Misplaced Pages

#448551

57-527: While the Marut had been envisioned as a supersonic -capable interceptor aircraft , it would never manage to exceed Mach 1 . This limitation was principally due to the engines used, which in turn had been limited by various political and economic factors; multiple attempts to develop improved engines or to source alternative powerplants were fruitless. The Marut's cost and lack of capability in comparison to contemporary aircraft were often criticised. Nevertheless,

114-463: A Marut returned to base without escort on one engine, from about 150 mi (240 km) inside hostile territory. On another occasion, a pilot flying his Marut through debris that erupted into the air as he strafed a convoy felt a heavy blow to the rear fuselage of the aircraft, the engine damage warning lights immediately illuminated, and one engine cut out. Fortunately, the Marut attained a safe and reasonable recovery speed on one engine. Consequently,

171-658: A PAF F-86 Sabre (reportedly flown by Flying Officer Hamid Khwaja of No. 15 Squadron of the Pakistan Air Force ), however according to Pakistani reports, the F-86F Sabre (Serial No. 4030) had suffered an Engine flameout while chasing an Indian Hawker Hunter over Khushalgarh. By 1982, the IAF was proposing that the Marut fleet be phased out on the basis that the type was "no longer operationally viable". Supporters such as Air Commodore Jasjit Singh pointed out that

228-573: A capable fighter bomber; attributes such as a twin-engine configuration and a speed of Mach 1.4 to 1.5 were quickly emphasised. During development, HAL designed and constructed a full-scale two-seat wooden glider to act as a flying demonstrator. Designated HAL X-241 , this replicated production aircraft in terms of dimensions, control configuration, and aerofoil sections. The wheel brakes, air brakes, flaps, and retractable undercarriage were all actuated using compressed gas, with sufficient gas storage aboard for multiple actuations per flight. On 3 April 1959,

285-534: A complete generator set. They were also employed in oil rigs and pumping sets.(Ref TJ151/2). When the company was formed it also included the motor car companies Armstrong Siddeley Motors and Bristol Cars . It was soon decided to stop production of Armstrong Siddeley cars, as it was becoming uneconomic, with production of the only product, the Star Sapphire, ending in July 1960. In September 1960 Bristol Cars

342-468: A disc-webbed crankshaft that ran in large roller bearings , telescopic pipes to deliver cooling oil to the pistons and detachable piston crowns. The MD engines produced by BSEL included 16 basic engines in the range, which covered powers from 380 to 3,000 horsepower, and includes 4- and 6-cylinder in-line units, and 8, 12 and 16 V units. Each of these were pressure-charged, with or without intercooling. They were used with hydraulic transmission systems, in

399-544: A ground starter unit in the British services. Bristol Siddeley was bought by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1966 for £63.6 million in order to prevent competition from a planned collaboration between BSEL, Pratt & Whitney and Snecma . Bristol Siddeley retained its own identity and marketing organization. Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited is still a listed but dormant company within the Rolls-Royce group. The company

456-460: A modern aircraft industry in India. The first phase of the project sought to develop an airframe suitable for travelling at supersonic speeds, and able to effectively perform combat missions as a fighter aircraft, while the second phase sought to domestically design and produce an engine capable of propelling the aircraft. Early on, there was an explicit adherence to satisfying the IAF's requirements for

513-536: A single Marut was used as a testbed for the Egyptian indigenously-developed Brandner E-300 engine. The Indian team was recalled in July 1969, while the Egypt-based Marut was abandoned. Given the limited number of Marut units, most Marut squadrons were considerably over-strength for the duration of their lives. According to Brian de Magray, at peak strength No.10 Squadron had on charge 32 Maruts, although

570-419: Is " ultrasonic ", but the older meaning sometimes still lives on, as in the word superheterodyne The tip of a bullwhip is generally seen as the first object designed to reach the speed of sound. This action results in its telltale "crack", which is actually just a sonic boom . The first human-made supersonic boom was likely caused by a piece of common cloth, leading to the whip's eventual development. It's

627-428: Is crack formation faster than the speed of sound in a brittle material. The word supersonic comes from two Latin derived words ; 1) super : above and 2) sonus : sound, which together mean above sound, or faster than sound. At the beginning of the 20th century, the term "supersonic" was used as an adjective to describe sound whose frequency is above the range of normal human hearing. The modern term for this meaning

SECTION 10

#1732790476449

684-444: Is more complex. The main key to having low supersonic drag is to properly shape the overall aircraft to be long and thin, and close to a "perfect" shape, the von Karman ogive or Sears-Haack body . This has led to almost every supersonic cruising aircraft looking very similar to every other, with a very long and slender fuselage and large delta wings, cf. SR-71 , Concorde , etc. Although not ideal for passenger aircraft, this shaping

741-417: Is quite adaptable for bomber use. Bristol Siddeley Bristol Siddeley Engines Ltd ( BSEL ) was a British aero engine manufacturer. The company was formed in 1959 by a merger of Bristol Aero-Engines Limited and Armstrong Siddeley Motors Limited . In 1961 the company was expanded by the purchase of the de Havilland Engine Company and the engine division of Blackburn Aircraft . Bristol Siddeley

798-420: Is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach  1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level , this speed is approximately 343.2 m/s (1,126 ft/s; 768 mph; 667.1 kn; 1,236 km/h). Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5) are often referred to as hypersonic . Flights during which only some parts of

855-545: The COVID-19 pandemic and the vehicle was put up for sale. Most modern fighter aircraft are supersonic aircraft. No modern-day passenger aircraft are capable of supersonic speed, but there have been supersonic passenger aircraft , namely Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144 . Both of these passenger aircraft and some modern fighters are also capable of supercruise , a condition of sustained supersonic flight without

912-492: The Folland Gnat airframes that were already being manufactured, under license, by HAL. While the Marut had been designed around significantly more powerful engines, the un-reheated Orpheus 703 was a viable powerplant for testing purposes. This meant that the Marut was barely capable of Mach 1, even though a top speed of Mach 2 had originally been considered necessary. Before suitable, afterburning engines had been obtained,

969-580: The Hawker Siddeley HS.125 . Bristol Siddeley had under development another vectored thrust turbofan, the "plenum chamber burner" (similar to an afterburner) equipped BS100 , which was intended for the supersonic Hawker Siddeley P.1154 VSTOL fighter, but the project was cancelled in 1965. The two shaft BS143 was proposed for the MRCA (later the Tornado), but the takeover by RR caused the adoption of

1026-802: The Olympus two-spool turbojet (from which the engine for Concorde was developed), the Orpheus turbojet for the Folland Gnat light fighter/trainer aircraft, the Pegasus two shaft medium bypass ratio vectored thrust turbofan for the Hawker Siddeley P.1127 /Kestrel/Harrier VSTOL ground attack aircraft, the Proteus turboprop for the Bristol Britannia airliner and the Viper turbojet for

1083-594: The ThrustSSC . The vehicle, driven by Andy Green , holds the world land speed record, having achieved an average speed on its bi-directional run of 1,228 km/h (763 mph) in the Black Rock Desert on 15 October 1997. The Bloodhound LSR project planned an attempt on the record in 2020 at Hakskeenpan in South Africa with a combination jet and hybrid rocket propelled car. The aim was to break

1140-562: The Tupolev Tu-160 and Rockwell B-1 Lancer are also supersonic-capable. The aerodynamics of supersonic aircraft is simpler than subsonic aerodynamics because the airsheets at different points along the plane often cannot affect each other. Supersonic jets and rocket vehicles require several times greater thrust to push through the extra aerodynamic drag experienced within the transonic region (around Mach 0.85–1.2). At these speeds aerospace engineers can gently guide air around

1197-524: The fuselage of the aircraft without producing new shock waves , but any change in cross area farther down the vehicle leads to shock waves along the body. Designers use the Supersonic area rule and the Whitcomb area rule to minimize sudden changes in size. However, in practical applications, a supersonic aircraft must operate stably in both subsonic and supersonic profiles, hence aerodynamic design

SECTION 20

#1732790476449

1254-471: The molecular mass and temperature of the gas, and pressure has little effect. Since air temperature and composition varies significantly with altitude, the speed of sound, and Mach numbers for a steadily moving object may change. In water at room temperature supersonic speed means any speed greater than 1,440 m/s (4,724 ft/s). In solids, sound waves can be polarized longitudinally or transversely and have higher velocities. Supersonic fracture

1311-467: The speed of sound decreases somewhat with altitude, due to lower temperatures found there (typically up to 25 km). At even higher altitudes the temperature starts increasing, with the corresponding increase in the speed of sound. When an inflated balloon is burst, the torn pieces of latex contract at supersonic speed, which contributes to the sharp and loud popping noise. To date, only one land vehicle has officially travelled at supersonic speed,

1368-546: The wave motion travelling through the bullwhip that makes it capable of achieving supersonic speeds. Most modern firearm bullets are supersonic, with rifle projectiles often travelling at speeds approaching and in some cases well exceeding Mach 3 . Most spacecraft are supersonic at least during portions of their reentry, though the effects on the spacecraft are reduced by low air densities. During ascent, launch vehicles generally avoid going supersonic below 30 km (~98,400 feet) to reduce air drag. Note that

1425-618: The 1950s, Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) had developed and produced several types of trainer aircraft, such as the HAL HT-2 . However, elements within the firm were eager to expand into the then-new realm of supersonic fighter aircraft. Around the same time, the Indian government was in the process of formulating a new Air Staff Requirement for a Mach 2-capable combat aircraft to equip the Indian Air Force (IAF). However, as HAL lacked

1482-623: The Bristol Aeroplane Company had taken over the assets of the Cosmos Engineering Company . On 6 May 1958 Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited was formed as a pilot company to bring about an alliance between the Bristol and Coventry concerns, and a full merger took effect from the beginning of April 1959. The purpose of the new company was to combine the research, engineering and manufacturing resources of

1539-634: The French-built Dassault Ouragan as an alternative. By the time the Marut entered mass production, the IAF had already purchased foreign-built fighters such as the Hawker Hunter and Sukhoi Su-7 . Following on from the Marut, HAL proceeded to produce larger quantities of both European and Soviet combat aircraft under license , such as the SEPECAT Jaguar , Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 , and Mikoyan MiG-27 . The Marut

1596-571: The Indian Government decided to order 16 pre-production and 60 production Maruts, powered by the Orpheus 703. The IAF was reluctant to operate a fighter aircraft with performance that was, at best, marginally better than its existing fleet of British-built Hawker Hunters . Due to the insufficient power of the Orpheus 703, the Marut was technically obsolete by the time the first production aircraft were completed, in 1964. On 1 April 1967,

1653-604: The Marut performed relatively well in combat, primarily as a fighter-bomber in the ground attack role. Most notably participating in the Battle of Longewala during the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 . A total of 147 Maruts were manufactured, with the Indian Air Force (IAF) being the sole operator. By 1982, the Marut was becoming increasingly obsolescent, and was gradually phased out during the late 1980s. During

1710-415: The Orpheus without external aid, which proceeded to the testing phase with some favourable results, but proved incompatible with the Marut. As the particularities of a given airframe are typically heavily dependent on the engine used, the inability to improve the Marut's powerplant damaged its performance. Despite experimentation with various engines, the Marut was never able to achieve supersonic speeds, which

1767-645: The Orpheus, it was only suitable as an interim measure as it lacked the power to enable the Marut to achieve supersonic speed. The Indian Government refused a proposal made by Rolls-Royce to finance further development of the Orpheus, which had been specifically aimed at producing a more suitable engine for the Marut. Other envisioned alternative engines that might have been sourced from the Soviet Union, Egypt, or various European nations did not result in anything of substance. The Gas Turbine Research Establishment also pursued their own development program to improve

HAL HF-24 Marut - Misplaced Pages Continue

1824-661: The Type 4 locos (with two MD650 engines of 1,152 bhp each) hauled the express trains of the Western Region of British Railways - e.g. the Bristolian and the Cornish Riviera . Several hundred more orders were placed by British Rail.(Ref TJ102). MD series engines were widely used in base load, intermittent and standby electricity generating sets, and were transported by rail up to the nominal 1200 kW size for

1881-498: The X-241 flew for the first time, after being towed into the air by a Douglas Dakota Mk.IV ( BJ 449 ). A total of 86 flights were conducted prior to the X-241 sustaining considerable damage in a landing incident, when the nose undercarriage failed to extend. On 24 June 1961, the prototype Marut conducted its first powered flight. It was fitted with the same UK-manufactured Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 703 turbojets that were installed in

1938-734: The aero engine field in 1934 when the Cirrus-Hermes Engineering Company became part of the Blackburn and this became the Engine Division of Blackburn Aircraft and subsequently Blackburn Engines Limited. In 1952 an agreement was signed which enabled Blackburn Engines Limited to produce engines based on the Turbomeca range of small gas turbine engines. These were developed for use as airborne auxiliary power units for large aircraft and they were also used as

1995-520: The aero-engine industry. The de Havilland Engine Company Limited had the de Havilland Sprite which was a rocket engine with a military type test certificate. In 1954, the company had produced the axial turbojet Gyron of 30,000 lbf (130 kN) thrust, from which was descended the Gyron Junior series. The de Havilland Engine Company's portfolio included the (licensed) Gnome turboshaft . The Blackburn Aeroplane and Motor Company had entered

2052-474: The air surrounding an object, such as the ends of rotor blades, reach supersonic speeds are called transonic . This occurs typically somewhere between Mach 0.8 and Mach 1.2. Sounds are traveling vibrations in the form of pressure waves in an elastic medium. Objects move at supersonic speed when the objects move faster than the speed at which sound propagates through the medium. In gases, sound travels longitudinally at different speeds, mostly depending on

2109-436: The airframe produced, as well as dissatisfaction with the Marut's speed and manoeuvrability, both of which were below IAF specification upon the aircraft's introduction. Tank had a major influence on the project, and accordingly of its shortcomings. While working on the Marut, he was criticized for a rigid stance on aspects of the design, and he typically had little interest in lobbying the Indian government for funding to refine

2166-510: The decisive Battle of Longewala , on the morning of 5 December 1971. The aerial attack was credited with destroying a large number of tanks that had been deployed by Pakistani ground forces. More than 300 combat sorties were flown by the Maruts during a two-week period in the war. According to Indian reports, one aerial kill was recorded as having been achieved by a Marut. On 7 December 1971, Squadron Leader KK Bakshi of No. 220 Squadron shot down

2223-429: The design. In addition, however, elements of the IAF have been alleged to have held dismissive attitudes toward Tank and of his abilities, rarely coordinated with him on issues with the aircraft, which in turn exacerbated the type's performance issues. The level of technological transfer between Germany and India on the project was subject to criticism as well. Limitations within the Indian aerospace industry, which lacked

2280-460: The existing record, then make further attempts during which (the members of) the team hoped to reach speeds of up to 1,600 km/h (1,000 mph). The effort was originally run by Richard Noble who was the leader of the ThrustSSC project, however following funding issues in 2018, the team was bought by Ian Warhurst and renamed Bloodhound LSR. Later the project was indefinitely delayed due to

2337-407: The first production Marut was officially accepted by the IAF. Only 147 aircraft, including 18 two-seat trainers, were completed out of a planned 214. Following the first nuclear weapons tests by India , in 1974, adverse international public opinion worsened the chances of HAL obtaining better engines for the Marut; even spares for its existing Orpheus engines became scarce. This situation was one of

HAL HF-24 Marut - Misplaced Pages Continue

2394-479: The government never sanctioned the development of an engine design team, nor were there assessments of HAL's capability to reverse engineer or to apply technologies from other projects, such as the work performed for the Folland Gnat. HAL is claimed to have struggled to convince both the IAF and MoD that the design of the Marut was acceptable; much attention was given to the unacceptably high level of trail drag

2451-424: The infrastructure and scientific base to successfully produce an effective indigenous combat aircraft at that time, forced a heavy reliance on foreign technologies and imported components. HAL's willingness to undertake overly-ambitious defence projects may also be partially responsible for the project's outcome. The Marut was not only heavily dependent on foreign-sourced materials, but was more expensive to manufacture

2508-512: The main reasons for the aircraft's early demise. The Marut was described as "essentially a very long-drawn-out failure", and the aircraft's shortcomings were considered to be due to multiple factors. Among these were the difficulties experienced in securing a suitable engine, which was principally a political issue; while arrangements were successfully established with the United Kingdom and Bristol Siddeley for HAL to domestically produce

2565-409: The necessary experience in both developing and manufacturing frontline combat fighters, it was clear that external guidance would be invaluable; this assistance was embodied by Kurt Tank . In 1956, HAL formally began design work on the supersonic fighter project. The Indian government, led by Jawaharlal Nehru , authorised the development of the aircraft, stating that it would aid in the development of

2622-559: The pilot had no difficulty in flying his crippled fighter back to base. Another safety factor was the automatic reversion to manual control in the event of a failure in the hydraulic flying control system, and there were several instances of Maruts being flown back from a sortie manually. The Marut had a good survivability record in enemy airspace. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 , some Maruts and Hawker Hunter aircraft were used to give close support to an Indian border post in

2679-564: The same time Bristol's aircraft manufacturing was being subsumed into the British Aircraft Corporation along with those of English Electric and Vickers-Armstrong . Armstrong Siddeley Motors had been producing aero-engines and motor-cars since it had been formed in 1919 with the merger of Siddeley-Deasy and the Armstrong Whitworth Company . Bristol Aero-Engines had been formed in 1920 when

2736-608: The squadron probably did not hold a unit-establishment of more than 16. The Marut squadrons participated in the 1971 war and none were lost in air-to-air combat, although three were lost to ground fire, and one was destroyed on the ground. Three Marut pilots were awarded the Vir Chakra commendation. Maruts constantly found themselves under heavy and concentrated fire from the ground during their low-level attack missions. On at least three occasions, Maruts regained their base after one engine had been lost to ground fire. On one of these,

2793-1051: The three shaft RB199 instead. Hypersonics were explored in a shock tube near the High Altitude Test Plant (HATP) at Bristol, in support of BS1012 hypersonic engine thinking. High supersonic ramjets for long range defensive missiles were tested in the HATP (Ref TJ102 and TJ151/2). Bristol Siddeley also manufactured diesel engines under licence from the German company Maybach . These were for installation in British Rail Class 42 and Class 52 locomotives which were themselves based on licensed German designs but with as much British-built content as possible. The Maybach Diesel (MD) MD650, MD655 and MD870 series engines built by Bristol Siddeley were sophisticated in design, running at much higher speeds than normal diesels of their size and featured advanced construction such as

2850-574: The two great component companies to meet the changing demands of the aviation industry. The company was further strengthened in November 1961 when it acquired the full share capital of the de Havilland Engine Company Limited and Blackburn Engines Limited , both of which were formerly operating within the Hawker Siddeley Group. The aircraft side of Blackburn became part of Hawker Siddeley. Both of these companies had long histories in

2907-585: The type had performed well in the 1971 combat, and had enjoyed superior safety records to other IAF aircraft such as the Gnat. Some aircraft had less than 100 recorded flight hours when the retirement of the Marut was being mooted. There are several surviving Maruts open to public inspection: Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77 General characteristics Performance Armament Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Supersonic Supersonic speed

SECTION 50

#1732790476449

2964-456: The type in India than to have imported completed aircraft. The level of indigenous components increased over time, reportedly reaching 70 per cent by December 1973. The allocation of scarce resources to reproducing components that could have been readily imported represented a high level of opportunity cost to India. The IAF reportedly showed little confidence or interest in indigenous fighter technology, having openly expressed its preference for

3021-405: The use of an afterburner . Due to its ability to supercruise for several hours and the relatively high frequency of flight over several decades, Concorde spent more time flying supersonically than all other aircraft combined by a considerable margin. Since Concorde's final retirement flight on November 26, 2003, there are no supersonic passenger aircraft left in service. Some large bombers , such as

3078-603: Was one of the largest of its kind in the world and offered a wider range of engines than any other manufacturer. Aero engines produced by the company included piston engines, turboprops, turboshafts, turbojets, turbofans, auxiliary power units, ramjets and liquid propellant rocket engines. Outside the aeronautical field its products were gas turbines for marine and industrial use, diesel engines, and automatic transmissions. The Patchway factory in South Gloucestershire produced military aeroplane engines including

3135-562: Was purchased by Rolls-Royce Limited in 1966. Bristol Siddeley Engines Limited was formed by the 1 April 1959 merge of Bristol Aero-Engines and Armstrong Siddeley Motors . These were the aero engine manufacturing companies of the Bristol Aeroplane Company and the Hawker Siddeley Group . The share capital of Bristol Siddeley was held in equal proportions by these two parent organisations. At around

3192-432: Was used in combat in a ground attack role, where its safety features such as manual controls whenever the hydraulic systems failed, and twin engines, increased survivability. According to aviation author Pushpindar Singh, the Marut had excellent low-level flying characteristics, but its maneuverability suffered due to the lack of engine power; maintenance issues also resulted in the type being problematic in service. In 1967,

3249-509: Was viewed as a major failure. IAF had anticipated the Marut being fitted with a considerably superior engine. The project was negatively affected by a lack of direction and management from the Indian Ministry of Defence . A lack of coordination between the military, politicians, and industry is alleged to have been typical throughout the entirety of the programme, leaving many issues down to industry alone without guidance. Specifically,

#448551