Cheap, affordable, training, air superiority and strike

The TF-57 program was started in Saltee Portugal to supplement the existing fighter fleet that was increasingly being stretched as Saltee rule expanded. With the collapse of Imperial rule on the peninsula development continued abroad in SMC Aerospace Cyprus, where the aircraft was procured by the Cypriot Air Command to serve in their own air force as an advanced trainer and light fighter.

With a crew of two and benign flight characteristics the aircraft is well-suited to the role of advanced trainer, but also has sufficient performance, payload capacity and avionics to operate as an excellent lightweight multirole fighter, with six wing hardpoints as well as two wingtip hardpoints for a range of missiles, bombs, gunpods and external tanks. With afterburner the fighter can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 and carry up to 13,500Ib of ordnance.

Taking full advantage of its AESA radar and integrated electronic warfare package, the aircraft can serve as a highly-effective fighter in contested airspace, and when fitted with modern ordnance is capable of fulfilling the full spectrum of tasks expected of a modern multirole fighter.

A total of twenty-six aircraft have been ordered in addition to three prototypes, with SMC Aerospace currently seeking export orders for their new fighter. Each new airframe comes at a cost of $40-65 million depending on the exact specification required by the customer and number of aircraft ordered per batch.

Instructions:
AG1 - Jettisons wingtip missiles
AG2 - Activates external lights
AG3 - Lowers arrestor hook
AG4 - Deploys landing chute