THE VAUTOUR ONTEMPORARIES


COMPARISON OF MAIN TECHNICAL DATA


This paragraph is an attempt to compare, very roughly, the main characteristics of the Vautour's contemporaries.
The Vautour, as a multi-role aircraft, is compared separately as Fighter-Bomber and as All-Weather fighter. In both categories the only two-engined aircraft are relevant.
The term "contemporary" is referred to aircraft which were in operational service in parallel with the Vautour: ca. between 1956 to the early seventies'.



1. FIGHTER BOMBERS { STRIKE / ATTACK / LIGHT BOMBERS }

Discussion
Type > Specs. Il-28 Canberra B.I. Mk.8 A-3B Skywarrior B-66B Destroyer B-57B Night Intruder Buccaneer S.1 Vautour IIA
Manufacturer : Ilyushin, S.S.S.R British Electric Douglass Douglass Lockheed-Martin Blackburn S.N.C.A.S.O
Power Plant & Thrust (lb. st.) : 2 x 5,000 2 x Rollce-Roice Avon 2 x 11,230 P&W J-57 2 x 11,230 P&W J-57 2 x 11,230 P&W J-57 2 x 7,000 Gyron Junior 2 x 7,716 Snecma Atar 101E-3
Weights (kgs.): N.T.O: M.T.O (approx.) N.T.O: ; M.T.O: N.T.O: ; M.T.O: N.T.O: ; M.T.O: N.T.O: ; M.T.O: N.T.O: ; M.T.O: N.T.O: ; M.T.O:
Ratio Thrust (kgp)/M.T.O : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Guns / Defensive Armament : 2 x (no guns) (no guns) (no guns) (no guns) 2 x 4 x 30mm guns + 100 rpg
Internal bomb load (kg.) : 2 () () () () () 2,400
External bomb load (kg.) : 2 () () () () () 2,000
Max. Level Speed (kmh) : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Normal Range at High Altitude (km) : 0 0 0 0 0 0 3,000
Service Ceiling (feet) : 000 000 000 000 000 000 50,000
Initial Climb Rate, Clean (feet/min.) : (?) 0 0 0 0 0 11,810 ; Time to 39,370' - 7 min.
First flight - prototype : 1952 1950 1951 1951 1951 1951 1952
Years of Service (relevant sub-type) : Soviet Block - - - - - 1958 - 1971, IAF
Production (* all variants) : * * * * * * 30








[ TO BE COMPLETED ]



2. ALL-WEATHER INTERCEPTORS {Two-engined, Two-seaters}

Discussion

1. The aim of this paragraph is to evaluate the five all-weather fighters, regarding their planned ability to intercept high-altitude enemy bombers , and NOT to compare their ability to fight each other. (If this was the case, in air to air subsonic encounters, all five had roughly the same properties, with relative advantages to each).

2. Comparison on the basis of the technical data is, undoubtedly, not too professional (to say the least..), but it could give some indication about the relative quality of these aircraft.

3. Except for the Vautour, all other "contestants" were built as dedicated night/all-weather interceptors. (The Sea Vixen was planned also for attack, armed with bombs. It was also the sole carrier-borne fighter-bomber among the five).

4. It is interesting to realize that no American aircraft, of the same category (i.e. a two-engined / two-seater all weather, transonic interceptor), existed that time ! The USAF aircraft, somehow equivalent in performance, were the Sabre's derivatives, single engined and pilot only, F-86D, K & L. The F-94 and F-89, of an older generation, were at the end of their service. The U.S. Navy had had prior to that period some all-weather fighters of limited capability (F2H Banshee, F3H Demon and even the F8U Crusader of the 60's was not a true all-weather fighter).

5. Some rough conclusions:
a) The British engines were the most powerful. Remember the miss of NOT fitting the Vautour with 10,000 lbs. engines' category.
b) The Vautour, inspite its heavy weight (which meant much fuel and very long range) and the underpowered engines, still had a good overall performance. Although the table doesn't "measure" maneuverability, some clue is given by the ratio "engines thrust" to "max. weight" (but it's just one of the factors). As the Vautour was evaluated in numerous tests, its maneuverability was not inferior to any contemporary, transonic, fighter.
c) The Vautour,s armament was really powerful (guns), but it lacked the advanced instrumentation ("avionics") and the second-generation missiles. In this issue the Canadian CF-100 (with the American fire control system), and the British fighters, with their missiles (comparable to the Matra R-530), were more advanced.
d) The Yak-25/27 was, in general, inferior to the other interceptors, but the special variant for high-altitude (60,000 feet) photo-recce, had no contestant in Western Europe products. (this mission was carried out by American, especially fitted, airplanes, as the RB-57 and the multi-engined, heavy bombers conversions, as the RB-47).
e) The mass production of the CF-100 and the Yak-25) might imply:
success of concept, good development and continuous upgrading, which promised reliability and credibility.
Cheaper cost per unit (although I cannot prove it by data..).
f) A rough conclusion is that two of the purely dedicated night / all-weather aircraft, the CF-100 and the Javelin, had some relative advantages over the other discussed.
g) The table doesn't take into account some crucial factors, as the crewmen level, difficulty of maintenance and more..


Specs. Type => Yak-25 "Flashlight B" CF-100 Mk. 5 Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk. 2 Javelin F.A.W. Mk. 7 Vautour IIN
Manufacturer : Yakovlev, S.S.S.R Avro Canada De-Havilland, U.K Gloster, U.K S.N.C.S.O, France
Power Plant & Thrust (lb. st.) : 2 x 7,220 Tumansky RD-9B/F 2 x 7,275 Orenda-14 2 x 11,230 Rolls-Royce Avon R.A.14 2 x 11,000 / 12,300 with a/b; A.S. Sapphire 203 2 x 7,716 / 8,137 Snecma Atar 101E-3/5
Weights (kgs.): N.T.O: 9,000 ; M.T.O (approx.) 12,500 N.T.O: 15,208 ; M.T.O: 16,783 N.T.O: 16,783 ; M.T.O: 18,858 N.T.O: 15,876 ; M.T.O: 17,917 N.T.O: 17,500 ; M.T.O: 20,700
Ratio Thrust (kgp)/M.T.O : 1.05 0.40 0.54 0.62 0.34
Armament, Guns : 2 x 37mm guns + 65 rpg (no guns) (no guns) 2 x 30mm gums + 200 rpg 4 x 30mm guns + 100 rpg
AAM (none) {none} 4 "Firestreak" or "Red-Top". 4 "Firestreak" 4 AA-20 or R-511
General-Purpose Rockets (unknown) 2 pods x 29 2.75" rockets each, at wing tips Internal: 2 packs x 14 2" rockets, each; External: 4 packs x 37 2" rockets or a mix of two AAMs and two rocket packs. 4 packs x 37 2" rockets or a mix of two AAMs and two rocket packs. Internal: 104 - 120 68mm rocket pack. External: 4 x 19 68mm rockets pods, or a mix of two AAMs and two rocket pods.
Normal Range at High Altitude (km) : 3,000 3,215 2,260 2,500 3,000
Service Ceiling (feet) : 45,000+ 54,000 48,000 50,000 50,000
Initial Climb Rate (feet/min.), Clean : (?) 8,750 10,000+ 10,000 + ; Time to 40,000' - 7 min. 11,810 ; Time to 39,370' - 7 min.
Max. Level Speed (kmh) : 1,090 at 16,045' 1,047 at 10,000' ; 891 at 30,000' 1,038 at 10,000' 1,025 at 35,000' 1,100 at sea level, ; 1,050 - above 36,000'
Fire Control Systems : "Scan Three" search radar ; Gyro sight ; RWR MG-2 integrated fire control system A.I. Mk.18 search radar ; Ferranti optical sight A.I. Mk.17 search radar ; Gyro sight Drac-25A search radar ; Ferranti optical sight
First flight - prototype : 1952 1950 1951 1951 1952
Years of Service (relevant sub-type) : 1955 - late 60's, Soviet Block 1955 - 1981, Canada, Belgium 1960 - 1972, U.K / F.A.A 1956 - 1968, U.K / R.A.F 1958 - 1974, FR-AF
Production (* all variants) : * ca. 1,000 * 692 143 * 429 70


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this page was last updated: March 15, 2000