Future Offensive Air System

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A tornado GR4, which should be replaced by the FOAS ...
... and a Eurofighter that benefited from the FOAS studies

The Future Offensive Air System ( FOAS ) was a study to find a replacement for the Panavia Tornado of the Royal Air Force . The system was scheduled to go into service in 2017, but the project was canceled in 2005. A European cooperation was sought and realized with France. Germany showed interest in joining. Although the French later withdrew, the common requirements for modern weapon systems such as drones (Neuron, Taranis ) and cruise missiles (Scalp EG, Storm Shadow, Taurus) are still recognizable.

During the project, a manned aircraft was also sought, which, in addition to combat drones and cruise missiles, should be part of the FOAS concept. Since a completely new development was out of the question for reasons of cost, variants of existing aircraft such as F-22 , F-35 and Eurofighter were examined for their suitability. The Typhoon emerged as the main platform for FOAS, so that in the future the findings of the FOAS studies ( synthetic cockpit , more powerful engines for Mach 2 cruise, conformal fuel tanks, "signature control", weapons bay, voice control of drones, energy weapons, powerful data links ) will flow into the Eurofighter project. The same is conceivable for the A400M, which could use cruise missiles in the future.

history

Early visions

In 1988 the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA) was just getting underway and was intended to add an air superiority component to the Panavia Tornado. The EFA was considered the most cost-effective solution by then Air Chief Marshal Sir Peter Harding. A stealth aircraft with less maneuverability was rejected because the EFA was deliberately intended to supplement the tornado as a dogfight -capable fighter aircraft. The Tornado ADV were supposed to defend the British Isles even after the introduction of the EFA, due to their larger operating radius, while the EFA was to be stationed in West Germany to replace the Phantoms . The EFA was also intended to replace the SEPECAT Jaguar in the air-to-ground role and has more range, survivability and bomb load than this. One of the tasks of the tornadoes, the close air support , was perceived as increasingly difficult, as the air defense threat of the Pact steadily increased. Intelligent standoff weapons with a shaped charge (later Brimstone ) and cruise missiles ( Modular Standoff Weapon System , MSOW) were seen as a possible solution , the latter especially for the destruction of airfields that would otherwise have to be overflown with the JP233 . The cruise missile should have an imaging sensor with intelligent image processing. In the long term, in addition to a new generation of air-to-air guided missiles and an AWACS improvement which would allow the purely passive location and tracking of targets by ESM , satellite-based bistatic radar was also targeted.

When voice control was implemented in the EFA, the aim was not only to relieve the pilot: the digital recording of the spoken word also makes it possible to send the data packet in a narrow-band manner, while conventional speech requires a broad transmission band. Under severe enemy interference, when calls can no longer be sent, the EFA pilot can read the statements of the wingmen on his HUD, as only the word codes have to be sent through the EFA. In the long run, the coding of the vocabulary proved to be a godsend. A 1998 DERA study found Typhoon and Rafale's voice control to be very beneficial for enabling natural interaction with unmanned aircraft.

Program start

The Hawk served as the basis for HALO to test “signature control” measures at low cost.

Great Britain began in 1994 Future Offensive Aircraft (FOA) studies for the Staff Target Air 425 , which was intended to replace the Panavia Tornado. The Tornado 2000 variant was adopted as a reference and alternatives were evaluated. While the Tornado variant was the cheapest solution and a variant of the Eurofighter was medium-priced, a new development with balanced stealth properties would be the most expensive solution. In the new developments, subsonic and supersonic designs, STOVL concepts and external loads were examined in comparison with weapon bays. BAE Systems wanted to implement the ST (A) 425 as a European program with France and Germany; The DASA received encouragement . The construction of a prototype was planned. In August 1994 the United States forced the British to merge the Advanced Short Take-off and Vertical Landing (ASTOVL) program, in which they were involved, with the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) program. Now it was also examined whether the conventional JAST variant could meet the FOA requirements, because the financing of two fighter aircraft development projects at the same time seemed hardly feasible. In November 1995, Great Britain started the secret HALO project. In the US press the rumor was spread that it would be a top secret stealth aircraft, the abbreviation for " High Agility Low Observable " and that the prototype would fly in 2000. Parallels between BAE Systems and the Skunk works were conjured up, and that HALO was the predecessor for an Experimental Aircraft Project (EAP) II. Separately from this, the Royal Air Force now preferred an aircraft with two engines, an internal weapon bay, stand-off weapons and thrust vector control. Since the JAST was only single-jet, it was out of the question, instead a collaboration with France was sought. Both countries started the Advanced Military Engine Technology (AMET) program in November 1990 , which was to continue the development of the ACME II. ACME and AMET would later lead to a prototype engine for the FOA called the XG1100. The goal was a thrust-to-weight ratio for the engine of 15: 1 in 2001, later 18: 1. The turbine inlet temperature should be increased to 2100 K.

In April 1996 it was determined that the Future Offensive Aircraft (FOA) should have several small actively phased radar systems on the front wing roots and the rear of the aircraft in order to improve the pilot's awareness of the situation. In addition, this would improve the maneuvering possibilities in aerial combat with BVR guided missiles, since the aircraft nose does not have to be pointed at a target. The radar technology for this was researched with the AMSAR, which was built by a GEC - Thomson - DASA consortium. The FOA was now planned as a possible French / German / British joint project. In September radical approaches such as a Mini-B2 were ruled out and a further development of the Eurofighter Typhoon with better camouflage technology was envisaged. BAE Systems submitted a variant with enlarged wings. The FOA was to carry two 900 kg bombs and two air-to-air missiles internally, or four 900 kg bombs and two external air-to-air missiles. The internal weapon carrier should only be realized if a stealth design was chosen, which was by no means safe. An aircraft with a two-person crew and two engines was classified as the preferred concept, but was not yet certain. The program was now beginning to unfold as unmanned aerial vehicles and a cheap bomber with stand-off weapons based on a civilian machine were now also seen as options.

The Staff Target (Air) 425 was determined in August. Accordingly, the aircraft should be used for air lockdown , offensive air superiority hunting, tactical reconnaissance, suppression of enemy air defenses , air-to-ground missions and offensive air support. The plane should be manned; whether it would be a stealth plane was uncertain. Due to the projected high costs, a European cooperation was sought, which seemed opportune because France and Germany were looking for a successor model for the Dassault Mirage 2000 D / N and Panavia Tornado at the same time . Rolls-Royce and Snecma already worked together on the Advanced Military-Engine Technology (AMET) program, and GEC and Thomson-CSF on AMSAR. Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA) already joined the AMSAR program while MTU applied to work at AMET. The conventional JSF variant was rejected by the RAF because it would not even come close to meeting the FOA requirements. Manfred Bischoff , Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz Aerospace, awarded BAE Systems the central position in the program around which the other companies were to gather. Although transatlantic cooperation between Europe and the USA was ruled out in the UK, the question of whether a US-UK or UK-FR-DE program should be started remained open. Cooperation with Germany was considered suboptimal because of the German disruptions in the Eurofighter program. Since the US Air Force was also looking for a replacement for the F-117 and F-15E (presumably by some kind of FB-22 ), Lockheed saw a chance to get Great Britain on board.

Expansion of the program

In early 1997, the Future Offensive Aircraft (FOA) was renamed Future Offensive Air System (FOAS). A number of systems have been studied for FOAS, including UAVs and wide-body aircraft as cruise missile carriers. The UK Department of Defense has now released £ 35 million for research , including £ 6 million for a joint study with France. A further development of the Eurofighter with more range, payload and camouflage technology were examined as well as a variant of the F-22 or the Joint Strike Fighter. It was also specified that the aircraft must have a synthetic cockpit to protect against high energy lasers (HEL). While the next-generation radar was taking shape with the European AMSAR, cooperation on the engine stalled. France therefore suggested setting up a joint venture between Rolls-Royce and Snecma. In the fall of 1997, the production date for FOAS was raised from 2015 to 2018, and it was decided to increase the combat value of the Tornado. The selection of the manned FOAS variants was now limited to a fighter-bomber version of the Eurofighter with a larger wing and better camouflage technology, and a fighter-bomber version of the F-22 Raptor. By postponing the commissioning of FOAS, the temporal ideas of Great Britain, France and Germany could be brought closer.

In spring 1998, the head of armaments procurement determined that unmanned aerial vehicles could take on a number of tasks of the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS). The UAVs should only complement the manned variant, not replace it. A joint venture between BAE and Dassault was also considered. In September 1998, BAE Systems asked the government to postpone their decision on one or more FOAS concepts, which was planned for March 2000, until technology studies were completed. At that time, 650 technologies were being studied by French and British companies working on FOAS, including GEC, Matra BAe Dynamics, Rolls-Royce and Smiths Industries, but also Lockheed Martin.

In February 1999, Australia considered joining the FOAS program to replace the F-111 "Pigs" . BAE Systems tried at the same time to make the Eurofighter palatable as an F-18 replacement. Avpro, BAE Systems, and the Defense Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) continued to develop concepts, including a concept in which a stealth aircraft serves as the " mother ship " for UCAVs with air-to-ground weapons. In April 1999, an 18-month study on Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles (CALCMs) was commissioned. The preferred application of the drones was seen as an unmanned wingman to a manned fighter aircraft. A decision by the Royal Navy regarding their Future Carrier Borne Aircraft (FCBA) should also have an impact on the FOAS-UAV and FOAS-CALCM.

In August 1999, British and French companies were asked to submit requests for proposals (RFPs) for technology demonstrator programs (TDPs) for the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS). Manned aircraft, unmanned machines and cruise missiles should meet FOAS requirements to replace the Royal Air Force Panavia Tornados by 2017. The French and British Defense Ministries jointly gave the RFPs to European Aero Systems, a joint venture between British Aerospace and Dassault, as well as Marconi Electronic Systems and Thomson-CSF, and engine builders Rolls-Royce and Snecma. Germany has now signaled its interest in joining the program, and negotiations on this should be completed in 2000.

In mid-2000, BAE Systems saw the Eurofighter as the main platform for the FOAS program. For this purpose, a weapons shaft could be scaffolded and additional conformal fuel tanks installed on the upper hull. In addition, machines in Tranche 3 should have a "360 ° sensor coverage"; this press release probably meant the development of radar, see above. A larger wing and integrated modular avionics were also considered. Germany was now planning to rejoin the EuroDASS consortium.

End of program

BAE Taranis , the ABM measure

In January 2001, Geoff Hoon decided that the UK would participate in the Joint Strike Fighter Program . In 2002 the FOAS studies were extended, the manned aircraft should now be based on the Eurofighter or the JSF. In October, £ 700,000 was commissioned for a nine-month FOAS study of Network-Centric Warfare . In May 2003, MBDA was given a two-year study to convert the Airbus A400M into a cheap bomber for Storm Shadow cruise missiles. The Boeing C-17 and Lockheed C-130 were also seen as options for the Large Non-Penetrating Aircraft (LNPA). A fundamental decision by the United Kingdom on FOAS was expected in May 2004, but the exact mix of forces was not to be decided until 2008/2009. However, France began building the Dassault Neuron , leaving the British alone in the rain. BAE Systems therefore demanded in June that a national program was necessary before European or American cooperation in the UCAV area could take place. The British-French cooperation at FOAS was thus wasted . In 2005 the Future Offensive Air Systems (FOAS) was replaced by the Strategic Unmanned Air Vehicles (Experiment) (SUAVE) program, which was supposed to focus exclusively on drones. The operational readiness of the tornadoes has now been extended until 2025. Great Britain therefore turned increasingly to the JSF project, although dissatisfied with the technology transfer. Due to the poor transfer at the JSF, BAE Systems agreed with the UK Department of Defense in 2004 to build its own drone as a " job creation measure ". A follow-up project is currently running with the European Technology Acquisition Program .

Application considerations

FOAS

The main goal of FOAS was to combine offensive capacity with long range. Because of the Second Gulf War and the Bosnian War , this was deemed necessary despite the end of the Cold War. The plane was supposed to attack the enemy’s focal points deep in enemy territory to limit its ability to wage war. Mobile and stationary high-value targets should be attacked. At the time of the FOAS studies, this task was performed by the Panavia Tornado . The increase in combat value on the Tornado 2000 (faceted front fuselage to reduce RCS, conformal fuel tank on the lower fuselage, extended fuselage for more fuel, EloGM container) was rejected as too limited. The lascivious sale of Flanker series aircraft and SA-10 / 12 / 20 series air defense systems by Russia to other countries was also seen as a problem. In contrast to the USAF, the RAF does not have the luxury of being able to use its own special aircraft for every task such as distance interference or SEAD .

The system studies on FOAS assumed an air-to-ground-optimized aircraft design with robust air-to-air capabilities. In terms of armament, no major jumps were planned, an additional energy weapon was only considered useful for air superiority hunting. The situation awareness of the group should be ensured by space-based sensors, data fusion in the group and camouflaged data links with ranges of over 80 km and data transfer rates of over 1 Mbit / s. The JTIDS latency of 12 seconds was rated as insufficient. If possible, only one aircraft in the group should transmit with active LPI radar, work better with bistatic radar, and pass the data on to other machines that are only looking for targets with infrared search systems. A changed target assignment during the flight ( re-targeting ) and a change of role (re-roling), e.g. B. flying an air surveillance mission after a bombing, were sought.

FAWS

Germany began the Future Airborne Weapon System (FAWS) studies around the same time to find a replacement for the tornado. Like Britain, it was decided that a manned fighter alone was not the answer. Instead, adding unmanned combat aircraft and cruise missiles was seen as the best solution. The advantages of a combat drone were seen in the higher endurance and the ability to fly more aggressive maneuvers (up to 20 g). The use against ground targets deep in enemy territory under strong air defense was therefore considered sensible. A drone would also offer the opportunity to reduce life cycle costs, as training flights can be omitted.

Cruise missiles were seen as an alternative to UCAVs , but their flexibility was limited. The cruise missiles should therefore be briefed on alternative targets during the flight or be able to break off the attack. On-board sensors with high resolution and target updates in real time would enable use against mobile targets. Studies by IABG showed that a returnable system with weapons dropping is 10 to 20% more expensive than a one-way solution, with a small advantage in terms of life cycle costs for the one-way solution. However, a UCAV was awarded a possibility as a reconnaissance aircraft , distance interferer and fighter-bomber for SEAD with anti-radar missiles. Since the combat drone should achieve the same speeds as a manned combat aircraft, a joint use with manned aircraft would also be conceivable. The use of BVR air-to-air missiles against enemy aircraft was considered to be obvious, the dogfighting ability was found to be suboptimal due to the lack of a pilot. A mission for air escorts was therefore considered. Better skills in electronic warfare and information warfare to block opposing communication through noise disturbance were required. The use of energy weapons such as high-energy lasers (HEL) and high-power microwaves (HPM) by the enemy was considered likely, as was their own use of HPM bombs.

A reduction of the airframe compared to a manned fighter aircraft was considered unlikely. The UCAV was supposed to have stealth and weapon shafts, but terrain following flight to reduce the enemy’s radar range and the installation of an EloGM system was recommended. Active sensors such as radar should almost never be used, at most for target acquisition. In order to reduce the need for a (failure-prone) data link, the UCAV should be as autonomous as possible. Data should always be encrypted, and the data processing of all sensors in contact with the outside world should look for corrupted data and act as a firewall for other systems. The on-board systems should be electromagnetically shielded against energy weapons.

Systems

FOAS

Example of a synthetic vision: the image is generated by MMW radar and infrared sensors (NASA)

The manned version should have two engines and a crew of two people. The cockpit should - at least temporarily - be made opaque to protect the crew from high-energy lasers. The crew would then have to rely entirely on electro-optical and radar sensors (synthetic cockpit). The aircraft was supposed to reach a super cruising speed of Mach 2 and a top speed of over Mach 2. While 8000 kg internal weapon load and an operational radius of 3000 km were initially planned, smaller weapon bays were planned later. BAE conducted theoretical investigations into weapons ejection from a shaft. Avpro, BAE Systems and DERA worked out two fighter aircraft concepts for a new development:

  • FOAS-1: Delta-Canard combat aircraft with a strongly swept, curved delta wing, the ends of which had winglets with an approx. 45 ° inclination as rudder and elevator. The entire aircraft was very flat and curved in shape, with duck wings lying far forward and sloping downward to control damping and increase maneuverability. As with the North American F-107 , the air intake for the two engines was located above the one-person cockpit, and the engine nozzles were integrated into the wing trailing edges. Should also exist as an unmanned version. The dimensions were 21 m × 15.8 m × 3.3 m (L × W × H).
  • FOAS-2: The BAE Replica is essentially a copy of the Northrop YF-23 . The cockpit was intended to accommodate two people side by side and had no rear view due to the thickened back. The dimensions were 15.7 m × 13 m (L × W).

Around 1998 a variant based on the F-22 and a further development of the Eurofighter were considered. While a variant based on the F-22E Block 10 was too expensive, a Typhoon with conformal fuel tanks (CFT), more powerful engines and a weapon bay would have met the FOAS requirements. Initially, a Eurofighter variant with a larger wing was examined, but later the CFT solution was found to be sufficient. Incidentally, this is the only semi-official statement that the Eurofighter can potentially reach Mach 2 without an afterburner.

FOAS UAV

Avpro, BAE Systems and DERA also worked out three drone concepts for the Future Offensive Air System (FOAS):

Neuron at the Paris Air Show 2013
  • UCAV-I: The “Avenger” was a vertical and landing-capable concept, which practically consisted only of a delta wing, the ends of which had winglets with a 45 ° inclination as rudder and elevator. The belly inlet conveys the air directly into the engine behind it, which was constructed like the Rolls-Royce Pegasus : part of the air is directed to the fan through vector nozzles on the left and right of the engine, the rest to the turbine. The machine should be equipped with a hull-compliant phased array radar with LPI properties for air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, as well as an infrared search system (IRST). A direct control via synthetic view was considered. Dimensions 9.4 m × 10 m × 1.3 m.
  • UCAV-II: The nameless concept was similar to a Lockheed Martin RQ-3 with the exception of the front and side belly inlet , but was a flying wing delta with an M-shaped rear edge. Should start conventionally and land RATO and carrier suitability were being considered. Dimensions 5.2 m × 12 m × 1.5 m.
  • UCAV-III: The "Archangel" was a delta canard design, with the delta being more of a trapezoidal wing like the YF-23. As with the X-36 , the duck wings were attached directly in front of the wings. Behind the belly inlet directly under the nose was the weapons bay with two doors for air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. The combat drone should also accommodate a BK-27 or M61 Vulcan . The underside of the nozzle at the stern was extended in order to shield the exhaust gases from ground observers. The aerodynamically unstable concept should be highly maneuverable and be able to pull higher g-loads than a manned aircraft. The dimensions were 7.16 m × 7.5 m × 1.66 m.

As with the manned concepts, suggestive images were published. B. show an Archangel air combat drone chasing flanker aircraft. While the UCAV-III concept was more in line with German ideas, the UCAV-II concept was awarded to France and Great Britain. Since France said goodbye in French, but the Requests for Proposals were developed jointly by the British and French, Dassault Neuron and BAE Taranis look very similar.

FOAS-CALCM

The requirements for a conventional cruise missile ( conventional air launched cruise missile , CALCM) are not known, except that it should have a range of 1,600 km. However, a concept called "Proteus" has also been published by Avpro, BAE Systems and DERA. The strongly faceted cruise missile with V-tail and forward swept, swing-out wings should be able to be equipped with modular payloads. The function is performed today by Storm Shadow and Taurus . Both cruise missiles can be equipped with different payloads, with the Taurus a two-way data link is still being considered in order to take into account the wishes of the FAWS studies. The required range is not achieved by either of the two systems. For the Taurus, however, a variant with the suggestive name Taurus 2000 with a corresponding range is being considered.

FOAS-LNPA

A400M at ILA 2012

The Large Non-Penetration Aircraft (LNPA) was supposed to bring CALCM cruise missiles to the front as cheap bombers. For this purpose, commercial aircraft from Airbus and Boeing were examined, as well as C-130, C-17 and A400M transport machines. In 2003, MBDA was commissioned with a two-year study to investigate the suitability of the Airbus A400M . Obviously the £ 5 million effort was crowned with success, and the MBDA patented the process for the A400M. Accordingly, a mission kit is installed in the A400M, which consists of transport racks for cruise missiles (Taurus KEPD 350/150, Storm Shadow, Scalp EG, Apache) and a special crane at the end of the hold. The cruise missiles can be loaded in packets and programmed to their respective destination while the transporter is in flight. Then these are transported individually by crane to the loading ramp and positioned under the loading ramp opening in the air flow field. These are then disengaged and dropped, just like the under wing station of a fighter aircraft.

The advantage arises from the significantly cheaper transport costs of the cruise missile to the launch point compared to a fighter-bomber, the greater range and endurance of the A400M compared to a fighter-bomber and the convertibility of the A400M after the cruise missile operation has ended.

Individual evidence

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