ALR Piranha

Size comparison of an ALR Piranha with the SEPECAT Jaguar and McDonnell Douglas F-15

After the Swiss government cancelled the FFA N-20 and an order for 100 FFA P-16s, the Swiss aviation industry and the ETH Zurich made a final attempt to build their own Swiss fighter aircraft. The plans called for a small fighter plane similar in class to the F-5E, which the Swiss Air Force later ordered.

In the 1960s and 1970s, modern military aircraft equipment was too expensive for small states to afford. The increase in the cost of flight material and weapons resulted in reductions in fleet sizes and capacity of service branches of small states to perform in combat. The strategy for the ALR Piranha was to deliver a design that would utilize common parts that could be built to support multiple mission types; air and ground attack, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and operational training.[1] The result was a fighter plane with significantly reduced size relative to the F-5E (20% smaller surface).[1]

The Piranha design was of close-coupled canard arrangement, with a shoulder-mounted, low aspect ratio main wing of near-delta plan.[2] Seven hard-points for weapons were planned, with four under-wing pylons and one on the aircraft center line rated at 500 kilograms (1,100 lb), plus rails on the aircraft's wingtips for air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder or the R.550 Magic. A single cannon, either the heavy, powerful 30 mm Oerlikon KCA or the lighter Mauser BK-27, would be mounted on the aircraft's center line, with the nose wheel slightly offset as a result.

The ALR would have been equipped with avionics, radar, armament and engines from abroad, and a laser seeking sensor in front of the cockpit.[3] In the single-engine model design, air brakes would be located on the sides of the rear hull. In the twin-engine version, the two air brake flaps would be mounted on the upper fuselage near the vertical tail.

The ALR Piranha would have been either a single-engine version, powered by RB199, EJ200 or M88 or a twin-engine model with two Larzacs. In the two models, only the rear portion of the aircraft would differ in size, affecting the arrangement of the parachute container and the air brakes.

Although the Swiss government lost interest in the project, prototype remote-controlled model ALR Piranha airplanes did reach the wind-tunnel and flight testing phase. A life-size mock cockpit was also constructed. Additionally, engineers designed a new concept for aircraft bunkers using a rotating floor disc for easy handling of the aircraft within the hangar. No prototype of the aircraft bunker was built.

From front to back, two seat, two engine and two engine, single seat versions

From left to right, single engine, two seat; single engine, single seat; and two seat, two engine and versions

Piranha 1

Subsonic variants.

Piranha 2C

Transonic ground attack model, powered by a single Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour Mk 811 (RT172-58) engine with 24.6–37.4 kN (5,530–8,408 lbf) thrust (with or without afterburner), no radar and small 13.5 m² (145.3 sq ft) wings.

Piranha 2D (1)

Version for attack and air superiority fighter, a 29.2–44.9 kN (6,564–10,094 lbf) thrust Adour (RT172-63), full avionics and small 13.5 m² (145.3 sq ft) wings.

Piranha 2D (2)

Like as (1) but with a large wing 16 m² (172.2 sq ft).

Piranha 4

2 × SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac M-74/05 turbofan engines (15% more thrust at supersonic speed than RT172-63), shorter and wider fuselage.

Piranha 5

2 × 18.4–30.2 kN (4,136–6,789 lbf) Garrett TFE 1042-7 turbofan engines.

Piranha 6

1 × 40.5–73 kN (9,105–16,411 lbf) Turbo-Union RB.199 Mk.104 turbofan engine.

• Armament: 1 × cannon (KCA 30mm, 27mm Mauser, General Electric GE-430 30mm) Piranha 6/4 Piranha / Piranha 2D (2) / Piranha 2D (1)
• Length: 11.57 m / 10.50 m / 10.7 m / 10.7 m
• Wingspan: 7.62 m / 6.49 m / 6.49 m / 6 m
• Height: 4.25 m / 4.12 m
• Wing area: 22 m² / 16 m² / 16 m² / 13.5 sq m
• Empty weight: 4340 kg / 3800 kg
• Max fuel: 2160 kg +
• External load max: 3500 kg
• Normal TOW: 7040 kg / 5900 kg
• Max TOW: 10.000 kg
• Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 / Mach 1.6
• Max rate of climb: 18,000 m / minute /
• Ceiling: 16,800 m
• Off distance: 300 m / 450 m
• Combat radius, lo-lo-lo, 2000 kg weapons load, 20 min cruise, 5 min combat mission: 400 km 300 km
• Avionics:
  • Ferranti FIN 1020nav / attack, Type 105D Laser Distance Meters, HUD Smith, Thomson-CSF Agave radar.
  • INS FINAS FerrantiFINAS INS 2000 Ferranti 4510 HUD, Type 105D Laser Distance Meters, Emerson APG-69, APG-67 or General Electric Blue Vixen radar.

Citations

Bibliography

• Jane's all the world's aircraft supplement (18), in Flugrevue, Juni 1980, S. 55 f.
• Jane's all the world's aircraft, Verlag McGraw-Hill, 1985, S. 205
• Leichtkampfflugzeug Piranha. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung: Wochenschrift für Architektur, Ingenieurwesen, Maschinentechnik, Band 96, 1978, S. 636
• P-16 et autres jets suisses. Le Temps, 1. Dezember 2011
• "The Light Fighter Market...and a European proposal". Air International. Vol. 18, no. 2. February 1980. pp. 77–81.
• Walters, Brian (November 1992). "Jäger Light: A project a decade too early". Air International. Vol. 43, no. 5. pp. 257–259.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ALR Piranha.

• ALR Documentation about the Piranha