Khaldea Kompendium

Air Force Aviation

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↑ Equipment Index · MFB Index · Strategic Projects (2009)

Air Force Aviation

As of 03 March 2009.

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Air Superiority & Interdiction

J-50 “Kaspirr”

STEALTH AIR SUPERIORITY FIGHTER

  • Introduced: 2000
  • Numbers in Service: 65 The J-50 is a twin-engine stealth tactical fighter, with extensive use of radar absorbent materials and stealth design. The J-50 has 3D thrust vectoring engines, can super cruise at Mach 1.7, or reach Mach 2.25 with afterburner. The aircraft’s RCS is less than 0.001m^2, and features an AESA, with an LPI range exceeding 300km. For armaments, the aircraft features a 27mm internal cannon, 6x hardpoints in the main bay, and 2x hardpoints in the side bays, with 4x hardpoints on the underneath of the aircraft for external ordinance.

J-41 “Ekhder”

AIR SUPERIORITY HEAVY FIGHTER

  • Introduced: 1995
  • Numbers in Service: 430 The Ekhder is a large, twin engine fighter, a max speed of Mach 2.4, a combat ceiling of 20,000m, a combat radius of 1,600km, AESA radar, a 27mm cannon, and 6x internal hardpoints for RBS-99s, and 6x external hardpoints.

J-41D “Yizlan”

STRIKE FIGHTER

  • Introduced: 1998
  • Numbers in Service: 80 The Yizlan is built on the J-41s airframe, strengthened, and featuring a two-seat cockpit for a WSO, and conformal fuel tanks to increase range. The radar is improved to feature aperture ground mapping, while the aircraft can still reach Mach 2.2, and has a range of 1,800km, in addition to the armament of a 27mm cannon, and 11x hardpoints, including stand-off cruise missiles.

J-37 “Viggen”

CAS / BATTLEFIELD AIR SUPPORT (role change 2008–09)

  • Introduced: 1978 (originally heavy interceptor)
  • Numbers in Service: ~115 The Viggen is being repurposed from pure interceptor duty toward CAS and battlefield air support in theatres where the RKAF holds air superiority—plus garrison and internal security tasks (Korto, key bases). Emperor Lokrens III flew the type in his naval/aviation service; the wing community remains politically visible.

JAS-39K “Gripen”

MULTI-ROLE FIGHTER

  • Introduced: 1997 (Block K); Block K2 LRIP from Q4 2008
  • Numbers in Service: ~1,050 Block K + ~8–12 Block K2 LRIP (Mar 2009)

Standard light-fighter of the RKAF. Dispersed operation—short strips and motorways. Datalink fuses a four-ship into one sensor network. Combat radius ~800 km, Mach 2.0, 27mm cannon, 8× hardpoints.

Block K (Block 1)

Majority of the fleet. Baseline pulse-Doppler radar, standard RM12, production configuration since 1997.

Block K2 “Kral Pençe” (MoD headline programme)

  • In service (Mar 2009): ~8–12 LRIP airframes; 0 IOC squadrons yet
  • Radar: AESA (architecture from J-50 line) — range, small-RCS track, anti-jam
  • Engine: Volvo RM12-MAX — supercruise when lightly loaded
  • Fuel / structure: landing gear in wing fairings → more internal fuel
  • IRST: passive IR search & track

Schedule: first flight Q2 2007 (compressor stall, AESA cooling — fixed by KADI); LRIP Q4 2008. Host: 6th Fighter Wing, Port Vitrellan. New-build K2 first; selective K→K2 upgrades on priority wings after IOC (forecast late 2009). JAS-39N2 (carrier) deferred.

J-35K “Draken”

TRAINING / RANGE / WEAPONS TRIAL

  • Introduced: 1985 (strike rebuild)
  • Numbers in Service: ~45 Phasing out of strike squadrons; remainder are trainers, missile-test, and range assets (<50 combat-meaningful airframes).

Strategic Bombers

S-19 “Karzhana”

SUPERSONIC STRATEGIC BOMBER

  • Introduced: 1981
  • Numbers in Service: 36 The Karzhana is a large swing-wing bomber designed to penetrate heavy air defences at low altitude and high speed. It features twin engines fed by large side mounted intakes and a crew of four. The aircraft has a max speed of Mach 1.88 at high altitude, and Mach 0.95 at low altitude, with a combat radius of 2,400km, and a ferry range of 6,800km. The aircraft is fitted with a large rotary launcher in the internal bomb bay, and 4x external hardpoints, with a combined payload capacity of 24,000kg.

S-25 “Yardin”

STEALTH STRATEGIC BOMBER

  • Introduced: 1998
  • Numbers in Service: 24 The Yardin is a subsonic, flying-wing style strategic bomber designed for carrying heavy ordinance, or nuclear weapons. The aircraft features 4 high bypass turbofans, can reach Mach 0.9, has a range of 11,000km, an RCS of less than 0.0001m^2, and two large internal bomb bays, with a capacity of 23,000kg. Examples of payload would be 80x 250kg bombs, 16x 1000kg bunker buster style bombs, or 16x air-launched cruise missiles.

Surveillance and Intelligence

J-310E “Sukar”

STAND-OFF JAMMING AIRCRAFT

  • Introduced: 1996
  • Numbers in Service: 35 Built upon the KS-310 narrow-body airliner, fitted with powerful jamming transmitters and receivers, purposed to blind enemy air defence systems from a distance, with a crew of 6-8 EWOs.

S-100 “Khartuk”

AWACS

  • Introduced: 1994
  • Numbers in Service: 25 Based on the KS-420 widebody airliner, the S-100 is fitted with a powerful radar in the form of a 9-meter diameter rotodome. completing a full rotation every 10 seconds. The aircraft has a crew of 4 in the cockpit, and 18-24 mission crew, with the aircraft having a maximum endurance of 14 hours, with a 1,800km range when conducting a patrol orbit from base for 8 hours. The radar has approximate ranges of >600km for high altitude bombers, >375km for fighters, and >240km for sea-skimming cruise missiles.

S-101 “Khasus”

SIGINT/ELINT AIRCRAFT

  • Introduced: 1995
  • Numbers in Service: 15 Built on the KS-310 narrowbody airframe, the S-101 is built to hoover up large quantities of electronic emissions. With a flight crew of 4 and a mission crew of 16-20, the aircraft has a maximum endurance of 12 hours, with a patrol orbit of 1,500km from base for 6-7 hours.

Logistics & Transport

Y-100 “Deve”

STRATEGIC HEAVY LIFTER

  • Introduced: 1992
  • Numbers in Service: 100 The Y-100 is a large, four engined transport designed to carry heavy equipment, including MBTs, up to a range of 4,400km with max payload, 7,700km with 50,000kg, or 10,500km ferry range. The aircraft requires 1,060m to land at max weight, with the max payload being 77,500kg. The aircraft has high-mounted wings to provide good short-field performance.

TP-120 “Khelmun”

TACTICAL AIRLIFTER

  • Introduced: 1989
  • Numbers in Service: 220 The TP-120 is a rugged, twin-turboprop aircraft designed to operate from low-quality airfields such as on dirt, gravel, or even damaged runways. It has 2x KTP-900 turboprops with 8 bladed composite propellors, whilst achieving 8,200km ferry range, 5,800km with 15,000kg, or 3,100km with its max payload of 25,000kg. The TP-120 requires a 750m on unprepared surfaces, decreased when on a good quality runway.

KY-100 “Sach”

MRTT

  • Introduced: 1993
  • Numbers in Service: 60 Built on the KS-540 airframe, the KY-100 is able to carry fuel and refuel other aircraft mid-air, in addition to carrying some cargo. The KY-100 has a ferry range of 13,500km, or can deliver 50,000kg of fuel up to 3,500km from its home base. The aircraft has 1x fly-by-wire aerial refuelling boom, and 2x underwing probe-and-drogue pods.

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