International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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brar_w
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by brar_w »

Philip wrote:It's been some years since the "Turkey or Talisman"...
The Pentagon and the suppliers (Lockheed M and P&W) are currently engaged in advanced negotiations on a 485 unit hybrid MYP contract that is going to support production for US services and partners/FMS in the 2023-2025 timeframe (with deliveries stretching to 2026). The contract is going to be completed and awarded in the current fiscal year (ending September 2021). It is also the first contract that is exclusively and entirely (Lot 13 and 14 introduce a few Blk IV changes but 15, 16 and 17 will cut all of them in) for the block IV hardware/software configuration which no doubt will have a cost impact as new vendors, and new technologies are brought in while they try to hold unit cost impact neutral despite the learning curve for these new suppliers/technologies.

The last time a comparably sized contract was in negotiation we all saw similar lashing out of defense officials including Trump at the time. Furthermore, the Pentagon, is for the first time in the program's history, trying to negotiate a PBL (FMS and foreign partners have been using the PBL for a long time some since inception) which is further straining negotiations because the contract performances a XX% in CTPY reduction by 2025 while the government probably wants this sooner.

The Congressman (who just happens to be from the Seattle area) concerned has voted for each and every F-35 production rate increase and acquisition decision including one just a few months ago.

The F-35 in the US services isn't going anywhere. The deliveries and firm (contracted) backlogs (US services only/not including partners and FMS) exceeds 700 and will be 900+ once this current contract is signed and sealed. For comparison that is larger than the entire Super Hornet production program (and the F-35 is not even in FRP yet) and will mean that the US F-35 fleet (combined) is going to be > than the combined F-16 fleet (USN owns a few F-16's) by 2026. So as the USAF boss has recently said, it (F-35A) will be the foundation around which the CAF will be built, particularly how it supports the high end mission needs like in the Pacific. The USMC won't be operating any other (once its fleet has fully bedded down) aircraft and the Navy will not have a second acquisition line once the service gets the last of its F/A-18 E/F Block III's around 2024 or so and until its Next gen. fighter is ready to enter production (which is probably not going to happen till the early 2030s).

Nuances and data matter while discussing this program. As is an appreciation for scale and the lack of scale of its competitors (which also influences how aggressively this system is built and acquired because the threat always dictates how fast or how slow you go).

What they are all fighting over is the overall trajectory and force structure and modernization, not the survival or health of the program itself (it is the cornerstone of the fleet as the USAF Chief (who knows a thing or two about fighters) recently mentioned. So it is basically whether they continue to buy the platform through 2038 or transition to a newer variant or a newer fighter ahead of that. Or do they even buy and operate as large a TacAIR fleet as had been predicted in the last decade. I for one support a Bomber centric USAF and an Unmanned centric USN and I suspect a portion of funding will be moved to begin doing some of that but these decisions are probably not going to be made till the late 2020's just because these competing investments will have technical/industrial limitations till then (B-21 FRP is probably going to happen sometime in the late 2020's, and Navy's NGAD is probably not going to become mature till then either). So we are essentially talking about, for example, whether the USAF fields 1200 F-35A's or 1700 F-35A's that were baked in back in 2001. These things cannot be decided 2 decades in advance so they are placeholder numbers that will always be updated in the future. What is unlikely to change though is the bed down rate of approximately one air wing a year (48-60 aircraft) for the USAF. That is what the USAF has requested and Congress has basically said yes to over the few years. At that rate, the USAF will get to a 1000 F-35A fleet by the end of the decade.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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May, 2020:


Mar, 2021:
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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This is probably not the best comparison. Boeing unsuccessfully competed for the LCAAT program (and its parent R&D) in the US, and this LW is probably an offshoot of their losing design on that project so the parent design and work probably goes back longer than is officially claimed by their PR shop (for reference the predecessor of the LCAAT effort goes back to the 2014/15 timeframe). It is quite likely that they took the prelim work they had done to support that effort and started discussing additional maturation with their international clients in Australia and the UK while the USAF pushed through with Kratos. Also, though Boeing/BAE Australia are highlighting this as some sort of breakthrough, this particular program, that follows nearly 20 years after the X-45 was not only flying unmanned, but was doing early formation flying de-risking, and dropping SDB's on test ranges, etc so it is hardly a major leap. What is going to be the biggest achievements of these systems is going to be the AI-C2 stack that goes into these systems and how they are going to be built affordably at low volumes (this is where Kratos has a huge advantage over practically everyone else in the West). That is relatively less mature but the AV technology itself is not ground breaking and that is also not their point (that's where the RQ-180's of the world come enter the picture at a much higher price point).

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Not related to Aerospace, but I could not find an appropriate thread to post it in

OVERCOMING THE SAF’S CHALLENGES WITH 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TECHNOLOGY

12 page pdf.

SAF = Singapore Armed Forces
ABSTRACT
Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, contended that the Industrial Revolutions (IRs) were the main driving force behind technological improvements. In the same vein, the author considers that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), through various transformations, is now capable of executing integrated full spectrum operations. Looking ahead, the author believes that the SAF faces two overarching challenges. Firstly, being faced with increasingly Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) situations, the SAF needs to automate its decision-making process in view of the tremendous amount of intelligence data. Secondly, the SAF would be contending with an impending manpower crunch—one which would see a 30% reduction in its enlistees by 2030. This threatens its Full Force Potential. To overcome these challenges while maintaining a qualitative edge over its regional neighbours, the SAF may have to harness the 4th IR technologies, such as machine learning and predictive maintenance, to enhance its warfighting efficiency and effectiveness.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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https://twitter.com/DefenceDecode/statu ... 51426?s=20 ---> The Belgian Air Force "Mirage"

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Oisín Tierney @TierneyOisin wrote: N552GD @GulfstreamAero G550 AEW&C was ferried Savannah to Shannon today for a night stop. To be delivered to the Israeli Air Force tomorrow.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Ministry of Defense @Israel_MOD wrote: The Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Ministry of Defense and @RAFAELdefense have successfully completed a test campaign of the Iron Dome. This campaign demonstrated a significant upgrade of the system’s technological capabilities 1/2
Ministry of Defense @Israel_MOD wrote: The Iron Dome was tested in a range of complex scenarios and successfully intercepted and destroyed targets simulating existing and emerging threats, including the simultaneous interception of multiple UAVs as well as a salvo of rockets and missiles. 2/2
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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NRao wrote:
Ministry of Defense @Israel_MOD wrote: The Israel Missile Defense Organization in the Ministry of Defense and @RAFAELdefense have successfully completed a test campaign of the Iron Dome. This campaign demonstrated a significant upgrade of the system’s technological capabilities 1/2
Ministry of Defense @Israel_MOD wrote: The Iron Dome was tested in a range of complex scenarios and successfully intercepted and destroyed targets simulating existing and emerging threats, including the simultaneous interception of multiple UAVs as well as a salvo of rockets and missiles. 2/2
These are very important demonstrations. They've spent the last couple of years working to make the baseline Counter Rocket interceptor more agile, and able to intercept using different profiles. The control surface/materials etc have been beefed up to add this flexibility. This finally gives them (and the US Army) a large magazine Counter UAS, Counter Rocket, and Counter Subsonic Cruise Missile capability which practically no other system is currently able to provide off the shelf (and in one package). There is some drawback in that the current version uses an Israel C2 system and an S-band radar which the US Army is going to ditch for its ADA standard C2 and an X-band CMD/CRAM radar. They will layer a 300 kW Solid State Laser to this as well which should offer excellent all round base defense and fixed (and deployable) site SHORAD capability against coordinated raids involving UAS's, Cruise Missiles and rockets and even mortars and artillery using the HEL option.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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The Israeli Iron Dome tested out its latest upgrades in recent tests, taking out every target in a mixed swarm of drones and rockets.

The new upgrades will be rapidly installed on existing Israeli units at the border and on two Iron Dome batteries sold to the US Army.

The threat scenarios, with multiple simultaneous targets of different types coming in at once, were modeled on the latest Israeli military intelligence. Besides the mix of rockets and drones – specifically Qinetiq Banshees – there were also salvos of multiple simultaneously inbound rockets. “Israel is closely following the new products of the Iranian military industry and according to that takes the needed steps,” a source told Breaking Defense. The updated threat assessment is based mostly on the use of drones and advanced rockets recent months by the Houthi rebels in Yemen against targets in Saudi Arabia. In September 2019, a mix of different types of drones and missiles struck Saudi Aramco state-owned oil facilities, bypassing Patriot missile defenses.

So alarming are the frequent Houthi missile attacks on Saudi targets, and the potential for such attacks on UAE, led both Arab nations to seriously consider buying the Israeli-made Iron Dome. Now that the US has withdrawn its Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia, some observers argue the pressure to buy Iron Dome will only grow.

The recent test of the Upgraded Iron Dome took place, as usual, in southern Israel, whose desert expanses provide a useful proving ground. Participating were Israeli Air Force personnel, since the Air Force runs missile defense in Israel. But the new version of the Iron Dome will be delivered to the Israeli Navy as well – and potentially to foreign buyers. “Rafael and the IMDO [Israel Missile Defense Organization] have been continuously upgrading Iron Dome’s capabilities over the last decade, constantly improving its technological and operational performance,” said Brig. Gen. (Res.) Pini Yungman, head of Rafael’s Air and Missile Defense Division. “The capabilities that were demonstrated in this last test will ensure additional protection to the State of Israel.”
https://breakingdefense.com/2021/03/iro ... s-in-test/
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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For fun.

Rather interesting info on the U-2 (U = Utility, on purpose)

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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.https://www.defensenews.com/industry/t ... ghter-jet/

n 2017, Kale Group and Rolls-Royce launched a joint venture to develop aircraft engines for Turkey, initially targeting the TF-X. But the £100 million (U.S. $139 million) deal was effectively put on hold due to uncertainties over technology transfer.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Tony Osborne @Rotorfocus wrote: Seems the #KC390 has begun flying with a targeting pod under the forward fuselage.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Translated from Norwegian. JSM is one of the 7 new (acknowledged) weapons that the Block IV upgrades are introducing to the F-35 fleet in the 2020's. Spear III, and the Meteor are the other known international weapons that are part of the blk IV portfolio.

Successful JSM missile drop from F-35A

Defense Equipment was responsible for conducting successful test drops of the JSM missile from the F-35A in the desert at Edwards Air Force Base in California in February. Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace (KDA) is developing JSM. The testing takes place as part of the program to integrate JSM into the F-35, under the JPO (Joint Program Office) which is responsible for the F-35 cooperation program, and is carried out in close cooperation with US authorities.

The first phases of the JSM integration work have been contracted directly with the US authorities. The testing started in 2020, and was carried out with drops from aircraft parked on the ground, and down into a foam rubber pit. Now the first drop is made from the air.

"With this first drop, it was checked that JSM can be separated from an F-35A in a safe way. For that, we use an instrumented aircraft," says Brigadier Jarle Nergård, who is head of the F-35 department in Defense Materiel. This is an aircraft with a number of sensors for speed, movement and vibration, as well as recording of the bus traffic in the aircraft and communication to the weapon.

"This aircraft is also equipped with three cameras inside the bomb room and has mounted a separate camera pod on the wing with three more cameras. In order to be able to analyze exactly what is happening, both the aircraft and the JSM missile are marked with special photo marks that are accurately positioned. on both aircraft and missiles. And based on that, we can see through the videos exactly how the JSM missile behaves on its way out of the bomb chamber on the F-35A ", Nergård continues.

In addition, KDA has instrumented the missile so that all movements in the missile are recorded and sent on a data link to the ground. The F-35A aircraft has similar instrumentation so that you know exactly how the aircraft behaves in the same time period, and this data is also sent via a link to the ground. It is also flown with Chase, ie escort aircraft, in the form of a two-seater F-16 with a cameraman in the back seat who films everything that happens from a distance.

All this data and videos are what is further analyzed by the Norwegian team (FMA, KDA, FFI). The US Air Force Seek Eagle Office (AFSEO) approves the integration of JSM on the F-35A, and data from aircraft and videos are analyzed by AFSEO, and the test squadron at Edwards Air Force Base. The data are compared with the data models that have been created previously by both KDA and AFSEO.

We start quite simply, and then we build on that the conditions around separation from the plane become more and more challenging. The missile has already been tested extensively throughout its "flight envelope", but some of the tests from the F-35 will also include a longer free flight for the missile, "concludes Brigadier Jarle Nergård.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Aditya_V wrote:
brar_w wrote:
The system is predominantly an export system so they would have built that into the equation at the design level itself. Israel's main AMD used for its strategic and tactical defense are Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Arrow so those are its core systems that are worth protecting as far as the capability getting into the wrong hands are concerned and even then, they could always have an export variant without outright saying that they have an export variant (its not like foreign clients get to dissect Israel's own batteries to see what level of technology or capability they field).
Many Israeli Naval ships are equipped with it and Iranian have already hit one with Barak 1, well this sale to Azerbaijan could still bite Israel in the Back.
Naval use case is going to be different from a land based IADS (it is a different threat type and limited given what the other systems are defending) and it is not going to be hard for Israel to have a different technical baseline for its own use and a different one that they export out. You are only talking about a handful of surface ships and limited stock. So its not a big deal, not as much as say if their Arrow system is compromised, or even the Iron Dome which is protecting population centers virtually daily and one that exists in such high numbers that if it is compromised the cost to retrofit is going to be extensive.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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THE FRENCH MINISTRY OF THE ARMED FORCES ORDERS 367 MICA NG (NEW GENERATION) MISSILES
https://www.mbda-systems.com/2021/03/22 ... -missiles/
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Major Earth Satellite to Track Disasters, Effects of Climate Change
An SUV-size Earth satellite that will be equipped with the largest reflector antenna ever launched by NASA is taking shape in the clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Called NISAR, the joint mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has big goals: By tracking subtle changes in Earth’s surface, it will spot warning signs of imminent volcanic eruptions, help to monitor groundwater supplies, track the melt rate of ice sheets tied to sea level rise, and observe shifts in the distribution of vegetation around the world. Monitoring these kinds of changes in the planet’s surface over nearly the entire globe hasn’t been done before with the high resolution in space and time that NISAR will deliver.




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On March 20, NISAR mission members from ISRO and JPL moved the S-band SAR, one of two kinds of radar that will be used on the project, into the airlock to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility’s High Bay 1 clean room. Once the radar moves into the clean room, it will be unpacked over several days.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech




...........................
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2021/03 ... ealth.html

Russia's new "MIG-41" Mach 5+ stealth fighter programme.
XCpt:
According to a report by Russian news outlet Izvestia, The MiG-41 will carry a “multifunctional long-range interceptor missile system capable of hitting hypersonic missiles” with multiple warheads. The concept, as explained by Izvestia, is fairly straightforward: after a hypersonic projectile is detected by Russia’s ground radars or early warning network, the MiG-41 will launch the interceptor missile at long range. That missile will split off into smaller sub-missiles, which will then attack the projectile “head-on.” Russian defence expert Dmitri Kornev suggested that this system could also be used to target hypersonic missile launchers before they fire. The MiG-41’s interceptor system can potentially add a salient layer to Russia’s missile defences, though it is unclear if the system is intended against ICBM’s or tactical hypersonic missiles.

The PAK-DP, along with the PAK-DA strategic bomber, is fast emerging as one of Russia’s most technically sophisticated fighters. But, as is often the case with major Russian military projects, much of our current information is based on press statements, industry insider leaks, and expert analysis. It remains to be seen how the PAK-DP project evolves as it inches closer toward serial production over the coming decade.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Manish_P »

^ Not very confidence building is it, when the article begins with:
A Mach 5 fighter? While it sounds great, the jet may never leave the drawing board
Anyway here is a more researched article on the background, the requirement, the challenges, the compromises.. and the conclusion suggesting the probability of it basically being an enhanced MiG 31 (dedicated lone wolf high-speed interceptor) with possibly some 5 Gen features, rather than a 6th Gen aircraft (having 5th Gen features plus features like network integrated in BMS, directed energy weapons, optionally AI based unmanned, Loyal wingman support etc)

MiG-41: what it was and what it wasn’t

&

MiG-41: the program, the plane, the legend

with the article concluding that
the claim of the 6th generation is a bogus one, but to be honest, PAK DP does not really need things like loyal wingmen. From the inception in 2013, and even from the roots in the 80s, it was supposed to plug gaps in air defense with its powerful radar and fast missiles, and it is exactly what this aircraft is likely to do.

Therefore, it is unlikely to be very different from the MiG-31 in every visible aspect, be it technical characteristics, armament, or even appearance.
Of course all this is mere speculation and a whole lot will depend on how the Russians fund the project.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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The Russian Air Force will prioritize what it has on the table and what it can get in a reasonable amount of time. For the foreseeable future it will be the Su-30/34/35 which they can produce and procure in decent numbers and which they also need to balance in terms of exports and production rates. The SU-57 production rate is a fraction of where they wanted it to be so one would assume one of the goals for them would be to get it to the high 20's to low thirties a year by the end of the decade so that they can begin replacing the older Flankers and modernize the service or at least introduce a 5GFA in decent numbers. Based on the 2020-2028(GPV2027) procurement plan, they will only be getting 76 Su-57s within that timespan which is an avg. rate of < 12/year. So clearly they would have to prioritize getting PAKFA to FRP given all the time and money invested in it already. It will also be the main multi role export focused fighter in the coming years decades when the vast number of exported Flankers and Fulcrums will need replacement or their operators modernization. Anything else, old or new, will have to compete with these. You can't spread yourself too thin and have multiple programs with no money left to actually buy them at a reasonable clip (a very fast and high interceptor will have limited export potential given the operating cost and the specialized nature). The biggest concern for the defense industry would be to have a capable export focused multi-role fighter in the 2025-2050 timeframe that could offer what the Flanker offered in the preceding 2 or so decades. The SU-57 is probably their best bet to filling that void and ensuring that the export revenues keep coming in just as they have in the past. So difficult to imagine the MOD or the RuAF prioritizing something at the expense of getting the PAKFA to a ready state and at a point where it is being produced at a decent enough production rate.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Philip wrote:http://www.indiandefensenews.in/2021/03 ... ealth.html

Russia's new "MIG-41" Mach 5+ stealth fighter programme.
XCpt:
According to a report by Russian news outlet Izvestia, The MiG-41 will carry a “multifunctional long-range interceptor missile system capable of hitting hypersonic missiles” with multiple warheads. The concept, as explained by Izvestia, is fairly straightforward: after a hypersonic projectile is detected by Russia’s ground radars or early warning network, the MiG-41 will launch the interceptor missile at long range. That missile will split off into smaller sub-missiles, which will then attack the projectile “head-on.” Russian defence expert Dmitri Kornev suggested that this system could also be used to target hypersonic missile launchers before they fire. The MiG-41’s interceptor system can potentially add a salient layer to Russia’s missile defences, though it is unclear if the system is intended against ICBM’s or tactical hypersonic missiles.

The PAK-DP, along with the PAK-DA strategic bomber, is fast emerging as one of Russia’s most technically sophisticated fighters. But, as is often the case with major Russian military projects, much of our current information is based on press statements, industry insider leaks, and expert analysis. It remains to be seen how the PAK-DP project evolves as it inches closer toward serial production over the coming decade.
Where is the money to develop this? Not happening unless the Chinese finance to develop it in Russia or in china and brand it as JXX
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Rakesh »

Money trumps everything else. Including alliances :)

https://twitter.com/Chopsyturvey/status ... 24354?s=20 ---> Boeing Co urged the United States on Wednesday to keep disputes over human rights and other topics separate from trade relations with Beijing, and warned that European rival Airbus would gain if the U.S. plane maker were locked out of China.

Boeing urges U.S. to separate China trade and human rights
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN2BN30A
01 April 2021
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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https://twitter.com/kadonkey/status/1377483996414816263 --> Israeli Air Force F-16I with heavy metal.

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Canadian AF: Airbus A330 MRTT qualified, Boeing KC-46 did not

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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The New "Oron" Lands in Israel
Today (Sunday), the 122nd ("Nachson") Squadron received its new aircraft - the "Oron", which will grant the IAF unprecedented intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. The advanced aircraft was formally introduced in a ceremony led by Commander of the IAF, Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin

.........
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by arvin »

Interesting design. An array of that size if carried on top of the plane would invite a heavy drag penalty. Or they would have needed a bigger plane. Instead they bolted the TR element frame on the plane body itself. Crew would have to sacrifice nice window views. The satcom is on top of tail and not on top of fuselage as in case of Netra.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by NRao »

^^^^^

Israel had very similar "interesting design", the "Shavit" and then the "Eitam" (below):

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What makes this even more interesting is that it is a strategic asset - granted from an Israeli point of view. They have packed more electronics (to be expected) + " carrying intelligence personnel who analyze data in real-time". Same form factor, a much wider set of decision, in real-time.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by LakshmanPST »

Full video of KF21 roll out...
Roll out happens at 32:00... Remaining video is of cultural programs and speech which is in Korean language; can be skipped...
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by brar_w »

Good work by the South Koreans. Even though this version lacks stealth, or an internal weapons bay, or advanced engine, I still think the schedule is too ambitious. Their current plan is to achieve first flight next year and conclude the entire flight test program by 2026 while delivering 40 operational aircraft by 2028. That's probably going to get stretched into the early 2030's IMO.
Last edited by brar_w on 10 Apr 2021 03:08, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by S_Madhukar »

SK president is known for being media savvy but boy that’s a snazzy launch alright!! And a female pilot to boot. Very TFTA and the Indonesians get a ride as well... wonder how the Bakis missed out (no freebies!) ... Knowing SK they will try to meet their deadlines while working overtime, and although ambitious I think if money is not a problem they will be able to get at least 1.0 and upgrades later . 40 I guess will be the first run and then will have to see how it evolves.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Vips »

Superb and practical approach exhibited by the Koreans. They did not waste time in trying to build all the features at one go, worked with what they had or was available and rolled out the prototype to begin testing.

I am sure they will be the first country in Asia to build a true Stealth Aircraft when the later versions roll out.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Not too sure on that since Japan is already working on its program and has some early risk reduction experience already with their scaled demonstrator. But regardless, they have done quite well. One advantage they had was the lack of immediate pressure to field a 5th generation aircraft both because of their primary threat, their acquisition and integration of stand-off missiles on their current fighter aircraft, and on account of their F-35A acquisition and now the F-35 B program. This buys them room to plan long term and field something that has Low Observable features, enhanced engines, and internally carried weapons by the middle of next decade when additional force structure begins to retire. This 4+ gen. version can begin replacing some of their oldest aircraft that are in immediate need of replacement.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by srai »

British seem to be one of the biggest wasters of its military spending. £1 billion Sentinel R1 fleet to the scrap heap.

Britain has one last contract for its Sentinel spy planes: Breaking them up

RAF’s Sentinel R1 fleet ends operational duties with final flight

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Rakesh »

srai wrote:British seem to be one of the biggest wasters of its military spending. £1 billion Sentinel R1 fleet to the scrap heap.
England is slowly, but surely, moving into irrelevance. France and Germany are the only major powers in Western Europe.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Rakesh »

The Israeli Air Force officially introduces The “Oron”: A Highly-Modified G550 with “Unprecedented ISR Capabilities”
https://theaviationist.com/2021/04/04/t ... abilities/
04 April 2021
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by brar_w »

srai wrote:British seem to be one of the biggest wasters of its military spending. £1 billion Sentinel R1 fleet to the scrap heap.
It's a smart decision given they are emphasizing investment on their Naval and Air platforms and reducing some of their land forces combat capability following a few decades of COIN operations. You can see that in their build up of the P-8 and MQ-9 capability and even the limited number of E-7's they are buying. Holding on to the Sentinel would have impacted both ASW/ASuW and A-MTI investments which are already under budgetary pressure as it is. With their P-8 acquisition, they now have a cost effective way of getting that GMTI capability back (with a more capable sensor and platform) at a later date , if they feel a need. It would require the addition of the AN/APS-154 AAS as the US Navy has already declared that capability operational. The Sentinel had a very narrow focus which does not fit with their overall investments and budget allocation priorities. Focus is very much on fielding the carrier strike force, new frigates, designing the Tempest, and other naval and air programs. Everything that isn't a viable capability 15 years out has either been chopped or is on the chopping block.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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The revolution in satellite technology means there are swarms of spacecraft no bigger than a loaf of bread in orbit
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The Superdove mini-satellite manufactured by Planet, a young company started in Cupertino, Calif., in 2010. (Handout)


By
Christian Davenport
April 6, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. CDT
The avalanche was a stunning disaster, 247 million cubic feet of glacial ice and snow hurtling down the Tibetan mountain range at 185 mph. Nine people and scores of animals were killed in an event that startled scientists around the world.

As they researched why the avalanche occurred with such force, a team of researchers studying climate change pored over images taken in the days and weeks before and saw ominous cracks had begun to form in the ice and snow. Then, scanning photos of a nearby glacier, they noticed similar crevasses forming, touching off a scramble to warn local authorities that it was also about to come crashing down.

The images of the glaciers in 2016 came from a constellation of satellites no bigger than a shoe box, in orbit 280 miles up. Operated by San Francisco-based company Planet, the satellites, called Doves, weigh just over 10 pounds each and fly in “flocks” that today include 175 satellites. If one fails, the company replaces it, and as better batteries, solar arrays and cameras become available, the company updates its satellites the way Apple unveils a new iPhone.

The revolution in technology that transformed personal computing, put smart speakers in homes and gave rise to the age of artificial intelligence and machine learning is also transforming space. While rockets and human exploration get most of the attention, a quiet and often overlooked transformation has taken place in the way satellites are manufactured and operated. The result is an explosion of data and imagery from orbit.

Just as computers have shrunk from room-size behemoths to an iPhone that can fit in your pocket, satellites, too, have shrunk dramatically. Instead of being the size of a garbage truck, costing as much as $400 million, satellites now are often no larger than a microwave or even a loaf of bread. They cost a fraction of their predecessors, as little as $1 million or less, and can be mass-produced in factories, or in some cases a garage or college classroom.

As the size and cost of satellites have come down, their numbers have grown dramatically. The number of satellites in operation more than doubled from 1,381 in 2015 to 3,371 by the end of last year, according to Bryce Space and Technology, a consulting firm that tracks the industry. In 2011, there were only 39 satellites launched that weighed less than 1,322 pounds, or 600 kg, according to Bryce. By 2017, that was 338, and by last year, as SpaceX began putting up hundreds of its Starlink satellites designed to beam the Internet to rural areas, the number leaped to more than 1,200.

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The industry is poised to continue its rapid growth as SpaceX and others put up constellations of thousands of satellites intended to serve areas without access to broadband. The incredibly shrinking satellite has given rise to less expensive rockets designed specifically to launch batches of small satellites. And competition among the launchers continues to drive down the cost of delivering a spacecraft to orbit.

Now the industry has caught the attention of venture capitalists, who have been funding companies like Planet and others. In recent weeks, two satellite companies, Spire Global and Black Sky, have gone public through a merger known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC.

Companies around the globe are working to develop small satellites. AAC Clyde Space, a Sweden-based company, has launched 10 satellites, some known as “cubesats,” for their small four-inch dimensions that weigh just a few pounds.

Like Planet, it offers “space as a service,” meaning people can buy access to the data from their satellites without worrying about launching or building the spacecraft themselves.

“You don’t have to get engaged in how to design the satellites, follow the production, take care of the testing,” said Rolf Hallencreutz, chairman of the company’s board. “You tell someone, ‘I need this kind of data.’ And we provide that data. For us, it changes the game because it allows us to serve multiple customers with the same constellation.”

The small satellite industry has also caught the attention of the Pentagon and intelligence agencies that would love to have swarms of small satellites, able to launch quickly and easily replaced, peering down behind enemy lines.

Planet was founded in 2010 by a trio of young scientists and engineers who were working at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley in what has become a classic tech start-up story: Young guys, driven by idealism, working late on their own time and harnessing their best nerdy tendencies to build their own satellites that were smaller and cheaper.

Yes, they did it in a garage in Cupertino, where Apple is headquartered. Since then, Planet has successfully launched 452 satellites and become the vanguard of the industry.

Now, it has more than 500 employees, and its total active users has grown an average of 40 percent per year since 2018.

Employees of Planet in a garage in Cupertino, Calif., where Apple is headquartered. (Handout)
The company’s satellites circle the globe in carefully designed orbits that “line-scan the Earth” — taking precise photographs of landmasses that together create an image of the planet every day. That gives scientists and researchers a look at conditions on the ground, so they can track changes to forests, coastal areas, shipping traffic and farmland in near real-time.

The images can help with border security, tracking refugees and disaster relief. Since the company has compiled a vast archive of images, stretching back years, its subscribers can visit the past, observing how it has changed — a searchable time lapse of Earth.

“The pictures don’t lie,” said Will Marshall, co-founder and chief executive of Planet.

Andreas Kaab, a glaciologist at the University of Oslo, discovered that as he was exploring what caused the devastating avalanche in Tibet. He and other scientists noticed “that the neighboring glacier seemed also to behave strangely,” he said in an email. They tried to reach local authorities in Tibet, going through contacts in China, to warn them that it was also about to collapse. But it took about a day before their message got through. By then, “the glacier had already collapsed,” he said.

Nobody was hurt, but the “case shows that high-resolution daily images are very important in disaster management, and they clearly have the potential for rapid early warnings.”

The Amazon Conservation Association, a nonprofit, uses the satellite imagery to monitor illegal logging and gold mines in the Andean Amazon. In the past, it used traditional government satellites that took pictures “every eight days, and if it’s cloudy, you have to wait another eight days,” said Matt Finer, director of the Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project.

Those images had 30-meter resolution, which was decent but not great when you are trying to count trees. Then the European Space Agency launched a satellite with improved resolution, showing objects 10 meters across. But Planet’s satellites were a welcomed improvement, three-meter resolution and images that are available daily.

“This is real-time monitoring on the scale of hours or days,” Finer said. “A lot of times, we’re looking at an image of today or yesterday.”

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A satellite photo of a volcanic eruption in Iceland captured by a Planet satellite. (Handout)

The government data was free, and the group had to pay a subscription fee for Planet’s images. But it was well worth it, Finer said. “You’re talking about leaps of improvement in your visual and analytical ability,” he said.

And using some of Planet’s next-generation satellites, which provide even higher resolutions, “we can see individual trees. We can see logging camps,” he said. Even the blue tarps that miners put up as makeshift roofs to protect from the rain and sun can be seen.

Given the high costs of satellites, traditional operators often rely on proven technology they know is reliable but may not be the most up-to-date, Marshall said.

“We’ve taken a different risk approach,” he said. “You’ve got more satellites coming in, and if a few of them fail, no big deal. That is what enables us to take the latest technology … and iterate fast.”

Small satellites are less expensive to launch — leading to a new model of small rockets designed to be less expensive and launch on demand. Rocket Lab, which launches out of New Zealand and soon out of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is the leader in this relatively new market.

Later this year, it plans to launch a satellite the size of a microwave to the moon. The satellite would fly in the same orbit around the moon that NASA expects to use for the space station called Gateway it intends to operate there.

Other rocket companies are entering fast, including Virgin Orbit, the start-up founded by Richard Branson.

Instead of launching its rocket vertically from a pad, the company tethers its boosters to the wing of a 747 airplane that carries it 40,000 feet or so. The rocket is dropped, then fires its engines and is off.

That gives the company the ability to launch nearly anywhere there is a runway — and that is of interest not just to scientists and conservationists who want to get satellites up quickly, but to the Pentagon and intelligence agencies as well.

After Virgin Orbit’s first successful launch in January, Gen. Jay Raymond, the Space Force’s chief of space operations, congratulated the company on Twitter. And Will Roper, then the Air Force’s top acquisition and technology official, tweeted that the capability “is a big disruptor — and hopefully a deterrent — for future space conflicts. The satellite equivalent of keep an ace up your sleeve … err, plane.”

Satellites already provide missile warning, GPS, communications and reconnaissance and guide precision munitions. But the smaller and more capable they become, the more the Pentagon is interested in using them.

“These small satellites are now mission-critical,” said Dan Hart, the chief executive of Virgin Orbit.

Another key benefit is that if one malfunctions, or is taken down by an adversary, “we can very quickly put another one up, and we can do it from anywhere on Earth,” he said. Using a 747 as a launcher, the Pentagon could also do it surreptitiously.

Much of the increase of satellites in orbit has been driven by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which has launched more than 1,000 of its Starlink satellites in the past year or so. The company intends to put up a constellation of thousands more, each weighing about 550 pounds, that would beam the Internet to remote and rural places on the ground that are not served by broadband.

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Late last year, SpaceX received $886 million from the Federal Communications Commission as part of an effort to help bring Internet service to underserved communities. The awards would bring “welcome news to millions of unconnected rural Americans who for too long have been on the wrong side of the digital divide,” then-FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said at the time.

Several other companies have similar plans.

OneWeb, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, has more than 100 satellites in orbit and plans to launch hundreds more. It says it can build a satellite in a day instead of the weeks or months it takes for larger spacecraft. And they cost about $1 million each, compared with the $150 million to $400 million for a larger satellites that live in more distant orbits, and are able to endure for years.

Amazon plans to launch a constellation it calls Kuiper that would put up some 3,200 satellites. It has until 2026 launch half of those to keep its approval from the FCC.

But it does not take millions of dollars to make and launch a satellite anymore.

The Education Department is sponsoring a competition among high schools across the country to build cubesat prototypes. It recently announced five finalists whose proposed small-satellite projects would determine whether homeless encampments in California are in high-risk wildfire areas, study the different ways urban and rural areas absorb heat, and determine how a North Carolina town’s population growth affects “air quality, land use and temperature.”

At the University of Michigan, Professor Brian Gilchrist’s engineering class worked to build a small satellite that would test using the Earth’s magnetic field for propulsion. If successful, it would have allowed small satellites to orbit Earth without having to carry fuel, allowing them to stay aloft for longer periods of time. It was a novel project for the class. “None of the students involved in this project had ever built a spacecraft before,” Gilchrist said.

The cost was about $500,000 to $600,000, paid in part by the university and NASA. Parts came from industrial mail order suppliers, including a few from Amazon, Gilchrist said.

Meantime, he said, some of them are back in the lab “and now are already working on ideas for the next one.”
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by NRao »

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by Pratyush »

This is the first time I am seeing this Beta eVTOL. The full scale test article has not made the flight flight till date. Yet UPS has purchased it and it is expected that UPS will have 150 of these.

A cursory examination of the UPS fleet mix shows no helos or short haul aircraft. So I must wonder where exactly this eVTOL will fit in the operations for UPS.

Now on to the design of the eVTOL itself. Such configuration has been tried in the past and nearly always rejected due to the following reasons.

Weight of the multiple engines being carried, by the aircraft. A compound aircraft with 4 top direct drive rotors, wings and pusher prop seems to be a mix of compromises. The wings wont be producing any lift during take off and landing. The top rotors will not be doing anything during horizontal flight. The motors become dead weight in horizontal flight. Similarly, the pusher prop is just weigh during takeoff and landing.

Have the designers solved all the issues which come from such designs that have made such platforms unsuccessful in the past.

I would think that a scaled down raider or Valor with electric motor would be a better choice for such an aircraft. Unless the objective is to land on top of buildings in the noise restricted environments.
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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

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Re: International Aerospace Discussion - Jan 2018

Post by NRao »

A minute+, interesting vid:

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