The MoD has formally confirmed that they intend to purchase the aircraft, and they expect to sign a contract later this year.
It looks like part of their buy will actually go the Saudi’s though, because of budget issues.
Category: Aviation
Thielert Reenters Aero Diesel Engine, Diamond Pursues Their Installed Base
Thielert (top picture), and Diamond (bottom picture) are now both aggressively competing for market share for aircraft diesel engines. (paid subscription required)
Both engines are based on the same Mercedes diesel engine block, so the real differences are design philosophy and corporate history.
In terms of design philosophy, Diamond’s engine, the AE300, is somewhat heavier, and it is implied, more robust.
In terms of corporate history, Thielert went into bankruptcy, largely driven by the warranty costs on their engine, production ramp-up issues, and financial irregularities, and the trustee basically tried to shake down the installed base by demanding ruinously expensive service and parts.
They have since returned to a going concern status, though their warranty terms are now far less generous, and their engine division has been rebranded “Centurion”.
Diamond aircraft, as Thielert’s best customer, was left in a serious lurch by this, and so developed its own engine, which has now been certified by the EASA, and they are using it on their new build aircraft.
The two main draws of Aero-Diesels are better fuel economy, and the ability to run on Avjet fuel, as opposed to the increasingly expensive and hard to find, particularly in austere locations, Avgas.
I think that for Theilert to compete, it needs to get a handle on reliability, as is evidenced by the line from the article, “By year-end, the company hopes to have doubled the service life of the two vital components to 600 hr,” (emphasis mine) which means that they were operating at a 300 hour life (!!) (IIRC, it’s the reduction gear and clutch).
By comparison, the TBO (time between overhaul) on the 0-360 is 2000 hours.
Both diesels are pushed harder to get their power than current commercially available engines, with he competing Avgas is something like the Lycoming 0-360 (whose origins are more than 50 years old) generating 180 horsepower out of 5.91 liters (361 cubic in) at 2700 rpm, while the Theilert gets 135 hp at (it’s been certified for 155 hp) out of 1.9 liters at 3700 RPM, and the AE300 gets 166 hp out of 1.9 liters at 3800 rpm .
Note also that the prop speed on the diesels is 2300 RPM, while on the direct drive Lycoming it remains 2700 rpm, so propulsive efficiency per hp should be a bit better for the diesels, and their fuel consumption is on the order of ½ that of the gasoline engine.
Israel May Drop JSF
So, we now have a report that Israel may order the semi-stealthy “Silent Eagle” if it does not get technical data on the computer for the F-35 JSF.
The claim is that they need to be able to repair the systems under combat conditions, but the counter claim by the US that they will have sufficient spares to swap them out seems to be convincing to me, so I think that there may be other issues.
First is the price. With an order of 75 aircraft, and a price of up to $20 billion, the cost of the aircraft is $266 million each (!), and that is simply not affordable.
Heck, the good old USA can’t afford more F-22s at a mere (!) 185 million each.
More significant, however, is that without this access, the Israelis will be unable to qualify their own systems on the aircraft.
This means that they cannot configure their own weapons, or their own avionics in such a system, means that, for example, they could not make adjustments to the AESA radar in order to jam some new sensor that was fielded, or install a dedicated jamming system on the aircraft.
I think that idea that they would be at the mercy of Lockheed-Martin for timely software upgrades to counter a new weapons system that the Russians or Chinese ship to the Syrians scares the hell out of the IAF.
Boeing’s Looks to Uprated Engine for Super Hornet
As a results of GE’s work on the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology (IHTET) research program, GE has managed to increase the thrust of the F-414 engine by 20%, which would take it from its current 22,000 lbs to about 26,400 lbs of thrust, and Boeing is looking to using this engine as an inducement to sell more of it’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and EF-18G Growler on the export market (paid subscription required). (See also here).
Basically, there is a new core, which the US Navy wants to increase durability, and reduces fuel consumption by about 3%, and a new fan, which can be used to increase thrust, and which the navy does not want.
Boeing is offering the 2nd option to other customers, which is a sort of acknowledgement that the “market” finds the F/A-18 E/F (and G) to be a little bit poky compared to the competition.
It might also make SAAB’s Gripen NG, my fighter obsession du jour, more attractive, as the increased durability engine would save costs and give it somewhat longer legs, and the 20% increase in thrust, which might require a new inlet, because mass flow increases, would offer a very significant increase in performance.
Adventures in Aircraft Recognition
Remember my post a few hours ago regarding a photograph of a mystery aircraft photographed over Afghanistan?
I’m almost ready to call it a hoax.
To refresh your memory, here is the photo (top), and here is a photo of the LongEZ modified by the AFRL to test pulse detonation propulsion
mystery aircraft, and below it are three photographs the first one from Wiki, and the next two from Mojave Skies (I’ve mirrored and cropped them to more closely match match the orientation of the mystery pic).
The similarities, cranked wing, large boxy structure under the fuselage, location of the canopy, are all rather striking.
What is missing are the canards, wingtip rudders, and the pulse detonation tubes sticking out the back, but with photoshop/GIMP and some reduction in resolution, I think that the conclusion that it is a faked photograph may be higher on the list.
The aircraft only flew at the Mojave airport, and now sits at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside of Dayton, Ohio, and it clearly never shared even the same hemisphere as Afghanistan.
(click pics for full size images)
Huh, My Bad
Actually, as lot of people’s “my bad”, because that picture I posted as a “mystery UAV”, was the wrong picture, as Stephen Trimble observes.
The previous photo was apparently the wrong one, and I posted it in error.
If this one is accurate, and it is almost as bad as the other one, It looks like a slightly cranked wing, and maybe a radome underneath, and a canopy, or maybe air intake above.
In any case, I’m confused, and have no clue as to what is in the air over Afghanistan.
More Scramjet News
While DARPA’s Blackswift hypersonic , the dual mode turbojet/scramjet Falcon combined-cycle engine technology (FACET)soldiers on, (paid subscription required) and has actually successfully completed tests up to Mach 4 in a wind tunnel.
The technology used a turbojet to get to high supersonic speeds, at which point the scramjet kicks in, and the turbojet is cocooned, and it is supposed to take a vehicle to around Mach 6.
Additionally, the X-51A scramjet test vehicle has been moved to the Boeing plant at Huntington Beach, CA for structural tests.
It’s not as sophisticated as the FACET, it’s a pure scramjet, and boosted to speed by a rocket booster after being dropped by a B-52, and it’s rather crude, using existing equipment wherever possible, using a rocket booster from ATACMS, an existing fuel control system, and geriatric igniters from the TF-33 engine, along with using a rather heavy tungsten nose cone and ablative coatings elsewhere to deal with the heat.
Maneuverability is Irrelevant
That’s the latest pitch for the F-35, as noted by Stephen Trimble.
They even have a video showing how their new whiz bank sensor fusion means that you can see everywhere all the time, so maneuverability does not matter, because they have the Electro-Optical Distributed Aperture System (EO-DAS).
You have to love this quote at around the 3½ minute mark, “maneuverability is irrelevant. Instead of mutual kills, the F-35 simply exits the fight, and lets its missiles do the turning.”
Shades of the no gun versions of the F-4 Phantom II, and how well those worked.
Watch the video, and I’ll note how this is disingenuous afterwords.
First, note that with distinctly limited space in the weapons bays, the F-35 is pretty much limited to the AIM-120 AMRAAM and the AIM-9Z, the latest Sidewinder, both of which are smaller, and so have inferior kinematics (range and end game maneuverability) to their Russian and Chinese counterparts, particularly when they start off with an 180° turn with an over the shoulder shot, so shooting the aircraft behind you is not all that likely, since by the time that they are in your missile envelope, they have already fired.
This is particularly true of the Sidewinder, which was never designed with thrust vectoring, and is smaller (5″ diameter as vs 6″ diameter), and is using an older motor not designed for thrust vectoring. The Over the shoulder AMRAAM actually has a new larger motor using the space available from a reduction in the size of its guidance electronics.
Of course, at the ranges where the AMRAAM outperforms the Sidewinder, you probably want to turn and put the nose on target to improve the envelope anyway.
Improved situational awareness is a good thing. Most pilots get shot down by a threat that they never see, but once the guy is in your 6 o’clock, you are hosed.
OK, This is Mind-Bogglingly Stupid
If you’ve been following the saga of the delays of the EADS A400M military transport program, it’s clear that the main thing holding up the testing of the aircraft is problems with its massive (10,000+ hp) turboprop engines.
It has now been revealed that this holdup is primarily the result of a bookkeeping error:
Although the A400M program has generally been running late, the pacing item since last year has been the engine – and the principal problem was a failure by Europrop International (EPI), the consortium behind the TP400-D6 engine, to recognize, until little more than a year ago, that the software in the full authority digital engine control (Fadec) did not meet European civil aviation standards.
EPI was basically working to military standards, in which Fadec software is considered to be validated by testing. Civil authorities additionally require a tightly disciplined software development process, in which every change, from the first line of the first version, is documented and traceable. Once the problem surfaced, there was nothing to be done but to go back and start again.
While I generally find system engineering, where you have some anal-retentive bloke going over the specs with a microscope, to be a pain in the ass, I acknowledge that they are needed now and again, but there don’t appear to have been any on this project.
Israel Has Maintenance Access Issue with F-35
Israel has just been denied access to the computer systems of the F-35 JSF that would be required to maintain the aircraft.
Israel maintains that they need they need access to these systems, because in a wartime scenario, that they would need to repair the systems in real time, while the US maintains that there will be spares that can be replaced under those circumstances.
So Israel is now making noises about looking at the F-15 Silent Eagle upgrade as an alternative to the JSF, which I think is just blowing smoke.
I also think that both sides are talking around the real issues, the first being sticker shock, with a reporter $20 billion for 75 aircraft giving a $266 million price tag, but the second one, and perhaps the one that the Israelis are more concerned with, is the ability to independently integrate their own weapons and their own systems into the aircraft.
There is also the concern, at least amongst those of us who watched the recent Battlestar Galactica series, that there may be an “off” switch somewhere in those millions of lines of code.
Defense Budget Finally Out
So, the details are out, and we have a big, confusing, and sprawling story from a big confusing, and sprawling building, the Pentagon.
Here are some links, and some things that I find noteworthy.
Specific programs:
With $439 million budgeted, the USAF is definitely going full speed on the tanker replacement bidding.
The Next Generation Bomber and the F-136 alternate JSF engine are on the chopping block, and the Gerald Ford class aircraft carrier has been delayed a year to work out the bugs on its electric catapults.
Star Wars takes a hit, with both the multiple kill vehicle and the airborne laser being canceled.
UAV’s did very well, with the Raven (shown) getting over 700 orders.
Aviation:
The DEW Line has a rundown.
Classified:
The Pentagon classified budget is now, up above $50 billion, which, on its own, makes the black programs something like the 3rd largest military budget in the world.
US Army:
spending on Helos is up, as are both unmanned vehicles and the number of active duty soldiers.
Navy:
We already know the story, cancellation of the DDG-100, restart of the Brukes, and continued procurement of the LCS, more here, here, and here.
Short version, it’s a generally down, but the Navy has done OK.
USAF
Basically, talk to the deer.
The USAF did not fare well, with the end of the F-22 and C-17 production lines, underfunding of the Air Force One replacement, the Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM), and the follow on to the Predator drone, and the cancellation of the TSAT satellite system.
Cost Guard:
Not the Pentagon, it’s technically in the Department of Commerce, but its budget is up by about 3%.
Airbus, Boeing Open Rotor Ideas Diverge
It appears that both while Boeing and Airbus are looking at “open rotor technology:, they are moving in different directions (paid subscription required), with Boeing focusing on an on-wing tractor propeller, and Airbus looking at a fuselage mounted pusher propeller. (shown)
Seeing as how air flows the same way on both sides of the Atlantic, the questions is what the differences are in their requirements.
Based on my rather uneducated gut, my guess is that a pusher system, at least one with a the tails arranged as shown would be quieter, because the tail structure masks the prop noise to a degree, and that the tractor propeller on the wing would be more efficient, because the it would be in less turbulent air.
Additionally, the airflow over the wing from the puller props might marginally improve short field performance.
Any thoughts?
Denmark Delays Fighter Purchase
It looks like their decision on an F-16 replacement has been pushed to the fall, to allow the formulation of a new National Defense Strategy (basically a budget white paper).
The competitors are the JSF, F/A-18, Gripen, and my guess is there are a number of reasons here, that they want more time to get firmer cost figures on the JSF, which seems to get more expensive daily, and see if they can afford it, and they see the the delay to extract price concessions.
I think that a lot of countries, like Denmark, which were likely JSF buyers, are looking at the numbers, and getting sticker shock.
Chinese Move Aircraft Carrier, Possibly for Refit
The partially completed Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag was sold by the Ukraine to China a few years back, and it was thought that it would be converted to a casino.
Well Galrahn came across photos of the ship being moved across the Dalian shipyard in what appears to be a prelude toward bringing the hull up to operational standards.
My guess is that it will never see operational service, but that it will be used for training and development of an indigenous carrier capability.
Israeli Firms Unveils Small Cargo UAV
Urban Aeronautics is now showing its ‘Fast Mule’ ducted fan UAV.
It’s supposed to exceed 250kts and it is, “is 20% larger and 50% heavier,” than the MULE UAV, which (from the UA Website) has a payload of about 750 lbs, so I’m guessing that this aircraft’s payload is in the ½ ton range.
It looks wicked neat, though.
Gripen NG Going With Swash Plate AESA Radar
While there are a number of advantages to AESA radars, including reliability, flexibility, range, and low signature, there are also disadvantages, most notably cost, weight, and look angle.
An AESA radar will typically offer inferior performance at significant angles off boresight, and a narrower field of view.
It appears that SAAB is following Eurofighter’s lead, and will offer a swashplate AESA radar for Gripen NG (see picture), in partnership with Radar supplier Selex, offering a “scan angle of up to 100°” (off boresite).
This should address one of the concerns of potential customers, though there is still the whole “chicken-egg” thing, where the customer does not want to be the only foreign customer for the system, or support and upgrades become prohibitively expensive.
SAAB’s brochure is here. (PDF)
Air Force Clueless Over UAVs
And this is a deep cultural problem, not a simple case of a penny wise and pound foolish mistake.
What is going on is that both the Army and the USAF operate models of the Predator drone, but the Army’s loss rate is much lower because the USAF has refused to incorporate an auto-landing system on their UAVs:
Outgoing Pentagon acquisition czar John Young sharply criticized the Air Force today in his last meeting with reporters, saying the service had refused to budget for auto-landing gear for Predator UAVs even though the Air Force has lost a substantial portion of these to landing accidents. The new undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, Ash Carter, was sworn in this afternoon.
Young said the Air Force has lost one-third of the 183 Predators it has bought, and one third of those have crashed because of ground control issues. (Young’s spokesman, Chris Isleib, later sent an email to reporters slightly changing the numbers. “Since 1994 the Air Force has procured 195 Predators. 65 have been lost due to Class A mishaps,” he said.) Isleib added that of the 65 mishaps, 36 percent are laid at the door of human error and “many of those attributable to ground station problems.” About 15 percent of the total was destroyed during the landing phase, Isleib clarified in his email. (For a very human and honest portrayal of the difficulties of flying a Predator, catch this briefing by a NASA pilot who has flown them.)
Young said he told the Air Force to “move as fast as possible to auto-land.” A clearly irritated undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics told reporters “it will not surprise you that the Air Force is resisting this.” No cost estimates are available yet for equipping the Predator fleet with auto-land.
Young drew a sharp contrast with the Army’s Shadow UAV, saying it had lost very few aircraft to landing mishaps because it possesses auto-land capability.
What is going on here is a calculus that is very close to the USAF’s raison d’etre.
The air force is about pilots flying things, and pilots land what they fly, so if you add an auto-land system, then why do you need a pilot, as opposed to some sort of weapons system operator, who might *gasp* even be an enlisted man…..horrors!
Another example of why spinning off the USAF as an independent service has not served the military, or the taxpayer, well.
USAF’s 2018 Bomber Looks Dead
Or at least significantly delayed. (paid subscription required)
The concept out there was for a 20,000 lb payload stealthy bomber, which is really only suited to the nuclear strike, you probably want twice that to match the payloads of the B-52, B-1, and B-2, and it really does not have much of a mission beyond the nuclear strike role.
Additionally, the current arms control agreements are likely to be rather unfriendly to nuclear bombers, which are typically counted on maximum theoretical loadout, as opposed to actual weapons loads.
USAF Sees Writing on the Wall
The US Air Force Chief of staff, General Norton Schwartz, is now saying that maybe, just maybe, the service should look at procuring a “light strike” capability.
The current aircraft operate too far from the front, and do not have the endurance to stay on station a meaningful length of time.
He was talking about something like the an armed turboprop trainer, though the basic needs are very similar to the A-10, and there are a lot of those in the boneyard.
I would also argue that a turbofan based new airframe, designed to roughly the same specs as the A-10 would be superior, because you could incorporate narrow band stealth to address the issue of the radar guided AAA.
My guess is that a replacement for the A-10 would be, considering advances in armor, propulsion, and cannon, would be at less than ¾ of the weight.
The problem would be how to deal with mission/feature creep.
Video courtesy of the DEW Line.
IAF Looking at Silent Eagle Purchase
They are looking at purchasing the upgraded F-15 because of concerns regarding cost and schedule for the F-35 JSF, though the inability of Israel to integrate their own systems into the JSF may be a factor too.
Earlier post on the F-15 SE here.