The Israeli company IAI, inspired by the success of its Kfir and Nesher aircraft, agreed in 1976 to begin developing a multifunctional combat aircraft, which should enter service in the 1990s. The design of "Lavi" began in 1980, and began in 1982 in full swing; the aircraft was supposed to meet the requirements of the Israeli Air Force for an aircraft intended primarily for air combat and to replace the A-4 and Kfir aircraft. Pratt-Whitney agreed to take on power plant, the only major subcontract was awarded to Grumman, whose great experience used to design and manufacture the wing.
Like many maneuverable aircraft, the Lavi had a swept wing located close to the PGO. The air intake was located under the fuselage, in front of the front strut of the three-post landing gear, the main struts of which were retracted into the fuselage. The PW1120 engine (modification F100) was used. The main argument was that Israel was one of the main buyers of the F-4 Phantom aircraft with this engine. The first two-seat prototypes flew in December 1986 and March 1987. But the political opposition in the United States, which financed the program, suddenly refocused on the purchase of F-16 fighters. Parts from the prototypes were used to assemble the third Lavi, which flew in September 1989 as a demonstrator of advanced Israeli technology being promoted to China.
Tactical and technical characteristics of the IAI fighter "Lavi"
- Type: tactical fighter;
- Power point: one afterburning turbojet engine "Pratt-Whitney" PW1120 with afterburner thrust, kgf: 9353;
- Maximum speed at an altitude of 10,975 m, km/h: 1965 (number M=1.85);
- Range with two 454 kg or six 113 kg bombs with a “high-low-high” flight profile, km: 213;
- Weight, kg: empty plane around 7030; maximum takeoff 19,277;
- Dimensions, m: range 8.78; length 14.57; height 4.78; wing area, m 2: 33.05;
- Weapons: hardpoints under the fuselage and wing for a wide range of air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles, unguided and guided bombs, unguided aircraft units
The Lavi (Hebrew for Young Lion) fighter program began in February 1980, when the Israeli government ordered the Israeli Air Force to create technical specifications for the future fighter. The new aircraft was intended to perform strike operations (close air support and battlefield isolation) with the ability to conduct air combat for self-defense. Research works began in October 1982. The American company Pratt & Whitney was chosen as the engine supplier.
The single-seat, single-engine aircraft “Lavi” is designed in a canard design with a triangular low-lying wing. Composites are widely used in the design, the share of which reaches about 22% (by weight). The skin and non-strength structural elements of the wing, fin, PGO, control surfaces, and hatch covers are made of carbon fiber. The wing sweep along the leading edge is 54 degrees.
The aircraft has nine control surfaces: two all-moving PGO consoles, two deflectable wing tips on the outer part of the wing consoles, two internal and two external elevons, as well as a rudder. The landing gear is tricycle with single-wheel struts retractable into the fuselage. Chassis track 2.31 m, wheelbase 3.86 m.
The flight control system is a digital fly-by-wire with a four-channel redundancy circuit and without backup mechanical wiring, developed by the American company Lear Astronics and the Israeli MVT. Centrally located flight control stick.
The back of the pilot's ejection seat (Martin-Baker Mk.10) has a slight slope (10 degrees). It was decided to abandon a large tilt, as, for example, on the F-16 fighter, due to the fact that Israeli pilots when flying the F-16 encountered excessive tension in the muscles of the shoulder girdle and neck.
The avionics complex consists of 60-70% Israeli-developed components. Elta designed the radar, electronic warfare system and communications equipment. The EL/M-2032 multi-mode pulse-Doppler radar (which was supposed to be installed on the TD aircraft in 1991) was created on the basis of the EL/M-2021B radar developed in the 1970s. It was expected that it would be comparable in characteristics to the APG-68 radar used on the F-16C aircraft, and would have modes for tracking air targets in transit, mapping terrain with high resolution and avoiding ground obstacles with Doppler beam narrowing, and detecting surface targets. The maximum target detection range is 56 km.
The computing complex is a distributed system of 17 processors. The central on-board compact computer ACE-4 from Elbit has a mass of 54 kg, speed up to 600 thousand operations/s and a large memory capacity (128 K) with an average time between failures of 2500 hours. The computer is compatible with a data bus that complies with the MIL-STD standard -1553B. An SMS-86 outboard weapon control system was installed.
In 1991, it was planned to install the TINS 1700 INS from Tamam and a satellite receiver navigation system. The aircraft cockpit is equipped with three multifunctional indicators on the instrument panel (one with color CRT, two with monochrome CRT) from Israeli companies Elbit and Astronotix and a wide-angle diffraction HUD from Hughes. Elop has developed a helmet-mounted indicator with a fiber-optic cable, which has a field of view of 30 x 30 degrees.
The research program was supposed to be completed by 1990, in the future it was planned serial production airplanes. A total of five fuselages were built, but only two prototypes were fully completed. On December 31, 1986, the prototype fighter took off for the first time.
The United States, with the help of which the development of Lavi was carried out, did not express a desire to provide significant financial support and at the stage of its mass production. And without such support, serial production was impossible due to the large scale required financial investments. As a result, in August 1987, after the prototype aircraft had completed 82 flights, the Israeli government decided to abandon further implementation of the Lavi aircraft program. In exchange for the Lavi, Israel was given the opportunity to purchase an additional number of American F-16 fighters.
The story of “Lavi” did not end there. Israel managed to complete the third (double) prototype aircraft, which was first flown on September 25, 1989 and has since been used as a TD (Technology Deinonstrator) flying laboratory for fine-tuning avionics and other advanced Israeli-developed aircraft systems.
Flight characteristics of "Lavi":
Wingspan, m: 8.78;
Length, m: 14.57;
Aircraft height, m: 4.78;
Wing area, m2: 33.05;
Weight, kg: empty equipped aircraft - 9990, maximum take-off - 19278;
Fuel, l: internal - 2625, PTB - 4165;
Engine: 1 Pratt & Whitney PW1120 turbofan engine;
Thrust, kN (kgf): unforced - 1 x 55.6 (5670), forced - 1 x 82.7 (8440);
Maximum flight speed, km/h: cruising near the ground - 1106? at an altitude of 11000 m - M=1.85;
Combat radius, km: 1855-2130;
Practical ceiling, m: 18000;
Max. operational overload: 9;
Crew, people: 1;
Armament: one 30 mm cannon, combat load- 7260 kg on 11 suspension units
The project is closed, but some programs to create fighters in other countries may use the results of research conducted during the creation of the Lavi.
| Lavi | |
|---|---|
| Lavi B-2, prototype |
|
| Type | multi-role fighter |
| Manufacturer | Israeli Aircraft Industries |
| First flight | December 31 |
| Status | program closed on August 30 |
| Units produced | 5 prototypes |
| Media files on Wikimedia Commons | |
Story
The Lavi program began in February, when the Israeli government ordered the Israeli Air Force to create technical specifications for the future fighter. Research work began in October 1982. The American company Pratt & Whitney was chosen as the engine supplier. The research program was supposed to be completed by 1990, and serial production of aircraft was planned in the future.
A total of five fuselages were built, but only two prototypes were fully completed.
Stopping the program
The Lavi made its last flight in 1990; the project was later canceled in favor of the F-16.
The documentation was sold to China and used to create the Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter
Subsequent application of program results
In 1990, Israel decided to modernize the F-4E Phantom fighters in service to the Phantom 2000 level. During the modernization, new flight, navigation and sighting equipment with automated control from the 1553B on-board computer, as well as new warning systems and electronic warfare - some of the equipment was developed as part of the work on the Lavi fighter.
In 1993, at the Le Bourget aviation exhibition, Israel presented a modernized version of the MiG-21 fighter, converted into an attack aircraft for attacking sea and ground targets. The aircraft was equipped with new radio-electronic, navigation and sighting equipment, as well as a pilot ejection system, originally developed for the Lavi tactical fighter. The cost of the modernization program for one aircraft was 1-4 million dollars, depending on the installed equipment.
Flight performance
See also
Notes
Literature
- V. Kuzmin. Israeli tactical fighter "Lavi" // "Foreign Military Review", No. 8, 1987. pp. 36-38.
- “The USA and the LAVI program” on the FAS website (English)
- Ruud Deurenberg. (undefined) . - on the website of the Jewish Virtual Library (JVL). Retrieved June 27, 2019.(English)
The development of this aircraft, intended to replace the Kfir fighters, began by IAI in 1980, and in October 1982 the company began technical design of the aircraft. It was assumed that new fighter will solve the problem of gaining air superiority (supplementing the McDonnell-Douglas F-15 fighters) and will be used to strike ground targets both on the battlefield and in operational depth. US aircraft manufacturing firms took a significant part in the work on the program.
http://www.sem40.ru/magendavid/img/lavi_chine.jpg On December 31, 1986, the first flight of the experimental Lavi aircraft took place (a two-seat version, the aircraft was piloted by test pilot M. Shmul). In March 1987, the second prototype of the fighter (also two-seat) took off, but in August of the same year the Israeli government decided to terminate the program. However, the Lavi’s story did not end there: in September 1989, the third prototype of the aircraft (and the first single-seat fighter), which is currently used by IAI as a flying laboratory, was completed, and in 1992 a secret Israeli contract was concluded. a Chinese agreement on cooperation in the creation for the PRC of a new fighter known as the J-10, the design of which was based on the Lavi aircraft. It was reported that the production of the first prototype aircraft would be carried out in Israel, but it final assembly planned to be implemented in China. The avionics of the J-10 fighter will be close to or similar to the avionics of the Lavi aircraft.
Modifications:
+ B-2 and B-3 - experimental aircraft;
+ "Lavi" - single-seat serial fighter;
+ "Lavi" - two-seat combat training aircraft;
+ J-10 - Chinese version of the Lavi fighter.
But why was such a promising project closed? Financial problems? It is unlikely that there was a financial and bureaucratic reprisal against “Lavi”.
Let me remind you that this project to create a multifunctional combat aircraft was supposed to provide the Israeli Air Force with independence from American supplies or, at least, significantly reduce their volume and range. The former Minister of Defense and the main patron of the ruined project, Moshe Arens, still believes that the Lavi would become the best fighter-bomber in the world, and its production would be the flagship of domestic developments in the field latest technologies.
However, at the end of the 80s, when the pressure from Washington was added to the skepticism of the leaders of the Israeli Air Force, who preferred familiar and cheaper American aircraft at first, the government of national unity led by Yitzhak Shamir decided to curtail the Lavi project. Thousands of highly qualified specialists then lost their jobs, many of them emigrated to the West in subsequent years, but the “true needs of the IDF” and the unequivocal intervention of the United States became decisive arguments in the dispute over the future of the Israeli aviation industry.
How journalists did not make fun of Arens then, claiming that this professor of aeronautics was not able to separate his own scientific hobbies from state interests! But if members of the press rarely take back their words, there have long been signs of insight among former opponents of Project Lavi in the military establishment. After becoming commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Dan Halutz stated that his previous position on this issue was wrong: the IDF should have decided to equip its air force with domestic aircraft.
So, the curtailment of the Lavi project was only partly due to American pressure - an equally significant factor here was the position of the Israeli military, which had to take into account a number of additional factors: the likelihood of war during a period of technical re-equipment that was vulnerable to the Air Force, differences in budget costs, etc. p. Knowing now that there was no major war in the Middle East in the 90s, we can, of course, judge the opponents of the scrapped project for their short-sightedness, but such an approach is unlikely to be correct and fair. It is enough that some Israeli generals judge themselves for the mistake they made. And the Lavi turned out to be a good Chinese J-10 fighter, which you see in the photo.
Based on publications: World Aviation Catalog and Israel Today
Chengdu J-10- All-weather multi-role fighter of China. Developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation. Export designation of the F-10 aircraft. The aircraft development program was declassified on December 29, 2006. According to some experts, the prototype was the Israeli fighter IAI Lavi. Israeli authorities deny technology transfer.
Russian consultants from TsAGI and the MiG Design Bureau took part in the creation of the aircraft. The fighters use NPO Saturn engines of Russian and Chinese (licensed) production. The first flight of the production J-10A aircraft took place on June 28, 2002.History of creation
In the early 1990s, work began in China to create a new generation fighter, with its combat potential approaching such aircraft as the Rafale, EF2000 or MiG-29M. The new machine was intended to replace almost 3,500 first and second generation J-6, J-7 and Q-5 fighters and fighter-bombers. Initially, it was planned to develop the aircraft “relying on our own forces.” However, it soon became clear that Chinese specialists could solve such a complex problem only in cooperation with foreign colleagues who owned modern technologies. Therefore, the Israeli concern IAI was attracted to participate in the program in the mid-1980s, which created in 1986 (largely with the participation of American firms) light fighter"Lavi." In 1987, work on the Israeli fighter was stopped under pressure from the United States, which saw the Lavi as a serious competitor to its F-16. Under these conditions, the Israelis, in an atmosphere of heightened secrecy (so as not to irritate the Americans, who are sensitive to the transfer of the latest defense technologies to China), offered the PRC their developments under the Lavi program. The basic layout decisions of the Israeli fighter were the basis for the design of the new Chinese aircraft, designated J-10.
In the late 1980s - early 1990s, further changes took place in the program: Russia was involved in the creation of the J-10. In particular, it was decided to equip the new aircraft with the Russian AL-31F turbojet engine of JSC "A. Lyulka-Saturn", which is also installed on the Su-27 fighters of the Chinese Air Force, which entailed a number of significant changes in the design of the aircraft, which was previously designed, obviously, for one of the Western engines. Negotiations were reported on the PRC acquiring a license to produce the AL-31F engine at Chinese enterprises, but Russia does not show much interest in transferring the latest technologies in the field of aircraft engine building to the PRC. As a result, for installation on pilot series aircraft, as well as, probably, the first production batches, it was decided to purchase engines in Russia (according to foreign press reports, 10 AL-31F turbofan engines have already been purchased for pilot aircraft).
It is also planned to install the Russian Zhemchug radar, developed by the Phazotron association, on the aircraft. This station is a variant of the Zhuk radar, which is installed on another Chinese fighter - the F-811M. As an alternative option, as well as for installation on aircraft intended for export, the possibility of using the Israeli version is being considered. radar station"Elta" EL/M-2032, at one time developed for the Lavi fighter.
It is assumed that the creation of the J-10 aircraft will provide a serious qualitative breakthrough in the Chinese aircraft industry. The new aircraft, which has high maneuverability in close air combat, high performance characteristics, modern avionics and weapons, will allow China to approach the level of European military aircraft production in the early 2000s.
The first information about the new Chinese fighter appeared in open press in October 1994, when, with reference to American space intelligence, it was reported that an aircraft was being built in Chengdu, its outline and size reminiscent of the Eurofighter EF2000 fighter or the Dassault Rafale.
For flight testing, a pilot series of four aircraft was laid down in Chengdu. According to initial plans, the first flight of the J-10 prototype was supposed to take place in the second half of 1997, however, for a number of technical reasons (in particular, difficulties with “grinding in” the engine to the aircraft were reported), the J-10 first took to the air on March 24, 1993 year.
It is planned that the state test program will be completed in 2001, and by 2005 the J-10 aircraft will enter service with the Chinese Air Force. The first order is expected to be approximately 300 fighters, which will complement more powerful and heavy aircraft Su-27. Thus, in China at the beginning of the 21st century, a fighter “triad” will be formed, including the mass-produced and cheap light fighter FC-1, largely oriented for export, the heavy “elite” fighter Su-27 (Chinese designation - J-I0) and the intermediate “medium” fighter J-10, which will obviously become the most popular combat aircraft of the Chinese Air Force.
There are plans to lay down two aircraft carriers for the Chinese fleet in 2005. It is assumed that to equip these ships with a displacement of 45,000 tons, a deck version of the j-10 aircraft, equipped with a folding wing, a brake hook and a reinforced landing gear, can be created.
Longer term, by 2015, according to US naval intelligence, China plans to develop a heavier fifth-generation fighter known as the XXJ. The aircraft, made with extensive use of stealth technology, must have two engines, a delta wing, “recessed” inconspicuous air intakes and two fins. The fighter can be made in both double and single seat versions. It is assumed that work on its creation is being carried out with the participation of the design bureau of the plant in Chengdu. An alternative option is probably being developed in Shenyang.
In the global aviation market, the J-10 fighter can compete with the Typhoon, Grippen, Rafale, F-16, F/A-18 and MiG-29. Among the most likely customers for the J-10 are Thailand, Pakistan and Iran. The commander of the Thai Air Force inspected the aircraft and gave it highly appreciated even before the first flight, in 1997. Most likely, Chinese WP-15 engines, which have less thrust than the AL-31, and Chinese radars will be installed on export vehicles. If ambitious plans to enter the Chinese Navy are implemented aircraft carrier it is possible that a “marinated” two-seat version of the J-10 fighter with an RD-33 or AL-41 engine will appear. Work is underway to create a twin-engine modification, aimed primarily at striking ground targets. Most likely, the aircraft carrier version of the J-10 will also have two engines. The emergence of the J-10 is a direct consequence of the country's tremendous economic success. At the end of the 20th century, China rapidly became one of the leaders in the world economy - today no one will remember the joke about the launch of a satellite by a million Chinese from a giant slingshot. At the end of the 20th century, the first world-class Chinese jet fighter appeared, absolutely comparable in all characteristics to the products of the world's leading aircraft manufacturing companies.
Design
The J-10 aircraft is made according to the canard aerodynamic design with a triangular mid-wing, swept wing, close to the wing of the PGO and a single-fin vertical tail. The airframe structure is made mainly of aluminum alloys with partial use of carbon fiber. It is planned to use limited measures to reduce the radar signature of the aircraft.
The wing has a vortex-generating “fang” on the leading edge. It is equipped with a two-section deflectable nose and elevons. The vertical tail has a developed forkle. In the root part of the keel there is a container with a braking parachute. On the sides of the fuselage, in the fin area, there are two brake flaps. There are two aerodynamic ridges located in the rear fuselage.
Power point
The aircraft is equipped with one AL-31F turbofan engine (1x 12,500 kgf). The air intake is ventral and unregulated. Three PTBs can be suspended under the wing and under the fuselage (on the central unit). The aircraft can be equipped with a fuel receiver for an in-flight refueling system using the hose-to-cone method.
| LTH: |
| Modification | J-10 |
| Wingspan, m | 8.78 |
| Length, m | 14.57 |
| Height, m | 4.78 |
| Wing area, m2 | 33.05 |
| Weight, kg | |
| empty plane | 9800 |
| normal takeoff | 18000 |
| Fuel, l | |
| internal | 2625 |
| PTB | 4165 |
| Engine type | 1 TRDDF AL-31FN |
| Thrust, kgf | |
| normal | 1 x 7600 |
| afterburner | 1 x 12500 |
| Maximum speed, km/h | M=2.00 |
| Cruising speed, km/h | 1110 |
| Practical range, km | 2000 |
| Practical ceiling, m | 18000 |
| Max. operational overload | 9 |
| Crew | 1 |
| Weapons: | one 23 mm cannon. combat load - 7260 kg on seven external hardpoints it is possible to deploy air-to-air missiles PL-8, PL-10, PL-11, P-27 and R-73, as well as air-to-surface missiles YJ-8K anti-ship missiles, NAR, free-falling bombs and other weapons |
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