Category: Aviation

Boeing’s Looks at Re- Winging 777

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It appears that Boeing is concerned about the threat that the Airbus A350 might be in the market.

It’s larger than the 787, but is following Boeing’s lead on propulsion and structural technologies to lower operational costs, and so the Seattle (Chicago) based manufacturer is worried that they might be facing a repeat of the 767/A330 fight that they had over a decade ago, which the A330 won decisively.

So, Boeing is looking at a significant stretch to the 787, and at re-winging the 777 with a lighter weight composite structure. (paid subscription required)

I’m not clear if this is just some blue-sky thinking, or if Boeing is really spooked by the repeated delays, and the cancellation of orders, on its 787 Dreamliner.

A Wacky Tilt-Rotor Concept From DARPA

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It’s called the Folding Advanced Stopped Tilt Rotor (FASTR), and the basic idea is that you have some sort of variable cycle engine which powers tilt rotors on takeoff, and after you get to speed, the rotors are stopped, folded back, and the engines convert to turbojets.

I’m inclined to believe that this won’t amount to anything, as the weight penalties of a stop start folding rotor and variable cycle engine would likely make any advantages irrelevant, but it’s DARPA’s job to try out weird stuff like this, and see what happens.

Veto Threat on F-22 and F136 Authorizations

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President Obama has threatened a veto on both programs.

I’m of a mixed mind on the programs.

While it is clear that the F-22 is overpriced, and does not address foreseeable threats, the F136 alternate engine for the JSF seems like a good idea.

The P&W F100/GE F110 engine competition saved a lot of money, and produced more reliable engines.

What’s more, the F136 seems to have more growth potential than the F135, and this is needed, particularly for the STOVL F-35B.

Additionally, the funds to continue F136 development are about the cost of procuring just 2 more F-22s.

Tanker Tango Continues

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Boeing is now considering both the 767 and 777 to the USAF for its proposal, which would mean that their tanker proposals would bracket Airbus’ A330 proposal in size.

One complication is that Boeing has done nothing on the 777 concept, not even wind tunnel testing, so responding to the tanker RFP would be a challenge.

Meanwhile, Northrop-Grumman is saying that any RFP must seriously consider “best value” as a criteria, and since the A330 tanker is about the same price as the 767, and rather cheaper than the 777, it would favor them.

In any case, Boeing and NG were busy flinging poo at each other at the Paris air show. (paid subscription required)

More Bumps in the 787 Road to 1st Flight

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We have another delay in the 787 first flight, and this one is for a serious technical reason, “the revelation that the new airplane’s composite wing induced delamination and deformation on body join points during a routine preflight stress test.” (paid subscription required)

So as opposed to flying in the coming week, Boeing is now looking at a 3-6 month delay.

In related news, Qantas is canceling or deferring its 787 ordersdelay, though they are claiming that it’s the air traffic slowdown, and not the delay, that has led to this decision.

F-15 Silent Eagle Updates

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It appears that the program executive officer for the JSF, General David Heinz, of the is unamused by Boeing’s marketing of the upgraded aircraft, which notes that it, “as all the stealth that has been approved for export by the U.S. government,” which implies that the export variants of the JSF will be less stealthy than than the version fielded by US forces.

I think that the general misses the point, it was not a shot at the JSF, but rather a shot at elements in the Pentagon who might want to restrict its export in order to further boost the F-35.

In the meantime, it does appear that Boeing is looking to minimize its exposure in the development process, as it’s aggressively looking for development partners, while it leaves the start of aircraft development on pause, pending a review of the “business case.”

They don’t want to invest in a product that no one will buy, and so they are slipping the flight test dates by 6 months.

Russia Looking at AESA on MiG-35

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This is not a development, as Russia, or more exactly the USSR, is the only nation to have fielded a combat fighter in squadron service with a phased array radar, the MiG-31 Foxhound.

It appears that much of this development is being driven by the Indian medium fighter competition.

The installation appears to be a bit tight (top pic) in the demonstration, though there may be more changes to shrink the “back end” of the radar and increase the aperture size in the production model.

The ground mapping imagery (bottom pic) does appear to indicate a very significant improvement in air to surface capabilities.

An Idea So Good, that the USAF Will Never Do It

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Specifically, the idea that a relatively low performance airframe can serve better in the counter-insurgency (COIN) or the close air support role than something like the F-15, F-16, F-22, or F-35 JSF.

Not only would lower performance aircraft tend to have better short and rough field capabilities, just as the A-10 Warthog currently does, but they would be able to loiter over the battlefield for a much longer time, as they are designed for this regime, unlike aircraft designed to operate above 30,000 feet and to reach supersonic speeds.

Case in point, the Combat Air Tractor, an aircraft based on Air Tractor’s crop dusting aircraft.

It can take off and land off of rough airfields in less than 100m, and can loiter over the battle field for over 10 hours.(click slide show [top] for pictures of aircraft and weapons load outs)

The CAT also costs somewhere between $4 and $10 million dollars, as opposed to the $80-$200 million of a JSF, and it has been used in combat situations, spraying herbicide on coca fields and the like, and the aircraft is on the tarmac at the Paris air show.

While it would be an unlikely choice, there are also rumblings that the USAF is considering modifying their T-6 trainer for a similar role (bottom pic)

Personally, I’d favor something turbofan powered, because it could be designed with narrow-band stealth against radar guided AAA, but anything is better than the current plan, which is JSF’s for everything.

Lockheed Concerned That Israel Will Terminate F-35

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Israel’s early order of the JSF has provided a lot of credibility to the program, but concerns about the escalating costs, and the inflexibility, the plane is a closed platform to which the Israelis cannot add their own systems,is causing some cold feet inside the IDF/AF.

By way of hand holding, Lockheed has proposed to offered to do final assembly in Israel.

While there has been a lot of effort to portray this aircraft as a colossus striding across the world military jet fighter market, it’s position actually seems precarious.

F-15 Silent Eagle Video Pr0n

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More defense contractor puffery, but it appears that some countries have expressed a significant interest in the Silent Eagel low observability program, most notably South Korea.

Of interest is the fact that Boeing has some real concerns about the US Government export license process being used to sabotage their sales process:

As for the F-15SE versus F-35 on frontal stealth, Jones says what Boeing is looking for is an assurance from the U.S. government that all competitors will be set at the same level of RCS reduction. Let the battle begin.

The translation here is that they are concerned that the JSF will be allowed for export at levels of stealth that the F-15SE would not be, because the USAF has no interest in the program, and doesn’t want it competing with the F-35.

VH-71 Presidential Helicopter Contract Officially Terminated

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This is not surprising, it’s just that it’s now official.

In a way, it’s a microcosm of problems in military contracting. Had the specifications remained as they were at the start of the program, the helos would now be in service for less than was spent not buying them.

Unfortunately, Bush and His Evil Minions™ decided to gold plate it, adding plush carpeting, a bathroom, a kitchen (!), videoconferencing gear, for a helo that would take the president on short (less than one hour) hops to a secure location or Air Force 1.

F136 Engine Will Harm JSF Program

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So says JSF program office chief General David Heinz, who notes that it will drain resources away from low rate production, but just a few days later, he says that he favors a second source engine and radar:

“I believe that part of the debate that has to occur — and is occurring – is, is there an operational risk that we are accepting by having just a single engine manufacturer?” Heinz asked. “I simply think that we focus too much of the discussion about the cost and not the operational risk.”

The 1st story is from June 1, the 3rd, so what changed in 24 hours?

My guess is that he someone talked to him about industrial base issues, or perhaps someone talked to him about not telling Congress what to do.

Any insights would be appreciated.

Chinese Pilots to Train on Brazilian Carrier

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I think that this implies that the Chinese intend to move very aggressively towards creating an aircraft carrier capability.

It’s an opportunity for them to hone their skills, and tap the expertise of the Brazilian, along with the rapidly progressing refit of the Varyag, you can see pictures at the link, implies to me that the Chinese intend to have an training carrier air wing in a pretty near term operating from the never completely Admiral Kuznetsov-class carrier.

USAF May Lose Oversight of Tanker Purchase

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The Pentagon is looking at whether the USAF or the Pentagon will run the next competition between the 767 and A330 for the KC-X tanker.

If they go with the Pentagon, this is a a major change from earlier procedures.

It appears that some people are concerned that the USAF is incapable of doing this properly, after the first deal was shot down because of corruption, and the 2nd deal was successfully challenged to the GAO.

I can’t imagine why.

Lithium Hydride Scramjet Shows Promise

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Lithium Hydride is a fairly dense and easy to handle way to store hydrogen, which is one of the reasons that it’s used, with Deuterium substituting for Hydrogen, as the fusion fuel supply for thermonuclear warheads.

Well, Claudio Bruno, of the University of Rome, has begun testing the material for use in scramjet engines.

Gaseous, or for that matter cryogenic, hydrogen is bulky and difficult to store, but it also is the material that is best suited to burn quickly enough to work well under supersonic combustion.

One of the techniques used is to use a catalyst, and the heat generated at speed, to crack hydrocarbon fuels, and use the hydrogen generated, or to use a preburner, basically a ramjet inside the scramjet, to preburn the fuel and create a hot reducing atmosphere for further combustion.

LiH would decompose naturally at operating temperatures, and would appear to be a simpler solution.