• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Calidus B-350 - Counter-Insurgency / Light Attack Aircraft

The B 350 is a modern Skyraider, a multi-purpose training aircraft. The UAE’s Calidus B-350 mades its first public appearance at the Dubai Airshow 14-18 November 2021 at Dubai World Center [DWC]. Dubai Airshow is the leading aerospace event in the Middle East and the fastest growing airshow in the world. can be distinguished from the rather smaller B-250 light attack aircraft by a six-blade propeller [versus 4 blades on the B-250], and a rather smaller crew canopy [in contrast to the B-250, the design of which is dominated by the bulbous transparency]. Although the B-250 was derived from the Tucano A-29, it is unclear what foreign design might have formed the basis for the B-350.

It is designed to perform a number of tasks such as pilot training, patrolling and reconnaissance. This is a project supported by the United Arab Emirates government, so the main customer will be the air force itself, ie the state. Turboprop attack aircraft maintain their importance in terms of low altitude capabilities and especially their angle of attack capabilities. However, considering the developing CM capabilities in the field, there are more and more reasons to complicate the presence of this type of aircraft on the front line. These aircraft are now somewhere between attack helicopters and high payload capacity turboprop UCAVs. However, this gap is getting narrower due to the developments on the UAV side. Operators don’t want to fly an expensive fighter jet guzzling fuel and needing expensive maintenance in COIN ops. An F-16 costs around $8000 per flying hour while a ground attack turbo prop like Calidus B250 does it for $1500 per flying hour.

Calidus UAE B-350 is a two seat turboprop aircraft under development by Calidus UAE that will have a takeoff weight of 9 tons, a wingspan of 16 meters [versus 12.1 meters on the B-250], and a PW127 engine with 2600 Horsepower. It is a relatively large aircraft, can carry a wide range of equipment. Payload on B-350 aircraft will be possibly 3800 kg. It could likely carry cruise missiles like Delilah, or Nasef quite easily allowing standoff missions from a much cheaper aircraft than a dedicated fighter while also able to be multi role, and be relatively safe from insurgent AA weaponry by flying at high altitudes.

The B-350 aircraft is large in its category. Overall, this is not a revolutionary concept, but the B-350 is an aircraft unusual in its size. In this category, we find rather half-aircraft. This certainly brings a lot of challenges to the aircraft manufacturer, starting with the installation of a very powerful engine, through a large propeller, to the difficult control of the reaction torque of the power unit, ie the solution of controllability of the aircraft already when taking off the runway. It is also not yet common in this category for an aircraft to have an all-composite construction.

Last but not least, the necessary clearance between propeller and runway - almost four meters must be guaranteed in all circumstances, so the chassis will be quite large. The main landing gear leg will be about 1.7 meters high and will weigh about 130 kilograms. Charvat AXL won the contract for the development and production of the landing gear for the CALIDUS B-350 aircraft. This is a complex task, so it is necessary to do all the gradual steps of the development cycle: Design the chassis concept, fine-tune it to mutual customer satisfaction, commission the development of externally supplied components, carry out a detailed design, determine the chassis load. Furthermore, dimension individual parts, process 3D documentation and drawing documentation.