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Militarymedia.net - England, - Britain is preparing a Tempest stealth fighter jet. The figure of this future airplane was presented at the Farnborough Air Show, July 16, 2019.
The twin-engined stealth aircraft, which was designed to operate in the 2030s, is a British collaboration project with Italy, and possibly Germany and France.
Tempest is expected to be a sixth generation fighter, equipped with hypersonic or directed energy weapons, and the ability to deploy and control drones.
London has poured a budget for Tempest 2 billion pounds (Rp. 36 trillion) for initial development until 2020. The main defense contractor BAE System led the development in collaboration with the Royal Air Force, the contribution engine of Rolls Royce, the European company MBDA integrating weapons, and the Italian company Leonardo developing sensor and avionics.
According to the plan, the design was completed in early 2020, with a prototype that could be flown by 2025 and production aircraft entering service in 2035. This stealth aircraft gradually replaced the fourth generation Typhoon fighter and completed the F-35B stealth jet.
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This 17-year development cycle is considered ambitious for something as complicated and expensive as a stealth jet fighter.
The Tempest Mockup shows a single-wing, single-wing fighter, with two vertical stabilizers (tail fins) that are leaning in like in a F-22 stealth fighter.
According to analyst Justin Bronk, this tail fin model is to improve maneuverability. The larger fuselage also implies a desire for longer range and more weapon load than the F-35 can be deployed in stealth mode.
BAE has not mentioned performance such as maximum speed, range, radar cross section and others.
Rolls Royce said the Tempest adaptive cycle-adaptive turbofan engine made from lightweight composite materials, reliable heat control features and digital maintenance control, could generate large electricity through magnets in the turbine core.
Excess electricity may be needed to power an energy weapon, which can be a laser to microwaves. The US Air Force plans to test defensive anti-missile laser towers for its jets in the early 2020s, but the Tempest presentation mentioned using direct energy weapons for 'non-kinetic' purposes, which could imply disturbing or damaging enemy sensors.
During the exhibition, Tempest was seen to be equipped with long-range Meteor air-to-air missiles and SPEAR-3 cruise missiles, and compatibility with the next generation of "Attack In" missiles. Presentations at Farnborough also included hypersonic missiles (which travel more than five times the speed of sound, making interception very difficult) and the crowd of deadly drones as an offensive ability.
To ease the workload of pilots, the aircraft will use artificial intelligence and systems that optimize drone behavior.
Like the F-35, Tempest will use a variety of passive and active sensors, and Tempest pilots may be able to gaze "through" their own aircraft using helmet-mounted devices, which can also replace conventional cockpit display panels.
