Aircraft Performance Substantiation: Military Aircraft (AJT)

Military aircraft certification standards are different from civil aircraft standards. There is only one customer (MOD) requirement and the design standards vary among countries based on defense requirements. The safety issues are similar in rea­soning but differ in the required specifications. It is suggested that readers obtain the regulatory MILSPECS from their respective Ministry or Department of Defense – they are generally available in the public domain. In this book, the procedure to sub­stantiate performance capabilities is the same as for civil aircraft, covered in detail in the previous section.

13.6.1 Mission Profile

The fuel load and management depends on the type of mission. Military aircraft mission profiles are varied. Figure 13.19 shows a typical, normal training profile used to gain airmanship and navigational skills in an advanced aircraft.

Allowance

and Overs on

Fue

Practice force landing and

Ihree circuits for lancing practice

Take’* AJT Training Profile

Figure 13.19. Normal training sortie profile (60 minutes)

Combat missions depend on the target range and expected adversary’s defense capability. Two typical missions are shown in Figure 13.20. Air defense requires continuous intelligence information feedback. Armament training practice closely follows a combat mission profile.

The study of combat missions requires complex analyses by specialists. Defense organizations conduct these studies and, understandably, they are confidential in nature. Game theory, twin-dome combat simulations, and so forth are some of the tools for such analyses. Actual combat may prove to be quite different because everything is not known about an adversary’s tactics and capabilities. A detailed study is beyond the scope of this book, as well as of most academies.