Author: Matthew G. Saroff

They Have Emails

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And the US Attorney prosecuting Ted Stevens wants them:

Even as Sen. Ted Stevens’ corruption trial nears an end, federal prosecutors are still asking for correspondence between the Alaska senator and his wife, Catherine, as well as e-mails she may have sent to 37 people connected to the couple’s home renovation and other gifts the senator may have received.

Stevens’ legal team filed a motion over the weekend asking that a judge intervene and prohibit the government from subpoenaing thousands of documents from Catherine Stevens’ law firm, Mayer Brown. They’re looking for conversations between her and anyone with a U.S. Senate e-mail address, as well as documents relating to anything of value given or provided to Stevens, his wife or his daughter, Lily. That includes “any documents relating to diamond earrings,” according to the motion.

Yeah, this guy is as pure as the driven snow.

That being said, the prosecutors are lucky that Stevens is not just guilty, but unbelievably guilty, because they have run a piss poor case.

Big Surprise, IP Monopolists Pull Numbers out of their Tuchus

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One of the frequent refrains about the “costs” of “piracy” is, “750,000 and $200 to $250 billion”.

Well Aris Technica took a look at this number to figure out where it came from, and the answer is: Nowhere.

The Commerce department did a study recently, and said, “$60 billion,” but the authors admit that this is a guess, based from data collected from self selected respondents who are overhwelmingly tied into IP intensive business models.

All they could show on their own was $23 billion.

Of course, $23 billion ain’t chicken feed….That’s what 50 days in Iraq?

Quote of the Day: Gail Collins

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Times Columnist Gail Collins

Remember how we used to joke about John McCain looking like an old guy yelling at kids to get off his lawn? It’s only in retrospect that we can see that the keep-off-the-grass period was the McCain campaign’s golden era. Now, he’s beginning to act like one of those movie characters who steals the wrong ring and turns into a troll.

During that last debate, while he was wandering around the stage, you almost expected to hear him start muttering: “We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious.”

She owes me a screen cleaner.

This Will Be at Least a Decade Late, and Underperform

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It looks like India is looking at developing a medium fighter aircraft in the 20 tonne range.

Considering the fact that its light fighter, the Tejas, is something like 15 years overdue, and that the indigenous engine, the Kaveri, has been abandoned, I do not see this as the start of a pleasant story, particularly given the fact that they are looking about integrating stealth features, which implies that the program will be particularly ambitious.

It’s already starting off on the wrong foot, as they have stated that it is their intent to use two Kaveri engines to power the aircraft.

I Wonder if Some of Those Tranch 3 Options Will Go to Japan

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Because Eurofighter is pushing very hard to win Japan’s F-X contest.

The leading contenders are the Typhoon, the Super Bug, and an F-15E variant.

The Japanese already operate the F-15, and have assembled C and D models, and Australia uses the F/A-18E/F, which gives both aircraft an advantage.

The Typhoon’s advantages will come down to supercruise, an area where the Japanese have expressed interest, and frontal radar cross section, where the F-15 variants lose, but the Typhoon and the Super-Hornet have an advantage.

As an interceptor, the Typhoon is clearly superior, at least if fitted with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

Given its relatively feeble air-to-air capabilities, I can’t see the JSF being used in air defense.

Tranche 3 Typhoon Orders Still in Flux for Member Nations

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the member nations are looking at splitting their orders for 236 Typhoons into two sub tranches, with the second having an AESA radar.

Also, it looks as if the member nations will be granted permission to export their purchase options to customers outside the consortium, in order to reduce pressure on their budgets.

Is it just me, or have the costs for procuring combat aircraft become way to much?

Rolls-Royce Looking at 2017-18 Cert for Open Rotor Engine

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RR expects to be able to certify its RB2011 open rotor engine in the next 9-10 years, which is a fairly aggressive schedule, when one considers the issues of noise and certification for a completely new type of engine. (paid subscription required)

In addition to noise issues, fan shrouds make conventional turbofans typically quieter, there are also issues such as bird strike and blade loss that have not been addresses from either an engineering or a regulatory perspective, and all these issues are non-trivial.