AIDC F-CK-1C Hsiang Sheng: The F-CK Upgrades (2024)

Hey guys today I’ll be suggesting the F-CK-1C Goshawk/“Hsiang Sheng” fighter prototype.

History

After the successful completion of the F-CK-1 A/B fighters in 1999 the Taiwanese ministry of national defense started to look for new ways to improve it. In 2001 the “Hsiang Sheng” plan was put into effect and had three main phases:

1. Increase the amount of TC-2 missiles from 2 to 4 and be able to install the new TC-2A anti-radiation missile and Wan Chien cruise missile.

2. Upgrade mission computers, ECM’s, electronic warfare systems, Active Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) system, and terrain following radar.

3. Ground and air flight tests

Along with the goals of the first two phases, plans for increased fuel capacity, strengthened landing gears, improved engines, and stealth technology were also in research and development.

The first single seat fighter prototype 10005 was completed in 2006 and the two seat fighter 10006 was launched in 2007. They were named F-CK-1C and D respectively. The aircraft had the improved armament mounting capabilities and improved avionics along with conformal fuel tanks for extra range. The improved engine and stealth technology plans however were apparently dropped. The plans to fully upgrade the F-CK-1A/B fleet to C/D had some trouble however as the Taiwanese government questioned why not all of the upgrades planned were not implemented into the project. As a result the only F-CK-1C/D fighters with most of the improvements planned were the two prototypes. The F-CK-1A/B fleet would be upgraded however but with some features from the Hsiang Sheng project removed. This project became known as the “Hsiang Chan” project and the fighters upgraded would be known as F-CK-1A/B MLU (though confusingly they are also sometimes referred to as C/D fighters, even by the AIDC). The two prototype fighters would be subsequently sent back and be reverted back to the original F-CK-1 fuselage as they were slightly different to accommodate the conformal fuel tanks. They subsequently became F-CK-1A/B MLU fighters as a result of this reversal.

Improvements of the F-CK-1 C/D Hsiang Sheng (ripped from Wikipedia):

Spoiler

co*ckpit interface:

A new Integrated color display system (ICDS) was introduced with the follow main components:
A scanning/VECTOR HEAD-UP DISPLAY (Raster/Storke HUD)
3 large color LCD multi-function displays (CMFD)
Color co*ckpit photography system (CCTVS)
New integrated face-up control/input panel (UFCP)
The 6 sets of engine monitoring instruments originally below the right panel have been updated to the electronic engine display system (EEDS).
Backup Electronic Flight Instrument (STBY EFIS)

Improved computer:

The BAE Systems 32-bit flight control computer replaced the old 16-bit 1750 standard flight control system from Astronics. The new computer has a new fly by wire control mode and more processing power.

Core Avionics system update:

New color display processors, updated operational flight program and expanded the bus structure to 3 sets of 1553B military bus with reserve surpluses for upgrading to 4 sets of 1553B military bus.

Communication/Navigation/Emmy Identification System Update (CNI):

New set of inertialnavigation system(GPS/INS), two sets of AN/ARC-210UHF/VHF radios, and Improved APX-113(V) AIFF advanced enemy identification system

GD53 fire control radar update:

The 5-piece LRU of GD-53 has been changed to a 3-piece LRU architecture (AN/APG-67(V4) Republic of China version).
The old radar target processor, radar data computer, control/power supply, etc., have been replaced by a new radar data processor (RDP).

New operation mode of Xiangsheng's GD-53 radio control radar:

Combined radar mode (CRM)
Track the target blind spot indicator (NOTCH Zone Indicator)
Scan and Track Mode (TWS) Automatic Scan Adjustment
Search targetabsolute height and speed vector display, Add flight trajectory recorder and fault diagnosis system

Electronic countermeasure function (ECCM) enhancement of GD-53 fire control radar (made by Han Xiang):

Interference Source Detection (DOJ)
Interference Source Tracking (TOJ)

There are four typical passive rangings:

Angular velocity ranging
Triangular ranging
Signal strength ranging
Third-party data
Silence mode (Sniff)

Other ECCM functions:

Rapid Relock
Single receive beam (LORD)
Pulse edge distance (LET)
Single receive conical scanning (COSRO)

Flight control performance and range improvements:

Flight control software

With the new flight control computer, AIDC has rewritten the flight control software in C language to improve the low-altitude automatic flying ability of fighters.

Take-off and landing performance improvement
Nose wheel lifting speed improved
Improved the crosswind capacity of the fighter to 56km/h
Improved the angle of attack and shortened the runway distance
The entry speed of the aircraft is reduced by 18.5km/h
The landing distance is reduced by 10%
Replaced the digital brake system

co*ckpit changes:

Spoiler

F-CK-1A co*ckpit

F-CK-1C co*ckpit

Conformal fuel tank (CFT)

The installation position of the two CFTs mounted by the Eagle is near the back of the fuselage. The total fuel carrying capacity of the two CFTs is 1,200lb (545kg, only 40% of F-16 Block50/52 CFT), which increases the range by an average of 20%.

Specifications:

Length: 14.48 m

Wingspan: 8.53 m

Height: 4.7 m

Wing area: 24.26 square meters

Empty weight: 6,492 kg

Load weight (max): 4,000 kg

Normal take off weight: 9,072 kg

Maximum take off weight: 12,530 kg

Engine: TFE-1042-70A (Honeywell F125-GA-100) turbofan engine x 2