Soko G-4 Super Galeb

G-4 Super Galeb
A Serbian Air Force G-4 Super Galeb
Role Military trainer aircraft
Manufacturer SOKO
Design group Aeronautical Technical Institute
First flight 17 July 1978
Introduction 1983
Status In service
Primary user Serbian Air Force
Produced 1984–1991
Number built 85[1]
Unit cost
$4.2 million (in 2010 U.S. dollars)[1]

The Soko G-4 Super Galeb (English: Super Seagull), also referred to as N-62, is a Yugoslav single-engine, advanced jet trainer and light ground-attack aircraft. The G-4 was designed by the Aeronautical Technical Institute at Žarkovo and manufactured by the SOKO aircraft factory in Mostar as a replacement for the Soko G-2 Galeb in service with the Yugoslav Air Force (Serbo-Croatian: Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana – RV i PVO). Production started in 1984 and lasted until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. A total of 85 aircraft were built, six of which were exported to Myanmar.

During the Yugoslav Wars, RV i PVO G-4s carried out ground-attack sorties, with four being lost to enemy air defences. In 1992 the remaining aircraft were relocated to Serbia and Montenegro where they entered service with the Air Force of the new FR Yugoslavia. A single G-4 was left over to the Republika Srpska Air Force.

Design and development

RV i PVO G-4 (serial 23005) at the Farnborough Airshow, UK in 1984.

The G-4 Super Galeb was developed as a replacement for the G-2 Galeb, which had been the most commonly used jet trainer aircraft of the Yugoslav Air Force up until 1990. The first of two prototypes was completed by early 1978. Following completion of the initial testing phase, the first flight was achieved on 17 July 1978 and the first of six pre-production aircraft on 17 December 1980. These and the first prototype were designated G-4 PPP, and had fixed tailplanes with inset elevators and no anhedral.[2] Production examples (and the second prototype) were designated G-4 and featured an all-moving anhedral tailplane and comprehensive avionics improvements.[2] The G-4 first flew in 1983 and has been ordered in large numbers for the Yugoslav Air Force.

The G-4 features a low wing monoplane design with slightly tapered wings.[2] The aircraft is 12.25m long and 4.3m high, with a wingspan of 9.88m.[2] It weighs 3,250 kg when empty and can carry 1,882 kg of fuel.[2] The aircraft is fitted with a short nose cone, rounded fuselage, conventional empennage, semicircular air intakes, vertical tailfins, rudder, ailerons, horizontal stabilisers and fuel tanks at the square tips.[2] The G-4 its performance is considerably improved by the introduction of a more powerful version of the Rolls-Royce Viper 632-46 turbojet.[2] The cockpit is fitted with two ejection seats with the rear seat slightly elevated to render all round clear visibility.

The G-4 saw some combat during the Yugoslav Wars. In total, three G-4s were shot down, all pilots ejecting safely. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, seven G-4s of the Leteće zvezde aerobatics team were destroyed at Golubovci Air Base.[3]

Variants

A Serbian Air Force G-4T (serial 23601) used as a target tug.

Operators

Former operators

Notable accidents

Specifications (G-4M)

G-4 Super Galeb animation

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993-94[10]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Avionics
Standard communication and navigation equipment, plus (fire control and weapons management) Ferranti ISIS D-282 gyro sight, and (defensive sensors and systems) Iskra SD-1 RWR; there is also provision for a reconnaissance pod with cameras and an IR line scanner.

Aircraft on display

Serbia

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

  1. 1 2 Muzej vazduhoplovstva. "N-62 Super Galeb G-4". Muzej vazduhoplovstva (Aeronautical museum-Belgrade).
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Military Factory. "SOKO G-4 Super Galeb (Super Seagull) Light Attack / Advanced Trainer (1983)".
  3. ↑ Bozinovski, Igor (29 June 2007). "Serbia's Stars in aerobatic display". London: Flightglobal.
  4. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20071217194912/http://wiki.airserbia.com/show_image.php?id=7&scaled&scalesize=0&nocount=y. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ Salinger, Igor (11 August 2008). "Serbian air force targets fleet modernisation". Flightglobal.
  6. 1 2 3 "World Air Forces 2013" (PDF). Flightglobal Insight. 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "Na prodaju posljednja četiri borbena aviona". Vijesti. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  8. ↑ http://tangosix.rs/2016/26/04/istorija-modernizacije-aviona-g-4-super-galeb/
  9. ↑ "VS plane crashes, kills pilot". B92. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  10. ↑ Lambert 1993, pp. 587–589.
  11. ↑ "Museum of the Yugoslav Air Force". Aviation Museum.

Sources

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