They will be using a variant of the ANS-42 Ifra-Red Search and Track system originally deployed on the F-14D (replacing the TCS used on earlier models) and subsequently installed on the front half of an F-18 drop tank (probably because the under-wing environment was too vibration prone).
It seems like a sound move, though with the USAF shoving F-15s and F-16s out the door as quickly as possible so as not to compete with the F-35 JSF, I’m a bit dubious.
One of the things that is truly depressing about defense procurement is that we see evidence that it does not have to be that bad, case in point, the MC-12W Liberty, a derivative of the mid size turboprop civil transport Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350.
The aircraft is purchases for $7 million, and the mods and equipment cost another $10 million for modifications, for video , sigint, and other surveillance and communications gear, which should prove particularly useful in places like Afghanistan.
The need is real, the requirements were not inflated, and the system is entering service in less than a year.
But this should be the rule, and not the exception, as it is today.
It looks like the UK JSFs will be unable to carry 4 AIM-132 ASRAAMS internally, as opposed to the original 4, so a loadout of 4 will require external pylons, but the stealthy pylons which had been previously promised have not been funded.
The ASRAAM is significant, because it has lock after launch and much better kinematics (though inferior very short range agility) than the AIM-9X, allowing a modicum of BVR capability.
Is it just me, or is the entire JSF program beginning to sound a lot like what some are facetiously calling the “iFascism” that emanates from Steve Jobs and Apple Computer:
One thing that fascinates me is the way that Apple continues to maintain a cool/benevolent/almost counter-culture reputation, while actually being an incredibly aggressive, ruthless, arguably monopolistic company (the way they are cornering the music and phone businesses, and the way they so carefully guard applications on the iphone). Compare this to Microsoft, which has a more fascist ambiance around it.
Obviously, the consequences of an intensely closed platform in a PC and media player are of less consequence than for a front line fighter, but Apple has already has filed for a patent to automatically deactivate your devices if you use them in a non-approved manner, and the US Air Force, and Lockheed-Martin seem to have a similar goal with the JSF: making it extremely difficult for non-US weapons to be used, and I do think that there is a remote off switch in there.
If I were looking at buying a fighter, I would therefore be very concerned about the degree of control that the Pentagon, and perhaps LM would have over the operation of the aircraft.
Brazil has officially extended the final bid deadline until October 2, and there are now reports that the Rafale was not the first choice of the Brazilian Air Force, with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) favoring the F/A-18 E/F, and the “engineers” favoring the Gripen.
I would assume that the FAB refers to the guys who fly, and that the “engineers” are the maintainers.
The latter is far from surprising. As the Gripen is less than ½ the size of its competitors, with ½ the number of engines, the simple laws of physics say that its per flight hour costs, and logistical tail, will be significantly less than either its French or American competitors.
The austere field capabilities of the Swedish jet may have influenced this too.
My guess is that the Rafale was “selected” on the basis of French technical offsets, which are at a level that the Swedes are unable to provide, and the United States is unwilling to provide, but these are considerations that is unlikely to bear much weight with a military service.
My bad. These aren’t TIE Fighters, these are Thai fighters, specifically the SAAB Gripens that are to be delivered to Thailand.
The SAAB has a contract to deliver at least 6 of the diminutive fighters to Thailand, and the first of these aircraft has been assembled, and has taken flight.
My bad…No Star Wars here.
Here, have some video fighter jet pr0n by way of apology for misleading you.
In the words of Emily Latella, “never mind”.
And in a stunning display of stupidity, the Pentagon is letting the USAF run the competition, which considering their record the past two times, is a lot like giving Jack the Ripper the straight razor concession at the prostitutes convention.
Boeing has wised up, and had decided to titch the “Frankentanker”, (paid subscription required) which had the “767-200 airframe; over-wing exits from the 767-300; floors, doors and structurally enhanced wings from the 767-300F; and a cockpit, tail section (with a more capable auxiliary power unit) and flaps from the 767-400ER,” which is a good thing.
Interestingly enough, they are also making noises about using the 777, but that aircraft appears to be rather too large for the requirements as I understand them unless they take the sawzall to it, and shorten the fuselage by a lot.
The most significant change here is that the specifications are much more explicit, because the challenge was driven by the wiggle room the last time around. (see graph pr0n, and click for full size)
So, it looks like al Queida’s best friends are looking at buying an additional 72 F-15 Eagles, and the word is that they are very interested in the modified reduced signature (stealth is way to strong a word here) F-15 SE.
If they do, it will likely be instead of purchasing the F-35 Lightning II, and a quick perusal of the Wiki shows that nothing is moving there yet.
What the F-15 SE brings to the table for the Saudis is greater speed and payload at the expense of having a larger radar cross section.
It sounds like it was a mid-air collision during a training mission, though that is just my take on a sketchy description.
They were from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle’s air wing, though it’s not clear if they were flying from the Chuck.
1 Pilot has been recovered, the other is still missing.
Well, the first lesson is that airframers are running away from all composite aircraft, with Mitsubishi going from a composite wing to an aluminum one on its MRJ commuter jet, they say that this will make it easier to make changes to the wing to accommodate for things like stretched model. (See also here)
This is particularly noteworthy because Mitsubishi is already making the all composite wing for Boeing’s 787, so they are very familiar with the structural problems of the 787 (see here, here. and here)
The thing is, that their assessment on this situation is probably more valid than Boeing’s, because they understand the issues involved with composites more than Boeing does.
Boeing’s policy of outsourcing major design and engineering decisions, along with risk, on the 787 has placed it in a situation rather similar to where GM is right now with regard to its suppliers:
Magna’s planned acquisition of Opel is proof that carmakers have lost the upper hand in the industry by outsourcing development work to suppliers and relying on them for technological knowhow, a top GM executive said.
…
“We all had the vision that the OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) should just assemble bits and pieces, do a little bit of marketing, a little bit of design and all the rest would be done by suppliers,” he said.
“That was a nice vision. It sounds very lean, but the profit making opportunity is also shifting to the ones that have the technological knowhow. That is in very many cases now the supplier industry,” the GM Europe president told the dinner.
The situation is not as straightforward with commercial aircraft, because certifying an aircraft is far more difficult than getting regulatory approval on a car, but as we can see, Mitsubishi is already on top of that process with its MRJ, and certifying a 70-100 seat aircraft is not appreciably more difficult from certifying a 400 seat aircraft.
This may be a situation where the political tensions in Airbus, which has limited them farming out technologies and design expertise, may serve them well in the future.
What’s more, unlike an auto manufacturer there is no need to build a dealer network, which is a huge hill to climb.
Boeing’s methods on the 787 may be a suicide pact for its commercial aircraft business.
On the slump in people using airlines:
Obviously the recession has much to do with it, but I do wish it would occur to our great captains of the airline industry that one reason people are flying less is that it the experience has become so incredibly sh$#@y.
Though it is not just the airlines who ascribe to the theory that they must make their product as miserable as is possible for the consumer in order to satisfy Wall Street.
He was Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon’s son.
Damn.
There is actually a fair amount going on here, with the F135 engine experiencing a test at supersonic conditions on the test stand. They discovered bits of engine, specifically fan tips on the integrally bladed first and second stage fans, flying out the nozzle at the back.
At this point, there is no evidence of foreign object damage, they have found no missing bolts or the like, but the cause is still unclear.
Along with this news, we have a report that defense acquisition chief Carter has ordered a high level investigation of the state of the F135 engine, particularly with regard to cost and schedule, as there are reports that it’s about 30% over budget.
It’s kind of ironic than that the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee eliminated funding for the alternate F136 engine a few days ago, though chairman Inouye strongly implied that it would find its way to funding in conference committee.
I think that the primary motivator for killing the F136 engine is because they want to save money now, even if it costs more later, but the cost and technical issues with the F135 would seem to make this less likely.
Boeing OV-10X Bronco
Hawker Beechcraft T-6
It looks like the USAF is getting serious about buying something to provide close air support in a counter-insurgency scenario, and we are now seeing the Boeing (originally North American Rockwell)It looks like the OV-10X Bronco and the Hawker Beechcraft (originally Pilatus PC-9) AT-6 Texan II being developed for these roles.
My own inclination would be to go with the Bronco. Twin engines, which can mitigate the effect of a lucky shot with an AK, along with a history of operating in austere conditions, works for me.
An F-16 dead stick landing at Ramon Air Force base in Israel.
The chatter is all in Hebrew, which I do not speak, but it sounds like everyone kepe a cool head.
Nutation is what a coin does toward the end of its motion when you spin it, when it wobbles around the edge, and rotates at the same time.
The Nutating engine is similar to a Wankel rotary, only instead of having a triangular rotor that orbits and spins around the crankshaft, it has a disk that wobbles as it rotates (bottom pic for animation).
The military is funding the development of an aluminum prototype, which promises to double (or more)the power to weight ratio for small engines, where turbines lose much of their advantage.
Right now, they are looking at a power to weight ratio of 1.6:1 or so, which is a pretty remarkable number.
A NASA study (PDF) is also available.
Russia is funding hypersonic research (paid subscription required) involving ram/scram jets and pulse detonation engines (PDE).
Russia actually has some history here, having done extensive with the KH-90 Mach 5 cruise missile (NATO designation AS-19 Koala, bottom pic, and video [in Russian] below) which was dropped as a result of START II restrictions.
With afterburner…Sweet.
You know, 10 years ago, this might have meant somehing:
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously Thursday to approve an fiscal 2010 Defense spending bill that would allow the Defense Department to develop an export version of the radar-evading F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
Now, not so much.
If the line gets restarted, here is what you have to do:
If we are asking for all that, how about a pony too?
It appears that the deal has not been sealed, much less finalized, and the Brazilian Defense Minister is saying that the Gripen and Super-Hornet. “could be still allowed to “redefine” their offers for the FX-2 contract.”
My guess is that deal was 98% done at the time of the initial announcement, and the Brazil is angling for more support, either technically or via purchase, for their C-390 transport.
Background here.
So, Dassault has finally gotten an export sale of its Rafale fighter, to Brazil. (Official announcement in Portuguese on a very poorly configured web server)
There were a number of things that helped with this:
This breaks the logjam for Rafale, but the customer, which has a significant aerospace industry with indigenous design capabilities and extensive existing ties, is fairly unique.
That being said, we also have this report (Google Translation from Portuguese) saying that the deal may not be completely nailed down yet.
H/t ELP Defens(c)e Blog for the tip/vid that the Rafale has already been launched from, and landed on the Foch, which was sold to the Brazilians and rechristened NAe São Paulo.