Folland Gnat F.1: Sabre Slayer

[lxtav]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

Folland Gnat F.1

Hello and welcome to my suggestion for the Folland Gnat F.1! A British made light Strike/Attack Fighter that saw service in Finland, Yugoslavia, India and Britain (only the T.1 model but given the British made and trialled it I think they should get this as well).

History

Spoiler

The Gnat was designed by the popular aircraft designer W. E. W. Petter, famous for designing the Canberra and early design of the Lightning, as a follow on from Follands Private venture Prototype, The Folland Midge, to meet the RAFs requirements for a light jet fighter laid out in OR.303. The Gnats design allowed its maintenance and construction to be carried out without the use of specialised tools, making it ideal for countries that were still developing their industry, such as a recently independent India at the time.

The Gnat is seen as playing a major role towards the issuing of the NATO NBMR-1 requirement which sought to create a standardised light strike/ attack fighter for all NATO nations air forces to equip, A competition the G.91 would go on to win.

whilst never used by the RAF as a fighter (Only being tested and evaluated) the two seater Gnat T.1 was used as a trainer for some time, earning fame through being the main aircraft used by the Red Arrows display team until its retirement in 1979. The F.1 did however see use in the Air Forces of Finland, Yugoslavia and most predominantly India, where it earned its nickname “Sabre Slayer” from downing Pakistani F-86 Sabres in the Second and Third Indo-Pakistani wars.

The Gnat also earned slight fame in fiction, depicting the carrier based “Oscar EW-5894 Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber” in the 1991 comedy film Hot Shots!

Images

Spoiler

Gnat F.1 Displaying possible armament options, including 2 inch RPs and 540lb bombs

Finnish Gnats refuelling from a truck from what appears to be a makeshift airfield

Gnat in flight above English countryside

Folland Gnat on display, possibly at Farnborough

Display of possible camouflages for the Gnat in game

additional camos for Finnish and Yugoslavian Airframes

Gnat F.1 prototype at Farnborough again, again showing some of its armament

additional Photos thrown in showing the Gnat depicting the Phallus Tactical Fighter Bomber

Specifications/Armament

Spoiler

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
• Wingspan: 22 ft 2 in (6.76 m)
• Height: 8 ft 10 in (2.69 m)
• Wing area: 136.6 sq ft (12.69 m2)
• Airfoil: RAE 102 modified
• Empty weight: 4,800 lb (2,177 kg)
• Gross weight: 6,575 lb (2,982 kg) interceptor, 8,765 lb (3,976 kg) tactical, with external tanks and armament
• Max takeoff weight: 9,040 lb (4,100 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 175 imp gal (210 US gal; 800 L) in seven fuselage tanks + 25 imp gal (30 US gal; 110 L) in two optional rear fuselage tanks + two optional 66 imp gal (79 US gal; 300 L) jettisonable under-wing slipper tanks; Maximum fuel 332 imp gal (399 US gal; 1,510 L)
• Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Siddeley BOr.2 Orpheus 701-01 turbojet engine, 4,705 lbf (20.93 kN) thrust

Performance

• Maximum speed: 604 kn (695 mph, 1,119 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
• Maximum speed: Mach 0.98
• Range: 434.5 nmi (500.0 mi, 804.7 km)
• Endurance: 1 hour 10 minutes (normal), 2 hours 15 minutes (max fuel)
• Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m) +
• Rate of climb: 20,000 ft/min (101.6 m/s)
• Time to altitude: 45,000 ft (13,716 m) 5 minutes
• Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 2,190 ft (668 m) (interceptor)
• Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 3,780 ft (1,152 m) (tactical)
• Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 2,200 ft (671 m)

Armament

• Guns: 2x 30mm ADEN cannon with 115 rpg
• Rockets: 12x 3 in (76 mm) rockets, 2 inch RP rocket pods in Matra launchers
• Bombs: 2x 540 lb bombs

Avionics

• VHF radio
• Nav aids
• Gyro gunsight
• Ranging radar

Gnat in game

Spoiler

In game the Gnat would perform similarly to a mini Hunter, decently fast for its BR, good manoeuvrability, good armament etc. except the Gnat would also feature far improved CAS and ground strike abilty thanks to its Twin 540lb bombs or Twin Matra launchers giving it an edge in ground battles, in the UK it would most likely come in-between the Venom and Hunter, whilst in Sweden it would come in-between the Vampires and J34.

In terms of BR the Gnat would probably sit somewhere around 8.7/9.0 at rank V or VI given its lack of Air-to-Air missiles and countermeasures but its ability to easily combat Mig 15s and F 86s.

Sources

Spoiler

https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heritage/gnat
Thunder & Lightnings - Folland Gnat - History
Folland Gnat F. 1 XK724 Our beautiful Wall Art and Photo Gifts include Framed Prints, Photo Prints, Poster Prints, Canvas Prints, Jigsaw Puzzles, Metal Prints and so much more
Folland Gnat - Wikipedia

[VikernesVarg]

+1, more additions to fill out the earlier and mid ranks of the game is always appreciated. Would love to see this in the UK tree with RAF and Indian AF camouflages, as well as in the Finnish line of Sweden.

[Kingtiez]

+1

[JamesPond1200]

A really sleek aircraft that looks like a lot of fun, plus decent ground attack potential! +1

EDIT: I support this for the UK, Finland, and Yugoslavia when it comes.

[Rileyy3437]

Glad to see this re-posted to be honest. Hopefully it will eventually be passed to the devs.

Definitely would like to see it along with other British 1st generation jets.

(Its worth noting that this was found to have superior flight performance compared to the Hunter at all altitudes and speed ranges, Also it has a climb rate in excess of 100m/s so you won’t likely see it below 9.0, however it seemed to be somewhat fairly matched by CL sabres although the Gnats did win).

[OsO73]

@lxtav

Gnat F.1 Displaying possible armament options, including 2 inch RPs and 540lb bombs

Afaik, i think the plane in this pic is an Ajeet (a further upgrade of the Gnat made in india), visually identical but they had a few changes to solve some of its issues.

And yes, i would absolutely love to have every version of this plane and from all its nations +1!!!

[lxtav]

ahh thanks for pointing that out, the armament shown is also all compatible with the Gnat, however if i find a better image i will swap it out

[Rileyy3437]

Gnat mk.2 might technically fit the game criteria too.

Here is some size comparisons too:

[OsO73]

Its ok, i helps visualize what it could carry, besides the Ajeet and Gnat are almost the same.

BTW, i think the Gnats in indian service used T-10 rockets, i might have to check for that pic.

[Fireraid233]

+1 looks great

[AVROVULCANXH558]

+1

[JammuS]

+1
Also the original Finnish Air Force emblem (the one with the naughty symbol) came from an aircraft donated to the Finns by a Swede Count von Rosen (thus one of the Gnats is named after him - “Kreivi von Rosen”) he had been using the symbol even from as early as 1901 although he later did associate with himself with the Swedish branch of the movement that used the symbol in question (edit: this was in 1930s)

[SilverFreeLancer]

This jet just like a swift sword，could be a small beast in a dogfight.

[Rileyy3437]

Its ridiculous we don’t have it yet, literally the British equivalent to the CL13, plus it could’ve come with the Finnish air tree as Finland used them.

[TyTheGuy27]

+1 for 9.3
It’s almost identical in performance to the G.91Y, trading a bit of ordinance for even better climb rate and top speed. Definitely a much needed addition for Britain and a welcome one for Sweden (Finland). I’d like to see it in Indian colors for the British tree. And the HAL Ajeet as a premium at the same BR.

[CokeSpray]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.