Juhasz J-2

From Atlas
Juhasz J-2
J-2A on display as a Museum piece
Role Fighter
National origin Granzery
Manufacturer Juhasz State Design Bureau
First flight 5 August 1957
Retired 1975 (Granzery)
Status Retired
Primary user Granzerian People's Air Force
Number built 986

The Juhasz J-2 Vörös Róka (Granzerian: "Red Fox") was a twin-engine single-seat turbojet fighter aircraft used by the Granzerian People's Air Force from 1959-1965. The Juhasz J-2 was a licence production of the Stasnovan VeK-19 aircraft, with major modifications to armament and airframe and utilizing the Granzerian-made Gulyás 576M.3 jet engine.

Design and development[edit]

Since the end of the Second Great War Granzery had retained much of its wartime Aerospace industry, with the Vertega V221 remaining in serial production and frontline service for decades after the conclusion of the war. However by the mid 1950s the V221 was becoming obsolete, and the Stasnovan Revolutionary Air Force had just introduced the VeK-19, which in trials with the Granzerian Air Force was found to be greatly superior to the remaining V221s in the Granzerian Arsenal. Shortly after testing the Juhasz State Design Bureau reached out to the Stasnovan government to develop an indigenous variant of the VeK-19, a request which would ultimately be granted in late 1956, with a number of operational VeK-19s provided to the Juhasz Bureau for testing.

The Stasnovan Tumansky RD-9 engines were in short supply in Granzery at the time, however the Gulyás Design Bureau had recently developed its own modern jet engine, the 576M.3 which was originally intended for use in the Pokol Pokol Po-1 interceptor. As a more powerful engine than the RD-9, the J-2 required tuning of the airframe and fuel system to incorporate the new engine, which involved a lengthening of the wings and fuselage. In addition to the change of engine, the J-2 was also re-armed with a single Granzerian standard Venczel 491M 30mm cannon and the addition of a pair of hardpoints on the aircrafts wingtips, and modification of both underwing hardpoints to be able to carry weapons or drop pods, the aircraft was also modified for the mounting of the newly developed Juhasz IÖR 58M infrared missile.

This resulted in an aircraft the in performance barely resembled its predecessor, the more powerful engine resulting in a larger capacity for carrying weapons, higher top speed but an inferior range and climb rate. In practice, the J-2 outperformed the VeK-19 and was closer in capability to the later Stasnovan VeK-21 which was introduced in the same year as the J-2.

Operational History[edit]

The J-2 served in the Granzerian War where it faced against older fighters such as VeK-17 and even Vertega V221 aircraft, during the conflict it proved superior, when facing its main contemporary, the MiG-21, the J-2 was found to be only slightly ouclassed. When facing contemporary Stasnovan fighters such as the MiG-23 and VeK-20 the J-2 proved significantly inferior to its counterparts, resulting in the J-2 being withdrawn from service before the Transkarpatian War end in favour of an increasing number of V-3I/T "Weisserrabe", Vertega V-4 and Vertega V-5 aircraft.

Specifications (Juhasz J-2A)[edit]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length:
  • Wingspan:
  • Height:
  • Airfoil: root: TsAGI SR-12S (8.74%) ; tip: TsAGI SR-7S (8%)
  • Powerplant: × , each

Performance

Armament

  • Guns: 1 × 30 mm Venczel 491M revolver autocannon in upper engine cowling (120 rounds)
  • Hardpoints: 6 pylons in total, 2 on wingtips for mounting infrared missiles only, 4 under wing capable of carrying drop tanks or weapons, with a capacity of up to 1,000 kg (1,100 lb) of stores with provisions to carry combinations of:
    • Rockets: 4 × 32-round ORO-57K rocket pods
    • Missiles: 6 x IÖR 58M infrared missiles
    • Bombs: 4 x 250kg bombs