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A-27

P-27 Maelstrom

Sluggish maritime patrol aircraft are a nightmare to submarines, but a fighter pilot's best day.

Now, the NAU is rolling out a “baby” P- series aircraft, able to serve as a nightmare to submarines and fighter pilots. Shares its chassis with the Tornado.

Empty Weight: 21,000kg

Loaded Weight: 40,000kg

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 55,000kg

Crew Composition[]

  • Pilot
  • Co-pilot

The Cockpit is its own escape capsule, equipped with inflatable floats. Ejection seats do a pilot no good in blizzard conditions over the Bering sea.

Sensory[]

The Maelstrom carries an AN/APG-77v2 radar with vastly sharpened SAR capabilities (to find periscopes), the ALQ-41 DAS, and has a direct datalink to all nearby sonarbuoys and NAU forces with sonar. A GPS Blue-force-tracker is standard.

Upgrades[]

Stealth Detection Suite[]

Two AN/APG-W-29 L-band AESA radars are implemented in the wings, allowing the P-27 to locate and identify stealthy enemy units at long range. Vastly increases the detection radius of stealth aircraft and surface vessels.

Armament[]

M61A2 (1)[]

The time-honored M61A2 Vulcan can pump out 6000 20mm cannon rounds a minute, allowing it dump its 300-round reserve in three seconds flat. A one-second burst is enough to pulverize most aircraft. Armored planes notwithstanding.

AIM-9Z (2)[]

The Evolved Sidewinder is the latest model in the long-running Sidewinder family. With a Box-Office vector thruster, ultra-sensitive “smart” IR seeker, a robust slow-burning rocket, and insensitive 25lb directed shrapnel warhead, the AIM-9Z is the most lethal in history, able to hit a target within 40km at a top speed of Mach 4. 60-G maneuvers are commonly part of this missile's routine. It can even target incoming missiles.

One is carried in each side weapons bay.

Anti-Ship Package[]

When deploying to take out a surface vessel, the P-27 can be outfitted with the ASP. Four AGM-200s, appropriately named Tridents, fit into its massive 6.5-meter-long weapons bay.

AGM-200 Trident (4)[]

The AGM-200 Trident is the next generation in NAU anti-ship missile technology. While it retains the same 340mm body and stowage profile of the previous US Harpoon, the Trident packs in rocket boosters, mid-body lift fins, an underbelly supersonic intake, a ramjet motor, a hardened steel case, a 200kg HE warhead, and a GPS-and-ECCM-assisted active radar homing seeker package to keep it on the right course. This provides the missile with the ability to accurately hit a target vessel 200km away, skimming the surface of the ocean at Mach 3 in the process.

Anti-Submarine Warfare Package[]

In its ASW form, the Maelstrom carries three ADCAPs.

Mark 48 ADCAP Mod 8 (3)[]

Maelstrom's ASW firepower comes in the form of three 1,700 kilogram 533mm heavy torpedoes. The Mark 48 has been in service for over half a century, and its latest version, the Mod 8, provides the torpedo with advanced ECCM systems for its Phased Array Sonar seeker. The torpedo can drop 25m out of the air (and survive it, thanks to its hardened steel case) and deliver 295 kilograms of HE on a target up to 50km away, and up to 900m deep.

Upgrades[]

AGM-54 (1)[]

Just able to cram one HSSW into the weapons bay of the Maelstrom was an achievement worth celebrating. The AGM-54 is a massive (7m-long, 10-ton) hypersonic anti-ship missile. The missile is equipped with a GPS-assisted ECCM-equipped active radar homing seeker. Thanks to its robust SCRamjet engine, it can deliver its massive 350kg blast-fragmentation warhead on an enemy ship 1000km away—at Mach 6. To survive CIWS fire, it gets a hardened steel case capable of deflecting shrapnel.

Protection[]

The P-27 gets normal carbon composite modular skin tiles, making it protected against bird strikes and sea salt. It also packs a full digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammer, multiple ECMs, and a good IR dazzler.

In terms of stealth, the P-27 is shaped to reduce its RCS by a wide margin, and its engines' exhaust passes over treated ceramic plates to cool it off. Still, it has a larger RCS than an F-35D.

Upgrades[]

None.

Mobility[]

The P-27 shares its F135-900 engines with the F-35D and the A-27. However, with much greater fuel capacity than the Hurricane, the Maelstrom has a viable combat radius of over 2500km. The plane's reverse-geometry wings allow it to have incredible levels of stability when taking off, diving, or landing. Plus, it can even supercruise at Mach 1.1 for 2000km. The P-27 is fully capable of operating on CATOBAR carriers.

Upgrades[]

None.

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