- Yes
- No
An F-89H prototype converted from a F-89D flying with its missiles extended out of their weapon bays (source: File:Northrop F-89H with AIM-4 Falcon missiles.jpg - Wikimedia Commons)
TL;DR: F-89 armed with SARH and IR AAMs along with some unguided air-to-air rockets.
The Northrop F-89H Scorpion was the last new-build production variant of the F-89 family. It was armed with a pair of peculiar rocket-missile pods on its wingtips, allowing it to carry 6 AIM-4 Falcon missiles and 42 2.75’’ FFAR rockets. First introduced in 1955, it had a production run of 156 aircraft (plus 3 F-89Ds converted as prototypes), but its service was relatively short as advanced supersonic interceptors like the F-102 soon became available.
Since both F-89s in-game are premiums, hopefully, this variant and/or the F-89J could be introduced in the tech tree (the F-89J gets more rockets but fewer missiles). Flight performance should be nearly identical to the F-89D. The AIM-4 Falcon was notorious in real life for its unreliability, but it could be made usable in War Thunder. The 42 FFARs, although less than half the F-89D’s loadout, would come in handy for close-range snapshots that the Falcons can’t handle and may serve as the F-89H’s main weapon if the Falcons are indeed terrible in-game.
History
After the failure of the F-89F and F-89G proposals, Northrop decided to produce a less ambitious design. It would reuse the airframe of the F-89D, but carry a new fire control system that would allow it to use the new GAR-1/2 Falcon missiles (later designated the AIM-4). The E-9 FCS, a simplified version of the MA-1 FCS intended for the F-89G that could automatically compute an interception course for the pilot, was installed on three F-89Ds. Also installed was a new rocket-missile pod. It had three weapon bays that could store a Falcon missile and swing it out on a launcher arm for firing, and also three other weapon compartments that contained 7 FFAR rockets each. Therefore, two wingtip pods could carry 6 Falcon missiles and 42 FFAR rockets. The first flight of the prototypes was on 21 October 1953, and after a brief series of tests, the Air Force ordered the design into production as the F-89H in March 1954.
The main issue with the pods, which it shared with the old pods on the F-89D, was corrosion in the weapon bays that could lead to misfires or explosions. Some other minor technical issues with the E-9 FCS were quickly solved. Although the first F-89H was by the Air Force in September 1955, it only became operational with the 445th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in March 1956, two years after the type was developed. Production ended in August 1956 after just 156 aircraft were built. Its active Air Force service was short as the much more advanced F-102 entered service in the same year. In November 1957 the F-89H started to be transferred to the Air National Guard, and by September 1959 all Air Force F-89Hs had been transferred.
Design and specifications
General characteristics:
- Crew: 2
- Length: 53 ft 9.5 in (16.396 m)
- Wingspan: 59 ft 8.5 in (18.199 m)
- Height: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
- Wing area: 606 square feet (56.3 m²)
- Empty weight: 25,753 lbs (11,681 kg)
- Design gross weight (full internal fuel, missiles, rockets): 39,200 lbs (17,781 kg)
- Maximum gross weight: 47,400 lbs (21,500 kg)
- Fuel capacity: 1,769 gallons (11,498 lbs) internal, 2,369 gallons (15,398 lbs) with two drop tanks
- Engine: 2x J35-A-35, each with 5,600 lbf (25 kN) thrust, 7,400 lbf (33 kN) with afterburner
- n.b. statistic from Pilot’s Manual; the Standard Aircraft Characteristics claims a lower thrust value of 5,440 lbf (24.2 kN) thrust, 7,200 lbf (32 kN) with afterburner. Given that sources indicate that the F-89H’s engines were upgraded during service and that the Pilot’s Manual is 1-2 years newer than the Standard Aircraft Characteristics, I will be using this value as representative of the upgraded configuration.
Performance:
- Maximum speed: approx. 540 kt (1000 km/h) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m); see graphs below for details
- Maximum IAS: 470 kt (870 km/h)
- Maximum climb rate: 11,000 ft/min (55.88 m/s) at sea level, gross weight of 28,000 lbs, maximum power; see graphs below for details
- Service ceiling:
- 50,000 ft (15240 m), unspecified
- 48,000 ft (14,630 m), gross weight of 34,111 lbs, maximum power, see graphs below for details
- Ferry range: 2,600 mi (4184 km)
Avionics and armament:
- Radar: AN/APG-40 (assumed to be the same as F-89D)
- n.b. The current radar for the in-game F-89D is incorrect. See this bug report for details and performance specifications of the AN/APG-40: Community Bug Reporting System. Hopefully, they will fix this when the F-89H/J are added, otherwise their SARH Falcons will be next to useless.
- Fire control system: E-9
- 2x rocket-missile pods, containing a total of:
- 6x AIM-4 Falcon missiles
- Textural sources only indicate the usage of the early AIM-4A/GAR-1D and AIM-4C/GAR-2A Falcons, although one image claims it used the AIM-4D
- 42x 2.75’’ FFAR rockets
- 6x AIM-4 Falcon missiles
- 2x 300-gallon drop tanks on underwing hardpoints
Diagrams
Maximum climb rate (source: Northrop F-89H Scorpion Flight Manual)
Dimensions and internal layout (source: F-89H Standard Aircraft Characteristics)
Flight performance (source: F-89H Standard Aircraft Characteristics)
More pictures
Author’s note: there is no explicit evidence in other sources supporting the claim that the F-89H used the AIM-4D (Source: Northrop F-89H Scorpion: Some Sting. | Aviation Rapture)
First F-89H delivered (source: File:445th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Northrop F-89H-5-NO Scorpion 54-0402 1956.jpg - Wikimedia Commons)
Sources
- The American fighter : Angelucci, Enzo : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
- Squadron Signal [ Aircraft In Action] 1104 Northrop F 89 Scorpion : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
- F-89H Scorpion Flight Manual : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
- https://www.avialogs.com/aircraft-n/northrop/item/4960-f-89h-scorpion-standard-aircraft-characteristics-7-october-1957
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/26274982
- Northrop F-89 Scorpion
- https://web.archive.org/web/20221006100331/http://www.alternatewars.com/SAC/AIM-4C_Falcon_SMC_-_September_1963.pdf
- https://web.archive.org/web/20221008022752/http://www.alternatewars.com/SAC/AIM-4A_Falcon_SMC_-_September_1963.pdf
