Adler AF-3

The Adler AF-3 was a Bressian single-seat fighter and interceptor aircraft used by the Bressian Royal Air Force and other nations of the League of Sovereigns during the early years of the Westenlands Wars. Originally based off of the Predwens Cup-winning Adler Arreau, it was adapted into a combat aircraft as a stop-gap measure against high-speed bomber aircraft. While it was best known for its effective use by the Hettic Royal Flying Service during the Second Leersog War, and by Darsanese and Bressian colonial forces during the Kartasian Sea Campaign, its service was short-lived after being replaced by superior, purpose-built aircraft.

## Development and Production

The Adler Arreau racer was designed in the mid 510s as a means of experimentation with a number of new concepts, including new monocoque construction techniques, and engine design in partnership with Woldredge Motors. The result was a high-speed, lightweight, high endurance aircraft, which would go on to win the 519 Predwens Cup. The Arreau immediately caught the eye of the Bressian Royal Air Force, who were planning on releasing a tender for a high-speed "quick-reaction bomber interceptor" in response to mounting fears of fast bomber aircraft. While entries were still solicited, the air force approached Adler to militarize the Arreau as a stop-gap measure, until a more permanent design could be delivered.

From the beginning, problems arose over weight, and the need to maintain the Arreau's original performance. Having been designed as a racing aircraft, little consideration was made for additional loads. This limited the AF-3's armament to two 8mm Hendtal FH machine guns (though this was deemed sufficient for relatively unprotected fast-bombers, which were its intended targets). It also prevented the addition of an enclosed canopy, cockpit armor plating, or self-sealing fuel tanks. Moreover, while Woldredge's 18-cylinder triad engine design was viable for a sporting aircraft, it was less so for the demands of a combat aircraft. Plans to replace it with Woldredge's earlier tri-12 engine, or their Twin-Thunderbolt Mk I inverted V-12, proved impractical, as the former lacked the power to maintain the Arreau's original performance characteristics, and the latter resulted in undesirable alterations to balance. Woldredge proposed a new engine design, the Twin-Thunderbolt Mk II inverted V-12, but its development would not be completed in time to meet the Air Force's delivery date.

While many considerations were made to alter the Arreau's design to carry heavier armament, additional pilot protection, and a new, more reliable powerplant, time constraints resulted in these plans instead being used as the groundwork for a new design. This design would later manifest as the Adler AC-1 interceptor, which would win the Royal Air Force's tender and replace the AF-3.

## Operational History

The AF-3 would enter Bressian service in 521. By 523, sufficient numbers had been produced to make it viable for export to allies, chiefly Darsan, Theres, and Hetland. 523 also marked the beginning of the Syrvanian Incursion by Chergaria, though AF-3s would not see action during the war until 524, chiefly as a means for Hettic pilots to gain combat experience, and later, to fill a capability gap with the Chergarian Imperial Army Flying Service against Akrovian high-speed bombers (though these would be flown by Bressian volunteer pilots).

### Colonial Operations and the Kartasian Sea Campaign

By 525, as the war in Syrvania drew to a close, the AF-3's successor, the Adler AC-1, had been accepted for service in the Bressian Royal Air Force and entered production. Thus, a token stock of AF-3s were retained at home while most were sent to Bressian colonial units. There, they replaced a variety of older aircraft, seeing action during the Kartasian Sea Campaign in both Bressian and Darsanese service, but demanding maintenance made them ill-suited to colonial or austere operations, and they would be replaced in turn by AC-1s by 528. This would also mark the end of their time in Bressian service, with remaining aircraft recalled, retired, and scrapped. Those in Darsanese service would be similarly recalled, but would remain in use for training until 528.

### Second Leersog War

During the Second Leersog War, Hettic AF-3s flown by Hettic pilots and Bressian volunteers were used to significant effect during the first half of the conflict. A combination of skill disparity between Hettic/Bressian and Syrvanian pilots, effective command and initiative of the Hettic Royal Flying Service, and stellar combat performance by the 1st Air Hussars during the Relief of St. Lyvan, earned the AF-3 a reputation as a superior fighter aircraft. However, its shortcomings would become clear after the Raid on Castle Dazhik. The transfer of air command to the Home Army resulted in a change of air doctrine, as AF-3s were expected to be subordinate to commanders on the ground and to work more closely in concert with ground forces, yielding poorer combat results than before and failing to capitalize on their original strategic value. This also resulted in increased attrition of experienced Hettic pilots and Bressian volunteers, and new, inexperienced replacement pilots would often attempt to engage more maneuverable Syrvanian aircraft in unfavorable dogfights, or find themselves up against veteran Akrovian volunteers in more advanced aircraft. The AF-3 would remain in Hettic service after the war, under the reformed Hettic Republican Air Service, and in limited numbers with the Syrvanian Army Air Corps, though it was withdrawn quickly after the beginning of the war in Lavinia in 530 and relegated to a training role.

### First Peninsula Crisis

[Placeholder] In Thereic service, AF-3s were placed under the command of the Army Air Service's Strategic Defense Command, but would see limited combat service in the air-to-air role during the First Peninsula Crisis.