Royal Aircraft Company Shrike
From WikiStates
| Royal Aircraft Company Shrike | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Naval strike bomber |
| Manufacturer | Royal Aircraft Company |
| Maiden flight | 21st October 384 NS |
| Introduction | 391 NS |
| Status | active |
| Primary users |  Imperial Praetonian Navy Royal Cottish Navy
|
| Produced | 390NS - |
| Number built | 35,000+ |
| Unit cost | $104 million USD equivalent |
| Variants | AFW Shrike |
The Royal Aircraft Company Shrike, better known simply as Shrike or Sea Shrike, is a Praetonian long-range carrier strike bomber designed for anti-surface warfare. It is an export success, with multiple thousands of Shrikes in the inventories of at least six major Havenic navies. Its primary armament is the Sea Halberd missile.
Contents |
Development
In 380 NS, the Praetonian War Office issued Staff Requirement Medium Naval Bomber Number 5 (MNB-5) to provide for "an aircraft capable of striking His Majesty's enemies on sea or on land at a range that may provide for the maximum possible safety of His Majesty's own forces". In particular, the requirement demanded a carrier-capable aircraft able to deliver a standard payload of two Sea Halberd missiles a distance of at least 2,000km from its home carrier and then return.
The Praetonian domestic warplane industry having shrunk significantly after the failure of several proposed export products, it looked as though the Requirement would be filled by the purchase of a foreign aircraft, probably Questerian. The Liberal-Tory Government soon found itself embroiled in a confusing scandal as two camps of newspapers, backbenchers and (shadow) cabinet members from both parties formed to to demand a Praetonian aircraft and condemn 'parochial protectionism' respectively.
Speaking on the matter, the Foreign Secretary described the notion of a foreign-built MNB-5 as "a potential catastrophe", with the editor of the stalwart Liberal-Tory publication the Kingston Herald using its front page to delcare the possibility "the first great national disgrace of our lifetime" and demand "the 'principal striking arm' of our greatest national force to be designed and built here.'
Much of the Liberal (Whig) Party, in addition to the Secretarys of State for War and the Treasury, demanded on the contrary that competition "free of national vanity" be allowed to reign, the latter going so far as to describe the notion of subsidising the development of a new Praetonian aircraft as "a national surrender of all our deepest-held ideals - the thin end of the wedge that will drive nationstate-collectivism into the heart of our national life".
The scandal was threatening to destabilise the government, with Secretaries of State openly contradicting one another in competing party newspapers - and occassionally even in opposition newspapers. The situation's unlikely resolution emerged when shareholders in Imperial Airways plc. voted 52% to 47% in favour of a 'Patriotic Motion' that would see the company favour for purchase of civil airliners any company that would produce a winning domestic aircraft for the MNB-5 Requirement.
Three civil aviation companies - Imperial Aerodynamics plc., Williamson &co. Ltd. and Haversham Ekranoplan plc. - immediately formed the Royal Aircraft Consortium, later renamed Royal Aircraft Company, to bid for the MNB-5 Requirement. The result of this was the Shrike. Judged by the War Office to "meet our requirements more fully than those foreign aircraft, which have been under active and very serious consideration, have been able to, owing to the divergent military doctrine underlying their design."
The first operational Shrike flew in 391NS, from the carrier PMS King George IV.
Design
Shrike was designed principally to be able to carry Praetonia's principal air-to-surface anti-ship weaponry over long distances. In so doing, it is able to extend the reach of Praetonian carrier air power beyond the limits of smaller or less specialised aircraft. With a fixed delta wing, the Shrike is able to supercruise efficiently while carrying the required 4.5t payload. The aircraft has generally poor manoeuverability, especially at low speeds.
A nose-mounted AESA provides radar coverage, particular for detecting surface ships. With wing tip hardpoints and underwing pylons, the aircraft is capable of carrying and directing AAMs for self-defence against other aircraft and against missiles.
Variants
RAC-201 'Shrike'
Carrier-operated variant.
RAC-201C 'Coastal Shrike'
Land-based variant for naval interdiction and deployment of long-range AAMs.
AFW Shrike
Carrierborne strike aircraft, RAC-manufactured airframes and delivered to Aequatesche Flugtechnische Werke AG in Aequatio for completion with Aequatian components.
Operators
| Country | Number |
|---|---|
 Praetonia |
Many |
 Cotland |
12,000 |
 Clandonia |
? |
 Shansekia |
3,000 |
 Prestonia |
? |
 Chevrokia |
14,400 |
 Aequatio |
20,000 |
Specifications
Crew: 1
Length: 21.2m
Wingspan: 20.8m
Height: 6.18m
Empty weight: 19,160kg
Loaded weight: 36,710kg
Max takeoff weight: 42,210kg
Powerplant: 2× Tomely & Hunter co. 'Spruce' afterburning turbofan (62kN each)
Internal fuel: 11,550kg
Maximum speed: Mach 0.95
Cruise speed: Mach 0.8
Combat radius: 2,100km (5,500kg munitions)
Radar: Kingston Electric plc. AESA,
- 500km detection vs ships
- 350km detection vs aircraft
- 200km targeting vs aircraft
Armament: Total 11,000kg stores
- 4x Underwing hardpoints 2,600kg each
- 2x Wing-tip hardpoints 300kg each
