Military Nuts Cold War Strategic Recons Week
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To make up for the silence and, to silence you guys when I wil not be free later, its triple combo! The U-2, Foxbat, and the Blackbird!
1st, U-2.
Mission
The U-2 provides high-altitude, all-weather surveillance and reconnaissance, day or night, in direct support of U.S. and allied forces. It delivers critical imagery and signals intelligence to decision makers throughout all phases of conflict, including peacetime indications and warnings, low-intensity conflict, and large-scale hostilities.
Features
The U-2S is a single-seat, single-engine, high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft. Long and narrow wings give the U-2 glider-like characteristics and allow it to quickly lift heavy sensor payloads to unmatched altitudes, keeping them there for extended periods of time. The U-2 is capable of gathering a variety of imagery products, including multi-spectral electro-optic, infrared, and synthetic aperture radar in addition to the high-resolution, broad-area synoptic coverage provided by a traditional “wet film” optical bar camera.
The U-2 also has the capability to carry a signals intelligence payload. All intelligence products except for wet film can be transmitted in near real-time anywhere in the world via air-to-ground or air-to-satellite data links, rapidly providing critical information to combatant commanders.
Routinely flown at altitudes over 70,000 feet, the U-2 pilot must wear a full pressure suit similar to those worn by astronauts. The low-altitude handling characteristics of the aircraft and bicycle-type landing gear require precise control inputs during landing; forward visibility is also limited due to the extended aircraft nose and “taildragger” configuration. A second U-2 pilot normally “chases” each landing in a high-performance vehicle, assisting the pilot by providing radio inputs for altitude and runway alignment. These characteristics combine to earn the U-2 a widely accepted title as the most difficult aircraft in the world to fly.
The U-2 now has a General Electric F118-101 engine, fuel efficient and lightweight, which negates the need for air refueling on long duration missions. The U-2S Block 10 electrical system upgrade replaced legacy wiring with advanced fiber-optic technology and lowered the overall electronic noise signature to provide a quieter platform for the newest generation of sensors. The Block 20 upgrade provides a complete redesign of the cockpit with digital color multifunction displays and up-front avionics controls to replace the 1960s-vintage round dial gauges.
Future modifications include an advanced electronic warfare system; an improved dual data link, electro-optical pilot viewsight, and improved signals intelligence payload.
Background
Built in complete secrecy by Kelly Johnson and the Lockheed Skunk Works, the original U-2A first flew in August 1955. Early flights over the Soviet Union in the late 1950s provided President Eisenhower with key intelligence on Soviet military capability. In October 1962 the U-2 photographed the buildup of Soviet offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, touching off the Cuban Missile Crisis. In more recent times, the U-2 has provided intelligence during operations in Korea, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. When requested, the U-2 also provides peacetime reconnaissance in support of disaster relief from floods, earthquakes, and forest fires in addition to search and rescue.
The U-2R, first flown in 1967, was 40 percent larger and more capable than the original aircraft. A tactical reconnaissance version, the TR-1A, first flew in August 1981 and was structurally identical to the U-2R. The last U-2 and TR-1 aircraft were delivered in October 1989; in 1992 all TR-1s and U-2s were designated as U-2Rs. Starting in 1994, the Air Force initiated a $1.7 billion effort to modernize the U-2. This upgrade also resulted in the re-designation of all aircraft to the U-2S.
U-2s are home based at the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, Beale Air Force Base, California, but are rotated to operational detachments worldwide. U-2 pilots are trained at Beale using five two-seat aircraft designated as TU-2S before deploying for operational missions.
General Characteristics
Primary Function: High-altitude reconnaissance
Contractor: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics
Power Plant: One General Electric F-118-101 engine
Thrust: 17,000 pounds
Length: 63 feet (19.2 meters)
Height: 16 feet (4.8 meters)
Wingspan: 105 feet (32 meters)
Speed: 410+ miles per hour
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms)
Range: 7,000+ miles (6,090+ nautical miles)
Ceiling: Above 70,000 feet (21,212+ meters)
Crew: One (two in trainer models)
Date Deployed: U-2, August 1955; U-2R, 1967; U-2S, October 1994
Cost: Classified
Inventory: Active force, 36 (5 two-seat trainers and two ER-2s operated by NASA); Reserve, 0; ANG, 0
http://www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=129 -
Mikoyan Gurevich MIG-25 Foxbat.
The MiG-25P is an interceptor aircraft for countering air targets in all weather conditions, by day and by night, and in dense hostile electronic warfare environments. The MiG-25P constitutes a part of the Russian S-155P missile interceptor system. The MiG-25P is produced by RSK MiG, which is based in Moscow and the Sokol Aircraft Manufacturing Plant Joint Stock Company at Nizhni Novgorod in Russia. The MiG-25 fighter series are known by the NATO codename Foxbat and are in service in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Algeria, Syria and Libya.
DESIGN
The MiG-25P is a twin-finned, high-wing monoplane with slightly swept wings and a variable-angle tail plane. To improve the aircraft's longitudinal stability, and to avert stall at steep angles and subsonic speed, there are two shallow upper-surface fences on each wing. The high-wing monoplane configuration together with lateral air intakes have the effect of reducing the loss of aerodynamic efficiency resulting from wing-fuselage interference.
WEAPONS
The aircraft is armed with four R-40 (Nato codename AA-6 Acrid) air-to-air missiles equipped with infrared and radar homing heads. The range of these missiles is 2-60km. The missiles are suspended from four underwing pylons. It may also be fitted with two R-40 and four R-60 (AA-8 Aphid), or two R-23 (AA-Apex) and four R-73 (AA-11 Archer). The MiG-25 is not fitted with a gun.
AVIONICS
The MiG-25P is fitted with electronic equipment including: Smerch-A2 radar sight (Nato codename Fox Fire), developed by the Phazotron Research and Production Company; Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponder; aircraft responder to maintain communications with guidance and landing radars operating in active radio-location mode; and radar warning receiver. The flight control and navigation equipment includes ARK-10 automatic radio compass, RV-4 radio altimeter and Polyot-11 navigation-landing system. The Polyot-11 navigation and landing system, coupled with ground radio beacon and landing radio beacons, provides programmed aircraft manoeuvres including climb, en-route flight, returns to the take-off aerodrome or to one of the three emergency airfields, and low-run landing approach and missed approach manoeuvres.
ENGINES
The aircraft is powered by two R-15B-300 single-shaft turbojets, arranged in the tail section of the fuselage. The engines develop 11,200kgf of thrust with fully selected afterburner. The engines provide a maximum speed of 3,000km/hour at high altitude. The maximum speed at low altitude is 1,200km/hour. The aircraft has a service ceiling of 22,500 metres. The range at altitudes between 9-11km with speed of Mach 0.85 is 1,950km. At higher altitudes between 20-21km and speed Mach 2.35, the range is 1,650km. The maximum in-service g-load is 4.5g.
MIG-25P VARIANTS
The MiG-25R, MiG-25RB and MiG-25BM are derivatives from the MiG-25P. The MiG-25R is a tactical reconnaissance aircraft. The MiG-25RB is a variant for bombing area and large targets. The aircraft is fitted with a reconnaissance station, aerial camera, topographic aerial camera, the Peteng sighting and navigation system to bomb programmed targets, and electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment, which includes active jamming and electronic reconnaissance systems.
The MiG-25BM aircraft has the capability to launch guided missiles against ground targets, and to destroy area targets, targets with known co-ordinates, and enemy radars. The airborne anti-radar Kh-58 (Nato codename AS-11 Kilter) missiles are capable of destroying enemy radars, such as the targeting radars of Hawk-type air defence missile systems, at stand-off ranges. The launch range of the Kh-58 is from 40-300km. The Kh-58U missile is developed and manufactured by the Raduga Engineering Design Bureau, Moscow.
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/mig25/ -
SPECIFICATIONS - MIG-25P FOXBAT INTERCEPTOR AIRCRAFT, RUSSIA
Crew 1 pilot
aircraft dimensions
Length 22.3 metres
Height 6.1 metres
wing span 14.1 metres
Weight
normal take-off weight 33,490 kg
maximum take-off weight 35,750 kg
combat load with four R-40 missiles 1,800 kg
normal fuel weight 11,640 kg
maximum fuel weight 13,900 kg
Performance
maximum speed near ground 1,200 km/hour
maximum speed at altitude 3,000 km/hour
service ceiling 22,500 metres
range at altitude 9 to 11 km, speed mach 0.85 1,950 km
range at altitude 20 to 21 km, speed mach 2.35 1,650 km
maximum in-service g-load 4.5g
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/mig25/specs.html -
Skunk Works engineers also optimized the A-12 cross-section design to exhibit a low radar profile. Lockheed hoped to achieve this by carefully shaping the airframe to reflect as little transmitted radar energy (radio waves) as possible, and by application of special paint designed to absorb, rather than reflect, those waves. This treatment became one of the first applications of stealth technology, but it never completely met the design goals.
Test pilot Lou Schalk flew the single-seat A-12 on April 24, 1962, after he became airborne accidentally during high-speed taxi trials. The airplane showed great promise but it needed considerable technical refinement before the CIA could fly the first operational sortie on May 31, 1967 - a surveillance flight over North Vietnam. A-12s, flown by CIA pilots, operated as part of the Air Force's 1129th Special Activities Squadron under the "Oxcart" program. While Lockheed continued to refine the A-12, the U. S. Air Force ordered an interceptor version of the aircraft designated the YF-12A. The Skunk Works, however, proposed a "specific mission" version configured to conduct post-nuclear strike reconnaissance. This system evolved into the USAF's familiar SR-71.
Lockheed built fifteen A-12s, including a special two-seat trainer version. Two A-12s were modified to carry a special reconnaissance drone, designated D-21. The modified A-12s were redesignated M-21s. These were designed to take off with the D-21 drone, powered by a Marquart ramjet engine mounted on a pylon between the rudders. The M-21 then hauled the drone aloft and launched it at speeds high enough to ignite the drone's ramjet motor. Lockheed also built three YF-12As but this type never went into production. Two of the YF-12As crashed during testing. Only one survives and is on display at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. The aft section of one of the "written off" YF-12As which was later used along with an SR-71A static test airframe to manufacture the sole SR-71C trainer. One SR-71 was lent to NASA and designated YF-12C. Including the SR-71C and two SR-71B pilot trainers, Lockheed constructed thirty-two Blackbirds. The first SR-71 flew on December 22, 1964. Because of extreme operational costs, military strategists decided that the more capable USAF SR-71s should replace the CIA's A-12s. These were retired in 1968 after only one year of operational missions, mostly over southeast Asia. The Air Force's 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (part of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing) took over the missions, flying the SR-71 beginning in the spring of 1968.
After the Air Force began to operate the SR-71, it acquired the official name Blackbird-- for the special black paint that covered the airplane. This paint was formulated to absorb radar signals, to radiate some of the tremendous airframe heat generated by air friction, and to camouflage the aircraft against the dark sky at high altitudes.
Experience gained from the A-12 program convinced the Air Force that flying the SR-71 safely required two crew members, a pilot and a Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO). The RSO operated with the wide array of monitoring and defensive systems installed on the airplane. This equipment included a sophisticated Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) system that could jam most acquisition and targeting radar. In addition to an array of advanced, high-resolution cameras, the aircraft could also carry equipment designed to record the strength, frequency, and wavelength of signals emitted by communications and sensor devices such as radar. The SR-71 was designed to fly deep into hostile territory, avoiding interception with its tremendous speed and high altitude. It could operate safely at a maximum speed of Mach 3.3 at an altitude more than sixteen miles, or 25,908 m (85,000 ft), above the earth. The crew had to wear pressure suits similar to those worn by astronauts. These suits were required to protect the crew in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss while at operating altitudes.
To climb and cruise at supersonic speeds, the Blackbird's Pratt & Whitney J-58 engines were designed to operate continuously in afterburner. While this would appear to dictate high fuel flows, the Blackbird actually achieved its best "gas mileage," in terms of air nautical miles per pound of fuel burned, during the Mach 3+ cruise. A typical Blackbird reconnaissance flight might require several aerial refueling operations from an airborne tanker. Each time the SR-71 refueled, the crew had to descend to the tanker's altitude, usually about 6,000 m to 9,000 m (20,000 to 30,000 ft), and slow the airplane to subsonic speeds. As velocity decreased, so did frictional heat. This cooling effect caused the aircraft's skin panels to shrink considerably, and those covering the fuel tanks contracted so much that fuel leaked, forming a distinctive vapor trail as the tanker topped off the Blackbird. As soon as the tanks were filled, the jet's crew disconnected from the tanker, relit the afterburners, and again climbed to high altitude.
Air Force pilots flew the SR-71 from Kadena AB, Japan, throughout its operational career but other bases hosted Blackbird operations, too. The 9th SRW occasionally deployed from Beale AFB, California, to other locations to carryout operational missions. Cuban missions were flown directly from Beale. The SR-71 did not begin to operate in Europe until 1974, and then only temporarily. In 1982, when the U.S. Air Force based two aircraft at Royal Air Force Base Mildenhall to fly monitoring mission in Eastern Europe.
When the SR-71 became operational, orbiting reconnaissance satellites had already replaced manned aircraft to gather intelligence from sites deep within Soviet territory. Satellites could not cover every geopolitical hotspot so the Blackbird remained a vital tool for global intelligence gathering. On many occasions, pilots and RSOs flying the SR-71 provided information that proved vital in formulating successful U. S. foreign policy. Blackbird crews provided important intelligence about the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its aftermath, and pre- and post-strike imagery of the 1986 raid conducted by American air forces on Libya. In 1987, Kadena-based SR-71 crews flew a number of missions over the Persian Gulf, revealing Iranian Silkworm missile batteries that threatened commercial shipping and American escort vessels.
As the performance of space-based surveillance systems grew, along with the effectiveness of ground-based air defense networks, the Air Force started to lose enthusiasm for the expensive program and the 9th SRW ceased SR-71 operations in January 1990. Despite protests by military leaders, Congress revived the program in 1995. Continued wrangling over operating budgets, however, soon led to final termination. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration retained two SR-71As and the one SR-71B for high-speed research projects and flew these airplanes until 1999.
On March 6, 1990, the service career of one Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird ended with a record-setting flight. This special airplane bore Air Force serial number 64-17972. Lt. Col. Ed Yeilding and his RSO, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Vida, flew this aircraft from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging a speed of 3,418 kph (2,124 mph). At the conclusion of the flight, '972 landed at Dulles International Airport and taxied into the custody of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. At that time, Lt. Col. Vida had logged 1,392.7 hours of flight time in Blackbirds, more than that of any other crewman.
This particular SR-71 was also flown by Tom Alison, the National Air and Space Museum's Chief of Collections Management. Flying with Detachment 1 at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Alison logged more than a dozen '972 operational sorties. The aircraft spent twenty-four years in active Air Force service and accrued a total of 2,801.1 hours of flight time.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/lockheed_sr71.htm -
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/images/lockheed_sr-71.jpg
http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/gallery/image_gallery/aero/graphics/SR71.jpg
http://www.jimhayes.com/photo/sr71.jpg
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/airdef/mig-25-foxbt_p3.jpg
http://www.bushcat.com/mpics/m25ipes.jpg
http://www.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/interviews/snodgrass/mig25.jpg
http://www.flug-revue.rotor.com/FRTypen/Frfothis/U-2.jpg -
Lockheed U-2
The first flight of the U-2 was rather unexpected, the prototype was taxiing at 30km/h and the prototype actually lifted off!
The U-2 has such long wings that it is a very difficult plane to fly. When flying at high altitudes during missions, the aircraft risks losing control when the plane banks because the lower wing experiences significant drag compared to the higher wing causing the aircraft to go into a spin. The long wings actually allow the pilot to shut off the engine and glide into enemy territory to conserve fuel! And landing proves to be a very difficult problem as the aircraft has the tendency to ride on the air above the run-way, hence, the U-2 was not exactly a pilot's favourite aircraft.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
The Blackbird still holds the transatlantic crossing time record as well as the absolute speed record (for aircrafts taking off on their own power). The engines that power the Blackbird is monstrous, it is actually the same length as the Skyhawk is not bigger! The Blackbird's fuel tank actually leaks at low speed and at a stop, because to solve the problem of expansion due to the intense heat faces at high speeds, the fuel tanks have gaps between the segments, hence to prevent fire, the SR-71 runs on a special non-volatile fuel, the JP7, which is specially provided by a sqn of KC-135Q. Another interesting thing would be that the Balckbird was actually known as the RS-71, but in a speech, President Jimmy Carter (should be) mistakenly warned the soviets about the SR-71! To prevent embarrassment, the government followed suit and called it SR-71.
MIG-25 Foxbat
World's fastest interceptor to date, the MIG-25 was first conceived to intercept the 8 engined XB-70 Valkyrie which never went into production. The MIG-25 was not only a fast aircraft, but also a problematic one. Its engines are rather inefficient at low speeds, hence, they resemble turbo ramjets. The inefficiency leads to the MIG-25 requiring significant nose-up trim just to keep it level, affecting the aerodynamic efficiency even more. The aircraft is also known to be very difficult to control both at high speeds, and a low speeds due to the engine, a s a result, although the MIG-25 makes a very good interceptor, it cannot match the F-15 despite its speed margin, as a result, several MIG-25 were shot down, notably by the F-15.To make matters worse, the MIG-25's big exhaust pipes make it very recognisable, and the smoke trail it leaves makes it even more conspicuos. In fact, in the Gulf War, it was every USAF pilots dream to catch sight of the MIG-25's famous huge after-burners!
The MIG-25 hence found a niche as high-speed, high altitude strategic recons aircraft, where even the F-15 is unlikely to reach too. The MIG-25 still holds the altitude record.
