There is this bridge in Brooklyn that I am authorized to offer for sale….
Sukhoi General Director Mikhail Pogosyan is saying that he expects the PAK-FA 5th generation Russian fighter to fly by year’s end.
Yeah, sure.
I’ll offer 2:1 odds against.
Category: Defense Procurement
Why the F-35 is Better Than the F-22*
Weapons PylonsYou see, the F-35 has it, , with “it” being qualified external air to ground munitions, and can use them when the situation demands it, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan but the F-22 doesn’t. (The F-22 can carry external tanks, and AIM-132s, IIRC)
That configuration is going to be used for vibration testing.
The Raptor has theoretical provisions for external weapons stowage, but there are no plans to actually develop or qualify any sort of external stowage scheme, and the pylons are not low observable.
When you are going against a bunch of mujaheddin with an RPGs and AKs in a pick up truck, it’s nice to deliver 500 lb of boom on their heads.
*Truth be told, I think that they are both wastes of resources.
In an Outbreak of Sanity, India Seeks to Buy, Rather Than Develop Tejas 2 Engine
The Indian AF recently rejected proposals for foreign aid to develop the indiginous Kaveri engine from the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, and now the India’s Aeronautical Development Agency has requested proposals for complete engines from both Eurojet (EJ200) and GE (F-414) for an off the shelf proposal.
All in all, this a good move, though I am kind of surprised that the IADA is nto also looking at the Klimov RD-33, later versuions of which are in the 20,000 lb thrust range, and is already in service.
Military Procurement in a Nut Shell
God bless The Onion:
Obama Axes Pentagon Plan To Build Billion Dollar Tank In Shape Of Dragon
Seriously, Cancel the JASSM
Seriously, this thing has always underperformed tests, and now the lot 6 acceptance tests for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) have been deferred. (paid subscription required)
This thing has never performed as reliably as the specs require, and cancellation for cause would be a good way to kick a defense contractor in the teeth for delivering crap, and then expecting the taxpayer to fund the fixes.
Sometimes, you have to do stuff like this prevent this sort of behavior from becoming endemic in the defense procurement process.
Woah…This Has Failure Written All Over It
The Indian Defense (or is Defence) Ministry has initiated a project to create a “digital soldier”, called Futuristic Infantry Soldier-As-A-System (F-INSAS), and it seems to be analogous to the Pentagon’s recently canceled suspended “Land Warrior” system.
Of course, this ambitious system in juxtaposed with the Indian Defense R&D programs, which have taken more than 30 years to take a tank and an aircraft from concept to operational deployment, and 22 years to develop an anti-tank missile, so I see this as very likely being another complete cluster f$#@.
I’m not sure why Indian defense R&D is so completely fracked, but they have our own Pentagon beat on this, which must be scary for the Indian soldier and taxpayer.
Russia Sends Warning of Georgia
Considering the heated rhetoric on this issue, this is pretty mild.
What they are saying is that they will cut military and diplomatic ties with nations that sell Russian built or Russian designed weapons to Georgia.
All in all, this a remarkably narrowly drawn statement, that it will not be offering support or spares to nations that ship Russian, and one would assume Soviet, weapons to Georgia.
Compared to earlier statements made where various government officials appeared to insult each other over parentage and penis size, it’s a major step forward.
Jon Stewart is a F%$#ing Genius, Pentagon Pork Primer
Yep, this one pretty much nails what is going on with the F-22 Piglet Raptor.
Word!!!!
As Sure as Death and Taxes
Is the fact that a high profile indigenously developed defense system developed by the Indian military defense establishment will be completely fracked.
In this case, we are talking about the Tejas light combat aircraft, where we are seeing delays in developing its radar and other avionics, and the Indian Air Force has just rejected a joint venture with Snecma do develop the Kaveri engine, which has been in development for the small fighter for over two decades.
Seriously, the Indians have the US beat hands down in the dysfunctional defense procurement apparatus department.
Senate Kills F-22
Amendment approving it being stripped from the Defense Appropriations Bill passes passes 58-40.
I’m with SecDef Bob Gates on this. The push behind this is to have the USAF be able to achieve air supremacy against any potential future foe, and the costs end up killing men on the ground, and citizens in the streets, now.
We still maintain the ability to achieve air superiority against any potential future foe, and air supremacy against any probable opponent, and it saves money for better readiness in a counter-insurgency scenarios that are the most likely future conflicts for the next ¼ century.
Additionally, it frees up money to provide for things like vaccinating and educating our children.
The F-22 was about ensuring that in the worst possible conflict the USAF would be at virtually no risk of air to air casualties, at the expense of everyone else.
While that might be nice for the fighter jocks, the marginal utility of air supremacy vs air superiority means very little to the guy on the ground, or the tax-payer.
The JSF Engine War
Desert Storm air commander, retired General Chuck Horner, makes some very good points as to why we should continue to fund the F136 alternate engine, though the obvious caveat is that he is consulting with GE, who is a part of the F136 team.
Basically, he recites a litany of problems, both from when he was commanding squadrons, and issues with the Saudi Air Force, where the Pratt & Whitney was unresponsive to customer concerns, and their F100 engine was unreliable and over priced, and whenever the competing GE F110 came up, the problems got fixed.
I recall reading about problems with the engine, and how it led to the USAF to fund development of the F110, then called the F101-DFE (Derivative Fighter Engine).
There were problems with reliability, price, and support that were fixed very quickly once there was a competitor on the horizon.
It appears to me that the F135 engine for the JSF is headed down the same path, we have P&W going though a number of cost cutting initiatives, promising that the engine will fall in price, while the manufacturer is saying that the cost savings as production ramps up may not meet expectations.
Much of the fair back from the Pentagon is, I think directed about getting copies of the F-35 JSF made now, and to hell with future operating costs.
The budget item for continuing development this year is small, about ½ billion, or less than the cost of 3 full aircraft, and promises real savings, and performance improvements, in the future.
BTW, as to nonsensical arguments against the F136 engine, we have CNO Gary Roughead saying that having two engines would be too much of a burden on a carrier, despite the fact that just for the fighters, there were 4 separate engines in the 1990s on carriers, the F404 for the F/A-18 C/D, the F414 for the F/A-18 E/F, the TF30 for the F-14 A, and the F110 for the F-14 D.
Additionally, the S-3 was still being deployed with the TF34 engine.
By the time that the F-35 enters naval service, there would be two types of fighters on deck, and either 2 or 3 engines, which would be a lower logistical load.
Guilty Plea From Murtha-Tied Defense Contractor
Richard Ianieri, the former CEO of Coherent Systems, pled guilty to taking kickbacks from Kuchera Industries on a consulting contract.
Kuchera has been the favorite beneficiaries of Murtha’s earmarks.
There have been no accusations of Murtha’s involvement in this, but the recipients of his earmark largess have had a lot of dirt turned up on them lately.
Gripen and Super-Bug Go With Local Manufacturers to Win Brazil Competition
Boeing is taking the more conventional route, with the company
looking for manufacturers of components for the F/A-18 E/F, while Saab is offering to move as much as ½ of its production for the Gripen, along with a significant partnership in marketing and development.
I think that the Gripen is at a disadvantage here. First, the aircraft will have to operate over large inhospitable stretches of the Amazon rain forest, which would favor a two engined design, and second, the G/A-18, along with the Rafale, can be operated from Brazil’s aircraft carrier, but it’s clear that Saab is considers this order crucial to the continued existence of the program, and so it is moving very aggressively to win this competition.
Is the Pentagon Actively Working to Sabotage Indian Gripen Bid?
The story is that SAAB went to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) looking for a partnership on on developing its Gripen NG, and that the US Government forced IAI to pull out, claiming, “That Western technology in Israeli hands would make its way to the Indians.”
IAI was supposed to develop, “radar, communications and electronic-warfare – for the plane.” (See also here
According to Flight International, SAAB has stated that, “Israel was one of several options“, for the radar, though a report by Defense News categorically denies the report:
“Our AESA focus is on our partnership with Selex Galileo, which we reached in March,” a Saab spokesman said. “Together, we will jointly develop a new radar based on Selex’s AESA Vixen and PS-05/A technologies. Saab is not involved in other AESA programs.”
I’m inclined to believe that the reality falls somewhere in between.
SAAB already has a deal with Selex on the radar, and going with a second source at this time would be a major drain on resources, but the use of Israeli comm and ECM gear, particularly the latter, would be a very big selling point.
I would note that there is some history behind this that leads me to believe that there was some US arm twisting regarding the Israelis on something, because when the Gripen was sold to South Africa some years back, the US blocked the sale on “technology transfer” issues, the South African government decertified all the US bidders on all its defense programs, and State/DoD backed down, so South Africa is now flying Gripens.
Additionally, this could be a bit of marketing by the SAAB and IAI: I can see nothing that would more infuriate the Indian defens(c)e establishment than the idea that the US was refusing tech transfers to them, and such a meme would disadvantage the American competitors, the F/A-18 E/F and the F-16 IN (basically a block 60).
Lawsuit Alleges Faulty Stealth Coatings on F-22
Darrol Olsen alleges that Lockheed-Martin covered up problems with the stealth coatings on the F-22. (See also here.)
Considering this guy’s pedigree, he worked on stealth coatings for the F-117 and B-2, and the considerable problems that the F-22 has had with its stealth coatings, it’s readiness and maintenance requirements have underperformed, I’m inclined to believe that there is some merit in the lawsuit.
My guess is that LM will eventually settle with him, and we will hear no more of this.
Tanker Tango Continues
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)
Russia Looking at AESA on MiG-35
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
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
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.
GE-Rolls Gets Smart on F136 JSF Alternate Engine Bid
With the Pentagon gunning for the GE-Rolls Royce alternate engine, because they want their pig, the F-35 JSF, to fly as soon as possible, and the Pratt & Whitney’s F135 is already paid for, the alternative engine is behind the 8-ball, even if all indications are that it will provide superior performance, and that the competition between the two engines is likely to provide significant cost savings over time.
The F100/F110 competition between P&W and GE saved about 20%, but the basic F-110 was already flying as the F-101 on the B-1 bomber before it challenged the F-100.
The problem is that the services, particularly the Air Force and the Marines, want the JSF right now even more than they want the JSF get it right, and the money spent developing the F136 engine could be used to accelerate keep the schedule from slipping quite so much.
I think that it’s penny wise and pound foolish, but things being what they are, the Pentagon, and Lockheed are right about the fact that once the aircraft enters squadron service, it will be much harder to cancel.
Well, the F-136 team just had a cunning plan.
In fact, it’s so cunning, if you put a tail on it, you could call it a weasel: They are looking at making a firm, fixed-price contract proposal (paid subscription required) for the engine, which would make it a “known known”, as opposed to a “known unknown” (or maybe an “unknown unknown”, I gotta stop trying Rumsfeld-Speak, my head hurts).
In any case, the F136 does have friends on the House Armed Services Committee, who just added money for it back into the budget.