Il-42 / IL-102 / OES-1 - - Design Features
The IL-102 heavy double attack aircraft was made according to the normal aerodynamic design with a low-lying swept wing. The design of the attack aircraft was distinguished by a high level of manufacturability. Over 80% of the fuselage was formed by sheets of single curvature, the air intakes of the engines had a circular cross section.
In terms of layout, the aircraft did not differ from the IL-40, however, it was a completely different aircraft, so to speak, in the "retro" style. Thirty years have passed between the IL-40 and the appearance of the IL-102 in the aircraft industry. New construction materials, more economical and powerful turbojet engines, new technological processes appeared, and there’s no need to talk about equipment. The crew rescue equipment was also updated. The aircraft used K-36L universal ejection seats for the pilot and K-36L-102 for the operator-shooter, which reliably saved the attack aircraft crew in the entire range of flight speeds and altitudes, including during parking (0 km / h, 0 meters ) If the pilot pressed a special “red button”, the squibs fired and both seats fired. Even if the gunner was seriously injured or the internal communication between the crew was broken and the order for bailout could not be transmitted, both crew members had equal chances of salvation. In this case, the operator-shooter could catapult independently, but could not catapult the pilot.
The main difference between the IL-102 from the Su-25 was precisely the second pilot. Apparently, this circumstance was then not considered a plus of the aircraft, and the second cockpit for the gunner most likely played a negative role. However, the operator-shooter, in addition to his main task - to protect against attacks by fighters, combat helicopters and suppress enemy air defense systems - controlled the air situation in the rear hemisphere and the operation of a number of airborne attack systems.
Thus, the pilot’s work was much easier, part of the load was removed from him. At the moments of exit from attacks, the operator-gunner could use fire from the rear remotely controlled artillery to suppress and disorganize the enemy, mainly MANPADS and MZA calculations. As the further development of attack aircraft showed, the second crew member on the attack aircraft was completely out of place, significantly increasing the efficiency of work at night, in difficult weather conditions, in the case of using high-precision weapons systems. One-year IL-102s - the American A-10 Thunderbolt II and the Soviet Su-25 - were designed with two-seat modifications to solve these problems, which did not go into a large series, mainly for economic reasons. At the same time, on IL-102 the second crew member was originally planned.
The design of the heavy attack aircraft was originally developed with the expectation of manufacturability, utmost simplicity and low cost of mass production. Based on this, as well as an increase in the mass and dimensions of the machine, the Ilyushin Design Bureau first decided to abandon the traditional "Ilyushin" reservation scheme - a single armored corps, which included all the vital parts of the attack aircraft (used on IL-2, IL-10, IL -40). On IL-102, it was decided to close the cockpit with armor, as well as partially the fuel supply system and engines. The fuel tanks of the reservation plane were lost, but they were concentrated in the central part of the fuselage. Front and rear, they were covered by armored cockpits, as well as defensive artillery, from the sides - engines, and below - a double 30-mm gun. To exclude the possibility of fire during their penetration, a fuel filling system with polyurethane was used. To increase security, the Avtomat-F ejection blocks for IR traps and dipole reflectors were placed in the bent down wingtips of the attack aircraft.
The fuselage is a semi-monocoque type. In its central part are located pressurized cockpits of the pilot and on-board shooter, between which fuel tanks are located. Two aerodynamic brakes of a relatively small area are installed on the sides of the rear of the fuselage. The lanterns of the arrow and pilot's cabs are formed by flat bulletproof glass. The arrow-shaped two-spar wing has a relatively thick profile, which made it possible to place cargo compartments for bomb weapons in it. The wing is equipped with a flap, occupying about 2/3 of the scope. On the upper surface of the wing are two-sectional interceptors.
The K-36L ejection seats are installed in the cockpits, which ensured leaving the aircraft at zero speed and altitude. The crew rescue system has a single-acting synchronous ejection device: the pilot, ejecting himself, the arrow also automatically catapults, which, however, cannot catapult the pilot. The aircraft is equipped with a three-axle landing gear with two-wheeled main bearings equipped with low-pressure pneumatics, which makes it possible to operate an attack aircraft from unpaved airfields. The nose strut is far ahead and retracts into the fuselage by turning backward (a similar arrangement provides good patency, but it occupies the volume of the nose of the fuselage, where other aircraft usually have radar or optoelectronic equipment). The main racks are retracted into special wing gondolas by turning forward. Unassembled IL-102 can be transported on two standard railway platforms or in the fuselage of the IL-76 aircraft. An experimental aircraft did not have a complete set of equipment. In the future, it was planned to equip the attack aircraft with modern optoelectronic systems. Antennas for the Bereza-L electronic reconnaissance system are installed in the wingtips bent down.
The IL-102 aircraft was equipped with two I-88 turbofan engines (2x5380 kgf), created at the Izotov Design Bureau and which are an afterburner variant of the RD-33 engine.
In the tail of the attack aircraft was a turret with a 23-mm GSH-23L double-barreled gun. Cartridge boxes for this gun were located in front of the tail section of the fuselage at a distance of about 3 meters from the gun mount. This arrangement of ammunition allowed to increase ammunition, as well as move it closer to the center of mass of the attack aircraft.
The supply of shells to the GSH-23L was carried out using a special mechanism of electric tension of the tape, which was fed into the movable part of the gun through the through axis of the lower vertical hinge. It was believed that the use of active interference and infrared traps in combination with the high maneuverability of the IL-102, as well as an additional pair of eyes of the air gunner-operator, who carefully watched the rear hemisphere and could notify the pilot in time about the threat of attack, would reduce the effectiveness of enemy missiles. As a result, enemy fighters would have been forced to resort to cannon weapons, falling under the fire of a 23-mm GSh-23L rapid-firing gun.
The maximum bomb load of the experimental heavy attack aircraft was 7200 kg. Each wing console had three bomb compartments capable of holding bombs of up to 250 kg caliber. And the total combat load of the aircraft on the internal nodes of the suspension (in the case of dismantling the ventral gun) reached 2300 kg. In addition, there were 8 external suspension nodes (6 under the wing and 2 under the fuselage). An interesting solution was that the entire combat load was lifted aboard the attack aircraft using built-in electric winches. Missile armament of the machine included UR class air-to-air and air-to-surface. NARs of all possible types and hanging cannon containers could also be used.
An unassembled attack aircraft could be transported on two standard-type railway platforms or in the fuselage of an IL-76 transport aircraft. The prototype IL-102 did not have a complete set of equipment. In the future, it was planned to equip the machine with modern optoelectronic systems. In the bent down wingtips, the antennas of the Bereza-L electronic intelligence system were to appear.
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