Aerfer Ariete

The Aerfer Ariete (Italian for Ram or Aries) was a prototype fighter aircraft built in Italy in 1958. It was a refined derivative of the Aerfer Sagittario 2, and was an attempt to bring that aircraft up to a standard where it could be mass-produced as a viable combat aircraft.

Ariete
Role Prototype fighter
Manufacturer Aerfer
Designer Sergio Stefanutti
First flight 27 March 1958
Primary user Italian Air Force
Number built 2
Developed from Aerfer Sagittario 2

Retaining most of the Sagittario 2's layout with a nose intake and ventral exhaust for the main Derwent engine, the Ariete added a Rolls-Royce Soar RS.2 auxiliary turbojet engine to provide additional power for climbing and sprinting. This used a dorsal, retractable intake with its exhaust at the tail.

No production ensued; a proposed version with a de Havilland Spectre rocket engine instead of the auxiliary turbojet, the Aerfer Leone (Lion or Leo), was abandoned before a prototype could be built.

Operators
 Italy

Specifications (Ariete)

Data from Air Enthusiast,[2] Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
  • Wingspan: 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
  • Height: 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)
  • Wing area: 14.5 m2 (156 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 2,400 kg (5,291 lb)
  • Gross weight: 3,535 kg (7,793 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Derwent 9 turbojet engine, 16.2 kN (3,600 lbf) thrust
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce RSr.2 Soar turbojet engine, 8.025 kN (1,804 lbf) thrust

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 1,125 km/h (699 mph, 607 kn)
  • Maximum speed: Mach 1.1
  • Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 227 m/s (44,700 ft/min)
  • Time to altitude: 12,000 m (39,370 ft) in 4 minutes 20 seconds
  • Wing loading: 244 kg/m2 (50 lb/sq ft)
  • Thrust/weight: 0.685
  • Take-off run: 500 m (1,640 ft)
  • Landing run: 900 m (2,953 ft)

Armament

  • Guns: 2 × 30 mm HS-825 cannon (30x136mm)

See also

Related development

References
  1. "Aerfer Ariete". Aeronautica Militare. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  2. Swanborough 1971, p. 108.
  3. Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1958). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59. London: Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 187.

Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aerfer Ariete.
  • Buttler, Tony. X-Planes of Europe II: Military Prototype Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946–1974. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2015. ISBN 978-1-90210-948-0
  • Swanborough, Gordon. Air Enthusiast, Volume One. London: Pilot Press, 1971. ISBN 0-385-08171-5.
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