The PZL-230 Skorpion (''scorpion'') was a proposed Polish low-cost
attack aircraft. It was being developed by Polish manufacturer PZL Warszawa-Okecie in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In the late 1980s, PZL started developing a new aircraft intended to combine high manoeuvrability,
short take-off and landing
A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...
(STOL) performance, and the ability to carry a 2,000 kg payload while remaining a low-cost platform to procure and to operate. Original designs for the aircraft revolved around a twin-
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engine. At one point, the
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A engine was selected to power the type. However, the proposal was radically changed following a decision to submit it to a requirement issued for
Polish Air Force which sought a light strike and battlefield support aircraft; accordingly, the payload was doubled and the speed was raised dramatically. The revised design was instead powered by a pair of
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engines. Named the Skorpion, it featured a
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...
afterbody that was blended into the wing along with a set of small
canards behind the
cockpit.
[Digital copy of an entry from the ''Encyclopedia of World Aircraft'':]
The PZL-230F Skorpion.
''Fighters, Bombers and Recon'' Discussion Board, at 2011 ''StrategyWorld.com''. Retrieved: 9 November 2011.
In June 1994, the
Polish Ministry of Defense
Ministry of National Defense ( Polish: ''Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej, MON'') is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of National Defense. It is responsible for the organization and management of the Polish Armed Forces. During ...
announced that the Skorpion programme would receive no further funding from the Polish government. The abrupt withdrawal of support after having been recognised two years earlier as a government-approved programme was widely attributed to the formation of a new left-wing Polish government led by
Waldemar Pawlak
Waldemar Pawlak (born 5 September 1959) is a Polish politician. He has twice served as Prime Minister of Poland, briefly in 1992 and again from 1993 to 1995. From November 2007 to November 2012 he served as Deputy Prime Minister and the Minist ...
. Despite fears that this was the programme's end, PZL decided to initially continue with development independently. By late 1994, according to the aircraft's chief designer,
Andrzej Frydrychewicz, the aerodynamic configuration of the Skorpion, with the exception of the tail, had been frozen. As of its 1994 redesign, performance estimates for the Skorpion included a maximum level speed of 540 kn (1,000 km/h), a 32,800 ft (10,000 m) service ceiling and a 300 km (160 nmi) combat radius. By December 1994, the stealth characteristics of the aircraft had been deemphasised. According to the company's estimates, the official development cost was promoted as being 11,500 billion
złotys ($65 million). However, Frydrychewicz speculated that this figure was relatively optimistic and may have been produced with political interests in mind.
Development and design
Origins and early progress
According to aerospace publication
Flight International
''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...
, the origins of the Skorpion were within an earlier proposal for a twin-
turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
ground-attack aircraft.
Reportedly, the Polish initiative had drawn some influence from a study performed by
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...
(BAE), known as the ''Small Agile Battlefield Aircraft'', which was to be a relatively manoeuvrable,
short take-off and landing
A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh conditio ...
(STOL) aircraft capable of carrying a 2,000 kg payload. Work commenced on the initiative at
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
-based aircraft manufacturer PZL Warszawa-Okecie during 1990.
Early on, the company had several objectives for the aircraft, such as for it to be cheap and easy to construct, as well as to modify, the latter of which being accomplish via to its
modular
Broadly speaking, modularity is the degree to which a system's components may be separated and recombined, often with the benefit of flexibility and variety in use. The concept of modularity is used primarily to reduce complexity by breaking a s ...
design. It also required an ability to take-off and land on a runway of about 250 m in length, travel at speeds of up to 640 km/h, be armed with a 25 mm cannon and be able to carry up to 2,000 kg of both
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
and
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
munitions. Later versions were named 'D', and included a 'DT' training aircraft and a 'DB' combat variant.
Early on, the
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engine was selected to power the type; these were to be mounted in a pusher configuration on either side of the rear fuselage.
Reportedly, at this point in development, the majority of the proposed aircraft's technology was to be derived from PZL Okecie's earlier
PZL-130 Orlik
The PZL 130 Orlik ( en, Eaglet) is a Polish turboprop, single engine, two seat trainer aircraft.
Development and design
The Orlik was designed by PZL Warszawa-Okecie as a trainer for the Polish Air Force, intended as a replacement for its PZL ...
trainer aircraft. The company chose to submit its design to the
Polish Air Force for a light strike and battlefield support aircraft. During the years immediately following the fall of
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...
, the air force's requirement was hotly contested by Poland's various aircraft manufacturers, each of which were eager to secure their uncertain future. A total of three rival concepts, ranging from radical to relatively conservative and with varying degrees of international participation.
Upon its selection to meet the Polish Air Force's strike requirement, the design underwent a radical redesign in order to meet the various performance attributes specified, leading to it becoming a considerable faster aircraft capable of carrying up to double the original design's weapons payload.
The Skorpion was soon recognised as a Government-approved programme, which was viewed as a close step towards receiving state funding to support its development. By late 1992, PZL Okecie was displaying a fullscale mock-up of the Skorpion.
By this point, it had been redesigned for a second time with the engines now mounted inside fairings in the wing while other features, such as fly-by-wire and stealth characteristics, had also been incorporated.
Aspects of the Skorpion were viewed as being relatively advanced elements for a company who had previously specialised in the production of agricultural and utility aircraft. The subsequent redesigned aircraft was powered by a pair of
Pratt & Whitney Canada PW305 turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engines, rated at 23.2 kN (5,200 lbf) thrust; however, as the design continued to be developed, the PW305 engine was later determined to be incapable of producing sufficient levels of thrust.
Following its revision, the Skorpion was powered by a pair of
Honeywell LF 507
The Lycoming ALF 502/LF 507 (now:Honeywell ALF 502/LF 507) is a geared turbofan engine produced by Lycoming Engines, AlliedSignal, and then Honeywell Aerospace.
Development
In mid-1970, Avco Lycoming was advertising two Lycoming T55-derived e ...
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engines; these were to be mounted upon pylons positioned on top of the rear fuselage and between the aircraft's twin tailfins in a side by side configuration.
Termination of support and later development
In June 1994, the
Polish Ministry of Defense
Ministry of National Defense ( Polish: ''Ministerstwo Obrony Narodowej, MON'') is the office of government in Poland under the Minister of National Defense. It is responsible for the organization and management of the Polish Armed Forces. During ...
announced that the Skorpion programme would receive no further funding from the government.
Speaking at the time, Brigadier General Henryk Mika, director of the Ministry of Defense's military-procurement department, no further work will be done on the programme and that it had little sense to start on a clean-sheet programme when an existing design can be developed to meet the Polish Air Force's requirements. This abrupt reversal of fortunes has been attributed to the rise of a new left-wing Polish government led by
Waldemar Pawlak
Waldemar Pawlak (born 5 September 1959) is a Polish politician. He has twice served as Prime Minister of Poland, briefly in 1992 and again from 1993 to 1995. From November 2007 to November 2012 he served as Deputy Prime Minister and the Minist ...
.
News of this termination quickly led to fears that the programme was effectively dead. However, PZL-Okecie decided to commit their own internal resources to keeping development of the type in action for some time. At one stage, the company was considering using an advanced turboprop-powered aircraft design to serve as a technology development platform in support of the Skorpion programme.
By late 1994, according to chief designer
Andrzej Frydrychewicz, the aerodynamic configuration of the Skorpion, except for the tail, had been frozen.
Wind tunnel
Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
tests were expected to decide whether to adopt either a butterfly-style tail or a classical fin-and-tailplane configuration.
To provide additional
yaw control for improved weapon-aiming capabilities, an aerodynamic fin was to be mounted underneath the nose. The Skorpion featured a three-surface control arrangement, using foreplanes mounted either side of the cockpit.
The Skorpion was intended to use a
fly-by-wire
Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires, and flight control ...
flight control system
A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight. Aircraft ...
to be provided by
American company Lear Astronics. As part of the agreement to provide the fly-by-wire system, Lear also agreed to provide at no cost the computer that controls the special trim system (STS) fitted upon the
PZL-130 Orlik
The PZL 130 Orlik ( en, Eaglet) is a Polish turboprop, single engine, two seat trainer aircraft.
Development and design
The Orlik was designed by PZL Warszawa-Okecie as a trainer for the Polish Air Force, intended as a replacement for its PZL ...
.
As of its 1994 redesign, performance estimates for the Skorpion included a maximum level speed of 540 kn (1,000 km/h), a 9,970 m (32,800 ft) service ceiling and a 300 km (160 nmi) combat radius.
According to the manufacturer, it was intended to perform a 180° turn within five seconds and flown at an
angle of attack of up to 50°. Amongst the Skorpion's proposed armaments and equipment was various Western-sourced elements, including an internally-mounted 25mm
Martin Marietta GAU-12/U cannon, along with a pod-mounted 30mm
GAU-8/A Avenger
The General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger is a 30 mm hydraulically driven seven-barrel Gatling-style autocannon that is primarily mounted in the United States Air Force's Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II. Designed to destroy a wide variety of g ...
cannon. The cockpit was also to be fitted with a
Martin-Baker Mk.10 ejection seat
In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...
.
There was considerable controversy over the level of Polish content on the aircraft; some politicians had called for the programme to be de-funded if it comprised less than 70 per cent Polish components. Other figures promoted
pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that considers words and thought as tools and instruments for prediction, problem solving, and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. ...
and the value of international co-operation to acquire technology and know-how to advance Poland's own indigenous industry.
By December 1994, the stealth characteristics of the Skorpion had been deemphasised. The reason given for not assigning a high value to this aspect of the design was a belief that, as the Skorpion was expected to normally be flown at very low altitudes during combat missions and thereby the inherent detectability challenges posed by such flight profiles, even highly-effective stealth characteristics would have little effect on its detectability.
Despite this change in focus, at least 50 per cent of the aircraft's structure was still anticipated to be composed of
carbon fibre
Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials
...
materials. As PZL Okecie lacked the in-house capability to produce this structure, co-operation on the manufacturing process was discussed with several foreign aviation companies, including
British Aerospace
British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...
(BAE) and
Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA). According to Flight International, CASA was being viewed as the frontrunner to serve as the Skorpion's manufacturing partner.
[Jeziorski 1995, p. 35.] During 1993, it was reported that the aircraft had generated interest amongst the
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defens ...
along with some aerospace manufacturers in Israel.
"Air-Defense Proliferation."
''Flight International'', 15 June 1993. p. 114.
Speaking in late 1994, Frydrychewicz stated that proposals for co-operation on the Skorpion received little enthusiasm from the other Polish aircraft manufacturers; he speculated that the overwhelming attitudes of these companies was that it was better to deal directly with the Polish government than to indirectly receive a share of funding from PZL Warszawa-Okecie for their part of the programme.[Jeziorski 1995, pp. 35-36.] According to the company's estimates, the official development cost was promoted as being PLN 150 million ($65 million); however, Frydrychewicz speculated that this figure was relatively optimistic and likely to be a deliberate tactic in order to secure approval to get the programme started. Frydrychewicz intended to use the Orzel trainer as a stepping stone to develop several technologies for the Skorpion; it has been claimed that the two design shared various elements.[Jeziorski 1995, p. 36.]
Specifications (PZL-230D)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
* Atlas Carver
An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth.
Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographi ...
* British Aerospace P.1233-1 Saba
* FMA SAIA 90
* IAR 95
* Novi Avion
The Novi Avion (Serbian Cyrillic:Нови Aвион en, New Aeroplane) was a fourth generation multi-role combat aircraft programme that was to be built by Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer SOKO.
The Avion featured a cropped delta- canard con ...
* Scaled Composites ARES
* Textron AirLand Scorpion
The Textron AirLand Scorpion is an American jet aircraft proposed for sale to perform light attack and Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) duties. It is being developed by Textron AirLand, a joint venture between Textron and ...
* Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
References
Citations
Bibliography
* Jeziorski, Andrzej
"Striking visions."
''Flight International'', 3 January 1995. pp. 35-36.
External links
Animation showing digital reconstruction of PZL-230F
PZL-230 SKORPION SAMOLOT POLA WALKI
PZL 230 Skorpion
{{PZL aircraft
Cancelled military aircraft projects of Poland
PZL aircraft
Twinjets
Low-wing aircraft
Canard aircraft
Stealth_aircraft