Best Vehicles that Never Were BEST VEHICLES THAT NEVER WERE ...or never had a chance to be. This is a collection of vehicles and aircraft which were never more than prototypes, developmental vehicles, drawing-board designs that never made it off the drawing board, or are purely fictional. Some of the real proposals (as opposed to purely fictional ones) may yet make it into service one day, and others probably never will; others may make it into service, but not in quite their proposed forms. Only time will tell... Best Aircraft that Never Were Best APCs That Never Were Best ATGM Vehicles That Never Were Best Engineer Vehicles that Never Were Best Helicopters that Never Were Best Light Combat Vehicles that Never Were Best Mortar Carriers That Never Were Best MRLs That Never Were Best Self-Propelled Artillery That Never Was Best Self-Propelled Antiaircraft That Never Was Best Self-Propelled Guns That Never Were Best Tanks that Never Were file:///E/My%20Webs/best_stuff_that_never_was/best_vehicles_that_never_were.htm[3/22/2020 2:17:40 PM] Best Aircraft That Never Were Mitsubishi/Lockheed Martin F-3 Stealth Fighter Country of Origin: US, though Lockheed Martin will at first design the F-3 with Japanese aid and eventually the F-3 would be produced in Japan locally. Seen in: Recent aircraft publications. Notes: Just about every aircraft enthusiast knows that, by law, the F-22 cannot be exported, due to is sensitive design and components. The Japanese stealth fighter design process, the F-X, has not been going well, and it has been running for about 10 years. Lockheed Martin therefore got US government permission to build and pitch to Japan a prototype stealth fighter – this would be designated by Japan the F-3, and would be a hybrid of the F-22 and F-35. This aircraft could possibly the most advanced stealth fighter other than the F-22. The primary fighter-bomber of the JASDF is the F-15J, a variant of the F-15 Eagle, but the F-15J is getting long in the tooth, with some airframes approaching 40 years old, and the Japanese need to replace the older F-15Js, and they would like it to be a 5th-generation aircraft. The F-3 would also give Lockheed Martin a new exportable 5th generation fighter. (Japan’s constitution prohibits exportation of military equipment.) The Japese part of the design team would have a leg up, since Japan is a customer for the F-35 and have recently received their first batch. Unfortunately, both sides realize the design process would be lengthy; the first operational F-3 would probably not go into service until 2032 or so. Though details are sketchy, most aircraft experts believe that the F-3 would look very much like the F-22 on the outside, with a hybrid of systems of the F-22 and F-35 on the inside. One of the biggest upgrades of the F-22/F-35’s avionics architecture is the use of advanced computers; the F-22’s computer architecture is actually-based on Windows 95, and the F-35’s computer architecture is based on Windows 8. The F-3 would have the F-22s twin engine design (perhaps with updated Japanese-built engines) and supermaneuvrability, while being equipped with larger internal bays for weapons and hardpoints on the wings for extra weapons and electronic equipment in low-EW environments. The F-3’s avionics would be an updated mix of the F-22s and F-35’s avionics, with a switchable air-to-air/air-to-ground capability, similar to the systems on the F/A-18 and F-15E. Most of the avionics would probably be based on the F-35, essentially putting the brain of an F-35 in the body of the F-22. The F-3 will probably be somewhat larger than the F-22, and much larger than the F-35. The intake side bays will be larger, and the underside will be wide and flat to accommodate even more weapon storage or larger ordnance. Construction would utilize much carbon fiber, along with an unspecified RAM coating and RAM paint. Engines would probably be in the 40,000-pound-thrust class. Fuel tanks would be dramatically larger. We will assume for this entry that the troublesome AESA radar of the F-X would be perfected. The F-3 could be as stealthy as an F-22, negating the basic flaw in the F-25 – it’s stealth capabilities have proven disappointing. It will also have supercruise capability, some6thing the F-35 does not, while maintaining the air-to-ground capabilities of the F-35. Another basic flaw in the F-35 (at least for Japan) is that the F-35’s weapon bays are not large enough to allow carriage of most antiship missiles, while the F-3’s larger weapon bays would make this possible. A possible stumbling block to a possible F-3 is the RL cost – with the 70 F-3s the Japanese would likely buy, each copy would cost $216 million. This would drop, however, if more F-3s were bought or there were good export sales. However, many aviation experts feel that the F-3, with its hybrid F-22/F-35 brain and near-F-22 body, could outclass both of them. It should be known to the readers that the stats below are largely speculative, based on the F-22, F-35, and what descriptions so far released about the possible F-3. Price Fuel Type Load Veh Wt Crew Mnt Night Vision Radiological $290,744,313 JP-7 32.36 tons 41.8 tons 1 30 AESA Radar Shielded (240 km), Sensor Skin (40 km), FLIR (150 km), VAS (70 km) Tr Mov Com Mov Mnvr/Acc Agl/Turn Fuel Cap Fuel Cons Ceiling 5170 1438 (266) NA 320 10/6 100/60 9020 8540 22000 Combat Equipment Minimum RF Armament Ammo Landing/Takeoff Zone All Weather Flight, Secure Radios, HUD, HUD Interface, 750/700m Hardened +5 20mm Vulcan, 5 250x20mm Helmet/Sight Interface, Look-Down Radar, Track While Scan, Runway Hardpoints, 4 Auto Track, Multitarget (6), RWR, LWR, Flare/Chaff Weapon Bays Dispensers (50/50), IR Uncage, Target ID, Stealth 8, IR Stealth 4, ECM 3 IRCM 4, ECCM 3, GPS, Supercruise F-16F Scamp Country of Origin: United States Type of Aircraft: Fighter/Bomber Notes: Though based on a real experimental aircraft, this is a work of fiction. (There is, in fact, an F-16E and F-16F -- they are fairly file:///E/My%20Webs/best_stuff_that_never_was/best_aircraft_that_never_were.htm[3/22/2020 2:17:51 PM] Best Aircraft That Never Were recent developments of the F-16 series. This F-16F is not the real-life F-16F.) Fictional Notes: This was originally an experimental development of the F-16C Fighting Falcon. These aircraft were produced to equip one USAF squadron of aircraft stationed in England, and it was this type of aircraft that the Twilight War's highest scoring ace, Captain Pamela Wagner, piloted to 49 kills before being shot down over Poland in 1999. The Scamp uses more powerful engine coupled with a large-area cranked arrow wing, and carries more electronics and fuel. The Scamp may be overloaded to 8.76 tons if 600 liters less fuel are carried per 450 kg extra weight carried. The aircraft has a large number of hardpoints, 2 of which may be used only for electronics pods, two of which may be used only for air-to-air missiles or electronics pods, and 6 of which may only be used for air-to-air missiles. The F-16F Scamp does not exist in the Merc 2000 timeline. Price Fuel Type Load Veh Wt Crew Mnt Night Vision Radiological $7,957,688 AvG 6.8 tons (see text) 21.77 tons 1 30 Radar, VAS Shielded Tr Mov Com Mov Mnvr/Acc Agl/Turn Fuel Cap Fuel Cons Ceiling 5023 1256 (90) NA 314 10/6 100/60 7440 960 19800 Combat Equipment Minimum RF Armament Ammo Landing/Takeoff Zone All Weather Flight, HUD, Look-Down Radar, Track While Scan, 750/480m Hardened +5 20mm Vulcan, 25 500x20mm Auto Track, Multitarget (4), Terrain Following Radar, Radar Runway Hardpoints Warning Receiver, Flare/Chaff Dispensers, ECM, IR Uncage, Target ID F-19A Ghostrider Country of Origin: United States Type of Aircraft: Stealth Attack Aircraft Notes: The first I heard of this "aircraft" was in the Tom Clancy book Red Storm Rising. His Ghostrider was based upon what the rumored capabilities of the F-117A Nighthawk were at the time (early 1980s), to include the designation "F-19A." (The moniker "Ghostrider" was Mr. Clancy's own invention.) Most of these rumored capabilities, as well of the appearance of the F-117A, were simply wrong. JD Webster's Air Superiority series of games fleshed out these rumored capabilities. Fictional Notes: This stealth aircraft, rumored but rarely seen, is a second-generation stealth aircraft used by the US for reconnaissance and attack of highly defended targets. It was rarely flown from base to base for security reasons, but was often delivered to bases inside a C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft. The aircraft has flat bottom, blended wings, advanced ECM, and construction of radar-absorbent materials. Weapons are carried in internal bays and do not contribute to drag. The aircraft's stealth features mean that attempts to guide radar missiles, as well as attempts to detect it with radar, are four levels more difficult. (If a weapon bay is open, attempts are two levels more difficult.) Attempts to detect it with IR, and guide IR missiles to it, are three levels more difficult.