Shipbucket

My first entry for 2023, good luck to all on the challenge.

The F/A-19N Sky Tiger was developed by Blackbell's Haarbruck development group, a group formed to take new approaches to military aerospace design and production based on interdisciplinary knowledge acquired from a variety of engineering fields including aerial motorsports. Thanks to the novel approach taken to the group in designing the aircraft, the Sky tiger proved to be an exceptionally capable aircraft during its experimental phase where Ministry of defence officials noted the aircraft to be "extraordinarily robust despite its weight and appearance", foreshadowing the Sky Tiger's future as an expectational naval fighter and attack aircraft.

The Sky Tiger's first combat engagements took place over the Scotorea Archipelago campaign of the Parabian Insurgency of 1979-1982 where the aircraft provided support to marine infantry operations earning the nickname of "Basher" alluding to the aircrafts ability to provide deadly close air support against reinforced enemy infantry positions and armour concentrations. Ironically the nickname basher when used among aircraft maintenance crews often referred to the somewhat frustratingly complex design of the aircraft which often made maintenance crews want to bash the designers of the aircraft for disregarding maintenance and repairs in favour of pushing the limits of the aircraft's performance.

The aircraft depicted above is 012-908, the CAG bird flown by CDR. Alfred Tenzing of the Valkyries who gained renown for flying extensively during the Scotorea Archipelago campaign, where he earned the Naval Aviators Cross for his achievements.

The southern cat

At the end of the sixties, the rise of internal tensions both on the own territory of the South African Republic (Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek) and among its allies in Rhodesia and Katanga, pushed the state of southern Africa to anticipate a full-scale counter-insurgency war. With this in mind, its air force seeked to equip itself with an ad hoc ground attack aircraft which would still be able of sustaining conventional high intensity combat.
The specifications described a machine under 15 000 lb, able to operat at very low altitude, to be based as close as possible to the theater of operations and to present a high survivability to short-range light anti-aircraft means. It particularly underlined the interest of a VTOL capability, but with the growing influence of AAM (Anti-Apartheid Movement) in great-britain, being able to acquire the Hawker Siddeley Harrier was highly unlikely.

Despite the "benevolence" of the French part of the program, the upcoming SPECATJAGUAR does not seem more possible (although it had the favors of the general staff) . As a result, alongside persistent clandestine diplomatic efforts to obtain imported material, the Atlas Aircraft Corporation was commissioned to study an indigenous program.

It came to a choc when the first prototype made its first public flight in 1972, 3 years only after the official start of studies. Despite an unconventional cockpit configuration, the aircraft presented a layout very close to the Franco-British machine. To cut short a rising controversy, the British government argued that the obvious technological leaks could only come from the French "Société des avions Marcel Dassault". But that couldn't explain another surprising feature of the south african aircraft: its VTOL capability. If leaks there was, they were at least mutual.

That's for the "borrowed" characteristics. Concerning the uncommon features:

- The aircraft was a two-seater with two separate cockpits, this was meant to increase operational survivability in the event a crew member was incapacitated by enemy fire.

- Whatever informations were obtained on the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine, the South African engineers were clearly unable to achieve the same level of maximum thrust.

- This, combined with the increase in mass (empty, the Harrier barely exceeded 13,500 lb), led to the installation of two power units. Each flank was therefore equipped with no less than four swivelling nozzles.

- As a result, two separate air intake devices fed this propulsion unit. One, single, under the nose of the aircraft, the other in two parts at the base of the wings.

- To freed up the under-wing pylons for other weapons, Matra R550 Magic short-range air-to-air missiles (and latter indigenous AAM V-3 Kukri) were fitted on overwing pylons. This option was latter adopted by the jaguar international.

The first batch of serial Tierboskat was delivered to SAAF in 1975 and quickly field evaluated during Operation Savannah were they proved highly effective. Before the end of the decade, it had become the standard tactical support aircraft of the South African air force and had been exported to Rhodesia and Katanga .

Its characteristics quickly attracted the interest of the South African Navy. The aircraft would make it possible to have a Fleet Air Arm without having to invest in expensive ships dedicated to this task. The VTOL capability would allowed it to operate from ships equipped with Helicopter decks or even from temporarily requisitioned civilian ships (typically container ships). The only pitfall was the inherently reduced range of the south african machine. As a result, the spine of the Matrooskat has been enlarged, accommodating an extra fuel tank.

This version caught the attention of a new ally in the southern hemisphere.
The expansion of pro-Communist movements, both political and military, in Africa and Latin America became worrying. it was notably materialized by the electoral victory of the chilean socialists and the cuban military intervention in angola.
Consequently the secret organization of the SACPAC (southern anti communist pact) was set up, it linked in particular the right-wing dictatorships of the Southern Cone of South America to South africa and its allies.
In the mid-1970s, the Argentinian Navy had the opportunity to buy the former American light aircraft carrier USS Annapolis for a pittance. It had been transformed into a transmission ship, and equipping it with VTOL planes would make it possible to avoid having to reinstall a costly catapult installation.
The new V-3 La Argentina was put into service in 1980, only one year after its purchase. 16 "gatos de barco" (Argentinian nickname of Atlas Tierboskats) were acquired, equipping two groups which took turns on the ship in addition to rotary wings.
The few exocet missiles available being reserved for the super-standards which had been delivered before the embargo, the argentinian VTOL were intended to support land operations during the Falklands War. The aircraft carrier cruised near the archipelago and its relief unit was based in Port Stanley.
The ship was sunk by air attack on May 4 1982, just as he was preparing to return to his continental base in accordance with Admiralty orders following the torpedoing of the Belgrano. The shore-based aircrafts remained in put until they feld out of fuel and were destroyed by their crews on the evening of June 13 to avoid falling into British hands.

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"You can rape history, if you give her a child"
Alexandre Dumas

JE SUIS CHARLIE

The Hafoc prototype in the promotional livery used for the type's early airshow appearances.

The Kerman Pattern 49 “Hafoc” is an Imish vertical take-off and landing strike fighter designed in the 1970s. It was designed to operate from Gemeinwesenmarine aircraft carriers, which were too small to safely operate the latest generation of fixed-wing combat aircraft. VTOL models were retired in 2011 without replacement, but land-based models without VTOL capability remain in service.

During the 1960s, plans were developed to replace Great War-vintage aircraft carriers with smaller vessels that would cost less to crew and maintain. Key to these new designs was the Dolfik “Kestrel” jump-jet, which promised to require no more space than a helicopter to operate. Unfortunately, the geopolitical realignment of the late 1960s caused a license production deal to be canceled. Construction continued on the carriers, but a new aircraft would be needed to arm them. Fortunately the same realignment that alienated the Dolfik Kingsrike brought with it new friends, among them the Kerthenian Congressional Republic. The Aquila Aircraft Factory, which had recently lost a bid to produce a VTOL fighter for the KCR Navy, was more than happy to assist Imish industry in producing their own aircraft. The Kerman Corporation was selected to lead the program, and worked to modify AAF’s design to suit the requirements of the Gemeinwesenmarine.

The first prototype, fitted with Kerthenian engines, was unveiled in early 1976 and flew later that year. The design proved less maneuverable than hoped, with test pilots reporting that it felt heavy and sluggish to fly. The aircraft also struggled with heating issues on the ground, due to the proximity of the lift engines to the main intakes causing the latter to ingest the hot exhaust gasses of the former. For this reason the Pa.49 was restricted to rolling takeoffs only without the lift engines engaged. In spite of these issues the design was ordered into production, with the first production aircraft being delivered in late 1980. The type was formally accepted by Naval Air Wing 4 in the spring of 1981, and a detachment of Hafocs finally deployed aboard the carrier Vespenica for the first time in 1982.

While no Hafoc ever saw combat, the type was prominently featured in several tense standoffs with the Dolfik Kingsmarine and Anderian Orange Fleet. The Gemeinwesenmarine retired their examples in 2011 in anticipation of the retirement of the two remaining aircraft carriers, as the fleet was reorganized into a smaller and more flexible force. The land-based Pa.149 is still in service with the Gemeinwesenfliege as its main combat aircraft, and while it is slated to be retired by 2030 no decision has yet been made on a replacement as of 2023.

unfinished / no writeup
communist !french VTOL attacker
just posting for the sake of having done an entry

AS.227 Calkin



Lore
The AS.227 Calkin is the backbone of the Austral Empire Navy air arm. The Calkin first saw combat during the Kuril Crisis against Manchokoan forces in 1982, where Imperium Australis sent a three-carrier task force of the carriers IAMS Sydney (R24), IAMS Tasmania (R25), and IAMS Seoul (R27) to defend the islands form Manchokoan invasion. The carriers rotated deployments, but ensured that there would be at least one carrier on station at all times. Australis declared an official No-Fly Zone over the Kuril Islands, and warned that any and all intruding aircraft would be shot down "with haste". During the crisis, the Calkin aircraft was wildly deployed thanks to its easy to maintain airframe, especially in times of hardened conflict.

During the Kuril Crisis, the Calkin served as an attack aircraft against Manchokoan ground forces who had seized several of the Kuril Islands, especially targeting the makeshift airfields on the island of Iturup that was the station for over a dozen MiG-17s that had been harassing the task force since their arrival, even managing to critically damage the frigate IAMS Islas Malvinas (F82) causing catastrophic superstructure damage.

By the end of the Crisis, the Calkin had registered 4x air-to-air shootdowns of MiG-17s, wile managing to damage and destroy a further 16x on the ground, proving critical in the attack role against enemy airfields from a carrier. One Calkin would be lost to enemy ground fire, although it is contested still in 2022 by Australis that it was lost due to electrical malfunction. The aircraft would receive widespread popularity in Australis after the war had concluded, (subtly pushed by efforts from the Navy for easy promotional activities).

Postwar, the Calkin received orders from Argentina, Cuba, Finland, Iran, and South Africa as their air forces sought out a hardy attack aircraft to strike enemy air fields. Production concluded in 1997 after a total run of over 350 units. Three movies have been made with the aircraft: the document "Revenge" (1996), the comedy "In the Navy!" (2001), and the historical fiction "To The Death" (2019).

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The exported Skoric Aeroknight (or Aurzophrakt) in the hands of the esteemed Mugaws!

This plane can fly.

Euravia Albatros



Euravia Albatros is a joint project fighter-bomber, designed and produced by Italian-German company Euravia. Development was initiated after NATO Basic Military Requirement 3 had been issued, calling for VSTOL nuclear-capable fighter-bomber. Initially both VFW and Fiat started their own, separate programs. By 1966 it became clear that any further development would face serious financial issues. In light of this, both companies combined their efforts and established Euravia GmbH. In 1969 an initial design was finalised and soon prototype construction and testing begun. In 1970 MAN joined the venture to develop an improved version and provide local manufacturing of RB-194 jet engine in Germany. The aircraft entered service in 1976 in the first units of Bundes Luftwaffe and Marina Militare. Since then more nations have adopted it. As of 1982, Albatros serves in Bundes Luftwaffe, Bundes Marinefliegerkommando, Marina Militare, Aeronautica Militare, Luftforsvaret and Schweizer Luftwaffe.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 (Pilot)
Empty weight: 14,021 lb
Max takeoff weight: 26,000 lb
Powerplant:
1x Rolls-Royce/MAN RB-194-14 plenum chamber burning vectored thrust engine (94 kN dry, 125 kN with PCB)
1x Rolls-Royce RB-162-87F lift jet (25 kN)

Performance:

Max speed:
Mach 0.92 dry (1127 kph)
Mach 1.38 with PCB (1690 kph)
Service ceiling: 15,200 m
Combat range: 680 km (no droptanks)
Ferry range: 3,610 km (with droptanks)

Armament:

2x 27mm BK-271K autocannons
6x Hardpoints:
4 heavy pylons for:
Droptank
Kormoran AShM
AS.30L AGM
A variety of bombs
SNEB rockets
Mk61 nuclear bomb
AIM-9 Sidewinder
2 light outer pylons for:
AIM-9 Sidewinder

Pájaro de mar de Gringos