CAC CA-23

The CAC CA-23 was a planned supersonic, twinjet, two-seat, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.

Design and development

In 1949, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) began assessing replacements for its locally-built Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) Mustangs and De Havilland Australia (DHA) Vampires.^[1] A series of designs were considered, including the Grumman Panther and an unconventional, twin-jet all-weather fighter: the CAC CA-23.

This unusual design, was a two seat delta wing, all-weather fighter, with a low set tail. It was originally planned to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Tay engines; the final version was however was designed for the more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engines. The aircraft was to be fitted with the most up to date radar and electronic equipment. Its anticipated performance was to be in the region of Mach 1.5 which would have been much faster than any contemporary aircraft.^[2]

A mock up model was made, and wind tunnel tests proved more than satisfactory. The program was described by the British visiting CAC at the time as "the company's project was a most ambitious design for a fighter and as advanced as anything yet seen in any other part of the world." Yet, this design was abandoned as a result of the government choosing the North American F-86 Sabre, which was considerably modified using the more powerful, Rolls-Royce Avon-engined variant, resulting in the CAC Sabre.^[3]

Specifications

Data from Deeb:^[4]

General characteristics

• Crew: two
• Length: Unknown ()
• Wingspan: Unknown ()
• Height: Unknown ()
• Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet exhausting through tailpipe

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.5 (1,593 km/h)

Armament

4 x 0.5 with 250 rounds per gun

See also

• Hawker P.1081
• CAC Sabre

References

Notes

Bibliography