xf 108 rapier

Xf 108 Rapier - The year is 1955, and Armageddon is about to begin: the Distant Warning Line (DEW) has detected several Soviet bombers heading for the North Pole. The trajectories the bombers are expected to follow will eventually lead to targets on the continental United States. Each carrying a thermonuclear payload with enough destructive power to reduce any major city to radioactive ash. America's first line of defense - the United States Air Force Air Defense Command (ADC) associated fighter-interceptors - were alerted and scrambled. It is absolutely imperative that these aircraft detect, intercept and destroy enemy bombers before they reach US territory, before they have a chance to drop their lethal payloads. To get there in time, ADC fighter-interceptors must be very fast, but speed is not the only solution: they must be able to identify their target without delay, position themselves and deliver the blow. fatal. Weapons cannot be missing; That

This scenario may seem far-fetched in today's political climate, but in 1955 it was very real. May Day overflights of the Kremlin in 1954 and 1955 confirmed that the Soviet Union possessed three types of advanced bombers with intercontinental range: the jet-powered Tupelov Tu-16 Badgers and Myasishchev Mya-4 Bisons, as well as the Tu-20 Bear. More worryingly, contemporary intelligence data strongly suggested that the Soviets were working on a supersonic delta-wing bomber. American leaders were particularly worried because in 1955 the ADC had no operational aircraft with supersonic performance. And its most important supersonic interceptor project - the Convair F-102A - was not only two years behind schedule, but also had a speed of just Mach 1.22 (700 mph at 53,000 ft), too slow for combat. long-term Soviet. threatens

Xf 108 Rapier

It was this situation that prompted the US Air Force in October 1955 to issue General Operating Requirements (GORs) for what was likely to become the most technologically ambitious fighter-interceptor program of the 1945 period. –60. As project GOR 114, LRIX (Long-Range Interceptor, Experimental), a Mach 3 (1,977 mph), operating ceiling over 75, a two-slot all-weather interceptor was required. 000 feet and enough range to circle the intercept point for about an hour.

Xf 108 Rapier, Cepat, Membunuh, Tapi Kemahalan

The unmanned X-10 was a proof-of-concept test vehicle that would lead to the design of the XF-104. (US Air Force)

Following the release of the GOR, the Air Force did not continue traditional methods of selecting contractors for LRIX. The normal process of evaluating competitive proposals on a project of this complexity from multiple aircraft manufacturers would have taken too long and unacceptably extended the development period for the new aircraft. In a contract letter dated June 6, 1957, the Air Force appointed North American Aviation as the airframe's prime contractor and simultaneously selected six other companies as subcontractors to develop critical LRIX systems and components: Hughes Aircraft , Fire-Control Systems and Missile Weapons. ; Convair aircraft, wing assembly; Marquardt aircraft, air induction control system; Hamilton standard, air conditioning and pressure; international telephone and telegraph systems, mission and traffic control systems; and electronic specialty, antenna systems.

The North American design proposal for the LRIX airframe was listed as company model NA-257 and later given the Air Force designation XF-108A. The original LRIX aerodynamic concept was derived from the 1953 North American unmanned X-10 test vehicle. The X-10 was originally designed as a proof-of-concept test bed for a delta-canard configuration that would be used on the ramjet-powered XB-64 (later XSM-56 Navaho) intercontinental cruise missile of the society. More important was the systemic and aerodynamic relationship of the XF-108 with its North American sister project, the XB-70A Mach 3 bomber.

As a secondary mission, the F-108 was to serve as an escort for the B-70, as it would be the only fighter capable of keeping up with the new bomber. The two aircraft would be developed side by side, sharing structural features and subsystems and using General Electric X-279E (J93-3AR) turbojet engines, each expected to produce 30,000 pounds of thrust in full afterburner. Both featured a sophisticated emergency escape system that provided crew members with a self-contained pressurized capsule capable of sustaining an egress anywhere between zero and 80,000 feet. The three North American programs - XSM-56, XF-108A and XB-70A - were designed for a "fully supersonic flight model", i.e. cruise, weapons delivery and return (at the except the XSM-56). ) mission phases will be maintained at supersonic speeds, unlike the previous "split mission model", which consisted of a subsonic cruise, a supersonic run to the target, then a subsonic return.

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The XF-108's armament included the huge AIM-47 missile. The twelve-and-a-half-foot-long missile will have a range of over 100 miles and travel at Mach 6. (US Air Force)

Although the XF-108A was to share the general delta planform of the XB-70A, surviving drawings and artists' impressions indicate that some details of the aerodynamic configuration were changed during the design study phase. Reference material does not provide a clear timeline, but the basic appearance of the XF-108A was very similar to the bomber configuration: canards on the upper fuselage in front of the wings and a 60-degree delta wing. Sweep from root to tip. Instead of the variable-drop wingtips seen on the XB-70A, early XF-108A designs featured fixed trailing edge finlets located at approximately 60% of the span.

The XF-108A was the largest American fighter design ever (e.g., twice the weight of the contemporary McDonnell F4H/F-4 developed for the Navy and Marine Corps). Its overall dimensions and specifications were a length of 82 feet 2 inches, a wingspan of 57 feet 5 inches, a wing area of ​​1,865 square feet, and a maximum takeoff weight of 102,533 pounds. The aircraft's two General Electric J93-GE3-AR engines were mounted in fuselage bays tucked under the wings, extending from the leading edge to the tail, and supplied with air from large ramp-type variable inlets . The available references do not provide any definitive information on the structure and materials used for the XF-108A, but it will undoubtedly be the same type of titanium skin and framing and steel honeycomb panels. stainless steel PH15-7Mo developed for the construction of the XB. 70A. The manufacturer's estimated performance for the XF-108A was a top speed of 1,980 mph (Mach 3), a service limit of 80,100 feet, and a full load combat radius of 1,020 miles.

Like the XB-70A, the XF-108A was to have a precision flying fuel tank, holding 7,100 gallons of fuel, or 42% of its takeoff weight. Hughes was developing the Mach 6 GAR-9 Falcon (later designated AIM-47A) missile specifically for the LRIX project. The new radar- and infrared-guided missile will have a range of over 100 miles and will be armed with a low-yield nuclear warhead. To accompany the GAR-9, Hughes was also developing the AN/ASG-18 advanced radar and fire control system, which would have allowed the XF-108A to lock onto targets and launch nuclear missiles from a distance.

Beaver Corporation 1/144 United States Air Force Xf 108 Rapier 3d Printer Kit

The typical mission profile projected from the aircraft was impressive: a 1,150-mile cruise at Mach 2 and a three-minute fight at Mach 3; or a 400 mile cruise in game 3 plus a 10 minute battle in game 3; Or supersonic cruise to a specific (unspecified) area with an hour interval and intercept any target hit at Mach 3. With the ability to move into position, acquire a target and engage a range of weapons Guided nuclear-tipped aircraft, the new interceptor would have meant an almost certain doom to any enemy bomber attempting to enter US airspace from the North Pole.

The US Air Force expected the F-108A to first fly in early 1961 and enter operational service in early 1963. During production, which was to continue well into the 1960s, the he Air Force planned to receive at least 480 F-108s to replace its existing ADC fleet of F-102As, F-101Bs and F-106As. The final aero configuration of the XF-108 is not entirely clear, but photo mock-ups indicate that the canards were removed, the finlets were replaced with ventral fins, the major 60% of the wings were swept out of about 45 degrees and the wingtips received a fixed sweep. Mock-up inspections by Air Force officials in January 1959 indicated that very few modifications were needed, and in May 1959 the aircraft was officially designated the Rapier.

A dagger called the Rapier, the fighter-like dagger never surpassed this scale model before the project was canceled in September 1959. (US Air Force)

But just three months later, the sky fell. Despite their capabilities, the XF-108A and XB-70A were the subject of technical and doctrinal debate within the newly emerging type of air force (and the defense establishment as a whole). Weapon - Intercontinental Missile.

Book: North American F 108 Rapier

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