Designation: Grumman ES-11D Cat's Eye Electronic Warfare & Surveillance Aerospaceplane

WARNING: DRAFT Material!

I. Dimensions.

• Length: 21.5 meters
• Wingspan : 20.5 meters
• Height: 6.37 meters
• Dry Weight: 20.2 metric tons.

II. Type.

• (ES-11A) : Two-seat Airborne Early Warning, Control and Surveillance aircraft
• (ES-11B,C,D) : Two-seat ELINT/Surveillance aerospacecraft.

III. Service History

• E-11A: Served with the US Navy from 1996 until replaced by the -11B.
• ES-11B: Served with the UNDF Air Force, Navy and Spacy from 2001 until replaced by later models.
• ES-11C: Served with the RDF Air Force, Navy, and Spacy from 2003 until replaced by the -11D.
• ES-11D: Served with the RDF Air Force, Navy and Spacy from 2005 until 2039 (Expeditionary Forces)

IV. Propulsion.

ES-11D:

• 2 Nakajima/P&W/Rolls-Royce FF-1200 fusion turbines mounted on the fuselage providing 83 kN of thrust each.
• 2 FF-1012(A/S) fusion turbines providing 68 kN of thrust in atmosphere/75 kN of thrust in space mounted on the wings. The engine produces thrust out of the lower nozzle for space operations and the upper nozzle for atmospheric operations.
• Powerplant: 2 x RRL-2 Miniaturized Protoculture-cell energizer, delivering 8 MW total power.
• Fuel Capacity:
  • 6 Standard Canisters of Protoculture,
  • 6.2 lit. D₂O reactant for fusion engines.

V. Performance:

ES-11D:

Maximum speed (atmosphere):	805 kph @ 30,000 m.
:	523 kph @ sea level.
Stall speed :	245 kph.
Maximum climb rate :	1,300 meter/minute.
Maximum Take-Off Weight :	32 metric tons
Maximum fuel cell endurance :	80 hours
Maximum Range (atmosphere) :	pilot fatigue/mechanical failure
Maximum Range (space) :	Delta-v limit of 3 kps.
Design-g limits :	2.4 g.

VI. Sensory Systems:

Radar System:

• Hughes AWG-20 X-band pulse-Doppler radar, providing long-range detection and tracking of targets at all altitudes.
• Westinghouse AN/APY-4 wideband multi-mode radar with rotary radome, mounted to plane's fuselage. This radar is capable of providing pulse doppler (with and without elevation scan), beyond the horizon, side-looking synthetic aperture radar (SLAR), interleaved and passive modes. Capable of identifying small vehicles out to a range of 93 km.
• Eaton APX-104 IFF secondary surveillance transponder

Optical tracking:

• Thomson DOS-2000 multi-band digital camera system, for medium range traversable UV, infra-red imaging and optical band detection and tracking;
• Thomson LT-3 multi-frequency laser ranger and designator.
• Zeiss TS-2 long range telescopic array for IR spectrum (FLIR).

Tactical Electronic Warfare System (TEWS):

• Elettronica Radar Warning Receiver (RWR)
• OlDelft Infra-red Warning Receiver (IRWR)
• Litton ALQ-255(V) wideband, frequency-agile active radar jammer
• TRW ALR-20 COMINT pulse analyzing receiver
• Expendable jammers dispenser
• Chaff dispenser
• Flares
• Active missile jammers
• Multiple HF, VHF, UHF, L- and S-band antennas.

VII. Armament:

• None.

VIII. Armor:

Full nuclear, biological and chemical protection. Limited protection from hand fired solids and energy beams, shrapnel and other fragments.

IX. Development:

The Cat's Eye was created as a replacement for the venerable E-2G Hawkeye II carrier-launched aircraft. As such, the wings fold up for easier carrier storage. Advances in technology allowed the crew demands to be lessened to the point where a single operator was all that was required. Beyond that, the system easily remoted systems back to a command base where additional personnel could coordinate operations. The forward swept wings and canards provided for significantly increase maneuverability and survivability allowing for the aircraft to get closer to the combat zone. In an effort to provide a generic electronics warfare craft that could operate in atmosphere and deep space, the designers made use of the new discoveries found aboard the ASS-1 to increase the capability of the aircraft for the B version. The B version mounted separate space-based engines on the wings in place of ASW pods. The C version introduced the two-stage dual use fusion turbines. The D version introduced the first full capability dual-use engines in the fuselage, although the two-stage engines were kept on the wings due to early problems with the FF-1200 engines. Fortunately, the problems were corrected, but the dual stage engine provided more efficient space operations so they were retained to maintain a longer operating range. Some of the engines were later integrated into the early the Valkyrie prototypes and enhanced versions were found on the production units.

These craft were used by the UN SPACY for long-range reconnaissance missions and a number were stationed on Mars Base Sara and Moon Base Luna. A number of these spacecraft assisted the UEG in tracking down the rogue Oberth-class destroyer that was seized by the Anti-Unification League forces and attacked Mars Base Sara.

These aerospace craft continued to be used by the REF for space reconnaissance well into the 2030's where it was replaced by the Elint Legioss variant of the Alpha/Beta combination. The Southern Cross replaced the Cat's Eye with the Bumblebee and Eyrie reconnaissance and EWACS aerospacecraft.

Cat's Eye Cockpit View:

See additional design notes.

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