MRCA - The way to go in the 21st century?

Back again!

Just read an article on Airforce Monthly on how some air powers are starting to downsize their air-arms probably due to a change of government which of course leads to a change in policies and from there battle doctrine and the likes of it. With that said, the article focuses in particular the infamous Royal Air Force (RAF) and it's Tornadoes and Jaguars and how their roles have change since their inception into the force.

The Panavia Tornado has been developed as a supersonic, high-speed ground attack aircraft with the capability of short take of and landing (STOL). In short, it was the MRCA of it's day (Multi-Role Combat Aircraft). STOL was possible for the Tornado thanks to a variable sweep wing design meaning that when it's wing were fully swept forward, it had better 'lift' thus required a shorter airfield or road for take off and landing. In contrast to that, when the need arises for the Tornado to go at breakneck speeds, it's wing are fully swept back thus reducing drag.

The Sepecat Jaguar on the other hand was developed as a high speed trainer cum strike aircraft. The Jaguar is also able to take off and land in rough terrain thanks to robust design of its landing gears.

It's important to note that the requirement for both planes are to be able to operate from less that ideal conditions. I guess it's either England had a shortage of proper airfields or their roads are full of potholes! Just kidding.

Anyway, this post is not to discuss on the specs of the airframes but rather how much their roles have changed now in the modern battle field. As there is less and less air-air combat and sorties for strike and fighter squadrons, the RAF has decided on day that "Hey! Why don't we just fit a surveillance pod under them fighter planes and tada! they instantly become surveillance aircraft all the same. This way, the RAF was able to retire the ageing English Electric Canberra PR 9 squadrons which, like all old items, required more and more maintenance to make them airworthy. The Canberra's role was never really replaced but the recon job now fell to the Tornadoes and Jaguars.

Now, how do you actually enable an aircraft that is designed to chuck munitions and shoot missiles to now take pictures? No, the answer is not to add on an extra seat for a photographer but the solution to this is to add on the RAPTOR (Recon Airborne Pod for TORnado) Pod. An earlier version of this is the JRP (Jaguar Recon Pod).  Pictures below:

Tornado GR4 all geared up: The RAPTOR pod can be clearly see in the centerline pylon flanked by a pair of drop tanks, a pair of ECM Boz Pods and interestingly a single laser guided bomb, probably a GBU-12 mounted on the fuselage.

                            

Jaguar in Flight: The Joint Recon Pod (JRP) can be clearly seen mounted on the centerline pylon. This particular RAF Jaguar features over wing pylons to mount sidewinders and for the French, the Matra Magic.

Note:

Having said this, readers might also be interested to know that the JRP has been replaced by the Thales Vicon 18 (Formerly W. Vinten Ltd.). Despite all this, the Jaguar has been eventually retired in 2007 with all recon duties falling to the Tornado squadrons. 

VH's REVIEW

Looking at this current trend it does make 'dollar' sense for air forces who are on a budget to invest in pods such as the RAPTOR which by doing this widens the scope of an originally purpose built aircraft. This opens up opportunities for both companies to invest in R&D for such technology as there is a growing market for such technology to be incorporated into smaller air forces. For that matter, even the venerable RAF has already gone along this path least to say smaller air forces. Of course one may say that this step towards MRCA planes would mean the reduction of a crafts capability as there is no one airplane that can excel in everything. The MRCA would only be a 'Jack of all trades, master of none' which in the case of the RAPTOR has already received it's fair share of critics when been compared to other systems previously being used. All in all, systems like the RAPTOR would be a good solution for smaller forces or at best be a second option or act as some sort of auxiliary to the real deal. MRCA in this case, I for one would say is worth looking into. 

See you next post!