1 octobre 2018 | International, Aérospatial

RAF, l’Eurofighter en successeur du Tornado !

La Royal Air Force prépare activement la mise à jour de sa flotte d'avions de combat Eurofighter « Typhoon II » en vue du remplacement du Panavia Tornado GR4. En effet, les dernières unités de « Tornado » devraient être retirées au début de l'année 2019.

Project Centurion :

Le programme « Poject Centurion » doit permettre à l'avion européen d'égaler la capacité d'attaque au sol du « Tornado » et de la dépasser à terme.

Pour remplacer complètement le « Tornado » au sein de la RAF, les « Typhoon II » devront porter les mêmes armes, avec la phase 2 et phase 3 d'amélioration (P2EA et P3EA) qui, à leur tour, constituent la première phase et la deuxième phase du programme « Centurion ». Ils ont été précédés d'un Phase Zero (P1EB ou Phase 1 Enhancement Further Work). La phase zéro a été livrée en décembre 2017, officiellement entrée en service en janvier 2018 et est désormais opérationnelle dans le cadre de l'opération «Shader».

La configuration du projet « Centurion » est destinée à combiner la bombe guidée de précision Raytheon Paveway IV déjà livrée avec les missiles « Storm Shadow », « Meteor » et « Brimstone » sur le Typhoon FGR4. L'avion devra prochainement venir remplacer le Panavia Tornado GR4 au début de l'année 2019.

Les avions de première phase qui sont livrés ont été équipés de la mise à niveau « Typhoon » Phase 2 Enhancement (P2E) qui comprend le « Meteor » et le « Storm Shadow ». La phase 2 du projet Centurion couvre la mise à niveau de la phase 3 du Typhoon Enhancement (P3E) avec l'arrivée du « Brimstone ». Les essais sont maintenant en cours, la configuration finale du projet « Centurion » devrait être prête pour la fin de 2018.

Les appareils concernés font partie de la Tranche 1 (51), la Tranche 2 (67) et environ 10 appareils de la Tranche 3. A noter que 24 Eurofighter de la tranche 1 qui doivent être retenus serviront uniquement à la défense aérienne et ne recevront pas la mise à niveau du projet Centurion.

Environ 65 à 75 sorties devraient être enregistrées avant qu'une phase d'évaluation opérationnelle ne commence à au sein de la base aérienne de la RAF de Coningsby dans le Lincolnshire le 10 août prochain. Cela comprendra également des essais de tir complets avec l'arme de précision.

D'autres améliorations incluent des mises à jour de l'interface homme / machine du "Typhoon", avec notamment le système de visée monté sur un casque Striker fourni par BAE.

Le Storm Shadow :

Le SCALP (acronyme de « Système de croisière conventionnel autonome à longue portée »), anciennement « Arme de précision tirée à grande distance », est un missile développé fin 1994 MBDA. La version britannique est baptisée «Storm Shadow». Cette arme est conçue pour frapper l'ennemi dans son territoire profond, quelle que soit la défense aérienne gr'ce à sa furtivité qui le rend indétectable, y compris par les avions radars.

Le MBDA Brimstone :

Le missile Brimstone air-sol britannique fabriqué par MBDA sur commande de la Royal Air Force. Il est équipé d'un guidage laser et d'un radar millimétrique, ceci afin de le rendre plus efficace contre des cibles mobiles.

Le missile Meteor :

Le Meteor est prioritairement réservé aux missions d'interception à grande distance, au-delà de la portée optique (BVR) de tout type d'aéronefs. Son utilisation est privilégiée pour les cibles de haute valeur telles que l'attaque à plus de 100 km d'avions radar ou de ravitailleurs.

Ce missile va permettre d'assurer une efficacité de destruction à des distances aujourd'hui encore importantes, de l'ordre de 50 Nm (entre la cible et l'avion tireur au moment de l'impact).

A cette fin, le système d'arme comporte :

Un radar de bord qui fournit des informations précises sur la cible avant le départ du missile, et une liaison de données de type Link16 assurant les mêmes fonctions en retransmettant vers l'avion tireur les informations d'un capteur porté par un autre aéronef.

  • Des systèmes d'identification des cibles à des distances compatibles avec la portée du missile.
  • Une manœuvrabilité suffisante du missile dans toutes les phases de vol, pour toutes les distances de tir, qui doit lui assurer une grande probabilité de destruction des cibles.

La propulsion de ce missile est également un défi technologique du fait du concept retenu : celui d'un statoréacteur. Ce statoréacteur à propergol solide et à poussée régulée (Throttleable Ducted Rocket ou TDR) dans sa phase de croisière comporte un accélérateur à poudre intégré dans la chambre de combustion, ce qui permet de donner une impulsion initiale suffisante pour atteindre une vitesse compatible avec le fonctionnement du statoréacteur.

http://psk.blog.24heures.ch/archive/2018/09/30/raf-l-eurofighter-en-successeur-du-tornado-866306.html

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