Work on the creation of this seemingly very exotic combat aircraft began in 1990. The requirements of the Polish Air Force provided for the development of a universal combat vehicle designed for direct support of troops, reconnaissance, as well as the fight against attack aircraft, helicopters and RPVs (a similar concept of the SABA combat aircraft was studied in the UK in the 1980s). Initially, the PZL-230 aircraft was planned to be equipped with two PT6A-67A turbofan engines with pushing propellers. In the future, the appearance of the machine was revised, instead of a theater it was decided to use two turbojet engines with a high bypass ratio (the new modification of the "Scorpion" was designated PZL-230F). It was assumed that the aircraft would have "super-maneuverability" - the ability to make a controlled flight at angles of attack up to 50 °. The plane had to turn 180 ° in just 5 seconds.
In 1993, a full-scale model of the aircraft was made, but in 1994, the Polish Ministry of Defense announced the suspension of work on the Scorpion program, focusing its main efforts on creating, first of all, a simpler M-99 aircraft, developed on the basis of the existing TCB design 1-22. In the future, if Poland manages to find partners for the PZL-230F program, the work can be resumed.
Design. The aircraft is made according to the "duck" scheme with smooth conjugation of the wing and fuselage. The vertical tail is V-shaped. The engines are housed in separate nacelles on pylons in the tail section. The airframe structure is mainly made of composite materials. Separate elements of the Stealth technology have been introduced. The Martin-Baker MK.10L ejection seat is tilted at an angle of 34 °, which should allow the pilot to withstand a steady-state overload of up to 9 units. The cockpit armor protects the pilot from bullets up to 12.7 mm.
Power point. Two turbojet engines Pratt-Whitney Canada PW305 (2 x 2380 kgf), Garrett ATF3 (2 x x 2480 kgf) or Textron Lycoming LF505 (2 x x 2840 kgf).
Equipment. Avionics of Polish and Western production. INS, ILS, multifunctional cockpit indicators on color CRT. EDSU is available.
Armament. Built-in 4-barreled General Electric GAU-12 / U cannon (25 mm, 300 rounds). Under the fuselage, the suspension of a more powerful 30-mm 7-barrel General Electric GAU-8 cannon (developed for the Fairchild A-10A attack aircraft) is possible. Bombs (including KAB), air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles on 13 external sling nodes.
Performance characteristics: wingspan-10m, aircraft length-12, 1m, height-4, 2m, wing area-25, 4 sq.m., take-off weight-10000kg, empty weight -3600kg, load weight on external nodes-up to 4000kg, maximum speed-1040 km / h, service ceiling-12000 m, combat range-300 km, take-off distance-370 m.
