hornets operated by the United States Navy. This includes the addition of a new distributed targeting system which would allow the pilot to self-generate Global Positioning System satellite coordinates of potential targets. These coordinates can be derived from targets spotted by the aircraft’s radar and optronics. This capability will be retrofitted onto the service’s Super Hornet and E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. New optronics, in the form of a pod-mounted Northrop Grumman Infra-Red Search and Track package will be installed on the aircraft. Most importantly, a new multi-sensor integration package will allow the aircraft to fuse together all of the disparate information gathered by the aircraft’s optronics, radar and electronic warfare systems to present a clear tactical picture to the pilot.
MiG-29
Russian manufacturers continue to offer 4.5 Generation combat aircraft such as the MiG-29. Despite its debut during the latter stages of the Cold War, the aircraft remains in demand around the world. For example, it was recently selected by India to equip its Navy’s aircraft carriers. To this end, Delhi has ordered MiG-29K single-seat and MiG-29KUB two-seat MRCAs and trainers. Alongside India, the MiG-29K/KUB is equipping the Russian Navy which will receive 20 single-seat and four two-seat examples with deliveries expected to conclude in 2015. Furthermore, sales of the aircraft of the aircraft are ongoing to Burma. Beyond this carrier-capable version of the aircraft, land-based versions of the jet, in the form of the MiG-29M/M2 are being offered. This latter version includes open architecture avionics, an expanded weapons load, fly-by-wire avionics, more powerful engines compared to legacy MiG-29 examples, and a new radar. Theoretically, this would enable cost-conscious customers to purchase an aircraft with a price tag comparatively lower than its Western counterparts which could at the same time accommodate Western weaponry.
MiG-35
The MiG-29’s sister aircraft is the MiG-35. This aircraft is essentially a significantly upgraded version of the MiG-29M (see above) which is available in a single- and two-seat configuration. Many modifications have are taken from this latter aircraft including its engines, AESA radar, optronics and open architecture avionics. To date around ten prototype airframes have
been built which are currently undergoing flight testing.
In the international market both the MiG-29 and the MiG-35 have competed directly with Sukhoi’s Su-30 family of 4.5 Generation MRCAs. In December 2012, the Russian Air Force took delivery of its first two Su-30SM variant aircraft. The Russian government formerly pledged to order 30 of the aircraft in March 2012. Deliveries of these planes are expected to conclude in 2015. The Su-30SM is essentially a development of the Su-30MK, although the aircraft has a number of specific Russian Air Force systems; chiefly its identification friend or foe and communications equipment, and its ejection seats. In terms of weaponry, the Su-30SM will be able to deploy the BrahMos cruise missile which has been developed as a collaborative project involving Indian and Russian companies. The Su-30SM has been acquired by the Russian Air Force to act as a bridge to cover the gap between the obsolescence of a number of existing Russian Air Force types and the introduction of the new Sukhoi PAK-FA fifth-generation MRCA.
Future Competitions
Several of these 4.5 Generation aircraft are competing in a number of procurement initiatives around the world. South Korea is one country on the lookout for a new MRCA, intending to purchase 60 airframes to replace its air force’s venerable McDonnell Douglas/Boeing F-4E Phantoms. The country is expected to make a decision on the aircraft that it will acquire by the middle of this year. Candidate aircraft include the Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche-3 variant, Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle, and Lockheed Martin F-35A/B/C Lightning-II. The world’s 4.5 Generation aircraft builders are also keenly watching Brazil. The country has a long running requirement for 36 new combat aircraft, although the country’s President Dilma Rousseff announced December 2012 that this acquisition has now been postponed indefinitely pending the improvement of Brazil’s economic situation.
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