Much has been written about this aircraft project, especially after BAE Systems showed a mockup of its design at the Farnborough Air Show. Many different opinions were expressed about him, to the extent that it is window dressing and almost a bluff. It would seem, what else can be said about this?
In the subject of British development BAE Systems Tempest, I was most interested in why British designers came up with exactly such solutions and what they give them in a tactical and technical sense.
Air command post
If the British, who value traditions very much, are breaking traditions in some way, then there is something in this. We are talking about a virtual cockpit, when the usual numerous instruments, button panels and switches are not installed in the cockpit, and all flight and tactical information is displayed on a digital helmet.
Such a radical step as a fundamental refusal to give the pilot the opportunity to control the plane directly, without the participation of a computer, and in general, to give the opportunity to "play around", in my opinion, pursues a very definite goal. The pilot no longer has to be a pilot in his own sense and hold on to the handle, he must leave the piloting of the aircraft to the computer, and he himself must focus on the tactical situation and control of the battle.
This is a multi-component concept. Tempest itself has the ability to control unmanned vehicles. The plane, judging by the statements of the developers, should be able to control other unmanned vehicles. The pilot does not have the usual control and management devices at hand and looks at everything through a digital helmet, on which all tactical information is displayed. Within the framework of this concept, the pilot is no longer a pilot, but a commander, and his task is to control the air combat of an entire squadron of unmanned or manned aircraft.
In general, the virtual cockpit makes BAE Systems Tempest, in fact, an air command post.
The British command, which put forward a similar idea, which was the basis for the order for the development of the aircraft, obviously considered that it was best to control an air battle directly in the air, of course, having the support of all reconnaissance means and the continuous flow of various information. A squadron of attack aircraft or interceptors can face a rapidly changing situation when it is necessary to modify tactics, rebuild, re-target aircraft from one target to another, hit an enemy that has appeared, or simply roll up and run away in time. The dynamics of combat are difficult to feel at a remote ground command center, even with all visualization tools. To resolve such issues, you need a person who makes decisions directly in the air. In order for him to make tactical decisions quickly and efficiently, he needs a special plane.
Hence it follows that the commander needs to be freed from piloting the aircraft, and he simply does not need any instruments, buttons and toggle switches. They should not distract him from his direct duties and generate the temptation to "show off".
Dominance in speed
The virtual cockpit alone suggests that the British are creating something special, unusual. And this is not a development in order to catch up with the level of American aircraft construction. If the UK had an urgent need to create its own advanced aircraft, then BAE Systems could quickly develop an analogue of the F-22 or F-35 (BAE Systems participated in the development of this type) based on its components and assemblies, or you can simply would be to deploy partially localized production in the UK.
BAE Systems Tempest reveals a clear influence of the American experience, which can be seen at least in the aerodynamic configuration, very similar to the F-22. But the ideas contributed by the British are definitely not American. They show how deeply the concept of the new aircraft has been changed in comparison with the already completed developments.
The real highlight of the project is the engines. Rolls-Royce promises to make such engines that could accelerate this aircraft, weighing about the same as the F-22 (29.2 tons of normal takeoff weight), to a speed of Mach 4 or even Mach 5. To do this, the engine must be about three times more powerful than the Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100.
Here the question must be posed: how are they going to achieve this? Of course, Rolls-Royce speaks about this project very vaguely and vaguely, hinting at some particularly advanced technology. But I think that at the base of any complex technical system there is a simple fundamental idea, and they developed and accepted such an idea.
What could it be? This is hardly a classic turbojet engine. It is unlikely that they achieved such a degree of air compression that was sufficient to develop such a thrust at which the plane flew at a speed of Mach 4. Air is not the best oxidizing agent. Here the solution is different: to apply the scheme of a liquid jet engine with the supply of an oxidizing agent, for example, liquid oxygen. This immediately gives the desired effect. The Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 has 156 kN afterburner thrust, and the ancient “kerosene oil” RD-108 gives 745.3 kN thrust at sea level. That's what a concentrated oxidizer is.
Thus, if a turbojet engine is designed so that, in addition to air, an oxidizing agent, for example, liquid oxygen or nitrogen tetroxide, can be supplied to the combustion chamber, then the engine thrust can be dramatically increased up to those limits when the aircraft accelerates to Mach 4-5.
I think that this is exactly the oxidizer, since the British have abandoned the turbo-ramjet engines with which the SR-71 was equipped. The supply of the oxidizer makes it possible to flexibly vary the increase in engine power, which is very important for performing high-speed maneuvers, as well as to go into acceleration at any stage of flight and from almost any initial speed. SR-71, in order to reach the ramjet mode of the engines, it was required to reach the speed of Mach 1, 6.
Of course, Rolls-Royce is faced with the difficult technical task of combining a turbojet and rocket engines based on the former. They need to achieve not only that the engine, in principle, can operate in two modes and at the same time maintain the required performance, but also that it works absolutely reliably and easily transitions from mode to mode. The company has a reputation for saying that it will cope with this task.
What does it do? This first of all gives the aircraft invulnerability against most types of surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, which have a speed of Mach 4-4, 5. BAE Systems Tempest can simply break away or evade from them. Even with promising missiles, for example, for the S-500 complex, it will not be so easy to get it with a speed of Mach 5. Aircraft of the fourth generation will not be able to catch up with him or hit him with a rocket.
The high speed makes BAE Systems Tempest an excellent fighter. At Mach 5, another plane flying at Mach 1, 8-2, 2 is like a stationary target. BAE Systems Tempest can get close to him and hit almost point blank, probably without a chance to dodge. At this speed, a British fighter can shoot down an adversary with a discarded cast iron; however, it is likely that hypersonic air-to-air missiles will also be developed.
A couple of squadrons of such interceptors can quite easily destroy a very large enemy air fleet, consisting of 4 and 4+ aircraft, and achieve complete air supremacy, and then iron the ground with swarms of drones.
Of course, the project will not be easy. British designers and their partners will have to solve many technical challenges. But if they succeed, if they get an aircraft with the declared characteristics in 10-12 years, in fact, Great Britain will be able to count on achieving air supremacy.
