Category: technology

Diamond Aero-Diesel Gets Euro Certification

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I have been following the story of Thielert’s insolvency, and Diamond Aircraft has been hit particularly hard by the loss of their engines, which were a major part of their business strategy.

Diamond has now certified Austro AE 300 turbo-diesel, which it has been feverishly working on since Thielerts troubles, which means that it can start shipping aircraft with the highly efficient, and perhaps more importantly, jet fuel compatible, engines shortly.

They still need type certificates, but that should be relatively straightforward, as their engine uses the same Mercedes block as the Thielert, and so fit and mounting should be very similar.

Well, Paint My Ass Purple, and Call Me Shirley

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OK, so I lost a memory stick that I’ve had for about 1¼years, Sandisk USB 2 Micro Cruzer 1Gb Pendrive U3.

It’s no big deal, really. I had all the data elsewhere, so I pick up a new drive, the 4GB variant for about $12 at the Radio Shack®, which is a lot cheaper than the $50 or so that I recall paying for the 1GB version.

Wouldn’t you know it, the next day, I find my old drive.

Actually, I didn’t find it, Sharon* did, in the dryer.

It had gone through the wash, AND the dryer, and it looked little worse for the wear. The printing on the case was a bit worn, but that could have happened over the past 15 months sitting in my pocket.

So, I leave it out and open for a day to ensure full drying, and I put it in my computer, and ALL THE DATA IS THERE.

Needless to say, this product has my seal of approval.

*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.

Military Industry Complex Bullsh%$: FCS Armor Edition

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It appears that the good folks at Aberdeen Proving Ground just set up a petting zoo for the press with a dog and pony show on the high tech armor for the manned ground vehicles (FCS-MGV).

I have no doubt that this armor will be more effective on a per unit weight and a per thickness basis, but the following is a flat out lie:

All these materials had apparently been used in the search to create the “B” armor for FCS. They are using what is called B-1 armor now and plan to come up with two more variants, using B-3 as the main armor once the FCS vehicles make it to LRIP in fiscal 2013. B-1 provides, a very careful public affairs officer told me, protection roughly equivalent to the Chobham armor on the Abrams tanks. The next variants should be much lighter and provide even greater protection.

(emphasis mine)

Simply put, you are not going to get higher armor levels out of a 25-30 ton vehicle than you do out of a 70 ton vehicle, the laws of physics.

It could be that they are factoring in the effects of an active protection system (which could be easily retrofitted to legacy vehicles) and greater situational awareness (which also could be easily retrofitted to legacy vehicles), but if they are, they are ignoring the realities of modern combat (IEDs, EFPs, and an insurgent enemy who has information superiority).

In other words, it’s a lie.

Hypersonic Engine Tests Continue Despite Blackswift Demise

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Facet Common Inlet

It looks like DARPA is continuing to develop turbine/ramjet hypersonic propulsion systems, (paid subscription required) called the Turbine-based combined-cycle (TBCC), despite the cancellation of the Blackswift demonstrator last month.

Williams International XTE88 (Histed)

The concept remains the same, a turbine to get the vehicle off the ground and through Mach 1, with some level of cocooning beyond that as a Ram/Scram jet takes over.

DARPA is continuing to test the Falcon combined-cycle engine technology (Facet) developed for Blackswift, along with the high-speed turbojet engine development (Histed).

Basically, they are looking at integrating previously pieces, inlet, combustor and nozzle primarily, into a complete engine system.

Following this, they intend to combine Facet and Histed.

Obviously it is a non trivial issue to test the engines throughout their range without a flight test.

Alkali Laser?

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It looks like General Atomics has snagged a $667,000 contract to develop a high power alkali laser. (paid subscription required)

As I noted last week, they are already working with the USAF on solid state lasers (HELLADS), but this is a different technology, a “diode-pumped alkali-vapor laser” (DPAL), which may be more efficient, and would likely be easier to cool, as the alkali-vapor could just be conveyed to a heat exchanger.

Solid-State Laser Programs Advance to High-Power Tests

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HELLADS

Textron “ThinZag”

Hellads In B-1 Bay

Aviation Week had a cover story, and 3 articles on lasers, and it looks like the signs are in that chemical lasers, which has been the next big thing for battlefield applications are on the way out, because they rely on toxic and expensive chemicals that are remarkably unfriendly to battlefield conditions.

One of the issues for solid state lasers has always been that when you have a high power ceramic generating the laser, the cooling tends create thermal shock that can break the material.

The Joint High-Power Solid-State Laser (JHPSSL) program is looking to demonstrate proof of concept models in the next year or so, with outputs in the 100kW, and DARPA is looking at the High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System (Hellads).

For JHPSSL, there are two contractors and technologies, Northrop Grumman, which gangs the output of 8 or more laser modules, and Textron which uses a single module, and boosts the output with “gain modules”. (Textron’s “ThinZag” concept is the 2nd picture)

The goals of both programs now is efficiency, both in terms of gross power-in/power out ratios, and beam quality, which effects beam quality at a distance.

DARPA appears to be ahead in terms of developing a modestly sized laser that can fitted to existing platforms. (bottom picture is a theoretical system in a B-1 Weapons bay)

HELLADS is being developed by General Atomics, and the concept is described as a “liquid laser”, where the amplification disks are immersed in a coolant to avoid thermal shock issues.

Further, the DARPA is developing with Raytheon a electronically scanned optical array under a separate program, where they are electronically steering the fiber optic inputs from multiple lasers (7 lasers are shown being combined in the top picture).

Because the USAF Thinks That There No Other Needs But Them

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So the boys in blue, despite officially eschewing a supersonic aircraft for their Next Generation Bomber, and canceling the Blackswift hypersonic demonstrator, are still looking for something that flies faster than Mach 1 and carries bombs. (paid subscription required)

If you’re confused, that’s what happens when you look at Air Force procurement programs recently. As Bill Sweetman notes, when talking about USAF procurement, “If your track record is Ishtar and Howard the Duck, and you tell me that you’ve got something that beats Gone With The Wind and Star Wars, you are going to have to prove it with more than a PowerPoint, or ‘trust me, but it’s secret.’“

They are looking at a tailless supersonic design, which would achieve the requisite broadband stealth, only, no one has gotten a tailless design to fly at supersonic speeds.

Basically, they are looking at advanced applications of fluidics for both the serpentine air inlets and the control systems.

Considering the drains of Iraq, Afghanistan, and now the US economy, and the complete lack of utility on the highest tech desires of the USAF, they have to smoking something pretty powerful.

Pulse Detonation Engines Move Ahead in Hypersonic Race to Mach 4

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One of the problem with the hypersonic scram jet is that it does not work well at speeds lower than about Mach 4 or so, and a turbojet pretty much runs out of steam at about Mach 3, and even then it gets big and heavy and complex, as evidenced by the size and weight of the bypass turbofans in the SR-71 (bottom pic), and it looks like DARPA is has put the pulse detonation engines (PDE) at the head of a list to bridge this gap in its Vulcan program. (paid subscription required) (top picture)

Similar in concept, though much different in execution to the pulse jet that powered the V-1 “Buzzbomb”, it is increasingly being looked at as a way to bridge the gap between turbojet and scramjet.

Additionally, it is being examined as a possible replacement for both combustors in turbine engines, and for afterburners behind turbine engines.

One thing that I’m not clear on here though is why you need the turbine engine in the first place with a PDE, as they do operate at 0 airspeed, as evidenced by the (very noisy) flight of a Long-EZ powered by a such an engine about 11 months ago.

If You Need to Incorporate Stealth into a Transport Aircraft

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Then maybe you have a problem like lack of air superiority over your airfields, which pretty much means “game over”.

This makes me wonder why the USAF is soliciting proposals from Boeing and Northrop-Grumman for stealthy STOL airlifters.

My guess is that this is a way to get additional money for a successor to the B-2 bomber through a back door, because there ain’t any money in the front door.

Obviously, this is technically challenging, if just because tailless designs do not lend themselves to short take-off and landing and the slow speeds that this entails.

The basic requirement, the ability to operate from a a 1,500-2,000ft landing strip and cruise at Mach 0.80 is doable, and has been done, even at the size that they are looking at, a 35T payload, roughly equivalent to an EADS A400M, which comes close to these goals…Or it will when it finally flies.

Clearly, the two proposals differ, with Boeing going with a tail, and they will rely heavily on things like blown flaps, and perhaps some application of the Coandă effect.


Boeing Concept


Northrop-Grumman Concept


STOL Technologies from Northrop-Grumman

Thielert Aero-Diesel Manufacturer Back In Black

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Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised by the news that Thielert Aircraft Engines’ insolvency administrator has announced a (probably small) profit, and is looking for a buyer.

You can find a rundown of my previous stuff here, but here is the nickel tour:

  • Thielert makes a revolutionary aircraft turbo diesel based on a Mercedes block, which is fuel efficient and runs on AvJet fuel, which is easier to find, and cheaper, than AvGas.
  • Thielert gets a number of deals to supply engines in the aftermarket, to OEMs (particularly Diamond), and for UAVs.
  • Thielert gets into financial problems.
    • This appears to be 1 part fraud, and 1 part that the engine, particularly the reduction gearing to the prop needs more maintenance than anticipated, and Thielert is getting hammered by guarantee costs.
  • The founder is kicked out, and the company is placed under an insolvency administrator (in the US, we would call this Chapter 11).
  • The administrator cancels guarantee support and jacks up the price (gouges really) on spares, forcing most of the operators to ground their aircraft.
  • Diamond tells Thielert to go Cheney themselves, and starts to develop an aero-diesel based on the same engine block.
    • Diamond also takes a major hit in their business too, as they had used the Thielert engine extensively, and certification of a new engine is a non-trivial process.

What has happened over the past few months apparently is that the insolvency administrator, Bruno Kübler, has come to understand the market, reduced spares prices, and started to supply a limited amount of support under its old guarantees.

Additionally, they are looking to sell the engine in the future without the extensive guarantee, so as to avoid this problem in the future….It’s a change in business model, with the majority of future profits being in engine support, rather than the initial sale.

It’s still a promising technology, though I am still dubious of Thielert’s continued existence.

Guided Rocket Video Pr0n

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Direct Attack Guided Rocket (DAGR) guidance kit for the 2.75-inch rocket
vid and pic
Note that this a Lockheed-Martin analogue to BAE’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System that I wrote about a few months back.

The rocket and guidance, semi-active laser homing for DAGR, appears to be pretty much the same as APKWS, though it appears that the launcher is designed to be compatible with Hellfire, as opposed to the existing 2.75″ rocket launchers.

Here is the video for the earth shattering kaboom.

Is This a Deliberate Attempt to Obsolete the Existing Fleet

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It looks to me like USAF is making some decisions with their date links with an eye toward deliberately obsoleting the current fleet. (paid subscription required)

The short version is that the USAF has an existing data link, Link 16, which is both narrow-band and non-stealthy, so it needs replacement.

The USAF has just selected the directional multifunction advanced data link (MADL) in preference to the competing tactical targeting network technology (TTNT) for the B-2, F-22, and F-35.

While this appears to be inside baseball, the caption on a picture along with the article speaks volumes, “An anti-access data link will allow B-2s to share information with F-22s and F-35s, but not legacy platforms such as F-15s.”

So I am wondering if this is a deliberate attempt to obsolete legacy platforms so as to justify more F-22 and F-35 purchases?

F-35 Stealth Performance Attacked

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The ever reliable Bill Sweetman points us toward an Air Power Australia (APA) analysis of the stealth capabilities of the F-35 JSF.

The folks at APA have an agenda, and they have been very clear on it, they like the F-111 and F-22 for Australian service, and do not like the F/A-18 and the F-35, so that is a part of the subtext, but they have have a bit of a first in their analysis here, they have, “used publically available radar scattering models,” to get a first order approximation of the performance of the F-35 in various frequency bands.

The science has been known for some time, but actual computer codes available publicly are a fairly recent development.

They make it clear that this is an accounting of the shape, because information on RAM (radar absorbent material) is classified, Mr. Sweetman is right when he quotes Stealth pioneer Denys Overholser, who said, “the four most important aspects of stealth are shape, shape, shape and materials.”

Also note that the Russian double digit SAMs were largely developed post Gulf War, when it was clearly shown that higher frequency radars, particularly in the X-band, were the most vulnerable to a stealth, and that in a modern combat environment, you can not sit there with an air defense radar radiating looking for a target.

You either will not see the target, or eat an anti-radar missile, or both.

So, the surveillance radars have gone to lower frequencies both L-Band and VHF, and a lot more computer processing power has been devoted to finding a firing solution with less dwell time for the radars.

Obviously, there are a lot of assumptions made here by APA, so there is some uncertainty there, though Lockheed-Martin does not have a whole bunch of credibility as to their claims, which describe the aircraft as near-invisible with the capability to strike a target multiple times in a sortee.

I Always Had a Soft Spot for This Aircraft

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It appears that they are going to be sending the canard equipped F-15 testbed to the boneyard. (Paid subscription required)

Originally called the short-take-off/maneuver-technology demonstration (SMTD) about 20 years ago, the aircraft was originally equipped with F-18 tail derived canards, square thrust vectoring nozzles, and a redesigned landing gear intended for rough field operations.

It demonstrated impressive improvements in STOL peformance and agility.

NASA is currently using it to research its quiet boom supersonic aircraft technology, as they felt the need to test a canard equipped airframe as one of the configurations.

When they are done, it’s going to the boneyard.

Another Innovation Setback from the Financial Crisis

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It looks like Toyota may be making changes to its just in time inventory system as a result of the credit crunch.

They are worried that bankruptcies and liquidations of suppliers may leave them with no parts to make cars with.

The Japanese company may work with more partsmakers and increase inventories to mitigate the effects of a collapse among its U.S. suppliers, at least half of whom also work for Detroit automakers, Goss said. U.S. vehicle sales at a 26-year low have forced GM and Chrysler to seek government aid and left as many as a third of North American component-makers at risk of bankruptcy, according to consulting company Grant Thornton LLP.

(emphasis mine)

Basically, they are going to put up some warehouses and get a few weeks to a few months of parts to handle potential disruptions. This amounts to an abandonment of just-in-time, at least in the short term.

On the bright side, the increase in inventory will provide a small boost to the economy.

Gates and Murtha Back More Funds For FCS

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We have a report that Rep. John Murtha and SecDef Robert Gates are supporting the acceleration of the Future Combat System in order to apply the technologies to Iraq and (particularly) Afghanistan.

What the story appears to be saying is that they want to get the improved communications and sensors capabilities into the hands of soldiers.

While I can see the advantage of this, fundamentally, the subtext here is that this is being suggested as an alternative to boots on the ground, which is a losing proposition.

One of the major problems in US counterinsurgency is that we do not commit enough ground troops, and so, we overuse air assets, which, because of collateral damage, strengthen local support for the insurgency.

Pulling the money out of whiz bang, and out of Air Force combat operations in theater, would be a much more effective use of resources.