Shipbucket

Thanks all!

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Bit of a reworking of the HAe Halestorm COIN/light attack/ISR aircraft:

HAe Halestorm GR.1




An aircraft designed originally for the light attack and close air support role before the design brief was expanded to include ISR roles, the HAe Halestorm entered service with the RRAF and RRN FAA in 2006 just in time to see service over Afghanistan. The aircraft is designed from the start to have excellent STOL characteristics, aircraft carrier operability, good rough field performance and simplified maintenance requirements. The aircraft is equipped with 2 x 2,000hp PT-6 turboprop engines with a cutting edge digital engine management system allowing flight and engine profiles to be selected by the pilot to best match the mission (eg. high performance at low altitude, low fuel burn at medium altitude etc) to allow both a top speed of over 700km/h and a maximum endurance of 9 hours. With a total of 11 hardpoints (3 wet), most variants come equipped with an integral GAU-22 25mm cannon and an extensive integrated defensive aids suite, with some aircraft also equipped with a belly mounted 30mm M230 chain gun to provide overwatch support. To maximise the aircraft's utility in performing various roles without impacting the basic, clean design a number of specialised pods were created to allow any aircraft equipped with a central hardpoint to perform various roles with minimal changeover required between. With an unmanned variant under development, the aircraft has spent much of its career operating at medium altitude in the FAC and ISR role over the battlefield, as well as fulfilling the RRN requirement for a multi-role carrier support aircraft.

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Love it!

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USN components, camouflage colors, & reference links (World War II only)

Great work Rowdy, hope to see lots more from you again.

This is a nice compact multi-mission platform. What's the intended ASW capability, and is that a drogue sticking out of the rear end of the pod? Would an ASW Halestorm also carry torpedoes/mines/depth charges on the hardpoints?

Thanks guys.
The pod itself holds an extendable MAD array and a sonobuoy dispenser, with the possibility of adding a small radar in the nose of the pod if required (though the main radar on the aircraft has maritime search modes also). With the pod fitted it could carry up to four ASW torpedoes on the inner wing hardpoints (hardpoints 3, 4, 8 & 9), though the points between the engine and fuselage (4 & 8) are almost exclusively assigned to drop tanks in operational service restricting the normal loadout to two torpedoes. In Recherche use it is primarily used from aircraft carriers to perform outer ring search, often allowing the helicopters to then take over the prosecution of the contact, but it is also used for coastal patrol and ASW. Depth charges are possible though not used in Recherche service but minelaying is a role it is capable of, especially with the Flounder mine based on an extended range Mk82 JDAM where it could carry a maximum of 11 (triple racks in place of drop tanks and under the fuselage - hardpoints 4, 6 & 8 - and single mines on hardpoints 3 and 9).

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Really cool concept. Nice!