Category: Aviation

Rare Glimpse Of Russia’s Future Cruise Missile

No Comments

This is the new Russian cruise missile, the Kh-101/102.
According to Aviation Week (paid subscription required) this is to have a roughly 5000km (3000 mi) range and a small radar cross section.

This compares favorably to the current Kh-55, a non stealthy design with a shorter range (2550 km) and smaller size (6m vs 8m).

On the bottom, about halfway down, appears to be a chin mounted air intake, though this might be some sort of EO sensor, as the -101 version is conventionally armed, and hence needs more precise targeting.

It can be carried internally on the Tu-160 Blackjack, and externally on the TU-95 Bear.

F-35 JSF Problems Worse Than Reported

No Comments

I was already aware that that flight testing had been suspended after a power system glitch, but was under the impression that this was a temporary flaw that did not effect flying characteristics, though it did lead to an emergency landing, as any major system dropout, no matter how short, should during testing.

After a series of 7 quite successful flights, the test flight program stops in February 2007 to fix some minor problems in the JSF flight control software. This is not unusual in the early stages of a test flight program. In March 2007, the JSF returns to flight status and takes off for the first supersonic flight. At the end of April the JSF prototype AA-1 takes off several times a week. But then, destiny strikes. On May 3, 2007 with the second test pilot Jeff Knowles at the stick, a serious malfunction hits the JSF. At 38,000 feet (12 km) level flight and at a speed of some 800 km/hour, the plane executed a planned, 360-degree roll but experienced power loss in the electrical system about halfway through the manoeuvre.

In an emergency procedure, power is restored and Jeff Knowles regains control of the plane. The pilot cuts short this 19th test flight and makes an emergency landing in Fort Worth, TX. Due to control problems with right wing flaperons, the JSF has to make that landing at an exceptional high speed of 220 knots (350 km/hr). The plane’s undercarriage, brakes and tires are damaged. The plane is stopped, surrounded by emergency vehicles, and towed away, but several eyewitnesses take pictures of the emergency landing.

This is not a glitch that does not affect flying characteristics. This a dangerous landing and the risk of loss of airframe and pilot.

Additionally, the power supply for the aircraft is about only 65% of necessary power, which, given that the F-35 has a power by wire setup on its control surface actuators means much more than just the radar or displays dropping out, it means potential loss of control.

Additionally, to save money, they want to cancel two of the test aircraft, and eliminate about 15% of the test flights. The excuse is that simulation will handle it, but more reasonably, this is budget games, because if problems are discovered on a fielded system, Congress is over a barrel to protect pilots already flying the aircraft.

Saab, manufacturer of the Gripen, which should be available with a similar sensor suite shortly, though not the same stealth or apyload/range performance is saying that its operating costs will be about 2/3 of the JSF (believable, considering that it is about 1/2 the size), so it becomes a compelling alternative…A MirageIII/V of this generation, if you will.

Considering that the Typhoon, Rafale, and Gripen are all fielded, it is unlikely that they will experience significant price increases (Gripen excepted if they do a growth version), and in the long run will likely be much cheaper.

Sasa Studying Magnetohydrodynamic Hypersonic Turbojet

No Comments

They are working on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy bypass engine.

Basically, it uses MHD to extract energy from the air stream, which can keep the inlet temperatures for a turbojet manageable well beyond the normal limit of about Mach 3. They are claiming Mach 7.

Still, I’d like to see the first A in NASA doing more non-space related work, as this is clearly intended to be used with a booster.

French Evaluate Mi-26 as Heavy Lift Helicopter

No Comments

The French are looking at ultra-heavy lift capability, so they had some crews operating the Halo for a few weeks to see the potential tactical applications.

If they were smart, the would buy Russian, either the Mi-26, or the successor that the Russians purportedly have in the works, because both solutions will be much cheaper than a from the ground up solution.

The Russians have been the only people doing these size helicopters for 40 years.

Army Beats Air Force on Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) Program

No Comments

This was a relatively small (1/2 the size of a C-130) cargo aircraft, with the C-27J Spartan winning the competition.

The conflict was that TheHill.com – Army poised to win fight over cargo aircraft

They got it because the USAF is cutting everything in an effort to get more bling like F-22s and C-17s.

The Army and Air Force National Guard are slated to fly the C-27J, the aircraft selected for the JCA program.

Had the Army lost responsibility for the program, more Air National Guard units would have flown the C-27J in support of homeland defense missions. But Army supporters argued that the Air Force did not have the necessary staffing or processes in place to take over the program in a timely manner. Had that takeover occurred, the Army argued, it could have wound up delaying the program by at least a year.

And then there is the US Army experience with what happens when the USAF takes over small STOL cargo aircraft. They have restrictions that greatly reduce the utility of the aircraft to the ground troops.

USAF is Attempting to Create a Crisis and Cannibalize Itself to Get More F-22s

No Comments

There recently has been an F-15 crash following what appears to be a structural failure in an F-15. The USAF has responded with a service wide, and extensively publicised grounding of the aircraft across all deployments, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

While a grounding following this sort of crash is not uncommon, the breadth, and deliberate and massive press offensive associated with it is clearly part of the service’s strategy to get the F-22 production line extended.

When juxtaposed with the Air Force’s decision to cut 40,000 personnel, over 10% of active duty personnel, to free up money for continued F-22 production, it’s clear that the the priorities of of an independent air force as a service are likely to run counter to the defense needs of the nation.

The USAF is creating artificial crises and sacrificing its human capital for some not particularly useful bling in the form of the Raptor. It does not benefit the national defense, the country, or, in the long run, the United States Air Force.

The Raison d’etre of the independent USAF was strategic bombing with nuclear weapons, which has been obsolete since the late 1960s, and folding the service back into the US army would be of benefit to everyone, particularly the taxpayer, which does not need another 20 F-22s at $220 million each, literally worth its (empty) weight in gold.

Yet Another Reason to Shut Down the USAF as an Independent Branch of the Service

No Comments

Yes, after experience in Iraq and Afghanistan prove that our latest line of jets, the F-22 and the F-36 have next to no utility relative to our existing aircraft, THE USAF is requesting another 20 F-22s to keep the production line open.

Unlike all the other services, the Air-Force exists to serve those other branches. The Navy controls the ocean, the marines do amphibious assault, the army holds the land, and Air Force engages in operations to make sure that the previous three can accomplish their goals as easily as possible.

An independent Air Force does not serve the national defense. Their priorities only match the defense needs of the country by accident.

David Frum and Facts Have Only a Passing Acquaintance

No Comments

David Frum, the Canadian former Bush speech writer whose phrase Axis of Evil is probably responsible for a thousand or so American deaths had an essay on Marketplace, yesterday, and while I expect right wingers to lie, this is the first time in my not so young (I’m 45) life that literally every word out of his mouth was not the truth.

So, I’m sending them the following letter:

Subject: Re: No defense for Europe’s protectionism

In listening to Mr. Frum’s essay on defense procurement, the F-35, and the Eurofighter, I had a unique experience. This is the first time in my life in which I have heard a commentary where I know that literally every fact stated is incorrect. I am not suggesting that there is deliberate deception involved, but the only alternative is a complete ignorance of the subject involved.

Cases in point:
* The NATO allies will soon reach a crucial decision about their next-generation air-to-ground fighter plane. Two candidates have emerged as finalists: the US-UK-Dutch-Italian-Norwegian F-35, or an update of the Franco-German “Eurofighter.”

While the F-35 is intended to a large degree, perhaps primarily, for air to ground operations, the Eurofighter Typhoon is primarily an air defense fighter, though an air-to-ground capability is being developed for the plane in later tranches.

The Eurofighter is not a Franco-German endeavor. The French are not involved at all, having built the Dassault Rafale. The partner nations are the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The F-35 is not a US-UK-Dutch-Italian-Norwegian project. Only the UK qualifies a very junior partner, and they have still not been given the information necessary to properly maintain the aircraft. The rest of the countries are simply customers.

* Just about everybody agrees that the F-35 is the better — and probably cheaper — plane.

When comparing the two aircraft, the Eurofighter is more agile, with a higher thrust to weight ratio and lower wing loading, and faster, it supercruises, and has a higher ceiling, much like the F-35’s big brother, the F-22, though the F-35 is stealthy, and the Eurofighter is not.

Additionally, the Typhoon can accommodate the Meteor, the long-range missile being developed in Europe, which has superior kinematics to the US AMRAAM, while the F-35, with its internal weapons stowage cannot.

Furthermore, the current prices are nearly the same, but you are comparing a design that is in production (Typhooon) with one that is still in development (F-35), and whose price is still escalating, so it to predict anything beyond parity in cost is simply wrong.

* It’s the plane that will be bought by the Israelis, who tend to be choosy about things bearing on national survival.

The Israelis will not be able to buy the Eurofighter, as political considerations of of the Typhoon’s sale to Saudi Arabia preclude this. Additionally, it will be purchased with significant US military aid, which requires that US equipment be purchased with these funds.

Additionally, the cancellation of significant defense purchases of French aircraft and British tanks in the 1960s, the Israelis do not feel that they can rely on the Europeans as a reliable source of supply.

* The Eurofighter is built on four separate assembly lines in four Western European nations. This redundancy creates more jobs, but at very high cost. High cost, in turn, reduces the number of aircraft the European allies can afford to purchase.

This applies to final assembly lines only , and it is, in fact not very costly. The evidence is in examining the F-16 program, the least expensive, and most numerious, of the previous generation of Western combat aircraft, where it has been assembled in the US, Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

I would note that given the facts to support his thesis are all wrong, his thesis itself is suspect.

As Atrios would put it, wanker of the day*.

*The “wanker” bit is not going in the letter.

Now NASA is Kissing Lobbyist Ass

No Comments

A while back, NASA surveyed 24,000 pilots about safety. The results were grim, with a much higher number of things like runway incursions, etc. than had been previously recorded, so NASA suppressed the survey because it “could materially affect the public confidence in, and the commercial welfare of, the air carriers and general aviation companies whose pilots participated in the survey.”

In other words, it would scare the hell out of people. Sorry, but covering the ass of the Airline industry should not be a reason for an official coverup, except of course when Bush and His Evil Minions™ are in charge, I guess.

Sweden to renew Gripens as Thailand selects Swedish fighter-17/10/2007-Washington DC-Flightglobal.com

No Comments

SAAB just scored a major export coup, Thailand has selected Sweden the Gripen fighter and the Erieye airborne early warning aircraft in a $1.1 billion dollar contract.

Considering that Thailand already operates the F-16, it’s rather a surprise, though there may have been US export issues related to the recent Thai coup.

Particularly in light of the upgrades planned, the Gripen, the smallest, lightest, and cheapest of the 4.5 generation fighters (also Typhoon and Rafale) may be the Mirage III of the next decade.

Opposed Piston Engine to Enter Test

No Comments

It’s an interesting technology, and they are putting two of these engines in an FMTV truck. (Full disclosure, in 1992-1993, I worked at Stewart and Stevenson, Tactical Vehicle Systems on the FMTV trucks.)

If you look at the picture (below) it appears complex, but there are no valves, just ports (look closely at the bottom of the cylinder.), so all in all, it’s likely no more complex than a conventional engine.

It also has a high power to weight and power to displacement ratio because it is a two stroke, though this leads me to wonder about pollution levels, as two stroke engines are typically more polluting (GM’s locomotive division, EMD dumped it’s very reliable and mature two stroke diesels about a decade ago for this reason), which may put a stake through the heart of this concept.

An Interesting, If Flawed Analysis of the Israeli Airstrike

No Comments

His analysis is that the Israelis used an electronic warfare system equivalent to BAE Systems SUTER to invade the Syrian air defense network, and misdirect it.

Honestly, I think that it was something more basic. They determined where the air defense sites were, when shifts changed, and things like that, and then they launched the attack to take advantage of this.

The high tech solution is sexier, but you have to remember that basic mission planning is more than 90% of the game. That F-117 was shot down in Yugoslavia because it ran the same route, at the same time, for 3 days straight.