UFAF-A41 "Turbohaast"
A dedicated ground-attack aircraft, the Turbohaast builds upon our previous ground-attacker, the F39 Haast. It features two turbofan engines mounted in nacelles above and toward the rear of the aluminium fuselage, reducing debris ingestion. The turbofans have a moderate bypass ratio and offer a greater fuel efficiency than pure turbojets, enabling the Turbohaast to loiter on the battlefield. Each is more powerful than the original V12 piston engine, allowing the plane to fly on one engine if it is not carrying a load, and giving it a two tonne bomb load otherwise. The other major improvement is a centreline-mounted 30mm APIB autocannon, capable of firing at 750 RPM. Other armament is four UF-AC-41 autocannons, mounted two per wing.
Other miscellaneous changes are a straight-edge, low-mounted, high aspect-ratio wing with large control surfaces, giving it large amounts of lift and superior low speed manoeuvrability. Foldable wings, inherited from the Haast, make it smaller for carrier storage and deployment, and it should be able to take off from a Zheleznogorod carrier. The manganese bathtub cockpit protection and self sealing fuel tanks of the Haast are also kept on, and much of the ventral surface of the plane incorporates armour. With experience from the MTA and the Haast, the Turbohaast should be able to withstand large amounts of damage from ground fire and still remain airborne.
Upgraded the centreline autocannon specs slightly, given that we've just made improvements to our autocannons.
Friendly reminder that the Bull will go down to Expensive next turn, no matter whether the Cannalans pick Ore or Oil. And if they pick Ore, the Armadillo-Daybreaker and M2A2 Mobile Assault Gun also go down to Cheap. And it also helps to kill Twinblades, though not sure if our forces need any help there.
Plus, Turbohaast sets up more fuel-efficient turbofan engines for Future Jet, in case we want to go down that route in the future.