- Yes
- No
Hey guys today I’ll be suggesting the F-CK-1A MLU
History
The Air Indigenous Defense Company (AIDC) F-CK-1A MLU is the successor and implementation of the F-CK-1C/D “Hsiang Sheng” plan with some minor changes. The 2 prototypes (F-CK-1C&D 10005 and 10006) of the Hsiang Sheng plan continued testing until 2009 when AIDC was awarded the equivalent of $500 million dollars (US) to upgrade 71 of the existing F-CK-1A fighters. Not all of the upgrades of the Hsiang Sheng plan were accepted by the government however and a new plan “Hsiang Chan” was put into effect. The main difference between the Hsiang Shen plan and the new Hsiang Chan plan was that the conformal fuel tanks and subsequently slightly altered fuselage were not installed on the fighters. Everything else including upgraded avionics, enhanced electronic countermeasures, increased TC-2 missile capacity, and integration of the TC-2A anti radiation missile and Wan Chien cruise missiles were kept and installed.
Between 2014 and 2017 a further 56 F-CK fighters were upgraded to the new MLU standard in the “Hsiang Chan 2” plan, bringing the total amount of upgraded fighters to 127. The upgraded fighters are equipped to the 3rd Tactical Fighting Wing (Formerly 427th) in Taichung and the 1st Tactical Fighting Wing (formerly 443rd) in Tainan. These fighters main purpose, if war was to ever break out between China and Taiwan, are to be one of the first to engage PLA fighters at range with their TC-2 missiles, engage enemy warships with the Hsiung Feng missiles and destroy/suppress airbases in China with the Wan Chien cruise missiles. Since as defense fighters they have limited performance and mainly take on intermediate to long range roles. For now they mainly serve in practice, patrol, and interception/ shadowing roles whenever PLA aircraft enter Taiwanese airspace.
The upgraded fighters initially became known as the F-CK 1 A/B MLU (Mid-Life Upgrade) because they were improved from the original F-CK-1A but didn’t have all of the improvements of the F-CK-1C program. In recent years however it seems the AIDC no longer discerns between MLU and C/D and both are used interchangeably to describe the upgraded F-CK fighters.
Main improvements to avionics:
Spoiler
Cockpit interface:
- A new Integrated color display system (ICDS) was introduced with the follow main components:
- A scanning/VECTOR HEAD-UP DISPLAY (Raster/Storke HUD)
- 3 large color LCD multi-function displays (CMFD)
- Color cockpit photography system (CCTVS)
- New integrated face-up control/input panel (UFCP)
- The 6 sets of engine monitoring instruments originally below the right panel have been updated to the electronic engine display system (EEDS).
- Backup Electronic Flight Instrument (STBY EFIS)
Improved computer:
- The BAE Systems 32-bit flight control computer replaced the old 16-bit 1750 standard flight control system from Astronics. The new computer has a new fly by wire control mode and more processing power.
Core Avionics system update:
- New color display processors, updated operational flight program and expanded the bus structure to 3 sets of 1553B military bus with reserve surpluses for upgrading to 4 sets of 1553B military bus.
Communication/Navigation/Emmy Identification System Update (CNI):
- New set of inertial navigation system(GPS/INS), two sets of AN/ARC-210UHF/VHF radios, and Improved APX-113(V) AIFF advanced enemy identification system
GD53 fire control radar update:
- The 5-piece LRU of GD-53 has been changed to a 3-piece LRU architecture (AN/APG-67(V4) Republic of China version).
- The old radar target processor, radar data computer, control/power supply, etc., have been replaced by a new radar data processor (RDP).
New operation mode of Xiangsheng’s GD-53 radio control radar:
- Combined radar mode (CRM)
- Track the target blind spot indicator (NOTCH Zone Indicator)
- Scan and Track Mode (TWS) Automatic Scan Adjustment
- Search target absolute height and speed vector display, Add flight trajectory recorder and fault diagnosis system
Electronic countermeasure function (ECCM) enhancement of GD-53 fire control radar (made by Han Xiang):
- Interference Source Detection (DOJ)
- Interference Source Tracking (TOJ)
There are four typical passive rangings:
- Angular velocity ranging
- Triangular ranging
- Signal strength ranging
- Third-party data
- Silence mode (Sniff)
Other ECCM functions:
- Rapid Relock
- Single receive beam (LORD)
- Pulse edge distance (LET)
- Single receive conical scanning (COSRO)
Flight control performance and range improvements:
Flight control software
With the new flight control computer, AIDC has rewritten the flight control software in C language to improve the low-altitude automatic flying ability of fighters.
- Take-off and landing performance improvement
- Nose wheel lifting speed improved
- Improved the crosswind capacity of the fighter to 56km/h
- Improved the angle of attack and shortened the runway distance
- The entry speed of the aircraft is reduced by 18.5km/h
- The landing distance is reduced by 10%
- Replaced the digital brake system
Specifications:
Length: 14.48 m
Wingspan: 8.53 m
Height: 4.7 m
Wing area: 24.26 square meters
Empty weight: 6,492 kg
Load weight (max): 4,000 kg
Normal take off weight: 9,072 kg
Maximum take off weight: 12,530 kg
Engine: TFE-1042-70A (Honeywell F125-GA-100) turbofan engine x 2
Thrust: 54 kN, 12,200 lbs of thrust (total)
Maximum Afterburner thrust: 84 kN, 18,900 lbs of thrust (total)
Maximum fuel consumption: 2,111kg
Performance:
Maximum speed: (Mach 1.8) 2,205 km/h (1,123 nautical miles, 1,372 mph)
Service Ceiling: 16,760 meters (54,986 feet)
Range: 1100 km (680 mi, 590 nmi)
Thrust to weight ratio: 1.01
Maximum overload: +9G to -3G
Armaments:
1 x M61A2 Vulcan (400 rounds)
Air to Air missiles:
2-4 x AIM-9P4
2-4 x TC-1
2-4 x TC-2
2-4 x TC-2C
Upcoming: TC-3
F-CK-1A MLU with 4 x TC-2C and 2 x AIM-9P4
TC-1 specifications:
Spoiler
Weight: 90 kg
Length: 2.87 m
Width: 67.5 cm
Diameter: 12.7 cm
Warhead: High-explosive fragment warhead
(Active laser proximity fuse) or continuous rod warhead
Warhead: 10.34 kg (2,300 high-explosive pre-shard design, each piece can penetrate 3/8-inch steel plate)
Rocket propeller: low-smoke solid-state propulsion rocket with a maximum thrust of 14,000 pounds.
Max speed: Mach 3.5
G limit: 32G
Effective range: 8 km
Detection range: 18.5 km
Guidance system: Dual spectral IR guidance, forewing control (Liquid nitrogen cooling indium antimonide infrared marker). Image Infrared seeker has been in development and will more than likely be upgraded with it soon.
Aspect: all-aspect
Gimbal limit: 40 degrees
Target detector: laser proximity, proximity fuze, collision fuze.
Tail wing group: with rolling aileron
Flight performance: The engagement time can last up to 1 minute
TC-2 and TC-2C specifications:
Spoiler
Weight: 184 kg
Length: 3.593 meters
Wingspan: 448/621 mm
Diameter: 19 cm
Warhead: 22kg (some sources say 30kg) high-explosion pre-made fragmentation warhead
Engine: Solid rocket propeller
Range (TC-2): 60 km
Range (TC-2C): 100 km
Speed (TC-2): Mach 4
Speed (TC-2C): Mach 6
Guidance system:
Mid-stage: Inertial navigation system
End-stage: Active radar homing
Air to ground:
2 x TC-2A
2 x Wan Chien cruise missile
LAU-60
LAU-69
MK 82
MK 82 SE
BDU-50
MK 20 Rockeye
MK 84
BLU-1
Anti-Ship:
2 x Hsiung Feng-2 anti ship missile
Possible but not really used anymore:
AGM-65B
GBU-12
MK 117 750 lb bomb
Experimental:
Taiwanese JDAM
Range: ~24km if dropped at 8,000m
750lb thermobaric bomb
TC-2A specifications:
Spoiler
Weight: 183 kg
Length: 3.593 meters
Wingspan: 448/621 mm
Diameter: 19 cm
Warhead: HE fragmentation
Engine: Solid-state propulsion
Range: 60 km (some sources say 100km)
Speed: Mach 6
Guiding system: Passive anti-radiation attribution
Passive radar detection distance: about 92 km
F-CK-1A MLU with TC-2A
Wan Chien 2 specifications:
Spoiler
Length: 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Tail width: 1.0 m (3 ft 3 in)
Diameter: 630 mm (24.8 in)
Height: 320 mm (12.6 in)
Weight: 650 kg (1,433 lb)
Range: 129.6 nm (240 km), 400 km (improved version)
Warhead: 350 kg (771 lb) HE , 350 kg (771 lb) HE SAP, 100 shards/fragments
Guidance mode: Inertial guidance and GPS
Propulsion: turbojet engine
F-CK-1A MLU with the Wan Chien cruise missile
F-CK-1A MLU with Wan Chien cruse missiles, TC-2’s, and TC-1’s
Others:
SUU-20
TAS/ACMI Exerciser Pod
Smoker
AGTS
275 GL & 150 GL auxiliary fuel tank
Radar:
The F-CK-1A MLU’s radar is the GD-53 which is an improved AN/APG-67(V) and apparently according to the US classification it’s known as AN/APG-67(V)ERR
Specifications (from Wikipedia):
1× GD-53 X-band pulse doppler
Effective scanning range:
Look up: 57 kilometres (35 mi)
Look down: 39 km (24 mi)
AN/APG-67(V) specifications (from another Site)
Weight: 73 kg (160.94 lb), less than 0.054 m3 in volume
Frequency: 8 GHz to 12.5 GHz
Scope:
40 nm (75 km; 47 miles), looking up at the fighter size target
80 nm (148 km 92 miles), looking up at the high, deep and wide target
35 nm (65 km; 40 miles), overlooking the high-depth and wide target
43 nm (75 km;47 miles), air-to-air mode small ship target
Azimuth angle: 120°
30° fan scan
60° fan scan
120° fan scan
Elevation angle: -60° to 60°
Target lock: 2
Trace detection: 10
Power: 2,100 W, maximum
396 W, 90-second start-up and comprehensive operation average
Type of antenna: Plane array, slotted mechanical scanning
Countermeasures:
Rear RWR (on the top of the tail)
Forward RWR (near LERX on wings)
2 x AN/ALE-47 with 30 flares each
Maybe 2 x more flare dispensers of unknown type near the AN/ALE-47’s
In Game:
In game the F-CK-1A MLU would be a fairly powerful late fourth gen fighter for the Chinese tech tree. With the ability to carry 4 TC-2C hypersonic 100km range missiles meant to destroy PLA fighters, the F-CK 1A MLU could be a fairly dangerous aircraft to face off against in air battles. It also has the ability to carry a plethora of air to ground weaponry making it a very viable aircraft for close air support (CAS) in ground battles and ground pound in air battles. Its main downside is its slow speed compared to its counterparts however it has a fairly good thrust/weight ratio to make up for it. It may also struggle in dogfights against other late fourth gen and fifth gen fighters so the best future strategy may be to use it’s short takeoff time to take off as quickly as possible, fire off all of its TC-2’s once it detects targets, fly back to base, rearm and try again (that’s how I think it may be but I may be completed wrong). Overall it may be a fun future aircraft for the Chinese tech tree.
25th anniversary camouflage:
In media:
https://i.imgur.com/l5Ftaj0.gif
F-CK’s firing Hsiung Feng 2 missile at an alien from the anime Nobunagun.
Sources:
Spoiler
AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo - Wikipedia
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-CK-1經國號戰鬥機#漢翔各年度F-CK-1A/B/C/D戰機交機數量
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=3764029
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=3567392
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=2687767
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https://wp.taronews.tw/2020/09/22/686546/
ROCAF AIDC F-CK-1A/B Ching Kuo
Blair's 軍事,警察及消防攝影: F-CK-1A 經國號戰鬥機 (IDF) 1443 服役25周年紀念彩繪機
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=2698586