Awacs: USSR vs USA :: Nauka ~ Tehnika ~ Military

Mislim da sam uspeo da pobrojim sve AWACS-e korišćene od strane Amera i Rusa, pa da se glasa...

Ruski:

Beriev A-50 Mainstey

Developer: Beriev TASEC (Russia)
Operator: Russia

The A 50 Mainstay SDRLO (Long Range Detection System) aircraft is based on a stretched Ilyushin IL-76 Transport in widespread service with Soviet Forces combined with an upgraded "Flat Jack" radar system. Developed to replace the TU-126 Moss (a variant of the Bear bomber), the Mainstay first flew in 1980 with about 40 produced by 1992. The Mainstay is not as sophisticated as its western counterpart, the E-3 Sentry, but provides Russian Fighter Regiments with an airborne control capability over both land and water. Mainstays have been used by the Russian Air Force at bases in the Kola Peninsula and for observing Allied air operations during the 1991 Gulf War from bases in Ukraine. In 1994 NATO proposed making the E-3 Sentry and the Beriev Mainstay interoperable to enable Russia to provide AEW&C support to future United Nations or coalition operations.

The aircraft's wings are high-mounted, swept-back, and tapered with blunt tips. There are four turbofan engines mounted on pylons under and extending beyond the wings' leading edges. The fuselage is long, round and tapered to the rear with a radome on the chin. There is a saucer type radome on top of the aircraft. There is a stepped-up cockpit. The fail flats are swept-back and tapered with blunt tips high-mounted on the swept-back, tapered fin, forming a T. The aircraft can stay aloft without refueling for four to six hours and can remain airborne for another four hours with mid-air refueling. The aircraft has a maximum range of 1,800 kilometers, while the radar has a detection range of up to 800 kilometers, and can track 200 targets simultaneously.

Antonov An-71 Madcap

Developer: Antonov Aeronautical Complex (Ukraine)
Operator: Russia

The An-71 Madcap was a modified An-72 with an AEW radome on the forward swept tailfin intended for service on the "Tbilisi" (AKA "Admiral Kuznetsov") aircraft carrier. The aircraft also featured substantially extended wingspan -- about six meters greater than the An-72 -- and other minor refinements. Three aircraft were built before the An-71 was cancelled in favor of the twin-turboprop Yak-44 [which was in turn cancelled in 1993].
The choice of a platform to carry the radar lay between variants of the An-32, An-12, An-72 or a new dedicated design.

In the final quarter of 1983 the results of all the researches were collated and the decision to adopt a dish antenna on an An-72 platform was taken. The An-72 airlifter was chosen for its capacious fuselage and modest size as well as its airfield capabilities. Two types of mounting for the radar dish were contemplated - one on a special pylon over the fuselage and the second located on the top of a modified fin.

Analysis proved the latter concept to be more efficient despite the rear fuselage and tail of the An-72 having to be re-designed. The new fin had forward sweep, greater chord and was thicker. The elevators were moved from the fin tip to the rear fuselage and, in order to move them out of the way of the engine exhaust, they were given dihedral and the whole rear fuselage was tilted up to place them 500 mm higher.

Equipped with more powerful D-436K engines, the An-71 still needed the addition of an RD-36A turbojet mounted under the rear fuselage to provide sufficient takeoff power.

Three aircraft were built - two flight test airframes plus one for static testing. The first was constructed in mid-1985 by taking the fourth prototype An-72 (number 004) that had made its first flight on 31 August 1977 registered as CCCP-19774. It was later exhibited at Le Bourget in 1979 with the show number 350 and registered as CCCP-83966 . The registration was changed yet again, this time to CCCP-72004.
During its career as an An-72 it was fitted with the bigger nosecone of a production aircraft which gave it a 'pelican beak' look but it was still some 990mm shorter, so on conversion to the An-71 it was lengthened accordingly and became aircraft number 01/CCCP-780151.

The second An-71 intended for static tests - which started in April 1985 - was converted from the first An-72 static test airframe whilst the third aircraft (number 03 registered CCCP-780361) used a standard production An-72 airframe taken from the Kharkov assembly line.

A parallel requirement emerged during 1982-83 for a carrier based tactical AWACS platform and consideration was given to using a navalised version of the An-71. After some deliberation it was decided that a specialised carrier capable aircraft was needed which resulted in the design of the E-2 Hawkeye lookalike, the Yak-44E.

Aircraft 01 made its maiden flight from the runway of the Kiev Air plant on 12 June 1985 and made a successful flight to the airfield of Gostomel. It flew 75 times to the end of 1985 logging 117 flying hours.

On the 19th of February 1986, aircraft number 03 was rolled out and joined the flight test program on the 28th. By the time the whole program was frozen in 1990, aircraft 01 had logged 387 flights totalling 650 hours, whilst number 03 had achieved 362 flights of 380 hours.

Today the two airframes languish at the Kiev airfield due to lack of funding - a sad testament to the breakup of the Soviet Union. The ususual layout of the basic An-72 - with its overwing mounted engines, coupled with the odd-looking location of the radome on the fin makes the NATO Air Standards Co-ordinating Committee reporting name of MADCAP seem somehow appropriate.

Tupolev Tu-126 Moss

Developer: Tupolev Scientific Aeronautical Complex (Russia)
Operator: Russia

The Tu-126 is the Soviet counterpart to the Boeing E-3 Sentry and, like the American plane, has its airframe origins in a civil airliner. In the case of the Tu-126, the core of the plane is the airframe and massive turboprop powerplant of the Tu-114 airliner, itself a derivative of the Tu-95 bomber with a larger fuselage. Production of the Tu-114 totaled only some 30 aircraft, and these were taken out of Aeroflot service from 1971.

Over-fuselage rotodome

Development of the Tu-126 began in the mid-1960s, and the "Moss" began to enter service in

1971 with the antenna of its "Rat Jack" surveillance radar in a large rotodome added above the rear fuselage. Some 12 conversions were completed with in-flight refueling capability, and these have served the USSR well despite the limitations imposed on radar performance by factors such as interference from the four sets of contra-rotating propellers. The 10 surviving examples of the type are now being replaced by the considerably more effective Ilyushin Il-76 "Mainstay".

Principal version

Tu-126 "Moss" (Soviet airborne early warning plane).

Principal user

USSR.

TECHNICAL DATA

Type: Tupolev Tu-126 "Moss" 12-seat airborne early warning and command system plane. Engines: four 14,795-ehp (11,033-kW) Kuznetsov NK-l2MV turboprops.

Performance: maximum speed 528 mph (850 kin! h) at high altitude; initial climb rate not revealed; service ceiling 36,090 ft (11,000 in); range 7,800 miles (12,550 kin).

Weights: empty 231,481 lb (105,000 kg); maximum take-off 385,802 lb (175,000 kg). Dimensions: span 167 ft 7.75 in (51.10 in); length 188 ft 0 in (57.30 in); height 52 ft 8 in (16.05 in); wing area 3,348.8 sq ft (311.10 in2).

Armament: none.

Američki:

Grumman E-1 Tracer

Developer: Northrop Grumman (USA)
Operator: USA

Continuing Grumman's long tradition of AEW Aircraft development, ranging from the Avenger and Guardian to the Hawkeye, the WF-2 Tracer was designed to replace the aging Guardians and Skyraiders providing AEW coverage for US Navy aircraft carriers. The Tracer was developed from the S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft and first flew on March 1, 1957. The fitting of a large radome to the Tracer entailed significant modification from the standard ASW Tracker including the removal of the large single tail fin and replacing it with two end-plate fins on the tailplane.
The radar fitted to the Tracer was the new AN/APS-82, manufactured by Hazeltine, original builders of the AN/APS-20 which was the first AEW radar ever used. The AN/APS-82 introduced many technological advances including stabilized antenna and Airborne Moving Target Indicator (AMTI) which allowed the radar to detect low flying targets against the clutter of radar reflections from the surface of the ocean. 88 WF-2 and E-1B Tracers were built by Grumman for the US Navy with operations extending from 1958 to 1977 when the E-2 Hawkeye completely replaced the aircraft in service.

Grumman E-2 Hawkeye

Developer: Northrop Grumman (USA)
Operator: USA Taiwan

Description: The E-2C Hawkeye is the Navy's all-weather, carrier-based tactical warning and control system aircraft.

Features: The Hawkeye provides all-weather airborne early warning and command and control functions for the carrier battle group. Additional missions include surface surveillance coordination, strike and interceptor control, search and rescue guidance and communications relay. An integral component of the carrier air wing, the E-2C uses computerized sensors to provide early warning, threat analyses and control of counteraction against air and surface targets. It is a high-wing aircraft with stacked antennae elements contained in a 24-foot rotating dome above the fuselage. The peculiar airflow over and around the radar dome led to a multiple-surface tail unit

Background: The continuous improvements in early airborne radars by 1956 led to the concept of an airborne early warning and command and control aircraft. The first aircraft to perform this mission was the Grumman E-1 Tracer (a variant of the S-2 Tracker anti-submarine aircraft), which saw service from 1954 to 1964. The E-1's successor, the E-2 Hawkeye, was the first carrier-based aircraft designed from the outset for the all-weather airborne early warning and command and control function. Since replacing the E-1 in 1964, the Hawkeye has been the "eyes of the fleet." Since its combat debut during the Vietnam conflict, the E-2 has served the Navy around the world. Hawkeyes directed F-14 Tomcat fighters flying combat air patrol during the two-carrier battle group joint strike against terrorist-related Libyan targets in 1986. E-2Cs and AEGIS cruisers, working together, provided total air mass superiority over the American fleet. More recently, E-2Cs provided the command and control for successful operations during the Persian Gulf War, directing both land attack and combat air patrol missions over Iraq and providing control for the shoot-down of two Iraqi MIG-21 aircraft by carrier-based F/A-18s in the early days of the war. E-2 aircraft also have worked extremely effectively with U.S. law enforcement agencies in drug interdictions. The newest version of the Hawkeye, the E-2C, became operation in 1973.

General Characteristics:

Primary Function: Airborne early warning, command and control

Propulsion: Two Allison T-56-A427 turboprop engines; (5,000 shaft horsepower each)

Length: 57 feet 6 inches (17.5 meters)

Wingspan: 80 feet 7 inches (28 meters)

Height: 18 feet 3 inches (5.6 meters)

Weight: Max. gross, take-off: 53,000 lbs (23,850 kg) 40,200 lbs basic (18,090 kg)

Speed: 300+ knots (345 miles, 552 km. per hour)

Ceiling: 30,000 feet (9,100 meters)

Crew: Five

Armament: None

Boeing E-3 Senty

Developer: Boeing (USA)
Operator: USA France Great Britain Saudi Arabia

The E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications needed by commanders of U.S. and NATO air defense forces. As proven in Desert Storm, it is the premier air battle command and control aircraft in the world today.

The E-3 Sentry is a modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a rotating radar dome. The dome is 30 feet (9.1 meters) in diameter, six feet (1.8 meters) thick, and is held 11 feet (3.3 meters) above the fuselage by two struts. It contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, over land or water. The radar has a range of more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) for low-flying targets and farther for aerospace vehicles flying at medium to high altitudes. The radar combined with an identification friend or foe subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems.

Other major subsystems in the E-3 are navigation, communications and computers (data processing). Consoles display computer-processed data in graphic and tabular format on video screens. Console operators perform surveillance, identification, weapons control, battle management and communications functions.

The radar and computer subsystems on the E-3 Sentry can gather and present broad and detailed battlefield information. Data is collected as events occur. This includes position and tracking information on enemy aircraft and ships, and location and status of friendly aircraft and naval vessels. The information can be sent to major command and control centers in rear areas or aboard ships. In time of crisis, this data can be forwarded to the National Command Authorities in the United States.

In support of air-to-ground operations, the Sentry can provide direct information needed for interdiction, reconnaissance, airlift and close-air support for friendly ground forces. It can also provide information for commanders of air operations to gain and maintain control of the air battle.

As an air defense system, E-3s can detect, identify and track airborne enemy forces far from the boundaries of the United States or NATO countries. It can direct fighter-interceptor aircraft to these enemy targets.

Experience has proven that the E-3 Sentry can respond quickly and effectively to a crisis and support worldwide military deployment operations. It is a jam-resistant system that has performed missions while experiencing heavy electronic countermeasures.

With its mobility as an airborne warning and control system, the Sentry has an excellent chance of surviving in war. Among other things, the flight path can quickly be changed according to mission and survival requirements. The E-3 can fly a mission profile for more than 8 hours without refueling. Its range and on-station time can be increased through inflight refueling.

The aircraft can be used as a surveillance asset in support of other government agencies during counter drug operations. U.S. Customs Service officers may fly aboard the E-3 Sentry on precoordinated missions to detect smuggling activities.

Engineering, test and evaluation began on the first E-3 Sentry in October 1975. In March 1977 the 552nd Airborne Warning and Control Wing (now 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.), received the first E-3s where they are still assigned. Pacific Air Forces has four E-3 Sentries assigned to the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron (AACS), Kadena Air Base, Japan, and the 962nd AACS, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. NATO has acquired 18 of the aircraft and support equipment. The first E-3 was delivered to NATO in January 1982. The United Kingdom has seven E-3s and France has four.