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Aerfer Ariete

1958 Italian prototype fighter aircraft

Ariete
Role	Prototype fighter Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Aerfer
Designer	Sergio Stefanutti
First flight	27 March 1958
Primary user	Italian Air Force
Number built	2
Developed from	Aerfer Sagittario 2

The Aerfer Ariete (Italian for RamorAries) was a prototype fighter aircraft built in Italy in 1958. It was a refined derivative of the Aerfer Sagittario 2, and was an attempt to bring that aircraft up to a standard where it could be mass-produced as a viable combat aircraft.

Retaining most of the Sagittario 2's layout with a nose intake and ventral exhaust for the main Derwent engine, the Ariete added a Rolls-Royce Soar RS.2 auxiliary turbojet engine to provide additional power for climbing and sprinting. This used a dorsal, retractable intake with its exhaust at the tail.

No production ensued; a proposed version with a de Havilland Spectre rocket engine instead of the auxiliary turbojet, the Aerfer Leone (LionorLeo), was abandoned before a prototype could be built.

Operators[edit]

 Italy

• Italian Air Force operated two aircraft for evaluation test^[1]

Specifications (Ariete)[edit]

Data from Air Enthusiast,^[2] Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1958-59^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew:1
• Length: 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
• Height: 3.28 m (10 ft 9 in)
• Wing area: 14.5 m² (156 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 2,400 kg (5,291 lb)
• Gross weight: 3,535 kg (7,793 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Derwent 9 turbojet engine, 16.2 kN (3,600 lbf) thrust
• Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce RSr.2 Soar turbojet engine, 8.025 kN (1,804 lbf) thrust

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,125 km/h (699 mph, 607 kn)
• Maximum speed: Mach 1.1
• Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 227 m/s (44,700 ft/min)
• Time to altitude: 12,000 m (39,000 ft) in 4 minutes 20 seconds
• Wing loading: 244 kg/m² (50 lb/sq ft)
• Thrust/weight: 0.685
  
• Take-off run: 500 m (1,600 ft)
• Landing run: 900 m (3,000 ft)

Armament

• Guns: 2 × 30 mm HS-825 cannon (30x136mm)

See also[edit]

Related development

• Ambrosini S.7
• Ambrosini Sagittario
• Aerfer Sagittario 2
• Aerfer Leone

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aerfer Ariete.

• Buttler, Tony. X-Planes of Europe II: Military Prototype Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946–1974. Manchester, UK: Hikoki Publications, 2015. ISBN 978-1-90210-948-0
• Swanborough, Gordon. Air Enthusiast, Volume One. London: Pilot Press, 1971. ISBN 0-385-08171-5.

Companies

Aviation