ALR Piranha
Aviation Ligère de Reconnaissance (ALR) · Switzerland · never flew (project 1984) · fighter
The ALR Piranha was a Swiss lightweight multirole combat aircraft project of the 1980s, developed by ETH Zurich and ALR, the Swiss Air Force aerospace project group managed by Georges Bridel.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | High-mounted, delta |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 10.5 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | No tailplane |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Close-coupled canard fighter design with a near-delta shoulder-mounted wing
- Studied with one engine (RB199, EJ200 or M88) or two Larzacs
- Never built: only models and a cockpit mock-up
A compact close-coupled canard design with a shoulder-mounted, low-aspect-ratio near-delta wing, intended to carry a single cannon on the centreline.
Specifications
- The ALR Piranha has a length of 10.5 m (34 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 6.49 m (21 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 2222 km/h (1381 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Intended as a cost-effective combat aircraft for smaller nations, the Piranha was studied in subsonic and transonic versions (Piranha 1, 2, 4 and 6). The Swiss government lost interest and the project was cancelled before any prototype was built.
Variants
Many design studies existed, with single-engine (RB199, EJ200 or M88) and twin-engine (Larzac) layouts, 10.5 to 11.57 m long and 6 to 7.62 m in span.
Where you'll see it
Never built or flown; only remote-controlled models and a full-size cockpit mock-up were made.
Related aircraft
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