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Design 698
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Australia is in the final process of settling on a replacement for HMAS Melbourne. One of the three competing ship designs is the Litton-Ingalls LPH which is not far removed in size, cost or concept from the DGV described in this article by Robert Kress, director of advanced concepts, Grumman Aerospace. As the RAN formalises its aviation requirements for the rest of this century, it is timely to investigate an alternative to the fixed-wing catapult-dependent conventional aircraft In the long-range AEW, ASW and missile launching roles.
A new concept of naval air operations, Involving surface combatants equipped with long-range air/surface missiles, and small, high-altitude, high-speed and long-range surveillance/missileer aircraft for targeting and attack, Is under Investigation.
The basic surveillance or jammer aircraft are designed such that, as VTOs, they have a very respectable level of performance, which will be shown later. In other words, these aircraft are fully capable of a vertical takeoff on a hot day. A good indicator of this is the 29 per cent fuel fraction under those circumstances. A short STO run of 170 ft with a mild ski jump, which is close to the natural bow contour of this size surface combatant ship, results in the capability of roughly a 3000 lb payload enhancement on a hot day, with 10 knots wind over the deck. This allows the aircraft to be fitted out with a pair of Harpoon air-to-surface weapons, or a pair of long-range air-to-air weapons, or up to six AMRAAM-class weapons for closer-in air-to-air applications, or four advanced lightweight torpedoes for long range ASW “Pouncer” operations.
Grumman has been working very closely with Litton-Ingalls in the design and integration of this ship class with the Design 698 aircraft. The Design 698 aircraft described is basically an aircraft in the 20,000 lb take-off gross weight category having a crew of two. The avionics systems envisioned for this aircraft employ the most modern surveillance radar, jammer, and control and display technology expected to be available at the time of aircraft fleet introduction. All systems are under current development.
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