Aetherdyne Ae-16 Fuyuhana (Pacifica)

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Ae-16 Fuyuhana
Role Carrier-based strike fighter
National origin  Pelinai
Manufacturer Aetherdyne IDB
First flight November 18, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-11-18)
Introduction March 7, 2009 (2009-03-07)
Status In service
Primary user Pelinai (Pacifica)Royal Pelinese Navy
Produced August 9, 2003 – present (2003-08-09 – present)
Number built Approx. 800+ (as of 2023)

The Aetherdyne Ae-16 Fuyuhana is a Pelinese carrier-capable, twin-engine, all-weather strike fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Pelinese aerospace bureau Aetherdyne. The Fuyuhana was developed to provide fleet defense and sea attack capabilities for aircraft carriers of the Royal Pelinese Navy, and is the standard tactical fighter aircraft of the Royal Pelinese Navy Air Service. Low-rate production of the type is ongoing as new airframes cycle in upgraded technology or replace planes lost to accidents, and over 800 airframes of all variants have been produced as of August 2023.

The Fuyuhana was the first fixed-wing naval aircraft to be designed in Pelinai and the first to be operated by the Royal Pelinese Navy, with it taking its first flight in 2004 and receiving full adoption in 2009 alongside the newly commissioned KPF Pelograd. Various upgrade packages targeting electronics systems and other areas have allowed the Fuyuhana to maintain technological parity and resolve technical problems present in initial production models, and the type is expected to remain in active RPNAS service well into the 2070s.

The Ae-16 Fuyuhana is significantly more advanced than preceding Pelinese aircraft designs in materials, processing and assembly technologies, electronics & sensors technologies, sensor signature minimization, and many other areas, and its introduction into service represents an enormous increase in combat capability and flexibility for the Royal Pelinese Navy. Its combination of extended combat radius, high weapons payload capacity, advanced search and fire control sensors, and minimized sensor signature allows RPN carrier air wings to effectively threaten modern aircraft, surface combatants, and ground forces operated by peer adversaries, while upgrades made to it over its service life have eliminated early production problems, improved whole-aircraft reliability and mission availability, and implemented new electronic and other mission systems.

Development

Background

The Royal Pelinese Navy first began identifying an outstanding procurement need for a series of fixed-wing naval aircraft in 1997, when it first implemented plans to steer its ongoing modernization initiatives towards the attainment of an carrier-based naval structure. Chief among these was what would later be referred to as the At-Sea Tactical Aircraft (ASTA), which was imagined as a medium-weight fighter that would primarily serve to provide air cover for Pelinese naval vessels while outside the range of land-based fighter support. As the primary aircraft necessitated by a carrier design that was then quickly gravitating towards a STOBAR configuration, the ASTA role was deemed to be the most likely candidate for navy adoption and was allocated the largest share of technical expertise.

Initial proposals for ASTA included searching for a suitable foreign-designed aircraft, as well designing a navalized variant for the currently serving Ae-12 Bara; a foreign aircraft purchase was quickly ruled out, however, and initial design studies concluded that the Bara could not be efficiently adapted to achieve the minimum stall speed and other performance standards necessary for the safe conduct of carrier takeoff and landing operations. Thus, after budgetary and technical considerations, the Pelinese Ministry of Defense opted to fund the development program for a new aircraft type to be operated by the Royal Pelinese Navy.

Initial proposals

In January 1999, the Royal Pelinese Navy’s procurement office published a list of performance requirements for a future naval fighter aircraft to be operated by the RPNAS. Basic parameters included STOBAR capability, a minimum payload capacity of 8,000kg, the ability to carry at least two 3,000kg supersonic cruise missiles, and a combat radius of at least 400km at full payload capacity, as well as all-weather capability in both the air superiority and maritime strike roles. Companies that provided initial proposals for the ASTA program included Aetherdyne, Torikov, and Kaiyōko-Ruzikov, from which Aetherdyne’s proposal for a twinjet fighter with a conventional wing layout was selected as the best compromise between in-air combat capability and carrier operability; Torikov’s proposal would instead later go on to be repurposed for the S-93 lightweight fighter aircraft. Aetherdyne was granted the development contract for the ASTA in September 1999, after which the program was assigned the aircraft name Ae-16, while Pelektronik, Yunimashi, and the Iroiko College of Aerospace Technology were added to the project to provide concurrent system development and technical integration assistance for specific aircraft components.

Product development

Prototype testing

Initial production

Initial production of the Ae-16A/B began in December 2008, with the first aircraft being delivered and entered into service in February 2009 in order to begin pilot training with the airframe. Early production encountered difficulties in scaling to meet fleet requirements due to the increased complexity of electronics and other aircraft systems relative to previous Pelinese aircraft such as the Bara; difficulties in extracting and recycling sufficient quantities of the alloying element scandium, which was used in the Fuyuhana’s airframe to increase the strength of aluminum components, also applied supply chain bottlenecks until the Tanaka Mine Complex opened in 2015.

Post-production corrections

Design

Overview

The Aetherdyne Ae-16 Fuyuhana is a carrier-based twin-engine multirole strike fighter intended to fulfill the primary missions of combat air patrol and strike against surface and land targets at extended ranges. It, similarly to the Ae-15, incorporates a wide range of new technologies and systems not seen on previous generations of Pelinese tactical aircraft, including refined structural material compositions and processing methods, new manufacturing and assembly technologies, all-spectrum sensor signature minimization, and advanced electronic hardware types. Improvements to the Fuyuhana’s specifications facilitated by these new technologies include significantly extended combat radius and sensor range, higher maximum payload, enhanced ability to employ long-range and precision-guided munitions, lower visibility to search and fire-control radars, greater system reliability and mission availability, and higher flexibility to perform a variety of mission types in high-threat airspace environments.

Airframe

The Ae-16 Fuyuhana is a conventional monoplane possessing low aspect ratio cantilever wings, which are mounted high on the fuselage and angled at a slight anhedral configuration. The wings use a rearward-swept delta wing configuration in the shape of a trapezoid, and are paired with both conventionally placed stabilators and large leading-edge root extensions. Two swept vertical stabilizers are mounted above the engines, and are angled outwards from centerline to minimize side cross section profiles.

The airframe structure of the Fuyuhana consists of a large number of specialized materials, such as various types of aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, and fiber-reinforced polymer, each of which is matched to an application suitable for its particular strength, stiffness, density, material cost, compatible fabrication & assembly processes, and corrosion, temperature, & fatigue resistances. The forward fuselage structural section of the Fuyuhana is constructed from a combination of Al3(Sc1-x, Zrx)-augmented wrought Al-Zn-Mg-Li alloy and metal matrix composite (MMC), consisting of silicon carbide embedded as reinforcing whiskers inside of a matrix of 7093-T6 high-strength aluminum alloy chosen for its high yield strength and resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC). The rear fuselage structural section housing the engine bays is manufactured from Ti-6Al-4V, a high-strength α-β phase titanium alloy, using a superplastic forming process, while the engine bays and exhaust ducts themselves are protected from the generated heat of the Fuyuhana’s twin turbofan engines by Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zr-2Mo high-temperature titanium alloy plating. The side fuselage sections connecting the core structure to the wings, along with the wing spars, are also constructed from SPF-shaped Ti-6Al-4V. The ribs running along the internal structure of the wings perpendicular to the leading edge, along with multiple other minor airframe structural components, are formed from low-density, high-stiffness V-1481 aluminum-lithium alloy through various combinations of extrusion, cold-drawing, stamping, and closed-die forging processes. The ailerons, rudders, and frame structures for the horizontal and vertical stabilizers are formed from laminated carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy polymer (CFRP) combined with V-1481 aluminum. The external skin and maintenance window covers of the Fuyuhana are primarily made from CFRP coated with anti-UV and anti-radar paints, but are substituted by dielectric materials around certain sensors and by a layered glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)/aluminum fiber-metal laminate (FML) around highly stressed regions of the aircraft’s semi-monocoque structure; panels also incorporate a fiberglass inner lining in order to separate the carbon fiber from the aluminum frame and prevent the subsequent formation of galvanic corrosion cells. The primary support rods and tailhook of the original Fuyuhana’s navalized undercarriage are constructed from 300M ultra high-strength martensitic Ni-Cr-Mo alloy steel and plated in combination cadmium/chromium anti-corrosion cladding; this is replaced in the Ae-16V/G by a specialized novel steel alloy and temper exhibiting comparable strength properties while substantially increasing corrosion resistance. Smaller linkages and components of the landing gear are formed from Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al titanium for its superior specific strength compared to standard Ti-6Al-4V alloy. The undercarriage’s brake discs are comprised of carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide for its high thermal resistance.
Frame components of the Fuyuhana are assembled from large sections where possible and are primarily joined using friction stir welding (FSW) and laser beam welding due to their high joining quality and the resistance of the Fuyuhana’s aluminum and titanium structural alloys to conventional welding techniques, while fasteners such as aircraft-grade rivets and bolts are used where welding methods are unusable or disassembly capability is required. Composite external panels are attached to the metal airframe by bolts and nut plates, which are themselves bonded to the panels using structural resin adhesive after surface treatment of the nut plates’ panel-facing sides by a combination of anodization, chemical treatment, and/or application of γ-APS adhesive primer; this is done before the inner epoxy layers of the composite panels are fully dried so that polymer cross-linking occurs between the adhesive and composite matrix, with the effect of maximizing bonding strength between the panel and fastener mounts.

The Fuyuhana is notable for using a relatively large amount of the rare earth element scandium in its airframe as a minor alloying agent for aluminum in order to improve airframe strength and other properties through action as a grain refiner and a recrystallization inhibitor; each Fuyuhana uses approximately 4 kilograms of pure scandium in total across all of its components, with the percentage steadily increasing over time due to installation of improved parts. Second- and third-generation aluminum-lithium alloys are also used extensively in place of normal aluminum components where possible, with estimated total mass savings of at least 400 kilograms.

Armament

A wide variety of weapon systems have been certified for deployment on the Ae-16, including bombs, precision guided munitions, rockets, missiles, and nuclear weapons. Guided weapons using laser beam guidance, semi-active radar homing, IR homing, or other methods may be directed using the Fuyuhana’s integral targeting and fire control system. Three internal weapons bays allow the carrying of standard-size ordnance without compromising stealth or aerodynamic performance, while four external hardpoints allow the Fuyuhana to carry external fuel tanks or large anti-ship cruise missiles when stealth is not a priority.

The Fuyuhana is capable of carrying the full range of standard iron bombs in the RPNAS inventory, including the BVN series of high explosive bombs and VRB series cluster munitions. Bombs using the MVB laser bomb series and the UMBK glide bomb conversion kit for the BVN-500 and BVN-1000 munitions are commonly deployed on the Fuyuhana in order to increase its bombing range beyond the maximum effective detection and engagement radius of SHORAD platforms.

Avionics

The Fuyuhana incorporates the full suite of military aircraft electronics systems, including an X-band radar, a satellite navigation system, an electronic countermeasures (ECM) suite, weapons targeting systems, pilot awareness and early warning systems such as an IRST package, a radar warning receiver (RWR), and a missile approach warning system, an integrated helmet-mounted gunsight (HMS) and night vision system, multifunction radio communication and data transceivers, and other equipment. Many of these systems, including the radar, missile approach warning system, HMS, IRST sensors, and ECM equipment, were added or extensively overhauled by the Ae-16V/G and Ae-16D/E upgrade packages. Electronics systems on the Fuyuhana are integrated together using the NVS-1412 standardized military data bus architecture.

The Ae-16A/B deployed with a Pelektronik RAO-7G pulse-doppler radar employing silicon-based transistor elements that offers moving target indication (MTI) and look-down/shoot-down functionality. It operates as a combined target detection and fire control radar system using a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) architecture on the X-band of radar frequencies. Its maximum tracked number of targets is 16, of which 8 can be simultaneously engaged with weapon systems. Late-production models in the RAO-7G(2) variant additionally employ doppler-beam sharpening signal processing to increase the angular resolution performance of the radar; this would later carry over to the new RAO-9 scheduled to be installed on the Ae-16D/E upgrade.
The Ae-16D/E upgrade for the Fuyuhana replaces the RAO-7G radar with a newer RAO-9 radar system implementing a large variety of technological advances in radar hardware architecture and signal processing. Its transceiver array replaces the previously used silicon transistor assembly with a gallium nitride (GaN) based high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) array that offers significant improvements in emitted radar power efficiency, high-temperature and high-frequency performance, and maximum power transmission. It uses an active electronically scanned array (AESA) architecture offering multirole performance as a datalink and communications system in addition to normal radar functionality, as well as the simultaneous usage of multiple beams and beam frequencies to achieve a high degree of jamming resistance and a lessened probability of intercept by RWR systems. Aspects of the RAO-9 that take advantage of the multi-beam setup include the implementation of Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MIMO) techniques and adaptive cancellation of grating lobes.

The Fuyuhana uses a large number of sensors and targeting systems beyond its radar. All variants of the Fuyuhana incorporate a missile approach warning system used to detect anti-aircraft missiles. A/B variants used the RVS-82 IR-based sensor array; newer V/G and D/E variants employ the improved RVS-84, which uses both IR- and UV-spectrum sensors in combination to more reliably detect the emissions of missile rocket engines at all stages of flight.
Fuyuhanas use an infrared search-and-track (IRST) system to direct IR-guided missiles and detect nearby aircraft and other targets within 50-100km of the sensors. This is further combined with an electro-optical targeting system incorporating built-in laser rangefinder and laser designator equipment, the information from which is displayed on the pilot’s helmet-mounted gunsight to aid situational awareness and is used to provide targeting capability for laser-guided munitions. Improved sensors with wider coverage and higher resolution are installed from the V/G variant forward.

The Fuyuhana uses a glass cockpit with multiple multi-function displays to display aircraft information and controls, along with several analog backup instruments to provide redundancy for critical indicators such as airspeed, aircraft orientation, and altitude. Analog controls used in the Fuyuhana’s cockpit include a side-stick and a twinjet HOTAS controller, both of which use backlit indicators to allow for all-weather operation.
Prototypes and A/B variants of the Fuyuhana combine this flight control system with a Type 13 conventional reflex HUD to display flight, sensor, and fire control information to pilots without requiring them to look away from the canopy. The Ae-16V/G upgrade replaces this with a Type 14 helmet-mounted display and gunsight system. The Type 14 adds multiple new functionalities to the cockpit’s pilot-aircraft command interface, such as the ability for the pilot to continue seeing flight information while looking down or to the side, the use of the pilot’s head orientation to direct weaponry and sensors, and the full integration of the aircraft’s IR, electro-optical, radar, and pilot night vision systems with the helmet display in order to allow for 360° all-weather pilot visibility.

Control systems

The control systems of the Fuyuhana are electrical and optical in nature. Control inputs from the pilot are mediated by a computer fly-by-wire system in order to reduce weight and allow for the implementation of enhanced aircraft maneuverability through intentional instability. Control surfaces are actuated by electro-hydraulic actuators in a power-by-wire assembly to further reduce weight and improve reliability by replacing the centralized hydraulic system with redundant power circuits.

Engines

All variants of the Ae-16 Fuyuhana make use of two Yunimashi AF-13 low-bypass turbofan engines in a twinjet configuration, with later variants progressing through the AF-13A, AF-13B, and then AF-13V variants. The original engines and their mountings incorporated many technologies and design techniques not widely familiar to Pelinese aerospace designers at the time, including a divertless supersonic inlet, the usage of laser shock peening to improve fatigue behavior of critical metallic components like titanium compressor blades, and computer-aided design and evaluation methods. Later upgraded variants introduced the use of titanium aluminide ceramic in the high-pressure compressor section in order to reduce weight.

Upgrades

Operational history

Variants

Production models

Ae-16A/B

Initial production variants. The Ae-16A is a single-seat aircraft, while the Ae-16B is twin-seat to support both trainer usage and employment of a WSO. The Ae-16A/B block incorporates relatively simple electronic systems, a PESA radar, and a conventional HUD system.

The Ae-16A/B suffered from myriad technical and structural issues over its eight-year service life, contributing to a low ratio of flight hours to maintenance hours; all airframes of the block received a major overhaul in 2010 to correct a severe structural flaw in the design of the landing gear. Both types, totaling 83 airframes, are fully withdrawn from RPNAS service as of 2017.

Ae-16V/G

The Ae-16V is a single-seat model, while the Ae-16G is twin-seat.

The Block 2 Fuyuhana was designed in order to eliminate many severe issues that had manifested in the Fuyuhana’s initial production run as a result of development difficulties and premature implementation of new and unfamiliar technologies, and both constituent variants exhibit significantly increased reliability; multiple avionics and electronics systems are also upgraded from the A/B variant, including the addition of a combat networking datalink and an IRST system, an improved ECM suite, and the replacement of the IR-based missile approach warning sensor with one using an IR/UV combination system. Parts of the airframe structure and external panels are also modified in order to improve structural strength and reduce weight.

Ae-16D/E

The single-seat Ae-16D and the twin-seat Ae-16E are the two newest variants of the Ae-16, and comprise the Block 3 Fuyuhana. Block 3 airframes began serial production in 2018 and use both modern flight systems and larger engines, along with more sophisticated integrated weapons targeting systems for use in both air-to-ground and air-to-air missions. The primary avionics upgrade implemented in the D/E variant is the replacement of the PESA radar with a new AESA model employing new HEMT-based transmitter modules to significantly increase emitted radar energy and efficiency as well as the system’s signal-to-noise ratio.

Research aircraft

E-16X

Two repurposed Ae-16V aircraft, using the experimental project serial numbers E-161 and E-162, are used by Pelinese space agency Pelkosmos to perform in-flight tests of technology as part of research into new flight control systems, avionics & sensors, pilot-aircraft interface systems, and other electronics with aerospace applications.

Operators

Pelinai (Pacifica)Pelinai
  • The Royal Pelinese Navy has operated the Ae-16 Fuyuhana since 2009, and maintains 571 aircraft of the D/E variant in active service as of 2023.

Specifications (Ae-16D)

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1 (pilot)
  • Length: 17.6 m (57 ft 9 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
  • Height: 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 56.2 m2 (605 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 15,000 kg (33,069 lb)
  • Gross weight: 24,000 kg (52,911 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 32,500 kg (71,650 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: roughly 9,000kg internally
  • Powerplant: 2 × Yunimashi AF-13V afterburning low-bypass turbofan engines, 76 kN (17,000 lbf) thrust each dry, 124 kN (28,000 lbf) with afterburner

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 2,450 km/h (1,520 mph, 1,320 kn)
  • Maximum speed: Mach 2.0
  • Cruise speed: 1,400 km/h (870 mph, 760 kn)
  • Range: 2,600 km (1,600 mi, 1,400 nmi)
  • Combat range: 1,300 km (810 mi, 700 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 17,000 m (56,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 290 m/s (57,000 ft/min)
  • Wing loading: 427.0 kg/m2 (87.5 lb/sq ft)
  • Thrust/weight: 1.10

Armament

Avionics

Sensors & targeting systems:

Defensive systems:

Communications & Network Interface systems:

Pilot support systems:

See also

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