F6D Missileer
Encyclopedia
The Douglas F6D Missileer was a proposed carrier-based
US Navy fleet defense fighter aircraft
, designed by Douglas Aircraft Company
in response to a 1959 US Navy requirement. It was designed to be able to loiter for extended periods at relatively long distance from the Navy's aircraft carrier
s, engaging hostile aircraft 100 mi (161 km) away with its powerful radar and long-range missiles. Since the enemy would be fired on long before they reached visual range, the aircraft had little dogfighting capability and was strictly subsonic. When doubts were expressed about the Missileer's ability to defend itself after firing its missiles, the value of the project was questioned, leading to its cancellation. Portions of the Missileer continued development in spite of the cancellation, eventually emerging on the ill-fated General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B
and successful Grumman F-14 Tomcat years later.
In the case of the Navy, the primary threat to their air operations would be high-speed aircraft attacking their aircraft carrier
s, potentially with long-range anti-ship missile
s that were assumed to have nuclear warheads. Even if detected at long distances, these aircraft would be traveling so fast that the carrier-borne interceptors simply wouldn't have enough time to launch and attack them before they had closed with the carriers. For instance, given a 100 mi (161 km) range on the shipboard radars, an aircraft traveling at Mach 2, about 1,350 mph (2,173 km/h) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m), would close from initial detection to a 5 mi (8 km) firing range in just over four minutes. In this time an interceptor would have to launch, climb to altitude, maneuver into position, and fire.
One solution to this problem would be to keep the interceptors in the air at all times, allowing them to simply maneuver and fire. But given the short loiter times of high-performance aircraft like the F-4 Phantom, this would require huge fleets of fighters in order to keep a top cover in place while others were refueling. An aircraft with dramatically improved loiter times would be needed to make this approach practical. Another solution would be to increase the detection range, allowing more time for an interception. However, detection range is largely a function of the local horizon as seen from the radar mast, and there was little that could be done to extend this out much beyond 100 mi (161 km) or so. The solution here would have be to mount the search radar on aircraft, pushing the range out hundreds of miles from the ships.
The process formally started in December 1958 when Bendix was awarded a contract to develop the AAM-N-10 Eagle missile system. After launch, the Eagle was boosted to Mach 3.5 by a large solid-propellant rocket booster, and then after a glide period, a long-burning sustainer motor slowly increased speed to Mach 4.5. Using a "lofted" trajectory that flew up and over the targets at high altitudes, the missile had an effective range of 160 nmi (300 km). On final approach the missile activated its AN/DPN-53 radar, adapted from the Boeing CIM-10 Bomarc, using these signals for terminal homing.
At the same time, Westinghouse won the contract to develop the AN/APQ-81 radar. This was an advanced pulse doppler radar system with a maximum range against bomber-sized targets at about 120 nmi (220 km), and was able to track eight targets at a time in its track-while-scan mode at up to 80 nmi (150 km). The radar also broadcast midcourse corrections to the missiles, and was in charge of calculating their lofted trajectories. The 120 nmi (220 km) range of the AN/APQ-81 meant the Eagle could not be fired at its maximum effective range of 160 nmi (300 km), but the Eagle also had a home-on-jam capability that allowed it to attack targets at its maximum range, although this was reduced in practice as it did not use midcourse corrections and flew directly at the target at lower altitudes.
To support the fighters an improved radar aircraft was needed, and Grumman won the contract for W2F Hawkeye
early warning aircraft. It was equipped with the AN/APS-125 radar, which had a search range of 200 nm (370 km). This allowed a single Hawkeye it to cover an area serviced by several of the fighters. Operators on these aircraft would pass information to the pilots of the interceptors, who would then use their own radars to lock-on to the targets.
Finally, in late 1959, Douglas Aircraft won the contract for the aircraft itself. They proposed using the relatively new turbofan
engine design to improve fuel economy, and thus loiter time. Pratt & Whitney
was selected to start development of the TF30 to fill this role. Other than that, the F6D design was typical of subsonic designs of years earlier, like their Douglas F3D Skyknight. It featured a large cockpit area well forward on the aircraft, above the large radar and avionics section in a somewhat bulbous arrangement with windows on the front area only. The two engines were mounted on the side of the aircraft under the straight wings, and the rest of the fuselage and tail section were very simple.
Throughout the program others in the Navy questioned the entire concept. They argued that once the Missileer had fired its missiles it would be completely helpless to defend itself, and would have to return to the carrier as quickly as possible to re-arm. During that time its slow speed and lack of dogfighting ability would make it an easy target for any escorting forces in the attack package. These arguments eventually won out, and the F6D was cancelled in December 1960.
However, the idea of a long-range interceptor was accepted even by those that did not support the F6D. Around this time, the Air Force had been studying its own interceptor needs and had made some progress on their F-108 Rapier
design, along with supporting radars and missiles. With the ending of the Missileer, the Navy turned to these projects to see if they could be adapted to their needs. Hughes had been working on the GAR-9 Falcon
, a very large missile design similar to the Eagle in many ways. Hughes was also supplying the AN/ASG-18 radar system for the F-108, and while it was less advanced than the AN/APQ-81 and lacked track-while-scan, it had even greater range.
Although the F-108 was cancelled at about the same time as the Missileer, the Air Force was interested in keeping the weapons and radar programs alive for their F-12
interceptor project. Hughes proposed that the systems could be adapted for Navy use as well, offering a smaller version of the Falcon as the AAM-N-11 Phoenix
, and a modified version of the radar as the AN/AWG-9. The Navy was eventually forced to participate in the TFX joint-services program that resulted in the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B, which would have used these systems. When the F-111B ran into intractable problems in terms of aircraft performance as an air-to-air fighter and operational difficulties as a sea-based aircraft aboard aircraft carriers, the same systems were instead fitted to the F-14 Tomcat.
The Missileer's lasting contribution was not only its systems, but its engines. The TF30, with an afterburner, was used on both the F-111 and F-14, and turbofans are now commonplace in military jets. But while the TF30 was well-suited to the land-based fighter-bomber performance parameters of the F-111s and FB-111s operated by the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force
, it was highly susceptible to compressor stalls in high angle-of-attack flight regimes and proved to be a marginal powerplant for the U.S. Navy's air superiority fighter-oriented F-14A Tomcat. Later versions of the F-14, the F-14B and F-14D, would replace the problematic TF30s with two General Electric
GE F110-400
afterburning turbofan engines.
engines which were more fuel efficient than the turbojets common at the time. It would have had subsonic performance, but a loiter time of six hours on station 150 nmi (277.8 km) from its carrier. Of conventional design with straight wings, and the engines in pods at the root, it looked like a larger version of the company's earlier F3D Skyknight. The Missileer's radar
was to be the Westinghouse AN/APQ-81 pulse Doppler set, with a range of 120 nmi (220 km) and "track while scan
" capability. It was to be able to engage up to six targets simultaneously with Bendix
AAM-N-10 Eagle air-to-air missile
s, with a range of 100 nmi (185 km). The Eagle was to have a choice of conventional or nuclear warhead.
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
US Navy fleet defense fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
, designed by Douglas Aircraft Company
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas...
in response to a 1959 US Navy requirement. It was designed to be able to loiter for extended periods at relatively long distance from the Navy's aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s, engaging hostile aircraft 100 mi (161 km) away with its powerful radar and long-range missiles. Since the enemy would be fired on long before they reached visual range, the aircraft had little dogfighting capability and was strictly subsonic. When doubts were expressed about the Missileer's ability to defend itself after firing its missiles, the value of the project was questioned, leading to its cancellation. Portions of the Missileer continued development in spite of the cancellation, eventually emerging on the ill-fated General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B
General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B
The General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B was developed as a long-range carrier-based interceptor follow-on to the F-4 Phantom II. It was developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics in conjunction with Grumman for the United States Navy as part of the joint Tactical Fighter Experimental with the United...
and successful Grumman F-14 Tomcat years later.
Background
Through the later part of the 1950s and into the 1960s, military air planners increasingly believed that future air combat would be carried out almost entirely by long-range missile fire. This changed the basic requirements for a fighter design considerably. The pilots would be expected to fight primarily through their radar and fire control systems, hopefully never even seeing their opponent. Because of this, the emphasis was on "head down" combat and an all-round view was considered unimportant. Radar systems were so complex that a pilot could not be expected to operate both the aircraft and the radar, so a second crewman, the "radar intercept officer" or "RIO" became a common fixture.In the case of the Navy, the primary threat to their air operations would be high-speed aircraft attacking their aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s, potentially with long-range anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
s that were assumed to have nuclear warheads. Even if detected at long distances, these aircraft would be traveling so fast that the carrier-borne interceptors simply wouldn't have enough time to launch and attack them before they had closed with the carriers. For instance, given a 100 mi (161 km) range on the shipboard radars, an aircraft traveling at Mach 2, about 1,350 mph (2,173 km/h) at 35,000 ft (10,668 m), would close from initial detection to a 5 mi (8 km) firing range in just over four minutes. In this time an interceptor would have to launch, climb to altitude, maneuver into position, and fire.
One solution to this problem would be to keep the interceptors in the air at all times, allowing them to simply maneuver and fire. But given the short loiter times of high-performance aircraft like the F-4 Phantom, this would require huge fleets of fighters in order to keep a top cover in place while others were refueling. An aircraft with dramatically improved loiter times would be needed to make this approach practical. Another solution would be to increase the detection range, allowing more time for an interception. However, detection range is largely a function of the local horizon as seen from the radar mast, and there was little that could be done to extend this out much beyond 100 mi (161 km) or so. The solution here would have be to mount the search radar on aircraft, pushing the range out hundreds of miles from the ships.
Missileer forms
In 1957, the Navy began the formal process of ordering what they referred to as a "fleet defense fighter". They envisioned a large aircraft with loiter times on the order of six hours, supported by a dedicated radar aircraft providing early warning. In order to get the loiter times they wanted, the aircraft had to carry a large fuel load and was thus very large. The complex radar required dedicated operators, which resulted in a three-man crew. Additionally, they specified a side-by-side layout so both the pilot and co-pilot could concentrate on a single centered radar display, avoiding duplication of equipment and helping reduce communications errors that could occur if they were looking at different screens. Since dogfighting was out of the question, the aircraft was strictly subsonic and did not require all-round visibility, suggesting a cockpit layout similar to the Grumman A-6 Intruder. A new radar and missile would also have to be developed for the project.At the same time, Westinghouse won the contract to develop the AN/APQ-81 radar. This was an advanced pulse doppler radar system with a maximum range against bomber-sized targets at about 120 nmi (220 km), and was able to track eight targets at a time in its track-while-scan mode at up to 80 nmi (150 km). The radar also broadcast midcourse corrections to the missiles, and was in charge of calculating their lofted trajectories. The 120 nmi (220 km) range of the AN/APQ-81 meant the Eagle could not be fired at its maximum effective range of 160 nmi (300 km), but the Eagle also had a home-on-jam capability that allowed it to attack targets at its maximum range, although this was reduced in practice as it did not use midcourse corrections and flew directly at the target at lower altitudes.
To support the fighters an improved radar aircraft was needed, and Grumman won the contract for W2F Hawkeye
E-2 Hawkeye
The Grumman E-2 Hawkeye is an American all-weather, aircraft carrier-capable tactical airborne early warning aircraft. This twin-turboprop aircraft was designed and developed during the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Grumman Aircraft Company for the United States Navy as a replacement for the...
early warning aircraft. It was equipped with the AN/APS-125 radar, which had a search range of 200 nm (370 km). This allowed a single Hawkeye it to cover an area serviced by several of the fighters. Operators on these aircraft would pass information to the pilots of the interceptors, who would then use their own radars to lock-on to the targets.
Finally, in late 1959, Douglas Aircraft won the contract for the aircraft itself. They proposed using the relatively new turbofan
Turbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
engine design to improve fuel economy, and thus loiter time. Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney
Pratt & Whitney is a U.S.-based aerospace manufacturer with global service operations. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation . Pratt & Whitney's aircraft engines are widely used in both civil aviation and military aviation. Its headquarters are in East Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
was selected to start development of the TF30 to fill this role. Other than that, the F6D design was typical of subsonic designs of years earlier, like their Douglas F3D Skyknight. It featured a large cockpit area well forward on the aircraft, above the large radar and avionics section in a somewhat bulbous arrangement with windows on the front area only. The two engines were mounted on the side of the aircraft under the straight wings, and the rest of the fuselage and tail section were very simple.
Cancellation
In order for the F6D "system" to work, a large number of technologies had to work at the same time. Among these were the new engines, radar, missiles, and the supporting early warning aircraft. Development of the F6D itself was highly likely to be successful and low cost, but the system as a whole was very risky and expensive.Throughout the program others in the Navy questioned the entire concept. They argued that once the Missileer had fired its missiles it would be completely helpless to defend itself, and would have to return to the carrier as quickly as possible to re-arm. During that time its slow speed and lack of dogfighting ability would make it an easy target for any escorting forces in the attack package. These arguments eventually won out, and the F6D was cancelled in December 1960.
However, the idea of a long-range interceptor was accepted even by those that did not support the F6D. Around this time, the Air Force had been studying its own interceptor needs and had made some progress on their F-108 Rapier
XF-108 Rapier
The North American XF-108 Rapier was a proposed long-range, high-speed interceptor aircraft designed by North American Aviation. Initiated to defend the United States from supersonic Soviet bombers, the program, initially called NA-257, was cancelled in 1959 due to a shortage of funds and the...
design, along with supporting radars and missiles. With the ending of the Missileer, the Navy turned to these projects to see if they could be adapted to their needs. Hughes had been working on the GAR-9 Falcon
AIM-47 Falcon
The Hughes AIM-47 Falcon, originally GAR-9, was a very long-range high-performance air-to-air missile that shared the basic design of the earlier AIM-4 Falcon. It was developed in 1958 along with the new Hughes AN/ASG-18 radar fire-control system intended to arm the Mach 3 XF-108 Rapier interceptor...
, a very large missile design similar to the Eagle in many ways. Hughes was also supplying the AN/ASG-18 radar system for the F-108, and while it was less advanced than the AN/APQ-81 and lacked track-while-scan, it had even greater range.
Although the F-108 was cancelled at about the same time as the Missileer, the Air Force was interested in keeping the weapons and radar programs alive for their F-12
Lockheed YF-12
The Lockheed YF-12 was an American prototype interceptor aircraft, which the United States Air Force evaluated as a development of the highly-secret Lockheed A-12 that also spawned the SR-71 Blackbird.-Design and development:...
interceptor project. Hughes proposed that the systems could be adapted for Navy use as well, offering a smaller version of the Falcon as the AAM-N-11 Phoenix
AIM-54 Phoenix
The AIM-54 Phoenix is a radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile , carried in clusters of up to six missiles on F-14 Tomcats, its only launch platform. The Phoenix was the United States' only long-range air-to-air missile. The weapons system based on Phoenix was the world's first to allow...
, and a modified version of the radar as the AN/AWG-9. The Navy was eventually forced to participate in the TFX joint-services program that resulted in the General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B, which would have used these systems. When the F-111B ran into intractable problems in terms of aircraft performance as an air-to-air fighter and operational difficulties as a sea-based aircraft aboard aircraft carriers, the same systems were instead fitted to the F-14 Tomcat.
The Missileer's lasting contribution was not only its systems, but its engines. The TF30, with an afterburner, was used on both the F-111 and F-14, and turbofans are now commonplace in military jets. But while the TF30 was well-suited to the land-based fighter-bomber performance parameters of the F-111s and FB-111s operated by the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
, it was highly susceptible to compressor stalls in high angle-of-attack flight regimes and proved to be a marginal powerplant for the U.S. Navy's air superiority fighter-oriented F-14A Tomcat. Later versions of the F-14, the F-14B and F-14D, would replace the problematic TF30s with two General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
GE F110-400
General Electric F110
-External links:* - The F110 Engine Family* - F110-GE-100 Gallery* - F110* - General Electric F110...
afterburning turbofan engines.
Design
The F6D-1 would have weighed approximately 50,000 lb (22,650 kg). It would have been powered by two Pratt & Whitney TF30-P2 non-afterburning turbofanTurbofan
The turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used for aircraft propulsion. A turbofan combines two types of engines, the turbo portion which is a conventional gas turbine engine, and the fan, a propeller-like ducted fan...
engines which were more fuel efficient than the turbojets common at the time. It would have had subsonic performance, but a loiter time of six hours on station 150 nmi (277.8 km) from its carrier. Of conventional design with straight wings, and the engines in pods at the root, it looked like a larger version of the company's earlier F3D Skyknight. The Missileer's radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
was to be the Westinghouse AN/APQ-81 pulse Doppler set, with a range of 120 nmi (220 km) and "track while scan
Track while scan
The track while scan is a mode of radar operation in which the radar allocates part of its power to tracking the target or targets while part of its power is allocated to scanning, unlike the straight tracking mode, when the radar directs all its power to tracking the acquired targets...
" capability. It was to be able to engage up to six targets simultaneously with Bendix
Bendix Corporation
The Bendix Corporation was an American manufacturing and engineering company which during various times in its 60 year existence made brake systems, aeronautical hydraulics, avionics, aircraft and automobile fuel control systems, radios, televisions and computers, and which licensed its name for...
AAM-N-10 Eagle air-to-air missile
Air-to-air missile
An air-to-air missile is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled...
s, with a range of 100 nmi (185 km). The Eagle was to have a choice of conventional or nuclear warhead.