The Alpha Jet is a lightweight jet attack and trainer aircraft developed jointly by the German aviation company Dornier and the French concern Dassault-Breguet, also known as the Dassault / Dornier Alpha Jet. The aircraft was created in the early 1970s, but despite its age, it is still in service with the air forces of many countries and is widely used by them. During production from 1973 to 1990, 480 Alpha Jet aircraft of all modifications were built.
At the end of 1969, an agreement was reached between Germany and France on joint work on a new light twin-engine attack subsonic combat aircraft. It was originally planned that the new aircraft could be used both as a training aircraft and as a light attack aircraft. Development was carried out by engineers from both countries on the basis of the Dornier P.375 and Breguet Br.126 projects, the new light attack aircraft was named Alpha Jet. According to the initial plans, each of the countries participating in the project planned to build 200 such aircraft. The aircraft were to be built in two countries based on the factories of Dassault and Dornier, respectively. Initially, they were going to install American General Electric J85 engines on the light attack aircraft, which have proven themselves very well on the F-5 fighter and the T-38 training aircraft, but the French managed to insist on installing their own Larzac 04-C6 engines, which developed a thrust of 1350 kgf. To exclude the defeat of the aircraft by one anti-aircraft missile or a projectile, the attack aircraft engines were spread as much as possible along its sides.
The requirements for the Alpha Jet light attack aircraft and its tactical and technical characteristics were developed based on the specifics of the proposed hostilities in the European theater of operations. At that time, Europe had a huge number of Soviet armored vehicles, as well as a powerful military air defense system, saturated, including self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery systems and mobile short and medium-range air defense systems. The attack aircraft was planned to be used in hostilities characterized by the transience, dynamism, massive use of various types of armored vehicles, the need to constantly combat enemy landings and block the approach of its reserves.
Alpha Jet 1B Belgian Air Force
Alpha Jet made its first flight on October 26, 1973, four years later the aircraft began to enter service with the French Air Force, and after a while the German Air Force. During an extensive testing system, it was revealed that in 600 cases of an Alpha Jet stalling into a spin, both during normal and inverted flight, its control remained quite effective, and when the pilot removed the effort from the pedals and control stick, the plane independently came out of the spin. … When flying with the landing gear and flaps retracted, the aircraft went into a tailspin at a speed of about 185 km / h. With the engines running, a stall warning (manifested in a noticeable shaking) occurred at angles of attack of 15 degrees, and a stall occurred when the angle of attack was 18 degrees. The minimum practical speed of a light attack aircraft with the landing gear and flaps extended was only 157 km / h.
The first production Alpha Jet E trainer aircraft began to enter service with French squadrons in December 1977, and the production Alpha Jet A light attack aircraft began to appear in the Luftwaffe six months later. As part of the FRG Air Force, the aircraft replaced the Fiat G-91 fighter-bomber, and in the French Air Force they were intended to replace the outdated CM-170 and Lockheed T-33 trainers.
It is quite obvious that the aircraft intended for operation in the air forces of France and the Federal Republic of Germany had significant differences in the composition of avionics and weapons. The French initially relied on the use of a new two-seat subsonic jet aircraft as a simple trainer. The Germans, in turn, were interested in obtaining a light attack aircraft that could be used to combat enemy armored vehicles. In this regard, German vehicles received a more advanced sighting and navigation system. In total, the German Air Force ordered 175 attack aircraft, the French Air Force - 176 aircraft. In addition, 33 aircraft in the Alpha Jet 1B version, very similar in avionics to the French Alpha Jet E, were built specifically for the Belgian Air Force.
Alpha Jet E French Air Force
The light attack aircraft Alpha Jet had one specific advantage: the aircraft could fly at significantly lower speeds than the F-5E, Mirage-3E, A-104C, F-15, F-18 aircraft, for which such a flight was simply unavailable … This advantage allowed the Alpha Jet crew to evade attacks from enemy supersonic fighters. In terms of angular velocity, turn, and turning radius in the horizontal plane, the light attack aircraft was noticeably superior to other representatives of the combat tactical aviation of NATO countries, including the American A-10 attack aircraft, which was specially developed for direct air support of ground forces on the battlefield. Moreover, with a decrease in flight speed, these advantages of the Alpha Jet attack aircraft only increased.
At the same time, like all subsonic jet aircraft with a relatively low thrust-to-weight ratio, Alpha Jet was significantly inferior to supersonic combat vehicles in climb rate. In order to gain an altitude of 9150 meters from the moment of separation from the airfield, it took him about 7 minutes. Taking into account the flight technical characteristics of a light attack aircraft, its main means of defense against attacks by enemy fighter aircraft were: a small turning radius in the horizontal plane, the use of extremely low flight altitudes and the possibility of a wide maneuver in flight speed.
The presence of a reliable and simple redundant hydraulic control system provided the attack aircraft with very good piloting in all ranges of speeds and flight altitudes. Taking into account the specifics of the use of Alpha Jet and frequent flights at low altitudes in the zone of increased turbulence, the safety margin of the light attack aircraft was very significant. The maximum design overload for him was from +12 to -6 units. During test flights, the pilots repeatedly dived at supersonic flight speeds, while the machine retained adequate control, showing no tendency to pull into a dive or roll over. At the same time, in combat units, the maximum speed of the aircraft without cargo on the external sling was limited to 930 km / h. At the same time, the maneuverable characteristics of the light attack aircraft allowed him to conduct an air battle with enemy helicopters and left a chance in battle with fighters that were in service with NATO at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s.
Alpha Jet A FRG Air Force
To overcome the developed air defense system of the enemy, the crews of the light attack aircraft Alpha Jet A were recommended to fly at low altitudes with the execution of anti-missile and anti-aircraft maneuvers that are sharp in direction and speed. To protect the aircraft, the crew could use passive and active electronic warfare equipment, which could be installed in overhead containers before a combat flight. According to the reviews of the military pilots who had a chance to fly the Alpha Jet, this aircraft had excellent combat and aerobatic capabilities. In many respects, this provided the aircraft with a long service in the air forces of many countries (the air forces of France, Belgium, Portugal, Egypt, Morocco and other countries still use this aircraft as a combat training aircraft).
The light attack aircraft Alpha Jet had good resistance to combat damage. A well-thought-out layout, the presence of a duplicated hydraulic control system and two engines spaced apart along the sides of the fuselage gave the aircraft a chance to return to the airfield, for example, if the Strela-2 MANPADS was defeated.
Design features of the light attack aircraft Alpha Jet
The light all-metal attack aircraft Alpha Jet was made according to a normal aerodynamic configuration with a high swept wing. The engines were widely spaced among themselves and were located in gondolas on the sides of the central part of the aircraft fuselage. The fuselage also had side air intakes.
The cockpit was two-seater (the French insisted on this option) with a tandem crew arrangement (one after another). The rear seat was installed with some elevation above the front seat, which provided the second crew member with a good view, which allowed him to land on his own. The crew could count on two separate cockpit lights that open back. French aircraft were equipped with Martin-Baker Mk.4 ejection seats, which allowed the crew to leave the aircraft at speeds of at least 166 km / h, German aircraft received Stensel SIIIS ejection seats, which provided ejection and zero flight speed.
The Alpha Jet light attack aircraft had a tricycle landing gear and had a nose wheel. All landing gear was one-wheeled, the drive was hydraulic. The front landing gear was controllable, it retracted into the aircraft fuselage by turning forward and was displaced 200 mm to the right of the attack aircraft axis. The main landing gear was retracted under the channels of the side air intakes. The design of the landing gear and the technical characteristics of the aircraft made it possible to use it from unpaved airfields. Experts noted that the vehicle's good adaptability to operations from small unpaved runways allowed them to be in the front line, often changing their home base. With a normal takeoff weight, the takeoff run was only 430 meters, and the run was 500 meters. At the same time, the light attack aircraft Alpha Jet A, intended for the German Air Force, were additionally equipped with an emergency retarding hook. This technical solution made it possible to use brake cable systems during landing in order to reduce the length of the run.
The armament of the light attack aircraft was quite diverse and depended on the nature of the tasks it was solving. The combat load of the aircraft was 2500 kg at 5 hardpoints. The ventral suspension unit could accommodate a container with a 30-mm French aircraft gun DEFA 553 (150 rounds of ammunition, rate of fire 1300 rds / min) or a German 27-mm Mauser BK27 aircraft cannon (120 rounds of ammunition, different rate of fire - 1000/1700 rds / min), a container with two 12, 7-mm machine guns (250 rounds per barrel) could also be installed here. The four underwing hardpoints could carry two AIM-9 Sidewinders Air-to-Air missiles and two AGM-65 Mavericks air-to-surface missiles, free-fall bombs weighing up to 400 kg, as well as incendiary bombs, cluster munitions, NAR caliber 70mm napalm tanks, towed targets, or 310L outboard fuel tanks.
Combat training Alpha Jet E of the Nigerian Air Force
Taking into account the wide variety of weapon options and the rather large relative combat load of the aircraft (up to 30% of the take-off weight), experts believed that the light German attack aircraft could successfully hit a variety of targets on the battlefield. Light attack aircraft Alpha Jet were equally good at hitting stationary and moving targets both on the battlefield and in the tactical depth of enemy defenses. They could be used for direct fire support of ground forces, isolation of the battlefield, depriving the enemy of the possibility of delivering ammunition and reserves, conducting aerial reconnaissance with strikes against targets found in the frontline zone. The aircraft could also be used to intercept enemy helicopters. Among other things, Alpha Jet could be involved in strikes against the launching positions of tactical missiles, radar stations, airfields, communication points, fuel and ammunition depots and other important military targets.
Flight performance of Alpha Jet:
Overall dimensions: length - 13, 23 m, height - 4, 19 m, wingspan - 9, 11 m, wing area - 17, 5 m2.
The empty weight of the aircraft is 3515 kg.
Normal takeoff weight is 5000 kg.
Maximum takeoff weight - 7500 kg.
Power plant - 2 turbojet engines SNECMA / Turbomeca Larzac, thrust 2x1350 kgf (unforced).
The maximum flight speed is about 1000 km / h (near the ground).
The maximum rate of climb is 2700 m / min.
Practical flight range - 3000 km.
Service ceiling - 13,700 m.
Armament - 1x27-mm aircraft cannon Mauser BK27 (120 rounds).
Combat load - up to 2500 kg at 5 hardpoints: "air-to-air" and "air-to-surface" missiles, bombs, NUR, containers with cannon or machine-gun armament.
Crew: 1-2 people.
