The G-4 Super Galeb (Super Seagull) advanced trainer/light strike aircraft was born out of a Yugoslavian requirement to replace the aging Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star and G-2 Galeb jet-powered trainers then in service. VTI - the Aeronautical Technical Institute of Yugoslavia - undertook the program and design work began sometime in 1973. The prototype - designated as "G-4 PPP" - was produced by 1975 and first flight was achieved on July 17th, 1978. Six pre-production aircraft were next produced and delivered for evaluation, these also coming under the designation of G-4 PPP. Full production under the SOKO/Lola Utva factories banner began in 1982 and the system was officially added to the Yugoslav military ranks in 1983. In all, between 123 and 135 Super Galebs would be delivered (sources vary on the exact count). She remains in active service today and holds a relatively stellar service record with only two lost to accident in her nearly-thirty year career. At one point, the United States evaluated the aircraft during its Joint Primary Aircraft Training System competition, American test pilots giving the G-4 favorable reviews, but the Yugoslavian aircraft eventually lost out to the indigenous Raytheon T-6 Texan II.
Walk-Around
The Super Galeb sports a modern appearance. She holds a rather short nose cone with the cockpit situated just aft. The stepped cockpit features seating for two personnel in tandem - a student in the forward seat and an instructor in the rear seat when used in the advanced trainer role. The cockpit canopy is a multi-piece unit with individual systems for each pilot as well as a framed forward component. Ejection seats are afforded to both positions. A raised spine behind the cockpit area disrupts views to the "six" angle. Intakes are mounted along the sides of the fuselage and aspirate the single turbojet engine. Wings are low-mounted assemblies fitted approximately amidships in the design. The wings sport sweep along the leading edge, features cut-off rounded wingtips and have slight sweep along the trailing edge. The empennage is conventional and makes use of a single vertical tail fin with a pair of all-moving horizontal tailplanes mounted at its base, each sporting anhedral. The engine exhausts through a circular ring at the rear of the fuselage and base of the vertical tail fin. Her undercarriage is a traditional tricycle arrangement featuring two main single-wheeled landing gear legs and a single-wheeled nose landing gear leg.
Performance and Dimensions
The G-4 is powered by a single engine buried within the elegant fuselage. The engine itself is of British origin, a license-produced Rolls-Royce Viper Mk 632-46 series turbojet system delivering up to 4,000lbs of thrust. Her top speed is billed at 565 miles per hour while her range is limited to 1,553 miles. The G-4 maintains a service ceiling in the neighborhood of 42,160 feet and sports a rate of climb equal to 6,100 feet per minute. Dimensionally, the G-4 features a wingspan of 32 feet, 5 inches and a running length of 37 feet, 2 inches. Her sitting height is just over 14 feet. The aircraft fields an empty weight of 6,993lb and boasts a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) near 13,889lb.
G-4 is reserved for the base production model maintaining its strike capabilities. The G-4s is the unarmed version of the G-4 base. The G-4t is a target tow platform while the G-4M was used to note an upcoming advanced prototype. The G-4MD became that prototype's production form and was a digitally upgraded and modernized G-4 complete with a HUD (Heads-Up Display), GPS navigation, IFF (Identification Friend-or-Foe) and HOTAS (Hands-On-Throttle-and-Stick). The G-4MD was a Serbia program upgrade with the intention of covering some 15 operational aircraft, extending their service life up to the year 2030. The G-4 prototype proper was intended for a first flight in 1992 but the Yugoslav civil wars dictated otherwise.
The G-5
There was an existing proposal for a radar-carrying version of the G-4 with improved strike capabilities to be known as the "G-5". However, the war in Yugoslavia certainly killed the prospect and the G-5 was never to be. The revised aircraft would have been a single-seat, single-engine platform with similar qualities to the G-4 before it with the exception of a broader mission scope.
Combat Exposure
The G-4 was involved in the Yugoslav civil wars of the 1990s, ultimately leading to the dissolution of the country. Seeing most of her action primarily in the beginning of the conflict and there were unsubstantiated reports of the aircraft seeing combat in the Kosovo War (1998-1999). The aircraft proved adequate for the light strike role and only three of her type were reported lost to enemy fire. One such example lost her tail to a ground-based FIM-92 Stinger short-range, shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missile and still remained airworthy enough to make it to a friendly air base. Of the three aforementioned aircraft lost in combat, all three pilots ejected their mounts safely. The SOKO plant in Bosnia (at Mostar) was left to its occupiers after Serbian moved in during the Yugoslav civil war, stemming any further Super Galeb production for the near future. Many G-4s were subsequently destroyed during the 1999 "Allied Force" NATO bombing campaign.
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Specifications
SOKO / Lola Utva - Yugoslavia / Bosnia and Herzegovina Manufacturer(s)
Serbia; Myanmar; Montenegro; Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Yugoslavia Operators
GROUND ATTACK
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.
CLOSE-AIR SUPPORT
Developed to operate in close proximity to active ground elements by way of a broad array of air-to-ground ordnance and munitions options.
TRAINING
Developed ability to be used as a dedicated trainer for student pilots (typically under the supervision of an instructor).
TRAINING, ADVANCED
Dedicated advanced training platform for student pilots having graduated from basic flight training.
37.2 ft (11.35 meters) Length
32.4 ft (9.88 meters) Width/Span
14.1 ft (4.30 meters) Height
6,993 lb (3,172 kilograms) Empty Weight
13,889 lb (6,300 kilograms) Maximum Take-Off Weight
STANDARD:
1 x 23mm GSh-23L cannin in ventral gun pod mounting.
OPTIONAL:
Depending on production model, up to 3,970lbs of ordnance can be stored across four underwing, two wingtip and a centerline hardpoint.
7 Hardpoints
G-4 PPP - Prototype and Pre-Series Designation; single prototype produced along with six pre-series aircraft examples.
G-4 - Base Series Designation; dual trainer/light attack platform.
G-4s - Unarmed Trainer Variant of the G-4 Production Model.
G-4t - Target Tow Platform
G-4M - G-4 Prototype Example Designation
G-4MD - Improved and Upgraded G-4 Serbian Model; all-glass digital cockpit with modernized features.
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