The Alenia-Aermacchi-Embraer AMX

The latest generation of combat aircraft features a level of astounding capabiity and complexity, which unfortunately comes at an appropriately astounding price. Such machines may be impressive, but they are also overkill for many missions, and for air arms with relatively modest budgets and requirements. As a result, there is a definite place for less capable but much cheaper machines that obtain the benefit of modern technology while keeping an eye on the pricetag.

One example of such a machine is the Italian-Brazilian "AMX" light strike and reconnaissance aircraft. The AMX is a tidy, clean, effective machine, sometimes known as the "pocket Tornado" in reflection of its size and capability. This document provides a history and description of the AMX.

In June 1977, the Aeronautica Militare Italiana (AMI / Italian Air Force) issued a request for a replacement for the Fiat G91R/Y and Lockheed F-104G/S fighters in the strike and reconnaissance roles. Italy was part of the international Tornado Multirole Combat Aircraft effort, but the AMI wanted a smaller and cheaper machine to complement the future Tornado fleet. The Aeritalia (later Alenia) firm had been working on concepts since 1973; in response to the the AMI request, in April 1978 Aeritalia joined forces with Aermacchi to work on the requirement, which was given the designation of "Aeritalia Macchi Experimental (AMX)".

The Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB / Brazilian Air Force) was also interested in a new light tactical aircraft. After discussions between Italy and Brazil, an agreement on a joint specification was inked in March 1981, and in July 1981 the Brazilian government-backed firm EMBRAER joined the AMX effort. Aeritalia's workshare was 23.6%, while Aermacchi's was 46.5% and EMBRAER's was 29.7%. Although there was a division of labor between the three companies in construction of subassemblies, all three were to perform final assembly.

Initial flight of the first AMX prototype was on 15 May 1984, with Manlio Quarantelli at the controls. The prototype crashed on 1 June, Quarantelli ejecting but dying of his injuries. The second prototype performed its first flight on 19 November 1984 and took over the test and trials program. The Italians built three more prototypes and EMBRAER built two, for a total of seven. Production went ahead in 1986.

The first production machine, for the AMI, performed its first flight on 11 May 1988; the first Brazilian production machine performed its initial flight on 12 August 1989. Service entry into both the AMI and FAB was in 1989, with the type designated "A-1" in Brazilian service. The manufacturing group claimed the AMX could carry half the warload of the Tornado over 40% of the combat radius, at a quarter of the price. This assessment didn't factor in the Tornado's much greater sophistication, but the AMX still provided a useful complement to the AMI Tornado force, and was a highly cost-effective weapon for the FAB.

Work on a two-seater, the "AMX-T", began in 1986, with EMBRAER performing the "heavy lifting" on the redesign. Initial flight of the first of three AMX-T prototypes was on 14 March 1990. It was given the designation of "A-1B" in FAB service.

The Alenia-Aermacchi-EMBRAER AMX described

The AMX emerged as a simple but capable design, clean in appearance. It is built mostly of aviation aluminum, except for a carbon composite tailfin and elevators. Flight surfaces include a shoulder-mounted trapezoidal swept wing, featuring a leading-edge sweep of 31 degrees, and swept tail surfaces. The wings are fitted with full-span leading-edge flaps; dual double slotted trailing-edge flaps inboard of the ailerons; and dual spoilers on top of each wing that can be used as airbrakes. The flap arrangement gives good short field performance, with the AMX capable of getting off the ground in less than a kilometer at MTO weight. The tailplane is all-moving but also has small elevator surfaces to improve control authority.

All controls are hydraulically actuated, using a dual redundant hydraulic system to ensure combat survivability; the AMX was designed with considerable redundancy to make sure it can get back home after a mission. Built-in self-test systems and modular design permit rapid repair and quick turnaround.

The AMX is powered by a Rolls Royce low-bypass non-afterburning Spey RB.168 Mark 807 turbofan providing 49.1 kN (5,000 kgp / 11,030 lbf) thrust, license built by a collaboration of Fiat, Piaggio, and Alfa-Romero in Italy and by Companhia Eletro-Macanica (CELMA) in Brazil. The Spey RB168 Mark 807 is a hybrid of the Spey Mark 101 used on the British Buccanneer strike aircraft and the civilian RB.183 used on the Fokker F28 Fellowship airliner. Trials were conducted with an AMX fitted with the more powerful RB.169 Mark 821, providing 58.4 kN (5,950 kgp / 13,125 lbf), as a possible growth path.

A Fiat FA 150 Argo auxiliary power unit (APU) is fitted for engine self-starting and ground power. There are two self-sealing rubber bag fuel tanks in the fuselage and an integral tank in each wing, providing a total internal fuel capacity of 3,500 liters (923 US gallons). The fueling system is single-point. An inflight refueling probe can be bolted onto the right side of the nose.

The hydraulically actuated tricycle landing gear, designed for rough-field operation, features single wheels with low-pressure tires on each gear assembly. The steerable nose gear retracts forward into the nose and the main gear retracts forward into the fuselage under the engine intakes, the wheels turning 90 degrees to lie flat. There is no brake chute, with the flap arrangement and the spoiler / airbrake system permitting a landing roll of no more than 500 meters (1,640 feet), though a runway arresting hook is fitted under the tail.

The pilot sits in a pressurized and climate-conditioned cockpit on a Martin Baker Mark 10L "zero-zero" (zero speed / zero altitude) ejection seat under a two-piece canopy that hinges open to the right side. The pilot flies the aircraft with "hands on throttle & stick (HOTAS)" controls, using an OMI/Selenia head-up display (HUD) and a single Alenia head-down multifunction display (MFD), with the MFD providing a map display or imagery from weapon seeker or targeting pod; all other controls are analog gauges and dials. The cockpit is compatible with night vision goggles (NVGs).

The AMI AMX and FAB A-1 have different avionics suites. Avionics for the AMI machine include:

• UHF & VHF radios, plus identification friend or foe (IFF) gear.
• A Litton inertial navigation system (INS), along with TACAN beacon-navigation system and a heading reference system.
• An electronic countermeasures (ECM) system, integrated by Elettronica and featuring a radar warning receiver (RWR), with an antenna in the top of the tailfin, plus an RF jammer and four chaff-flare dispensers. Sources are inconsistent concerning the chaff-flare dispensers and images are ambiguous on the matter, but it is hard (though not impossible) to believe they wouldn't be included in a modern strike aircraft.
• A flight computer, plus and a navigation / attack system integrated by Alenia, using a simple Israeli Elta EL/M-20001B ranging radar, built by FIAR in Italy.

The FAB A-1 differs from the AMI AMX in having a simpler navigation system, consisting of a VOR / ILS beacon navigation / landing system, and a FIAR-Techtelcom SCP/01 radar. In either case, avionics are modular to make them easy to swap out.

AMI AMX machines are fitted with internal armament of a General Electric M61A2 Vulcan 20 millimeter six-barreled Gatling-type cannon with 350 rounds and firing out the left side of the nose, while the FAB A-1 is fitted with twin DEFA 554 30 millimeter revolver-type cannon firing out both sides of the nose. Apparently the FAB did want the Vulcan, but the US would not approve it for export to Brazil.

There are two stores pylons under each wing, a centerline pylon, and wingtip launch rails for Sidewinder or Brazilian MAA-1 Piranha air to air missiles (AAMs), for a total of seven stores attachments. The centerline and inboard pylons are stressed for 900 kilogram (2,000 pound) loads, while the outboard pylons are stressed for 450 kilogram (1,000 pound) loads. All four wing outboard pylons, but not the centerline pylon, are "wet" for carriage of external fuel tanks. Total external payload is 3,800 kilograms (8,340 pounds). Dual and triple stores adapters are available; the triple adapter cannot be carried on the outer wing pylons.

Typical external stores include iron bombs, cluster munitions, unguided rocket pods, and external fuel tanks. There are two types of tanks: a 1,100 liter (264 US gallon) tank that can only be carried on the inboard pylons, and a 580 liter (153 US gallon) tank that can be carried on all of the wing pylons.

The AMX can carry laser-guided bombs (LGBs). Sources mention that the AMX can carry the French PDLCP targeting pod, but it seems unclear that it was ever actually qualified. If not, the LGBs are designated by ground forces or other aircraft. Italian AMX machines can carry guided bombs with Israel Opher guidance kits; these munitions look like laser-guided bombs but they are actually heat-seeking weapons. Some sources claim that the AMX can carry the AGM-65 Maverick air to ground missile, which is plausible since the Maverick provides its own optical or infrared imager, and all the launch platform needs is a display and some control wiring. However, it doesn't appear that the Maverick is carried in service and it may be simply a potential store.

One AMX-T was fitted with the more advanced FIAR Grifo multimode radar and used for trials with the Aerospatiale AM39 Exocet antiship missile in the early 1990s. The Italian Marte antiship missile was also evaluated, presumably by the same aircraft. Sources claim the German Kormoran antiship missile can be carried as well, but this seems to have just been another potential store. A stock AMX has no capability to carry a proper antiship missile.

The AMX can in principle be fitted with reconnaissance pallets in a dedicated bay, just forward of the main landing gear on the right side, though it is also unclear if these pallets were actually developed and, if so, what their configurations were. The AMX can also carry a centerline reconnaissance pod, traditionally the Oude Delft Orpheus infrared linescan pod, inherited from Italy's now-retired Starfighter fleet.

The AMX-T has the same dimensions as the AMX, with the second seat accommodated by removing one fuselage fuel tank and rearranging the environmental control system. It is primarily intended as an advanced / operational trainer and has dual controls, but it remains full combat-capable. The rear seat in the AMX-T is raised to give the instructor in the back seat a better forward view. There is a GEC HUD repeater display for the back-seater.

An "AMX-E" electronic warfare variant, based on the AMX-T, was considered. It would have featured jamming gear to provide electronic escort for strike aircraft, and also emitter targeting gear and AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles to take a more active approach to dealing with adversary defenses. The idea apparently never got beyond the study stage.

The Alenia-Aermacchi-EMBRAER AMX in service

The last AMI single-seater was delivered in 1997 and the last Italian two-seater was delivered in 1998. Brazilian production was completed in 1999. Not counting prototypes, the AMI obtained a total of 110 single-seaters and 26 two-seaters, machines, while the FAB obtained 45 single-seaters and 11 two-seaters. The machine has apparently proven highly satisfactory in service, with pilots enjoying its good handling and excellent cockpit field of view and service crews happy with its maintainability.

The AMX fleet was grounded in 1992 and 1996 due to engine failures, but those problems were resolved. The AMX saw combat service with the AMI during the wars of the Balkan Succession, flying in OPERATION DELIBERATE FORCE in 1995 and OPERATION ALLIED FORCE in 1999.

Although Thailand ordered a large batch of AMX fighters in the early 1990s, funding cutbacks led to its cancellation. The only export user is Venezuela, which bought eight two-seaters and four options in 1999, though contract negotiations dragged out for a few years and delivery had not begun at last notice. The Venezuelan machines are built to an improved standard and have the designation of "AMX Advanced Attack Trainer (AMX-ATA)"; they feature modernized avionics, a forward-looking infrared (FLIR) imager, a new Elta EL/M-2032 multimode radar that includes antiship and air-to-air combat modes, and a helmet-mounted sight. The AMX-ATAs are being built by EMBRAER.

Both Italy and Brazil are now upgrading their aircraft. It seems the original plan was for both nations to adopt a common upgrade standard, but that plan proved too ambitious and more limited upgrades are now being pursued. The AMI upgrade program, designated "ACOL", will replace the original INS with an INS backed by a Global Positioning System receiver, add color MFDs, and update communications and IFF. Addition of a GPS capability will allow the AMX to carry GPS-guided bombs.

The AMI also wants to qualify a modern targeting pod, and to obtain a modern digital reconnaissance pod. 55 machines are to be upgraded, with the first to be delivered in 2006 and the last in 2008; an option is available for upgrade of 11 more aircraft. The AMI hopes to keep the AMX in service until 2015, when it is to be replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. If the F-35 schedule stretches out, the AMI may consider a second-level upgrade program for the AMX.

In the summer of 2004, the FAB signed a contract with EMBRAER for upgrade of 53 machines with a new HUD, three color MFDs, and new communications / navigation kit. The avionics system is being obtained from Elbit of Israel.

Author: Greg Goebel