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TW1M2 Aphoph

The TW1M2 Aphoph is an electronic attack aircraft flown by the Khertland Air Force. Purpose designed for electronic warfare, it can disrupt enemy command and control, communications, navigation systems, and early warning and acquisition radars. It will also be able to participate in the destruction of enemy air defenses with its six ARM3M2 anti-radiation missiles. The aircraft is also armed with size medium bombs for opportune targeting of passive, non-radar AA systems. Its jamming capabilities will degrade the enemy's ability to coordinate sensors and targeting of friendly aircraft while also capable of retailiating against said emissions with its own weapons.

The Aphoph is powered by a pair of fuselage-mounted podded engines aft with a modestly swept wing. The cockpit while wide enough for side-by-side seating, uses a tandem configuration instead. The seats are offset to the right. The left is to provide space for moving to and from the cockpit. The left side also hosts the door to the rear cabin which seats another three. All five crew members enter from the swing door on the canopy. The rear three crew members operate the advanced electronic warfare suite, each with their own console. Everyone is seated facing forward to allow the plane to pull high Gs, though in practice, its size makes this limited. However, high-G turns was deemed necessary for its employment in SEAD missions. The most distinctive feature are the large antenna arrays conformally mounted on either side of the fuselage which provide wide jamming arcs and a range of 282 km. The nose also features an array for the forward direction, leaving only the aft cone as a blind spot.

Armed with six anti-radiation missiles, the Aphoph is capable of prosecuting radar systems and permanently neutralizing air defense systems, not just temporarily suppressing them. Being Khertland's first anti-radiation missile, at least 5 major designs were designed with some having 2-3 sub-variants. These gone through numerous iterations and ground tests. At least 2-3 air-worthy models were chosen. The ARM2M was Khertland's first functional anti-radiation missile and trialed on the Candus II attack aircraft for testing. The ARM2M were large and slow. Radar systems could be turned off and move to a new position before the missile impacted. Additionally, the missile relied purely on inertial navigation systems where the slow flight speed compounded drift errors. The results were poor, leading to yet a new design, designated the ARM3M1. The ARM3 is a second generation anti-radiation missile with longer ranger and were much faster. It also featured a small active radar for terminal guidance and final corrections. The new weapon system also required a improved fire control computer. The aircraft can automatically launch based on emissions or even incoming missile trajectory due to this new fire control computer. Together, the entire system proved remarkably capable, though weapon accuracy were found to vary depending on emission signature.

The air force plans to procure a total of 64 Aphoph. This is a sizable fleet for a large electronic warfare aircraft but reasonable for a tactical fleet. This is the defining hybrid approach of the Aphoph. A medium sized aircraft capable of tactical maneuvers while carrying a large enough jamming array to fulfill the mission of a larger aircraft. This approach compromises some jamming range for improved agility to avoid incoming missiles. Nonetheless, the maneveurability of the aircraft is said to be lacking, leading to some questioning if this was a worthwhile compromise.

However, the air force cites lower cost per unit compared to a larger dedicated EW aircraft as justification. This allowed for a larger fleet to sustain continuous operations, absorb attrition, and distribute the platforms over a wider front. Additionally, a single large aircraft may achieve longer jamming range, but is also more vulnerable to enemy interception. This vulnerability limited their operations to just over if not behind the front line. Half of its EW coverage would then be over friendly lines, and not actively utilized. That is unless the aircraft goes dangerously deep into enemy territory. Instead, a more numerous but slightly smaller jamming radius can cover a wider portion of the front line for a similar levels of investment. The smaller aircraft can also be more aggressive, flying deeper into enemy territory and theoretically doubling the area covered. This line of thinking however has been criticized too, as more aircraft meant more aircrews and other additional costs. There's also the fact that a single large aircraft is not necessarily proportionally more expensive than multiple small ones. However, the air force hopes smaller, individually cheaper EW suites can be produced in larger amount and benefit from economies of scale. This will not only enable the operations of a larger fleet, but also to sustain production of spare parts or even war time expansion.

With 64 planes, the air force intends to equip 4 squadrons and the ability to maintain at least 7 aircraft in the air for 24/7 operations if necessary. For every aircraft airborne, two more is at the forward airfield to rotate periodically to alleviate fatigue. Of the 3 aircraft deployed, 6 others are in maintenance, training, or in transit. This cycling system enables the continuous operations of 7 Aphoph at any one time. Additional surge capacity is possible, but cannot be sustained indefinitely. When working in conjunction with the army's Kauket, Khertland expects to be able to project its electronic warfare bubble deep inside enemy territory. The Kauket would provide electronic warfare support close to the front line, while the agility and relative speed of the Aphoph make it viable to send it deeper into enemy airspace than with larger EW aircraft. Together, they can extend continuous EW coverage 780 km deep, though this is purely theoretical. Likewise, the air force estimates 7 aircraft can comfortably cover 2,800 km of front line, though in practice this is less. This broad coverage assumes all airborne aircraft are patrolling over the front line instead of being used in dedicated missions. In reality, some aircraft would be used to escort strike packages or target enemy air defense networks. Nonetheless, the Aphoph, inspired by the Dalang, represents the air force's goal of dominating the electromagnetic spectrum with persistent total coverage over the front line. Where the Dalang helps detect even the invisible, the Aphoph conceals their own, creating what Khertland calls, "electromagnetic stealth."

Basic specifications:
Cost: 41,143
Blocks: 1,123
Weight: 31,953
Volume: 1,309 cubic meter
Length: 61m
Width: 57m
Height: 14m
Speed: 123 m/s
Endurance: 3 hours

Ratings:
Total firepower: 17.47
Missile: 17.47
Armor: 2.5% (1038 materials)