US military, technology, arms, tactics

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brar_w
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

Post by brar_w »

Step 1 - Integrate the VLO fighter sensors into your integrated Fire Control counter-air networks (2016 demonstrations)
Step 2 - Field an operational VLO strike fighter
Step 3 - Integrate NIFC-CA antennas (counter-air integrated fire control network) into your 4+ generation platform variant (Block 3 SH)
Step 4 - Integrate a composite track processor ( DTP-N) into the 4+ generation platform's hardware upgrade (Block 3 SH)
Step 5 - Demonstrate a very long range air launched multi-mission weapon capability (this Aviation Week published image was captured in 2018).

This is the perfect multi function weapon if you had a penetrating aircraft being inducted and hoards of non VLO aircraft that could support it from a safe distance (with the processing and networking hardware mentioned above). Would be interesting to know if they decided to pursue this further and actually fielded something to some degree now that some of those steps are panning out (F-35C is operational, Block III SH is in testing and a new compatible data-link for the SM series of missile is being fielded for a surface application).

SM-6-Like Missile Exposed In New Test Photo


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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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Maiden flight of first EMD Red Hawk jet slated for September 2021
The US Air Force (USAF) has slated September 2021 for the maiden flight of the first of five engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) Boeing-Saab T-7A Red Hawk...
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1 ... 86112?s=20 ---> Very unusual image of the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer of destroyer USS MUSTIN DDG89 as they shadow Chinese carrier LIAONING 16 in the Philippine Sea on 04 April 2021. The US Navy rarely acknowledges both its efforts to shadow Chinese ships and Chinese shadowing US ships.

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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

Post by arvin »

^^^
The way CO legs are kept he wants the chinese to see the sole size stamped on the bottom of his shoes.
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

Post by Rakesh »

Can someone confirm the authenticity of this video? Click on first link below for video....

https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1384 ... 18149?s=20 ---> Iran's IRGC drone takes precise footage as it flies over US aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf.

https://twitter.com/Amitraaz/status/138 ... 55621?s=20 ---> Edited footage from 2005

IRGC drones capture strikingly precise footage of US aircraft carrier
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2021/04/ ... ft-carrier
21 April 2021
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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We Talk F-15EX’s New Radar With The Woman Who Runs The Program Behind It

The US Air Force also received its second F-15EX test aircraft. This one will be used for the Operational test portion of the joint OT/DT. The remaining six (from the order of 8 placed in July 2020) will begin arriving after October. The first twelve aircraft for the first unit (ordered this fiscal year) are going to be delivered starting late 2022/early 2023.

Second F-15EX test aircraft arrives at Eglin AFB


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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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The largest manned and unmanned integration exercise the US Navy has ever held just concluded -

The U.S. Navy has announced that a team of manned and unmanned assets spotted a mock surface target and then sent targeting information to the Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS John Finn, which then hit it with an SM-6 missile, yesterday. That live-fire event was one part of a huge drone-focused experiment that wrapped up today and that also included testing involving swarming capabilities, small drone boats, submarine-launched unmanned underwater vehicles, manned and unmanned platforms working together to conduct anti-submarine operations, and more.

Navy Rear Admiral James Aiken, the commander of the experiment, formally known as Unmanned Integrated Battle Problem 21 (UxS IBP 21), along with Rear Admiral Robert Gaucher, the Director of the Maritime Headquarters at U.S. Pacific Fleet, provided the new details during in a call with reporters on April 26, 2021. The exercise had officially kicked off on April 19.

Rear Admiral Gaucher said a total of 29 different unmanned systems had taken part in the event, with approximately 50 percent of them being unmanned surface vessels (USV), around 30 percent being unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), and the remaining 20 percent or so being aerial platforms. The Navy has not provided a comprehensive list of the unmanned assets that participated in UxS IBP 21, but we do know a wide range of designs, from more traditional drones, such as the General Atomics MQ-9B Sea Guardian, to various tiers of USVs and UUVs, and even high-altitude balloons, were involved.

LINK
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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Here Is Our First Look At The USMC’s NMESIS: NSM Being Launched From An Unmanned JLTV


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The Marines will use NMESIS to support the U.S. Navy from the shore against enemy ships. NMESIS is comprised of the Raytheon Missiles & Defense-made NSM and a Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicle, produced by Oshkosh Defense..As we reported previously, the USMC selection of Naval Strike Missiles from Raytheon was first announced in May 2019. The image released today confirms that the USMC uses an unmanned variant of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) known as “ROGUE Fires”, as the NSM launch platform. The same vehicles is used for rockets:
Graphic showing the 6 GMLRS launcher configuration of the same vehicle -

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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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The first in class Ford CVN has completed her last independent steaming event concluding full combat system testing including the radar, EW, ESSM and RAM missile testing. Next up is going to be PSA to add test instrumentation, followed by full ship shock trials followed by another PSA period for damage repair before embarking on the first long-duration operational deployment -

EMALS, AAG Hit 8,000 Aircraft Recoveries, Launches on Ford

The Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) achieved 8,000 aircraft recoveries and launches aboard USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) on April 19, during the final independent steaming event of her 18-month Post Delivery Test & Trials (PDT&T) period, the Naval Air Systems Command said in an April 26 release.

Capt. Kenneth Sterbenz, Aircraft Launch and Recovery Equipment (ALRE) program manager (PMA-251) for EMALS and AAG, said ALRE finished PDT&T strong, and they are ready for the next step, as Ford prepares for Full Ship Shock Trials, which is scheduled to begin summer 2021.

“ALRE’s support of EMALS and AAG was admirable throughout the rigorous testing of PDT&T operations,” said Sterbenz. “On the way to reaching 8,000 launches and recoveries, we saw many Ford crew trained, learned a great deal about the systems, and laid invaluable groundwork for future Ford-class ships.”

As CVN 78 moved through PDT&T, ALRE had the opportunity to directly support the fleet, as 351 Naval aviators were qualified using EMALS and AAG throughout 2020 and 2021. Time and training also enabled a great increase in the efficiency of flight operations. More than 7,000 of Ford’s total launches and recoveries were completed in the last 18 months.

...
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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Initial plan was to send the Test F-15E's that have running the EPAWSS hardware and software suite into Northern Edge. It seems they've also added the two F-15EX's which would offer some enhancement because I believe the F-15E EPAWSS test fleet is not currently running the new mission computers while the F-15EX's are. This will also give them an early opportunity to integrate the F-15EX with F-35A's, and F-22A's both of which will be present there in quantity. The Air National Guard will operate all three types so having an early jump on that would be helpful before the type begins arriving at its schoolhouse next year.

Brand-New F-15EX to Participate in Northern Edge Exercise, JADC2 Experiments

Both of the Air Force’s new F-15EX Eagle II fighters will fly in the Northern Edge exercise in Alaska next week to participate in broader joint all-domain command and control experiments, 11th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. David A. Krumm said April 28. The jets will also employ their new electronic warfare suites in the wargame.

We’re bringing up F-15EX … with its capabilities, including the EPAWSS,” or Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System electronic warfare suite, to participate in Northern Edge 2021, Krumm said from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, during an AFA “Air and Space Warfighters in Action” streaming event. The first of the two aircraft departed April 28 from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, where they are in both developmental and operational testing. Both aircraft were delivered earlier this month from Boeing Co. They will operate out of JBER for the wargame.

The exercise will include “every aspect of JADC2,” Krumm said. Experimental systems include SpaceX Starlink satellites, new remote satellite terminals from the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office—which manages the Advanced Battle Management System—as well as “different technologies in the electromagnetic spectrum, jamming with radars, … [and] a whole array” of new experiments. The Navy’s USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier is in Alaskan waters for the exercise, he noted.

Krumm said he couldn’t be too specific about what will be tested because “a lot of what we want to do, we’re still working on.” He said Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach, head of Pacific Air Forces, will be “uber-focused on ‘how do I connect all these sensors and shooters together?’” The wargame should “advance JADC2,” Krumm said....
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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34.5 Inch diameter, Long range Hypersonic weapon (IR-CPS in Navy speak) will be added to the DDG-1000 class with the first deployment with this capability slated for 2025 ahead of the SSGN and SSN classes which have been marked for these weapons for quite a while now.

It is clear that the main mission of the DDG-1000 class will be surface warfare and strike as opposed to the BMD and cruiser roles for the Tico's and Burkes. The ship will be the first to deploy the Mach 5 class SM-6 1B missile as well which is compatible with its VLS allowing a large magazine. IR-CPS count should be between 6-8 rounds depending upon the type of solution they integrate. Throw in Block V Tomahawks that will be some serious firepower given that the ship is not going to be loaded with anything besides self-defense interceptors given it won't be tasked with escort or area defense. Given the quad packed ESSM Block 2's, and dual use SM-6 IA's and 1B's, you could have well over 50 cells kitted for offensive missiles in addition to the 6-8 cells dedicated for IR-CPS. That's a lot more firepower than what any Burke class can or will ever carry given its mission constraints.

CNO: Hypersonic Weapons at Sea to Premiere on Zumwalt Destroyers in 2025

The Navy is set to debut its first at-sea hypersonic missiles aboard one of the service’s three Zumwalt-class destroyers in four years, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday said on Tuesday.

Rather than have the Navy’s first weapons capable of traveling Mach 5 of faster fire from guided-missile submarines “by 2025,” as previously planned, Gilday said that the Zumwalts would be the first platform to field hypersonics during an event at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

“Fielding hypersonics on the Zumwalt-class destroyers will be an important move forward [to] turn that into a strike platform,” he said..

Gilday’s comments differ from the Navy’s earlier plans, announced last year, to initially field the hypersonic weapons on the existing quartet of Ohio-class guided-missile submarines (SSGN) and then the Block V Virginia-class attack subs that will replace them.

Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, the head of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs, said in November that the Navy could see a “limited operating capability” of the hypersonic weapon by 2025 in the SSGNs.

“I think we understand the technology: we’ve proven that in flight, we’ve proven that in the things we do. It really is transitioning to production, which we all know in any development program that anybody’s dealt with – the science is great, you go out and build one-offs, and then transitioning that to a very repeatable process so you get the reliability that you need, and that’s exactly where we’re at right now.”

For Zumwalt, the Navy has studied replacing at least one of the 155 mm gun mounts with one or two MAC tubes to field the missile. While the study work is moving forward, there is not yet a program of record to modify the Zumwalts to field the tubes. Given the timeline laid out by Gilday, the money could likely be part of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget expected to emerge sometime in May, USNI News understands. It’s also unclear which platform would receive the missiles first.
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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The USMC has received the first APG-79(V)4 Gallium Nitride based AESA radar prototype. They'll start receiving the first 25 operational radars later this year for the F-18 Classic Hornet fleet upgrade program. About 60 additional radars will be outfitted between 2022 and 2024. As far as I know, these are the only in production GaN based FCR's for an operational fighter aircraft. I suspect the F-15EX will transition to this capability in subsequent delivery lots as well (if they haven't already).

Raytheon Intelligence & Space Delivered Prototype Radar to U.S. Marine Corps


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Raytheon Intelligence & Space, a Raytheon Technologies business (NYSE: RTX), delivered the APG-79(V)4 AESA radar prototype to the U.S. Marine Corps. The prototype allows for early flight testing and completion of weapon systems integration on the Hornet platform.

The APG-79(V)4 is a scaled version of the APG-79 AESA radar that helps pilots detect and track enemy aircraft from farther distances and with more accuracy than the legacy APG-73 system. The radar’s improved targeting capabilities provide an edge in crucial operations including air-to-air, maritime strike and air-to-surface missions. Powered by gallium nitride (GaN), the APG-79(V)4 is the first domestic implementation of a GaN-based fire control radar, with GaN Transmit/Receive Modules embedded directly into the array.

“Aircrews must have access to new tools to support readiness,” said Eric Ditmars, vice president of Secure Sensor Solutions for RI&S. “The upgrade to AESA radar offers increased reliability and sustainability for the customer, which equates to lower maintenance and repair costs, and increased aircraft availability.”

The smaller radar shares much of the same parts and technology as the AN/APG-79 radar used in the F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft.

The first 25 production AESA radars will be delivered starting in December 2021 as part of the $83.6 million production contract awarded in 2020.
Last edited by brar_w on 01 May 2021 20:30, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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The Hunt For A Soviet Submarine Desperately Trying To Sneak Through The Strait Of Gibraltar

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/4 ... ab-intl-en

Found this very interesting account from a radar operator on board a US destroyer during the 1960's of how they forced a Russian Foxtrot sub to surface. Nice educational read and felt like sharing.
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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I hope some this equipment is there on our Chinooks.
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Lockheed Martin makes a major breakthrough in future communications for joint warfighting

Named Project Hydra, the latest flight test leveraged an Open Systems Gateway (OSG) payload aboard the U-2 to connect an F-22 to five F-35s via native Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) and Multifunction Advanced Data Link (MADL), successfully sharing data between all airborne aircraft and with nodes on the ground. The target tracks were also transmitted by and through the U-2 into the fighter avionics and pilot displays.

“Project Hydra marks the first time that bi-directional communications were established between 5th Generation aircraft in-flight while also sharing operational and sensor data down to ground operators for real-time capability,” said Jeff Babione, vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®. “This next-level connectivity reduces the data-to-decision timeline from minutes to seconds, which is critical in fighting today’s adversaries and advanced threats.”

The Project Hydra effort also marked the first time F-35 sensor data was delivered to an operational ground system over a Tactical Targeting Network Terminal (TTNT) link using an airborne gateway. This data was then sent to the US Army Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) Airborne Sensor Adaptation Kit (A-Kit), also developed by Lockheed Martin. The A-Kit then transmitted data to the IBCS Tactical System Integration Laboratory (TSIL) at Fort Bliss, Texas. IBCS used the F-35 sensor data to conduct a simulated Army fires exercise.

The core of the Hydra payload leverages the Open Mission Systems (OMS) compliant Enterprise Mission Computer 2 (EMC2), facilitating F-22, F-35, TTNT and Link-16 connections. By leveraging both line-of-sight (LOS) and beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) datalink capabilities of the U-2, data can now be shared directly to tactical users and globally to command and control (C2) nodes like the Common Mission Control Center (CMCC). During this demonstration, both the CMCC and Shadow Operations Center at Nellis Air Force Base were able to view the sensor and platform data to enable situational awareness for operational command and control of highly capable air assets.
These mission payloads are getting pretty compact. The particular waveforms being reported are all in different part of the RF spectrum and at least a couple have to comply with LPI and LPD requirements. Pretty impressive stuff. One has to wonder what things like the RQ-180 have in terms of payload.
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F-35 Is Now the Air Force’s Second-largest Fighter Fleet
The F-35A fleet is now the second-largest in the Air Force’s inventory, behind the F-16, surpassing F-15s and A-10s.

There are now 283 Joint Strike Fighters in the Air Force’s arsenal, compared to 281 A-10s, 234 F-15C/Ds, and 218 F-15Es. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee on May 7 the F-35 reached the milestone within the last week...
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brar_w
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^^ I've predicted this for a while. The F-22A fleet is small and will only get smaller. The first operational/production versions were rolling off the line around 2003 or so which would put them past three decades come the 2032-2035 timeframe when the USAF is likely to aim to push out the first NGAD wing. With NGAD in production, and things like Skyborg to complement around 1,000 operational F-35A's (which will exist in the USAF by then) the F-22 fleet can be sunset or held in an inactive status much like the F-117 is now. Of course they may want to do this, but the COCOM commanders and ultimately the Congress will have the final say.
brar_w wrote: I expect the USAF will be quick to the retire the F-22's as soon as the NGAD is ready. I don't see them holding on to such a small fleet like they did with the F-15C's...LINK
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Space Force looking to deploy radar satellites to track moving targets on the ground
The U.S. Air Force wants to use small radar satellites to track moving objects on the ground and the Space Force will help to make it happen, chief of space operations Gen. John Raymond said May 12.

A project to look at the use of radar satellites for GMTI — short for ground moving target indicator — has been pursued in secret since 2018 by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Raymond said this effort will be discussed more openly to allow more participation from the commercial space industry.

..............
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B-52 completes successful hypersonic kill chain employment
..........

During the more than 13-hour sortie from Barksdale AFB to Alaska and back, the B-52 was able to receive target data from sensors via the All-Domain Operations Capability experiment, or ADOC-E, more than 1,000 nautical miles away miles away at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. Once it received the data from the ADOC-E, the bomber then was able to successfully take a simulated shot of the target from 600 nautical miles away using an AGM-183 Air Launched Rapid Response Weapon.

.........
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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has anyone see the Commander Favre "tictac" video ? what do experts say? Brar sahab?

https://youtu.be/ZA-h3dIeD_A
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Cain Marko wrote:has anyone see the Commander Favre "tictac" video ? what do experts say? Brar sahab?

https://youtu.be/ZA-h3dIeD_A
I don't keep up at all with this issue, but my general belief is that a lot of these so called events and open source reports, FOIA'd documents and the paper trail is probably some sort of cover for a lot of classified activity. These frequency of these reports and events seem to trend with classified spending increases. But again, this is all speculation. No one, no blogger/reporter/observer will know the exact details and there is likely to be a lot of disinformation out there.
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Totally changes the equation on many fronts if it can get the same sort of bumps in other areas that the F119 and F135 got over their predecessors.

Tests Of GE XA100 Adaptive Combat Engine Exceed Performance Targets

GE Aviation has completed initial test runs of the first full-scale XA100 three-stream adaptive combat engine, marking the start of a new chapter in U.S. military turbine engine development and paving the way for a new generation of variable cycle powerplants for sixth generation fighters.

Developed by GE’s Edison Works advanced programs unit, the XA100 is one of two experimental adaptive demonstrators contracted under the U.S. Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program (AETP). The other engine, the XA101, is under development by Pratt & Whitney.

In addition to proving out the adaptive concept at full scale, both demonstrators are also designed as a 45,000 lb. thrust class engine to meet potential growth requirements for the conventional take-off and landing variants of Lockheed Martin’s F-35. For now, however, the focus is on evaluating the performance and operability of a morphing propulsion system that offers a step change in combat capability through the dynamic modulation of a third stream of air.

Engine tests mark the culmination of AETP which was launched in 2016 to develop three-stream demonstrators for full scale development from earlier research efforts. These included the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstration (AETD) and Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (ADVENT) programs which proved the basics of practical variable cycle propulsion.

Results from test runs of the first XA100—which began in GE’s high-altitude test cell in Evendale, Ohio, on Dec. 22 and continued through late March—have exceeded expectations according to David Tweedie, GE Edison Works’ general manager for Advanced Combat Engines.

“We hit all of our primary test objectives,” Tweedie said. “The engine behaved right along with our pre-test predictions and was very consistent with the program goals. We were able to demonstrate the two different modes of the engine and the ability to seamlessly transition between those two modes.”

Designed to run separately to the conventional core air and lower pressure bypass flows, the additional third stream can be redirected to provide increased thrust during combat or better fuel efficiency during cruise conditions. The AETP goals aimed to improve thrust and fuel efficiency by 10% and 25% respectively compared to a 2015 state-of-the-art fighter engine. “Not only are we meeting that, we’re actually exceeding that pretty much everywhere in the flight envelope—and in a few places—up to 20% [more thrust],” Tweedie said. “We are very happy with where we are from thrust in terms of over-delivering versus the program requirement.”

“When you translate that to what it means to the platform, it’s 30% more range or 50% more loiter time depending on how you want to utilize that fuel burn improvement. It’s a significant increase in acceleration and combat capability with the increased thrust,” he said.

Another crucial parameter for the test program is the effectiveness of using heat exchangers in the third stream for thermal management—a growing challenge, particularly for low-observable, advanced combat aircraft with power-hungry sensors, systems and weapons. “We see a significant increase in capability there [with] up to two times mission systems growth enabled by the [improved] thermal management,” Tweedie said.

As well as overall performance, testing also focused on the operability of the power management system and its ability to automatically transition between modes. The system manages this as a function of the power setting on the engine. “As you get to a point where throttle demand would indicate you want to be in the higher thrust mode, that’s when the engine kicks over,” Tweedie said. “The vision here is the pilot won’t even know what mode they’re in. It should be completely transparent to them and it’s simply scheduled into the engine.”

GE’s altitude test site, which was built in the 1960s to support development of the GE4 for the U.S. civil supersonic program, has been used to clear the initial XA100 performance characteristics. “We’ve been able, within the limits of our facility, to work at multiple points of the flight envelope to get data. This has not been just sea level static testing of this engine—which is why we have the confidence we have,” Tweedie said.

Assembly of the second XA100 prototype is “well underway,” according to GE. This will be tested at the Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tennessee. “AEDC has the capabilities that we don’t have on site, which is why the second engine is scheduled to go there and finish out building the matrix to the points we weren’t able to hit,” Tweedie added.

Changes to the second engine will be limited to instrumentation, software and controls. However, the engine hardware, which includes parts made from high-temperature tolerant ceramic matrix composites (including rotating components in the low-pressure turbine) and polymer matrix composites, will be identical to the first engine.
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This should be related to that engine.

New Force Design: NGAD Needed Soon, F-22 Sunset Begins in 2030
The Air Force is preparing to unveil a new 30-year fighter force design that includes at least two all-new fighters, a much greater use of autonomous and unmanned aircraft, a new way of providing close air support, and a narrowing timeline for retiring aircraft such as the A-10, F-16, and F-22, said Lt. Gen. Clinton S. Hinote, deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration, and requirements.

Hinote said the F-22 will begin to phase out in about 2030—the exact timeline will be situation-dependent—and the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter will be needed soon to defeat a Chinese stealth aircraft and missile threat that is “closer than we think.”

...........
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This is good. Like most of US Army Aviation (Chinook, Black Hawk, Apache etc), the F-22 was/is something designed around the European theater (F-15C replacement) where there is plenty of land, and plenty of allied air bases to operate from. Bases where you can either be based at or dynamically employ from to arm and refuel. A PACAF focused Counter Air platform needs to be totally different and may not even be a traditional fighter. It is probably more like a stealthy F-111 capable of carrying a large counter air magazine with the ability to keep up with the B-21 fleet. So perhaps as much as 2x the combat radius as the F-22A, and possibly a 25-50% larger magazine (no point in having the combat radius if you need to return because you've run out of weapons).

The F-22 is going away, eventually. But not before the Air Force gets comfortable with its successor.

Top Air Force officials are now convinced the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor lacks the magazine depth and range needed to carry it into the next decade as the service’s air superiority fighter of choice.

But the exact timing of its retirement will depend on how quickly the Air Force can put its sixth-generation fighter into production, said Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote, the service’s deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements.

“By about the 2030 timeframe, you’re talking about a 40-year-old platform [in the F-22], and it’s just not going to be the right tool for the job, especially when we’re talking about defending our friends like Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines against a Chinese threat that grows and grows,” Hinote told Defense News in an exclusive May 13 interview.

“We’re treating [the F-22] as the bridge to the NGAD capability,” he said, using an acronym for the Next Generation Air Dominance program, under which the service plans to develop a sixth-generation fighter to replace the F-22...


Hinote said the F-22′s retirement would be “event-driven” and interwoven with NGAD’s development, occurring closer to the 2030s than upcoming fiscal year 2022 budget cycle.

“We don’t have to make that decision this year,” he said. “What we’re going to want to see is, when do we press from the NGAD being a developmental program to being a production program? Some people call that milestone C.”
Last edited by brar_w on 14 May 2021 18:27, edited 1 time in total.
NRao
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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NRao
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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Air Force Wants to Cut 421 Old Fighters, Buy 304 New Ones
May 14, 2021 | By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force will ask Congress to retire 421 legacy aircraft through 2026, replacing them with just 304 new fighters, according to fiscal 2022 budget talking points obtained by Air Force Magazine. The savings derived from operating a smaller fleet will be put toward acquiring new systems such as the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter later this decade, and a new Multi-Role fighter, called MR-X, in the 2030s.

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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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USAF to Cut F-35 Buy in Future Years Defense Plan
The Air Force will propose about a 10 percent cut in its planned F-35 purchases in the upcoming future years defense plan, citing sustainment costs for the jet well above what was expected, and because the service prefers to wait for the more advanced Block 4 model. Budget talking points obtained by Air Force Magazine appear to show USAF giving the F-35 program an ultimatum: Get costs under control over the next six to eight years or the overall buy will be sharply reduced.

According to the talking points, which were prepared for Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown., Jr., the Air Force plans to request 48 F-35s in Fiscal year 2022, but only 43 aircraft a year from fiscal 2023-2026. The result will be a FYDP buy of 220 jets versus 240 under the previous plan.

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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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Since when has the FYDP buy actually materialized? The AF will likely get close to 50-60 F-35A aircraft in each of the next five years as has been the case over the last several. Same with retiring older aircraft and replacing them with fewer tails. The F-35 buy rate of 60 and F-15 EX buy rate of about 18-24 gets them to roughly 400 aircraft over five years. That’s likely what the Congress will fund and the COCOMS will demand. It’s a wild dream indeed to raid procurement and use savings to fund research. No combatant command commander and no politician will allow that to happen. Beyond retiring stuff that is not needed (like trimming the A-10 fleet and retiring the oldest B-1s and tankers), you have to fight for more research dollars from within the departments research spending plans. But they are probably requesting 420 retirements hoping to get about 300-350 so there’s probably a bit or posturing going on as well.
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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With the budget for the next fiscal year set to roll out and a new FYDP being put in place starting with the next budget (this budget won't include FYDP) we will probably hear a lot more about this second 6th gen. demonstrator and how it differs from the first -

New Details Emerge About The Secretive Program That Aims To Replace The F-22

Hinote, who is a former F-16 Viper and F-117 Nighthawk pilot, told Defense News that, at least right now, he doesn’t anticipate replacement of the F-22 with the NGAD to begin until the 2030s, by which time the Raptor will be “a 40-year-old platform."

“We don’t have to make that decision this year,” Hinote continued. “What we’re going to want to see is, when do we press from the NGAD being a developmental program to being a production program?” The Air Force has so far been tight-lipped about the timeline for when any aircraft developed under NGAD will enter service, although it was disclosed last September that at least some kind of demonstrator platform for the program is already flying. In his interview with Air Force Magazine, Hinote hinted that a second demonstrator — potentially an entirely new follow-on design — might be in some stage of production now.

“As you’re allowing that program to mature, through a spiral series, you’re designing the next platform” with new software and sensor technology, Hinote told Air Force Magazine. He also hinted that new iterations could come along every five to eight years.
From the original article posted by NRao earlier. Interesting to note that he doesn't seem to think it will take 10 years to operationalize NGAD. Based on the limited programmatic material out there, I would guess that they may be aiming for a production decision in 2025-2027 timeframe, which would mean that the first operational units could begin receiving aircraft before the end of the current decade. Of course this assumes a fair bit of risk given a generational leap over F-22/F-35 tech but that could well be what they are aiming for.

Depending on the threat and hedging against problems in NGAD, the USAF may consider a service-life extension program for the F-22, but Hinote said that seems unlikely because the NGAD is making swift progress.

“I was surprised at how well it’s doing,” he said. He has escorted a number of members of Congress to see the jet—which former USAF acquisition chief Will Roper revealed last September has already flown—and they have come away “at a minimum, fairly impressed,” Hinote assessed. Members of the Office of the Secretary of Defense have similarly visited the program, and “seeing is believing,” he added.

“We still have to make it real, and there’s a lot to do in the program, but when you see what is going on, and you hear it from the Airmen who are flying it, you get a chance to really understand … where we’re going.” He said he wished he could “brag on” the contractors who have brought the program so far, so quickly, but much of the project remains classified.

The NGAD timetable will be “event driven,” but Hinote doubts it will be 10 years before it is in operational service. The “long pole in the tent” right now is integrating “the most important things onto that platform with a government reference architecture.”

He also noted that NGAD is a family of systems and will be “optionally manned,” meaning several versions of the jet may be built and employed with or without crews.

When the budget comes out, “it may not look like a 100 percent” replacement of F-22s with NGADs because “you’re talking about a set of capabilities, … some of that may be unmanned [or] optionally manned. So it’s not one-for-one.”

Fielding the NGAD is urgent, Hinote added. While he would not say when the threat will overmatch USAF’s current capabilities, “the time is absolutely coming where the combination of something like a [Chinese] J-20 with an advanced … missile is a threat to air superiority for the United States. … It’s something we’ve got to address.”
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Re: US military, technology, arms, tactics

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The US's latest hyper bomber in the works?
Why one's been crying for aeons that the IAF are myopic not inducting a strategic bomber.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboo ... rld-185347
SR-72: The Mach 6 Bomber That Could Shake the World?
Not quite, but the much-hyped hypersonic aircraft has been likened to an SR-72 and it has some serious capabilities.

by Sebastien Roblin
Here's What You Need To Remember: Lockheed’s hyping of a hypersonic aircraft which may-or-may-not already exist seems explicitly intended to build support for additional funding. This may be because it’s pursuing the project with the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA), which focuses on innovative development of cutting-edge technologies often well ahead of capabilities in operational service, rather than fulfilling an Air Force requirement.

Hypersonic weapons—those capable of flying over five times the speed of sound—are the hot new buzzword of defense industrial complexes across the globe. China, Russia, and the United States have all vigorously and relatively openly pursued a diverse array of hypersonic weapons programs, adding fuel to the fire of a growing arms race.

While long-range ballistic missiles could already attain hypersonic speeds, they travel in predictable arcs and can be detected well in advance, giving military and political leaders time to react. Furthermore, an increasing number of air defense systems may be at least partially capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

However, back in 2013 Lockheed executive Robert Weiss caused a stir when he told Aviation Week the aerospace titan was well into developing a hypersonic aircraft—and invoked the legendary SR-71 Blackbird spy plane by dubbing it the SR-72.

No manned aircraft in operational service has matched the remarkable long-distance Mach 3 cruises of the Blackbird. Until recently, SR-71s simply outran missiles fired at them on photo-reconnaissance missions over North Korea and the Middle East. Now the latest surface-to-air missiles render Mach 3 speeds inadequate to assure survival, but a hypersonic aircraft might again outpace the threats arrayed against it.

The SR-72 depicted in Lockheed’s concept art was described as capable of cruising at six times the speed of sound. The challenge, however, lay not so much in designing an aircraft that could attain hypersonic speeds as ensuring that it could also take off and land at slower speeds. The rocket-powered X-15 testbed, which in 1967 recorded the fastest flight by a manned, powered aircraft ever at Mach 6.7, had to be carried aloft and released mid-air by a B-52 bomber!

Weiss told journalist Guy Norris “…all I can say is the technology is mature and we, along with DARPA and the services, are working hard to get that capability into the hands of our warfighters as soon as possible... I can’t give you any timelines or any specifics on the capabilities. It is all very sensitive... We can acknowledge the general capability that’s out there, but any program specifics are off-limits.”

Reportedly, Lockheed and the firm Aerojet Rocketdyne made a breakthrough by developing a Combined Cycle engine involving both a turbine for speeds below Mach 3 with a scramjet engaged for hypersonic cruising. A scramjet generates thrust by sucking in air while traveling at supersonic speeds—meaning that a separate engine has to push the airplane to those speeds before the scramjet can engage. The Combined Cycle engine makes the dual-engine approach viable by having the turban and scramjet share the same inlets and exhaust nozzles.

Weiss made clear he hoped Lockheed would receive funding to build an optionally-manned sixty-foot long (jet-fighter-sized) single-engine test-bed aircraft that would cost “only” $1 billion. This would then lead to the development of an operational twin-engine one-hundred-foot-plus SR-72.

In the years following Weiss’ comments, Lockheed officials continued drawing atypical levels of attention to a supposedly secret program too sensitive to reveal to the public, teasing statements that kinda-sort-of implied they had already built an SR-72 testbed.

For instance, at a science convention in 2018, Lockheed vice president Jack O’Banion stated “Without the digital transformation [of three-dimension design technology], the aircraft you see there could not have been made. In fact, five years ago, it could not have been made.” However, Executive Vice President Orlando Carvalho subsequently said to Flight Global “I can tell you unequivocally that it [the SR-72] has not been built”, claiming O’Banions quotes had been taken “out of context.”

Lockheed’s hyping of a hypersonic aircraft which may-or-may-not already exist seems explicitly intended to build support for additional funding. This may be because it’s pursuing the project with the Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA), which focuses on innovative development of cutting-edge technologies often well ahead of capabilities in operational service, rather than fulfilling an Air Force requirement.

While the U.S. Air Force is interested in deploying hypersonic aircraft in the long term, it already knows what it wants in the near future: lots of F-35 stealth fighters (also built by Lockheed) and forthcoming B-21 Raiders flying-wing stealth bombers. As the air warfare branch already can’t procure all the aircraft it wants, carving out funding for a highly expensive avant-garde concept won’t be easy.

Hypersonic Bomber

The Blackbird’s unique “SR” designation stood for “Strategic Reconnaissance,” reflecting that its job was to penetrate defended airspace on short notice and snap up photos of what was going on below before anyone could move or cover it up. However, the appellation SR-72 is arguably misleading for a number of reasons.

A hypersonic SR-72 would almost certainly be an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)—in other words, a drone normally receiving a “Q” designation. To what extent it would rely on man-in-the-loop (which might be susceptible to disruption) or pre-programmed control versus its own autonomous algorithms, remains an interesting question.

Furthermore, while an SR-72 would have an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) role, it would also surely be intended to strike targets with little advancing warning—in other words, it would be a bomber. Traveling around 4,000 miles per hour, a hypersonic bomber could theoretically depart from a base in the continental U.S. to hit targets across the Pacific or Atlantic in just 90 minutes. Unlike the various hypersonic missiles under development, it could then return to base and load up for further sorties.

Weiss stated from the beginning the SR-72 “had strike-capability in mind.” The SR-72 project, in fact, is reportedly an outgrowth of the rocket-powered Falcon HTV-3 hypersonic test-bed, which was associated with America’s Prompt Global Strike program.

However, the cost-efficiency of a hypersonic bomber/spy plane is debatable. It would surely lack stealth characteristics, as the heat generated by travel at such high speeds would make them highly visible to sensors and burn away radar-absorbent materials. Thus adversaries would probably see it coming, even if they had relatively little time to react.

While it might exceed the capabilities of contemporary air defense missiles, the SR-72’s existence would surely further spur the development of surface-to-air missiles capable of engaging hypersonic targets. An SR-72 bomber would also require expensive development of munitions designed for launch at such high speeds.

The Blackbird was retired and not replaced because its ISR capabilities had become niche due to improving spy satellites and because of slow but stealthy long-endurance drones like the RQ-170. Sure, Blackbirds could rapidly penetrate defended airspace, but a stealth drone could do that more slowly but also more discretely, and sustainably orbit an area of interest, delivering real-time video feeds for hours. In fact, the Pentagon’s decision to contract Grumman to build ultra-stealthy long-endurance RQ-180 drones may be perceived as coming at the SR-72’s expense.

The SR-72’s promoters argue that “speed is the new stealth,” reflecting a growing belief in some quarters that improved networked sensors will eventually diminish the survivability of stealth aircraft, making speed once again more prominent as means of defense. Given the Pentagon’s blossoming interest in all kinds of hypersonic weapons, it’s possible Lockheed’s Schrodinger's cat of a hypersonic UAV may attract additional funding. However, that may place it at odds with the stealth-oriented paradigm the Air Force is currently committed to.
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