Shipbucket

Looks nice, but I seriously doubt if it could be designed and put into production so quickly (1959-1964). It took 7 years for F-4 Phantom and US aerospace industry has somewhat larger resources (not mentioning challenges related to development of variable-geometry wings).

And on purely esthetical note: I'd outline main landing gear covers in black instead of grey.

Maybe if change the development time to 1959-1963 with the first flight in 1965 and service entry somewhere in 1967/68, the problem is i want it as early as possible.

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kike-92

Avro Canada CF-108 Arrow II Mk.2

The Avro Canada CF-108 Arrow II is a supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force. The aircraft was designed by the Avro Canada as a replacement for the earlier CF-105 Arrow from which the CF-108 is based on, and with which it shares many design elements.

Development of the CF-105's replacement began with the CF-108 Mark.1 prototype which first flew on 16 November 1974, designed as an incremental improvement of the original Arrow. Although it bore a superficial resemblance to the CF-105, it was in many respects a new design. An important development was the advanced radar, capable of both look-up and look-down/shoot-down engagement, as well as multiple target tracking, the elimination of the weapons bay in favor of carrying the air to air missiles in semi recessed position under the fuselage and as result turning the weapons bay into a large fuel tank. This gave the Canada an interceptor able to engage the most likely Russian intruders at extremely long ranges.

Serial production of the CF-108 began in 1978. The CF-108 is able to maintain combat effectiveness despite the potential use of active and passive radar jammers and thermal decoys by adversaries. A group of four CF-108 interceptors is able to control an area of air space across a total length of 800–900 km; its radar possessing a maximum detection range of 200 km in distance (radius) and the typical width of detection along the front of 225 km.

The CF-108 entered operational service with the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1980, originally equipped with a conventional Doppler radar and later on with a phased array radar, and is one of the few aircraft in the world capable of independently firing long-range air-to-air missiles. The CF-108 Mark.3A has a detection range of 282 km for a target with a radar cross-section of 5 square meters.



General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 84,35 ft (25.71 m)
Wingspan: 37.14 ft (11.32 m)
Height: 21 ft 2 in (6.25 m)
Wing area: 702.9 ft² (65.3 m²)
Empty weight: 49,040 lb (22,245 kg)
Loaded weight: 56,920 lb (25,820 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 68,605 lb (31,120 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Orenda PS-20 turbofans
Dry thrust: 93 kN (20,900 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 152 kN (35,000 lbf) each

Performance

Maximum speed:
High altitude: Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h, 1,860 mph)
Low altitude: Mach 1.2 (1,500 km/h, 930 mph)
Cruise speed: Mach 2.35 (2,500 km/h; 1,550 mph)
Combat radius: 1,450 km (900 mi) at Mach 0.8 and at altitude of 10,000 m (33,000 ft); 720 km (450 mi) at Mach 2.35 and altitude of 18,000 m (59,000 ft)
Service ceiling: 20,600 m (67,600 ft)
Rate of climb: 208 m/s (41,000 ft/min)
Wing loading: 665 kg/m2 (136 lb/ft2)
Thrust/weight: 0.85
Maximum g-load: 5 g

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kike-92

Nice looking Avro Kike92

Thanks for the comment Krakatoa.

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kike-92

Dassault Mirage 4000CE - Republic of China

By 1972 the ROCAF had identified the need for a 4th generation air superiority fighter to counter the increasing number of into service in communist, the air force high command formulated a requirement for 240 air superiority fighters with high speed and long range. The Chinese government approached the US government with its requirement, the US government offered the F-14 Tomcat and the F-15 Eagle.

In May 1974 a Chinese Air Force delegation was sent to the US to examine both fighters and prepare a report for Chinese government, Chinese pilots were impressed by both aircraft but in the end the showed their preference for the F-15 due to its better maneuverability and better engines while the Chinese government preferred it because of its lower costs. In June 1975 a formal request was made to the US Congress for the acquisition of 240 aircraft which represented the Chinese requirement, despite good relations the Chinese, congress only cleared the sale of 72 aircraft with deliveries set for 1978, the Chinese government accepted the contract hoping that by the time deliveries were under way congress would allow them to purchase the rest of the aircraft required but this would not be the case, by the end of 1979 the Chinese requested the remaining 168 aircraft but the sale was quickly blocked by congress leaving them with a substantial gap in their air force.

As a result of the reluctance of the US to sale more F-15’s, the Chinese Air Force decided to look for an alternative but it was clear the United States could not be considered, by 1984 the ROCAF had been looking for other potential alternatives among them was the Venezuelan C-15 but it was deemed to complex and expensive for the air force, but in late 1984 a new option appeared on the horizon for the Chinese as the French Mirage 4000 in service with the Iraqi Air Force was showing its capabilities against US made aircraft including the F-14 Tomcat. In 1985 Chinese officials met with their French opposites in Paris to discuss not only the acquisition of the aircraft themselves but also the license to produce them in China, having struggled to find costumers for the aircraft the French were more than delighted to sell it to the Chinese and wasn’t long before the contract for 168 aircraft was signed.

The first Mirages were delivered in 1987 with the first squadron formed later the same year and by 1990 the Chinese Air Force had received all the aircraft ordered but this wasn’t the end of Mirage production in China, a year earlier the Chinese Air Force had ordered the Mirage 4000D strike variant and also the Mirage 2000 to replace its ageing F-104 Starfighters.

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kike-92

Dassault Mirage 4000CQ - Iraq (1983-1987)

In 1979 and in preparation for the upcoming war the Iraqi Air Force placed an order for 84 Dassault Mirage 4000’s to counter the Iranian F-14 Tomcat, the new aircraft started arriving in 1983 in time to replace the aircraft lost by the Iraqi Air Force at the hands of Iranian Tomcats. In May 1983 the Iraqi Mirage 4000’s quickly made their presence noticed shooting down four F-4 Phantoms, three F-5’s and three C-12 Halcón in their first sortie, this immediately raised the alarms in Iran where Iranian commanders ordered every combat capable F-14 to hunt down the new aircraft but this would later prove to be not only difficult but also extraordinarily dangerous since there weren’t many F-14 available and with their numbers going down every day the war went on because of technical difficulties due to the US embargo or losses in combat. Using the F-14 fleet specifically to fight the Mirage 4000 also meant that the burden of fighting and all the other threats suddenly fell on the shoulders of the older aircraft in the fleet leaving Iranian airspace vulnerable to attack.
Throughout the rest the year the Iraqi Mirage 4000’s continued to inflict severe losses on the Iranian Air Force the majority being F-4 Phantom’s although F-5’s and C-12’s also suffered losses. The success of the Mirage 4000 had a profound effect on the morale and the attitude of Iraqi pilots, the Iraqi pilots started to become more aggressive and daring with no fear to enter enemy territory and deliberately hunt down Iranian aircraft inside their own territory.
In August 1984 the long awaited clash between the Mirage 4000 and the F-14 came when four Mirages encountered six F-14 of the 81th tactical fighter wing 450 kilometers west of Tehran near the border, the Iranian F-14’s had identified the Iraqi Mirages fifty kilometers away while they approached the border, once the Iraqi pilots became aware they were being tracked they activated their jamming pods instantly blinding the F-14’s and managing to lock on to four of the F-14’s and firing their Matra Super 530D missiles at a range of 30 kilometers, three of the missiles hit their targets while another damaged one of the F-14’s and the fourth missile lost track of the target by now the aircraft were at close range and a dog fight ensued with another F-14 being shot down by a R550 Magic and moments later a Mirage 4000 was destroyed while attempting to shoot down the damaged F-14 which managed to escape to Tehran, Although by now both sides had the same number of aircraft it was becoming clear for the Iranian pilots that it a was just a matter of time before they were shot down due to the Mirages superior acceleration and maneuverability, five minutes later two of the remaining F-14’s were destroyed leaving just one F-14 fighting for survival against three Mirages, the Iranian pilot decided to fly towards Tehran as close to the ground and as fast as possible to try and avoid the Iraqi aircraft and hoping that Iranian air defenses might fire at the Mirages although this was not to be since the Iraqi pilots had noticed they were being dragged to Tehran and instead of pursuing the remaining Tomcat they decided to return to Iraq.
The first engagement between the Mirage and the Tomcat had showed the Mirage was superior at close range and that even at medium and long range it still was capable of holding of the Tomcat and its feared Phoenix missiles, on the Iranian side however the engagement encouraged the government to seek a new supplier for its air force but this would be no easy task since all of its former allies (USA, UK & USV) were reluctant to sell Iran any new hardware and the French and the Russians were supplying the Iraqis, this left Iran with Communist China as the only possible supplier. In late 1985 an Iranian delegation went to Beijing to ask for military support, the Chinese agreed to supply the Iranian Air Force with a number of aircraft, this included 140 J-8 Finbacks, large numbers of J-7’s and Q-5 ground attack aircraft. The Iranian government also managed to purchase a number of aircraft from Venezuela although this had to be done clandestinely, and they also managed to use North Korea and Syria as intermediates for covert sales by the Soviet Union and Soviet satellites.
On the Iraqi side crews were delighted with their new aircraft, this lead the Iraqi government to order a further 84 Mirage 4000CQ’s and 36 Mirage 4000BQ trainers to be delivered between 1985 and 1987 to expand the fleet along with 48 Mirage 4000DQ strike fighters equipped the ATLIS II targeting pod, French guided munitions and the AM-39 Exocet anti-ship missile, this aircraft would later prove to be one of the deadliest assets at the Iraqi Air Forces disposal being capable of reaching targets deep inside Iranian territory.
Throughout 1986 the Iraqi commanders ordered their forces to halt their advance, this was done to wait for the arrival of the new equipment and also to prepare a strategy to take the Khuzestan region in one large combined assault coordinating the different of branches of the armed forces. The Mirage 4000 fleet now numbering 252 aircraft of different variants would be an essential pillar of what was now known as Operation Khanjar, the first face of the Iraqi plan was to launch a massive bombing campaign to destroy Iranian air bases leaving Iranian ground forces without air support and at the mercy of Iraqi bombers and attack aircraft. The second phase called for the Iraqi armored forces to penetrate into Khuzestan and annihilate any Iranian opposition.
In July 1987 after receiving all its new equipment the Iraqis launched Operation Khanjar, over 400 fighters and bombers crossed the border into Iran at low altitude to avoid detection, the Mirage 4000’s were tasked with escorting the bombers while they attacked their targets. Iranian aircraft were immediately scrambled to meet the threat but this proved to be a disaster the Iranian Air force had lost over 40% of its combat aircraft in the previous years and even with new aircraft arriving from China such as the Q-5 and the J-8 the Iranian Air Force was still outnumbered, one good example of the situation facing the Iranians was the F-14 fleet which had been reduced to only 36 aircraft due to technical difficulties and losses.
During the first day of operations most of the airbases to the west of Iran including the Isfahan, Tabriz and Teheran air bases were neutralized. Mirage 4000’s shot down 64 Iranian aircraft while Iraqi bombers destroyed over 100 Iranian aircraft trapped in the disabled airfields, and the remaining Iranian aircraft retreated to bases close to the Afghan border. The next day the large armored invasion began with 500 Iraqi tanks crossing the border into Iran where Iranian tanks were waiting for them but with no air support and Iraqi Su-25’s closing in on them they had no chance of holding their positions and after five days of constant fighting and losing 60% of their forces they retreated to the nearby provinces.

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kike-92

The two Mirage drawings look really good (to my eyes).

CAV AC11-100 Viasa

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kike-92

Well done.