Category: Aviation

It’s Getting Ugly Over Tanker Decision

No Comments

I do not doubt that the A330 was technically superior.

The airframe and avionics are newer, the manufacturing techniques are more advanced, and the airframe is larger.

The reason I did not expect it to win was because of the USAF generals who wanted sweet retirement packages with Boeing, and the inevitable outrage from Congress.

Well, the sh%$ storm is here, care of Eisenhower’s military-industrial complex.

You can get a good Cliff Notes version of what is going on here.

Basically, a few years back, Boeing offered a lease deal which was really pretty awful. This deal was negotiated by a Pentagon official who was also negotiating with Boeing for a job as a VP.

John McCain looked at the deal, and smelled a rat, and for once, and it’s rare for him, he was right, so the contract was canceled, and a new one was put out for bid.

And now EADS has won with a clearly better plane, one that is already on order from a number of countries.

This won’t stop the poo from flying.

The Battle is Joined on the Tanker

No Comments

It appears that Seattle-area politicians are flipping out over the USAF tanker decision. No big surprise there.

Then again, this was the result to be expected if decided on the merits. The A-330 is larger, longer ranged, more modern, and not much more cost than the 767, which has never had the advances in manufacturing that were developed for the 777 and 787 incorporated back into its line.

That won’t prevent a knock down drag out fight, and it pretty much ensures that McCain loses Washington State, as he was the one who called out the USAF on the first tanker deal, correctly to my mind, on being a sweetheart deal for Boeing.

Report: USAF Selects EADS for Tanker Deal

No Comments

US Air Force makes a deal with foreign supplier

It’s a Malaysian news source, and I call bullsh$#. I just don’t see a way that a foreign contractor wins this outright, or even get over half of a split contract.

In either case, the winner(s) will be announced in the next week.

FWIW, the biggest critic of the original deal, which was largely a gift to Boeing, was John McCain, and he’ll be busy for the next few months.

Sikorsky’s REveals Successor to It’s ABC Concept

No Comments

In the 1980s, Sikorsky had a test aircraft that they called the ABC (Advancing Blade Concept) helicopter. It used a coaxial rotor, and offloaded the retreating blades to eliminate retreating blade stall (as a helicopter goes faster, the blade going backwards goes more slowly relative to the air stream).

Sikorsky unveiled its successor, the X2 test aircraft at Heli-Expo:


It’s certainly a lot cleaner and more developed than its predecessor.

It also promises performance close to that of a tilt-rotor with the low speed handling and auto rotation of a helicopter.

Boeing Pitches Co-Development Deal on Advanced F-15/F-18 to Japan

No Comments

Japan wants to purchase F-22s to replace its locally produced F-4 Phantoms, which is nearing the end of its service life, but is looking at alternatives, since congress is showing no signs of changing the laws that forbids this.

As a result, Boeing is making proposals to the Japanese about co-developing an advanced version (paid subscription required) of either the F-15 or F-18.

According to the article, Japan is looking at the F-16 and Eurofighter Typhoon, with the defense minster favoring the latter, though that may be a tactic to get F-22s released to the JASDF.

Navy Looking at C-2 Replacements…Not Gonna Happen

No Comments

This report (paid subscription required) says that the Navy wants to start replacing the C-2 in 2017, with a complete replacement by 2026.

They are planning to let out the contract in 2011.

It’s not going to happen. Big defense cuts are on the way, and the 6 year time frame for designing what has to be a from scratch replacement (carrier landings, folding wings) given the ponderous nature of defense procurement.

Thais Sign With Swedes For Fighters, AEW&C

No Comments

The Thai government has basically signed with the Swedes for the backbone of their air force moving forward.

They have purchased, “six JAS 39C/D gripen swing-role fighters, a Saab 340 Erieye airborne early warning & control (AEW&C) aircraft, a Saab 340 transport aircraft, and an air defense command & control system from Sweden.”

Sweden is actually doing a good job staking out the bottom of the current aerospace market, giving capabilities close to those of the big guys for less.

Iran launches project to build stealth aircraft

No Comments

At least according to the Tehran Times.

In related news, I am now dating Janice Joplin.

This is obviously not true.

However, it is entirely possible that Iran might be working on some stealth projects.

The basic science for computing radar cross sections has been known for years, the math was published in a Soviet mathematics journal in the 1960s, and if a Linux cluster can do Shreck, it can certainly work on that.

To do an operationally meaningful low radar cross section manned aircraft is very expensive, and at this point, they are reverse-engineering their 1960s vintage F-5 aircraft.

However, if you wanted to create a drone, or a missile with a low RCS in the forward hemisphere, that would sound to me quite doable, with the caveat that I have never worked on issues of radar cross section.

$750 Million for Hypersonic Demonstrator

No Comments

DARPA is getting$750 million for its “Blackswift” hypersonic demonstrator.

It’s performance is fairly mild as hypersonics go, about Mach 6-7, but it will take off and land under its own power, and use conventional hydrocarbon, as opposed to cryogenic fuels, so the utility of such a craft is significantly more than a lot of the other demonstrators.

It won’t need fuel tanks that are basically Dewar flasks, and it’s tanks should be much smaller, since hydrogen is much less dense than conventional jet fuel.

It integrates a turbine for low speed propulsion, using an, “inward turning inlet”

As you can see, this concept looks a bit less “tubby” than hydrogen powered systems/