COT.41 Sleipner

Discussion Thread

The COT.41 Sleipner is a new lightweight multirole fighter aircraft designed to supplement and eventually replace the aging FA-16 Priest fighters currently in service with the Royal Cottish Air Force and the Royal Cottish Navy. Designed as an affordable multirole fighter, the Sleipner's low cost is made possibly by the use of commercial off-the-shelf parts such as the AESA radar, originally designed for the F-35 Lightning II fighter that allow for a cost-effective and quite effective radar that is capable of giving the Sleipner superior air to air and air to ground sensor ability. Furthermore, the inclusion of the Sniper XR targetting pod enable the Sleipner to deliver munitions to exactly where they need to go, making the Sleipner ideal for surgical-strike missions. Additionally, being able to carry a large quantity of air to air missiles, the Sleipner is quite capable of being used for air superiority tasks, supplementing the air superiority fighters with thinning out the enemy ranks from stand-off distances.


General Characteristics
Crew: 1 (E1/E3); 2 (E2)
Passenger: 0
Length: 14.8 meters
Wingspan: 8.4 meters
Fuselage Height: 4.5 meters
Fuselage Width: 2.1 meters
Weight (Empty): 5 900 kg (E1/E2); 6 100 kg (E3)
Weight (Loaded): 13 650 kg (E1/E2); 13 900 kg (E3)
Weight (Max Take-Off): 20 000 kg
Weight (Internal Fuel): 4 250 kg
Weight (Max Munitions): 9 200 kg
Powerplant: One CTJE-3A-2007 afterburning turbojet
Thrust: 10 500 kg-f (102.97 kN)
Take-Off Run: 700 meters (loaded); 1 100 meters (max take-off)
Landing Run: 500 meters

Preformance
Max Speed: 2 530 km/h (Mach 2.12)
Combat Radius: 1 150 km
Ferry Range: 3 000 km
Service Ceiling: 15 000 meters
Max Ceiling: 16 000 meters
Rate of Climb: 153 meters per second
Thrust/Weight Ratio: 1.78:1 (empty-E1/E2); 0.77:1 (loaded-E1/E2); 1.72:1 (empty-E3); 0.75:1 (loaded-E3); 0.52:1 (max take-off)

Armament
Cannon: One Mauser BK-27 27x145 MM cannon with 380 rounds
Internal Hardpoints: None
External Hardpoints: Six underwing hardpoints, outer two are rated at 450 kg each while the inner four (inner 2 wet) are rated at 1 000 kg each; Two fuselage hardpoints rated at 2 500 kg each; One fuselage hardpoint on the righthand side for the sensor pod rated at 220 kg

Other
Avionics: AN/APG-81 Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar, Mk.553 Radar Warning Receiver, Mk.555 Laser Warning Receiver, StridsNett encrypted two-way data uplink, Mk.603 Infrared Jammer, Sniper XR Advanced Targetting Pod (permanently fixed on right-hand side fuselage hardpoint), Fly-by-Wire
Chaff: 240
Flares: 240
Cost: $80 million (E1); $85 million (E2); $95 million (E3)
Variants: COT.41E1 Sleipner - Main production model; COT.41E2 Sleipner - Two-seat version of the COT.41E1; COT.41E3 Sleipner - Navalized variant of the COT.41E1 with strengthened fuselage and landing gear, more resistant to corrosion