Category: Defense Procurement

I Wonder if Some of Those Tranch 3 Options Will Go to Japan

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Because Eurofighter is pushing very hard to win Japan’s F-X contest.

The leading contenders are the Typhoon, the Super Bug, and an F-15E variant.

The Japanese already operate the F-15, and have assembled C and D models, and Australia uses the F/A-18E/F, which gives both aircraft an advantage.

The Typhoon’s advantages will come down to supercruise, an area where the Japanese have expressed interest, and frontal radar cross section, where the F-15 variants lose, but the Typhoon and the Super-Hornet have an advantage.

As an interceptor, the Typhoon is clearly superior, at least if fitted with an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar.

Given its relatively feeble air-to-air capabilities, I can’t see the JSF being used in air defense.

Tranche 3 Typhoon Orders Still in Flux for Member Nations

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the member nations are looking at splitting their orders for 236 Typhoons into two sub tranches, with the second having an AESA radar.

Also, it looks as if the member nations will be granted permission to export their purchase options to customers outside the consortium, in order to reduce pressure on their budgets.

Is it just me, or have the costs for procuring combat aircraft become way to much?

Dassault Gets to Pitch Rafale to the Swiss

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Truth be told, I think that it’s too much plane for an F-5 replacement, though if the Swiss get a good deal out of French desperation for an export sale, more power to them.

Same applies to the Eurofighter Typhoon, only more so, though, since the Swiss already operate F/A-18 Hornets, the jump to the Super Bug would not be so big.

My money though, is still on the Gripen, it’s a lot cheaper all along the life cycle, and the Swiss don’t really need the additional range of the larger aircraft.

Improved Excalibur Round

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Well this is new, an improved weapons system whose primary improvement is a reduction in cost.

Specifically, the precision guided Excalibur round:

The 1A1 version cost between $130,000 and $150,000 per round. The 1A2 is down to less than $85,000. Of course, one limiting factor to lowering price on the 1A models was LRIP, which provides no economy of scale. The hope for 1B is to reach a number somewhere in the mid-$30,000 range.

When all is said and done. most of the technology here is old hat. The precision guided M712 Copperhead 155mm round has entered service before Desert Storm.

The flight profile is actually simpler than that of the Copperhead, actually, since it is GPS guided, and so does not have to deal with the visibility issues and two flight modes of the copperhead.

Denel’s Looking at Radar Guided A-Darter Derivative

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The South African aerospace company Denel is looking at developing a radar guided version of its A-Darter infra-red short range dogfight missile.

This mirrors the work that Denel and Rafael did on missiles, the R-Darter/Derby.

Eventually, Rafael produced an active radar guided variant of their Python missile called the Derby.

The A-Darter is reported to have a 20km range, and replacing the missile seeker with a more aerodynamic radome would improve range, though I would guess that even if the missile were not to grow significantly, having a version with a lower and longer thrust profile could increase range even further.

The Umkhonto shown above is a SAM based on the A-darter technology.

One of the goals of both the Darter and the Umkhonto programs is to have no foreign components subject to foreign government export restrictions.

UK MoD Looking at Creating Own Satellite Reconnaissance Capability

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The British Defence Ministry is looking at fielding its own satellite reconnaissance assets.

Up to now, it has been using either US military assets or civilian assets for its space imaging needs. It looks like Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (currently in the process of being taken over by EADS Astrium) is the most likely candidate for the program with its SSTL-200 (pictured), which currently has a 2.5m resolution, though improvements to sub-meter resolution are thought to be possible.

As always, the problem is funding, with a price tag starting at £100M, which would have to come from elsewhere in the defense (defence) budget, particularly given the budgetary needs caused by the financial meltdown.

The JSF is Less Capable and More Expensive Than Previously Admitted

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Well, we now have reports of Israel signing a contract to buy F-35 JSFs for $15.2 billion (see also here).

As Bill Sweetman notes this means that the JSF costs about $200 million a plane, well over the $80m claimed for the aircraft, and more than the fly away cost of the F-22.

As I’ve noted earlier, there was a Rand study modeling the F-35 against an upgraded Su-27, and it was allegedly clubbed like a baby seal (here and here).

This is unsurprising: with a thrust to weight ratio of about 0.85:1 in air to air configuration, and a wing loading of 108 lbs/sq ft, similar to the F-105 Thunderchief (aka the “Lead Sled”), this will not be a particularly agile aircraft, even with a state of the art flight control system.

It appears now that the USAF and Lochkeed Martin are claiming that Maneuvering is Irrelevant, as the fighter will have the Distributed Aperture System (DAS), a system of multiple wide angle sensors that will create a 360° view around the aircraft, and so it will be able to fly through at high speed and launch a, “high-off-boresight, lock-on-after-launch (LOAL) missile shot with any datalink-equipped missile.”

They said that the missiles would do all the work before Viet Nam too, and the USAF and the Navy had to start training their pilots to dogfight again.

BTW, Bill Sweetman (again), in writing about the 360 degree attack, notes that there was a precedent, the Boulton-Paul Defiant, and notes:

If the Germans had had an expression for “clubbed like baby seals” in 1940, the Luftwaffe would have used it.

My thoughts exactly.

DoD and Army Fight Over Tank Purchases

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Basically, the Army wants to shift $1 billion from M-1 Abrams procurement to the FCS program, and the DoD is rather unimpressed at the concept.

As has been made clear here by me many times, I’m on the side of the DoD.

I think that the FCS Manned Ground Vehicles are not well suited to currently foreseeable conflicts.

To pay for this, the Army would drop plans to upgrade hundreds of Abrams tanks and scrap a last planned purchase of at least 30 new tanks, saving a total of $1 billion through 2013. As well, it would slash planned purchases of Strykers, saving $1.3 billion, and reduce purchases and upgrades of Bradley Fighting Vehicles, saving $417 million.

The DoD comptroller’s office is especially opposed to cutting Abrams funds, a senior Pentagon official said.

Of course, the army is arguing that the FCS, weighing just 25-30t to the Abrams’ 70 t, is more survivable:

“The MGVs will provide the soldier with an array of crew protection, to include advanced lightweight armor composites, crew mine blast protection, active protection systems, thermal management and radar. Most important, the FCS network provides better situational awareness, allowing soldiers to engage targets at greater distances,” said FCS communications manager Paul Mehney.

But this is crap.

In a counterinsurgency campaign, the insurgents always have better intel. They choose where and when to attack, and at that point, the network is not a substitute for armor.

Besides, the network can be retrofitted into existing vehicles for less cost.

Brazil Shortlists Fighters

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Brazil is looking for fighters to replace it’s existing 1960s vintage fighter force.

It has now shortlisted the Super Hornet, Dassault Rafale and Gripen NG while dropping the Eurofighter Typhoon, F-16, and Su-35 from the competition.

If they are looking at lifecycle costs, the Gripen wins, being half the weight of the competitors.

If they are looking for an aircraft to operate of their carrier, the Rafale wins, because the F/A-18 is really too big for their rather small carrier.

Additionally, they have an existing relationship with Dassault, as they leased Mirage 2000s from them.

That being said, Stephen Trimble notes they are very interested in technology transfer, wanting to rebuild their defense industry, which, after all, was half of the effort to build the Italo-Brazilian team that built AMX attack plane in the 1970s, so it may come down to who gives them the best technology transfer.

My guess is that this competition is France’s to lose, but they have found innovative ways to lose export competitions recently.

Russia Has a Clue on the Ukraine

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It appears that they are offering major shipbuilding contracts to the Ukraine, including the construction of their carriers, in order to better relations.

Unfortunately, it appears that Vladimir Putin is clueless on the Ukraine, or he got a severe attack of the stupids, because he just accused Ukraine of assisting Georgia in the war.

It’s reassuring to know that other nations’ foreign policy can be as f%$#ed up as ours.

More Tanker Mishugas

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First, it appears that Northrop-Grumman is entitled to an as yet undetermined cancellation fee, which is yet another reason to think that the entire tanker process is completely fracked.

But here is the kicker, Northrop Grumman’s bid was $2.9 billion cheaper:

John Young, the undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in an interview at the Pentagon yesterday that under the tanker proposal from Northrop Grumman and its partner European Aeronautic Defence & Space, developing the first 68 aircraft would have cost $12.5 billion, compared with $15.4 billion under Boeing’s plan.

So, the tanker version of the A330 had longer range, greater fuel offload capability, the ability to tank and carry cargo, and it was $2.9 billion cheaper.

Let’s also note that it was already flying, as Australia’s A330 MRTT, as versus Boeing’s proposal, an as yet unconstructed model with, “767-200 airframe; over-wing exits from the -300; floors, doors and structurally enhanced wings from the -300F; a cockpit, and the tail section and flaps from the -400ER”.

Delightful.

JSF Program Managers Get Stroppy

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It appears that in some computer simulations of the JSF versus late model SU-35 fighters, the F-35 got clubbed like baby seals.

All in all, this is not particularly surprising. It’s a redux of the F-105 (Lead Sled) vs. the MiG-21 of the Vietnam era.

The MiG-35 has a better power to weight ratio, wing loading, and air to air weapons load out, the F-35 carruing only 2 AMRAAMs because the USAF doesn’t want a comparison with the F-22, a white elephant that they are still lobbying for.

Needless to say, the Airforce brass is thoroughly unamused by these reports, and they are mounting a PR counteroffensive, including claims that the simulation was an apples to oranges comparison, because the F-35 was carrying all of its weapons internally.

Dude, you carry the stuff on pylons, and you lose stealth. If you lose stealth, you will be clubbed like a baby seal, it’s the only advantage that the F-35 has.

My favorite bit of this counter-offensive is this patently absurd claim:

“Advanced stealth and sensor fusion allow the F-35 pilot to see, target and destroy the adversary and strategic targets in a very high surface-to-air threat scenario, and deal with air threats intent on denying access — all before the F-35 is ever detected — then return safely to do it again,” said Tom Burbage, a Lockheed Martin vice president.

Considering that he is presenting what is called a “flaming datum”, so named because a ship burning or sinking was how U-Boats, an early form of stealth vehicle, were determined to be in the area, and then suggesting that he can return to the area and make another attack, is absurd.

Something like 50% of all sub sinkings followed a flaming datum.

In any case, it appears that as part of planning for the dual role missile, A2A weapons carriage will be improved (paid subscription required):

The U.S. Air Force and Navy have begun talks to define the Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM) intended to replace both air-to-air AIM-120 Amraam and anti-radar AGM-88 Harm beyond 2020 and allow the F-35 to defend itself against both opposing fighters and air defenses.

…

Separately, studies into “super-packing” the JSF’s bays to increase the number of weapons carried have come up with a way of loading six Amraam-sized missiles internally, according to the program office. This could be an option for later F-35 capability blocks.

So my guess is that the boyz in blue have seen the same simulations, and are looking to rectify the problem.

Next Man Makes a Move, and the N*gg*r Gets It

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If you’ve ever seen Blazing Saddles,* you remember the scene where Cleavon Little, realizing that the citizens of Rick Ridge are about to lynch him, holds a gun to his own neck, and then holds himself hostage until he can extricate himself from the situation.

Well, it appears that EADS, parent company of Airbus has watched Blazing Saddles many, many times, because this is the stratagem that they are using to deal with the penalty clauses in their contracts for late delivery:

Aerospace giant EADS has threatened to freeze production of its Airbus subsidiary’s flagship military airlifter if clients do not drop penalty clauses for late delivery, a German news report said Sept. 20.
The A400M airlifter. (EADS)

Der Spiegel weekly, trailing its Sept. 22 publication, cited a letter sent by Louis Gallois, the French chief executive of both companies, to the governments of seven countries who have ordered the A400M plane.

Un-dirtyword-believable.

*If you’ve never seen Blazing Saddles, you need to rent it and watch it today.

F-35B Opens Doors in Flight

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So, they’ve finally gotten the doos open of the vertical lift system open in flight, hopefully this means a full STOVL flight in the next few weeks, though these wheels seem to be grinding awfully slowly.

To my mind, it is the F-35B, with it’s STOVL capabilities, that is really the only variant that brings anything particularly necessary to the table.

It’s clear that for a number of reasons, the Harriers in service really do need to be replaced.