AF Guardian
| AF Guardian | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Hunter-Killer team of AF-2W (lower) and AF-2S | |
| Role | Anti-submarine aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Grumman |
| First flight | 19 December 1945 |
| Introduction | October 1950 |
| Retired | 31 August 1955 |
| Status | Replaced by S-2 Tracker |
| Primary user | United States Navy |
| Number built | 389 |
The Grumman AF Guardian was the first purpose-built anti-submarine warfare (ASW) carrier-based aircraft to enter service with the United States Navy. It consisted of two airframes, one for detection gear, the other for weapons. The Guardian remained in service until August 1955, when it was replaced by the twin-engined Grumman S-2 Tracker. The Guardian was the largest single-engine piston-powered carrier aircraft ever to see service.
The original design concept for the aircraft that would become the Guardian, the XTB2F of 1944, was for a twin-engined aircraft with a 3,600 lb (1,633 kg) warload and a range of 3,700 mi (5,950 km). This was considered to be too large for practical use from an Essex class aircraft carrier, and was cancelled in 1945, replaced by a modified Grumman F7F Tigercat, the XTSF-1.
However, this too was considered impractical, and another alternative, the internally developed Grumman Model G-70, was selected instead, being given the Navy designation XTB3F-1. This was designed as mixed-power aircraft, with a Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp radial engine in the nose and a Westinghouse 19XB turbojet in the tail. This was found to be unsuitable, and the jet engine was removed without ever having been used in flight. The XTB3F-1S carried a crew of two seated side-by-side and an armament of two 20 mm cannon and 4,000 lb (1,814 kg) of bombs, torpedoes and/or rockets, and made its first flight on 19 December 1945.
On 24 December 1945, the Navy changed the role of the aircraft from torpedo-bomber to anti-submarine warfare. All the required equipment could not be fitted into a single aircraft, consequently two variants would be produced, one as a "guppy" (hunter) and another as a "scrapper" (killer). The hunter aircraft would not carry any armament, but instead two additional crew members and a ventral radome for APS-20 search "eyes" (radar) and Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) "ears", consisting of an APR-98 Countermeasures Receiver and AP-70 Bearing Indicator. This aircraft, the XTB3F-1S, first flew in November 1948. The "killer" deleted the cannon of the torpedo bomber, but retained the bomb bay, added a third crewmember, a searchlight, and short-range radar, and (as the XTB3F-2S) first flew in January 1949.
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