France is to order three Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft in 2020, the French defence minister has confirmed.Florence Parly made the commitment in an interview published in the Les Echos national newspaper.
The French Navy had been closely following the introduction of the E-2D into US Navy service, with the type to be adopted to replace the three E-2C Hawkeyes serving with Flottille 4F at Lann-Bihoué, near Lorient, in Brittany.
The E-2C has been in French Navy service for more than 20 years and the Marine Nationale is looking at the new E-2D as the obvious replacement. The newer variant is fitted with an entirely new AN/APY-9 radar with combined electronic/mechanical-scanning capabilities, more powerful processors, and an improved man-machine interface with larger screens. The airframe and engines remain the same, however, which will help accelerate and facilitate the transition from the E-2C to the E-2D.
Separately, Parly also confirmed that the contract for seven Dassault Falcon 2000LXS Albatros maritime surveillance aircraft will be inked in 2020. The type has been selected as part of the Avsimar (Avions de surveillance et d’intervention maritime, surveillance, and maritime intervention) programme to replace fast-ageing Guardians and Falcon 50s. Seven offshore patrol vessels will be ordered for surveillance missions in French overseas dependencies.
Parly also revealed that two upgraded Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and two NH90 Caïman helicopters will be delivered in 2020, bringing the number of Caïmans to 26 out of 27 planned. She also said the Suffren nuclear attack submarine will begin sea trials in February 2020 and that it should be officially delivered to the Marine Nationale in August.
Admiral Olivier Goutay, commander of the French Naval Aviation, explained in a recent interview that “Compared to the Alizé [that used to be] in service on board [the former] carriers Foch and Clemenceau , the E-2C offered considerably improved operational capabilities, allowing us to better understand the tactical environment around the task force. The E-2D will bring even more advanced operational capabilities against the latest airborne and surface threats. The E-2D will be operated by Flottille 4F and flown from the Charles de Gaulle and her successor. The Marine Nationale is also conducting a study to determine what advantages the unit might have moving from Lann-Bihoué to Landivisiau where the Navy Rafale M fleet is stationed.”
Comment
U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman has been awarded a $1,3 billion U.S. Navy contract modification for non-recurring and recurring engineering for the production and delivery of nine Japan configuration E-2D Advanced Hawkeye aircraft under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS).
This modification definitizes a previously awarded modification (P00003) for long lead parts associated with the Japan E-2D aircraft.
In November 2014, the Japan Ministry of Defense competitively selected the Northrop Grumman E-2D to fulfill an emerging next-generation airborne early warning requirement.
Japan has operated the Northrop Grumman E-2C Hawkeye since 1983 and is the largest E-2 operator outside the U.S. The E-2D delivers a two-generation leap in radar technology, allowing the aircraft to track threats at extended range. The aircraft can also be used in a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capacity for civilian emergency coordination.
The E-2D offers interoperability with next-generation aircraft systems and U.S. Navy allies to support regional security cooperation. To ensure long-term success of the Japan E-2D fleet, Northrop Grumman is providing continued support to JASDF in the areas of sustainment and maintenance, in coordination with several Japanese firms.
Furthermore, Northrop Grumman Corporation completed its first delivery of an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye to the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) on March 29, 2019.
Currently, the E-2D is the most advanced Airborne Command and Control platform that the U.S. and Japan have in its inventory.
E-2D Hawkeyes have eight-bladed, turbofan propellers and twin engines, giving it over 300 knots of air speed. While it is not as fast as a jet, it gets better fuel flow, meaning it can stay airborne long enough to complete their mission.
The Northrop Grumman’s website said the E-2D gives the warfighter expanded battlespace awareness, especially in the area of information operations delivering battle management, theater air and missile defense, and multiple sensor fusion capabilities in an airborne system.
Elon Musk wrote:‘It’s Basically an I.C.B.M. That Lands’
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) is expected to complete construction of the first KF-X fighter aircraft prototype by the first half of 2021 and conduct the first test flight of the platform a year later, South Korea's Defence Acquisition Programme Administration (DAPA) confirmed in a 26 September statement.
DAPA said that the critical design phase of the aircraft has now been completed, allowing the KF-X/IF-X project, which stands for Korean Fighter eXperimental/Indonesian Fighter eXperimental, to move on to the next phase: prototype construction.
Development of the single-seat, twin-engined, multirole aircraft began in January 2016, with the preliminary design of the KF-X being finalised in June 2018. Production work on the first prototype began in February 2018, with KAI announcing at the time that it had started manufacturing the aircraft's bulk head.
As Jane's reported, the KF-X development programme envisages the production of six prototypes, followed by four years of trials and the completion of development by mid-2026. Serial production of the aircraft will take place during 2026-32, with an initial 120 units intended to replace the Republic of Korea Air Force's (RoKAF's) ageing fleets of F-4E Phantom and F-5E Tiger II aircraft.
Total production is expected to exceed 350 units, including a quota for exports.
Indonesia is currently renegotiating its involvement in the programme, although Jakarta remains committed to honouring its payment obligations set out under a 2015 financial agreement.
Under this original agreement, which is now subject to renegotiation, Indonesia committed to paying for 20% of the total development costs, which are estimated at about USD8 billion. The South Korean government would pay for 60% of the development programme, with prime contractor KAI covering the remaining 20%.
KAI's industry partner on the project is PT Dirgantara Indonesia.
brar_w wrote:Just look at historic growth between test points and flight test hours between the F-16, F-18E, F-22 and F-35 dev/ops test programs. There is no chance in hell that KAI can actually fashion together a development and operational test program of a proper 5th generation multi-role fighter (with IWB, internal sensors etc etc etc) and get all of that done in under a decade unless they are sitting on a huge leap in M&S and simulation test capability that the rest of the world does not have. And the clock really does not even begin ticking until they have a set of production representative test articles so don't expect this thing to be operational with its fully advertised capability before the middle of the 2030's. You are not going to convince the test community to validate test points with non production representative tech demonstrators and you cannot even begin doing fatigue testing on them.
Aditya_V wrote:I influence to push Boieng out of both the F-22 and the F-35, they probably have a lot clout in the US government and are pushing for these deals.
Aditya_V wrote:The other 5 gen programs were developed at a time when engines produced less power, AeSA radars were unheard of,...
The International Fighter Conference 2019 returns to Berlin to discuss the future of Combat Air Power across the spectrum of operations. The utility of Combat Air, air-integration into multi-domain operations, and continuing interest in both next generation and light attack platforms calls for a broad range of discussion suited to the 250 attendees that gather each year from both large and small air forces alike. The Conference, now in its 19th year, has built a reputation as the world’s premier event for all elements of the fighter aircraft community, with attendance spanning from the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and parts of Asia.
Investment in expensive high-end platforms needs to be balanced with a requirement for platforms adept and efficient in low-intensity conflict. What is consistent is that information and connectivity is at the heart of operations. This year’s wide-ranging programme uniquely covers the key and emerging issues related to airpower delivery for military leaders and industry. Over the few conference days, we will exchange perspectives and gain insights towards meeting the challenges of operations now and in the future, addressing integration of next generation assets with existing platforms, light attack aircraft, electro-magnetic spectrum dominance, cyber integration, advanced training, LVC, cost-effective capability development, disruptive technologies and mission planning. The next generation programmes, including FCAS, Tempest, and F-X will be discussed and will provide an incredible opportunity to revolutionise airpower delivery and open the door for international opportunities.
The conference format runs 12-14 November with the 14 November comprising a day of focus sessions: a dedicated morning for smaller air forces to examine the Ford vs. Ferrari debate and a focus afternoon, evaluating the role of disruptive technologies in future airpower delivery.
brar_w wrote:Just look at historic growth between test points and flight test hours between the F-16, F-18E, F-22 and F-35 dev/ops test programs. There is no chance in hell that KAI can actually fashion together a development and operational test program of a proper 5th generation multi-role fighter (with IWB, internal sensors etc etc etc) and get all of that done in under a decade unless they are sitting on a huge leap in M&S and simulation test capability that the rest of the world does not have. And the clock really does not even begin ticking until they have a set of production representative test articles so don't expect this thing to be operational with its fully advertised capability before the middle of the 2030's. You are not going to convince the test community to validate test points with non production representative tech demonstrators and you cannot even begin doing fatigue testing on them.
But from my observation standpoint (having followed 5th gen fighter programs for over two decades) there are two universal themes that keep recurring -
1) That 5th gen aircraft, integrated mission systems, performance, IWB and LO shaping, and materials is some SERIOUS hard work and the complexity and technical hurdles have consumed a lot of time of everyone that has taken on the challenge
and
2) The operator community and the civilian administrators put in charge of them have almost universally underestimated the magnitude of the challenge as has been reflected in their initial estimates for both cost and schedule. Again all well intentioned folks wanting to get everything right and on time. This stuff is just hard because you are inventing in many cases and iterating on the fly.
Denel Dynamics completed the formal qualification review of the A-Darter imaging infrared (IIR) short-range air-to-air missile (SRAAM) in August, followed by certification in September by the South African Air Force's (SAAF's) Directorate Systems Integrity and the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Development and Coordination. The two Type Certificates were handed over to Denel Dynamics in Brasilia on 29 September, with South Africa's Armscor simultaneously formally handing over the A-Darter data pack to the Brazilian Department of Aerospace Science and Technology.
The A-Darter has already been integrated, qualified, and cleared on the Saab JAS39 Gripen C/D fighters that are used by the SAAF, and the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) will now work with Saab to similarly integrate the missile with its Gripen E/F fighters. It is understood that at least one other country has already expressed interest in the A-Darter.
The A-Darter is a fifth-generation 23 km range SRAAM that weighs 93 kg and has a length of 2.98m, diameter of 16.6cm, and a wingspan of 48.8 cm across the tail fins. The missile features a multi-element, two-colour thermal imaging infrared seeker with a 180° look angle and 120°/second track rate. High agility - 100 G - is provided by using body lift and thrust vector control. The IMU will handle up to 9,000°/sec (+/- 500°/sec) and linear accelerations up to 30 G. The motor composition and design have been optimised to minimise the launch signature. It has a laser proximity fuze and multi-mode ECCM using digital processing and the latest available hardware and software.
The guidance system offers lock-on-before-launch and lock-on-after-launch modes, and can be cued onto a target using the aircraft's radar, an infrared search and track (IRST) system if fitted, or through pilot's helmet sight.
brar_w wrote:The MWF builds on the LCA, the KFX is going to be their first attempt at a whole host of new fifth gen capability much of which cannot be demonstrated on test beds hence the need for a few demonstrators to validate tech unless they are willing to assume significant risk by bypassing this step. Basically a good ballpark for 5th gen fighter IOC is between 10-15 years from first flight. That is how much it has taken everyone else, none of whom were moving slow for the sake of moving slow. I’d reiterate my observations from an earlier post on this topic -But from my observation standpoint (having followed 5th gen fighter programs for over two decades) there are two universal themes that keep recurring -
1) That 5th gen aircraft, integrated mission systems, performance, IWB and LO shaping, and materials is some SERIOUS hard work and the complexity and technical hurdles have consumed a lot of time of everyone that has taken on the challenge
and
2) The operator community and the civilian administrators put in charge of them have almost universally underestimated the magnitude of the challenge as has been reflected in their initial estimates for both cost and schedule. Again all well intentioned folks wanting to get everything right and on time. This stuff is just hard because you are inventing in many cases and iterating on the fly.
CREATING THE FIRST FIFTH-GENERATION FIGHTER: 8 LESSONS
LEARNED FROM THE F-35 PROGRAMME
Lieutenant General (Ret’d) Chris Bogdan, Former PEO F-35
Lightning II Joint Program Office, U.S. Air Force
DESIGNING THE EUROPEAN NEW GENERATION FIGHTER: THE
FCAS PROGRAMME 13
PART 1: ACHIEVING AIR SUPERIORITY AT THE HORIZON 2040
Major General Jean-Pascal Breton, Programme Lead FCAS, French
Air Force
PART 2: ENABLING EUROPEAN AIR FORCES TO FIND AN ANSWER TO
FUTURE AIR POWER CHALLENGES
Bruno Fichefeux, Head of Future Combat Air Systems, Airbus
Defence and Space
PREPARING FOR THE POST-TYPHOON ERA: THE TEMPEST
PROGRAMME
Air Commodore Dan Storr, Head Combat Air Acquisition
Programme, UK MoD
South Korea will begin the second phase of its plan to acquire stealthy fighter jets, code-named F-X III, by acquiring 20 more F-35s, the country’s arms procurement agency has confirmed.
The Asian economic power had ordered 40 F-35As for Air Force operations under a 2014 deal worth about $6.4 billion, with the delivery of the fifth-generation fighters starting earlier this year.
“The government is preparing to launch the second phase of the F-X III in 2021 for the five years to come,” the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, or DAPA, said in a report to the National Assembly on Oct. 7. About $3.3 billion will go toward buying the additional Lockheed Martin-made aircraft, the report noted.
Which F-35 variant is under consideration has been a point of debate here, though multiple defense sources say the government will buy the F-35A rather than the "B" variant because of the former’s short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing capability. The STOVL ability allows the aircraft to take off and land from South Korea’s new large-deck landing ship planned for deployment in the 2030s.
“The state-funded Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, or KIDA, has concluded a study on the additional acquisition of F-35 aircraft, and the study is to suggest the introduction of more F-35As be more feasible,” a source at the Ministry of National Defense told Defense News on the condition of anonymity. In July, the South Korean military approved a plan to construct a carrier-type landing platform helicopter ship as part of its long-term force buildup plan. The new vessel is to be refit to displace 30,000 tons, double the capacity of the previous two types with 14,500 tons of displacement.
“There are two issues [with getting] the F-35B. First, it’s more expensive than the conventional-takeoff-and-landing version. Second, the deployment of a carrier-type landing ship is far away from now,” the source said.
On Oct. 1, the Air Force showcased its F-35As for the first time since it received the fighters during an Armed Forces Day ceremony.The service has so far brought in eight units, with five more arriving here by year’s end. Fourteen more aircraft are scheduled to be delivered to South Korea next year, according to the service.
“For its operational deployment, we are now carrying out related processes such as training pilots and maintenance technicians and the construction of facilities and relevant systems,” the service said in a report submitted to lawmakers on Oct. 10. “As a centerpiece of the country’s strategic targeting scheme against potential enemy forces, the radar-evading warplane is expected to boost operational capabilities and strengthen the readiness posture against threats from all directions.”
The F-35A can fly at a top speed of Mach 1.8 and carry top-of-the-line weapons systems such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition.
North Korea has decried the deployment of F-35 aircraft in South Korea due to the jet’s capability to evade radars and penetrate its territory. In July, Pyongyang threatened to destroy all the F-35As arriving in South Korea.
A senior North Korean official was quoted by the state-run media as saying that the North has “no other choice but to develop and test the special armaments to completely destroy the lethal weapons reinforced in South Korea.”
North Korea test-fired new short-range ballistic missiles and guided rockets in recent months. The weapons take aim at the F-35 base in particular, experts say.
The ballistic missile, identified as KN-23, appears to have been modeled after Russia’s SS-26/Iskander. It’s believed to be capable of maneuvering at different altitudes and trajectories during flight so as to evade anti-ballistic missiles.
Airbus and Dassault have called on the German and French governments to commit to additional funding and the launch of the demonstrator phase for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien Futur (SCAF) programme.
In a joint statement issued on 7 October both companies proclaimed their desire to achieve speedy, concrete progress on the project, saying that a high-level ministerial meeting to be held between Germany and France later in the month should provide a spur to achieving this.
"The upcoming Franco-German ministerial council meeting should serve as a catalyst for this joint desire to move forward by rapidly launching this demonstrator phase and committing the partner nations to a reliable funding plan to confirm the sustainable and coherent nature of this European development programme," the statement read.
Dirk Hoke, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, and Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, added; "We call on our political leaders to make every effort to launch these demonstrators at the earliest opportunity in what will be a key step in moving this ambitious project forward."
As noted by the companies in their statement, a Franco-German industrial organisation has been defined under the respective national leadership of Dassault Aviation and Airbus (France is to lead development of the New Generation Fighter [NGF], with Germany leading the wider FCAS). A Franco-German Joint Concept Study (JCS) was launched in January 2019 to define the main features of the system.
"Airbus and Dassault Aviation wish to underline how quickly both companies had jointly concluded agreements and prepared themselves to move forward," the statement read, adding, "However, future technologies need to be developed now for subsequent flight testing and qualification. This maturation phase is essential to de-risk and anticipate developments of such complexity.
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTOS), a leading National Security Solutions provider, announced today that the Kratos / AFRL team has successfully completed Valkyrie Flight 3. During the 90 minute flight, the XQ-58A executed a perfect launch and met 56 of 56 baseline test points, plus two additional test points with excess fuel remaining after completion of the mission. After successful completion of the flight, the recovery parachute system worked flawlessly, and the aircraft descended nominally under the canopy system. In final descent, the prototype cushion system, which was employed for the initial test series but is not intended for ultimate operational use, suffered an anomaly resulting in the aircraft sustaining damage upon touchdown. The XQ-58A Valkyrie, like all Kratos’ heritage drones and Kratos’ high performance jet target drones, are designed to be quickly repaired and reused if damage is sustained after performing operational missions. The Valkyrie has been recovered, and the damage has been initially evaluated and determined to be fully repairable. Kratos plans to address the cushion system prior to Flight 4 and complete its test flight series with the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) while continuing to execute with its other Valkyrie customers.
“Based on the flights performed to date and the resulting data generated, we do not need to revise any of the airborne control systems, which is amazing for any newly developed system, but especially so for UAS. We believe that our customer set is extremely pleased with the XQ-58A’s system performance to date. The reliability of the cushion system is an area we must improve, and we’ll be working with our subcontractor to perfect the system before Flight 4. However, this is specifically why flight test series are performed: to address any issues ahead of full operational capability being achieved and ensure our Armed Forces are using the most reliable technologies available.”
LINK
TAIPEI, Taiwan—Taiwan has begun early research on fighter engine development in support of a possible program for a potential indigenous combat aircraft.
The engine work began last year, said Eddie Chien, director general of the island’s defense technology agency, the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (Ncsist).
It started ahead of other research because propulsion is seen as the greatest area of difficulty for indigenous development, Chien added. Ncsist said in 2017 that it already had a specific (but undisclosed) propulsion research program underway, so the agency appears to have shifted to a broader effort in 2018.
The entire program for acquiring fighter technology is at a very preliminary stage, Chien emphasized, noting that spending is limited by other defense priorities. Universities are doing part of the work.
Concepts for the future fighter are being considered broadly; there is no immediate design that researchers are working toward. The government has set no timetable for developing such an aircraft, but the air force’s current fighter inventory seems likely to need replacement no later than the 2030s.
If Taiwan eventually launches full-scale development of a combat aircraft, the government’s Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC)—which developed the F-CK-1 fighter with help from Lockheed Martin—will almost certainly be the prime contractor. More immediate experience has been gained by AIDC and Ncsist with an F-CK-1 upgrade and, now underway, the development of the Advanced Jet Trainer by AIDC.
Electronic systems are seen as the second most difficult area, though Ncsist has extensive experience in surface-to-air radar technology that can serve as the basis for an air-to-air radar. Asked whether this could include development of radars using gallium-nitride as a semiconductor, a technology that is appearing elsewhere, Chien said the agency could do that if the government wanted it to do so.
Ncsist understands aerodynamic design well, so that should present a lower degree of difficulty. As for weapons, the agency has a considerable background in developing missile systems.
Taiwan’s economy is only about as big as Poland’s. But it is spending on technology for the possible future indigenous aircraft because it fears that the U.S., faced with pressure from China, may decline to supply fighters.
Taiwan has had such an experience already. The administrations of U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both refused to supply Lockheed Martin F-16s requested in 2006, the latter instead authorizing an upgrade of F-16s already in Taiwan’s inventory. The current U.S. administration is moving to sell 66 F-16 Block 70s to Taiwan, however.
A report last year by Rand Corp., a U.S. think tank, recommended that Taiwan emphasize surface-to-air systems rather than fighters for air defense.
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Oct 10, 2019
Tony Osborne
Poland has laid out yet another new plan for the modernization of the country’s armed forces, with the aim of spending 524 billion zlotys ($133 billion) on equipment through 2035.
Under the new plan, details of which were announced on Oct. 10 by Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, aerospace programs are given a high priority.
As well as charging ahead with the purchase of 32 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the U.S., the plan also calls for additional F-16 Fighting Falcons and the development of a loyal wingman unmanned aircraft system under the Harpi Szpon program.
A previous iteration of Poland’s defense plan published last summer called for 185 billion Polish Zloty ($47 billion) to be spent through 2026.
Błaszczak said laying out a long-term plan would open the way to “creating a legal basis for concluding long-term contracts.”
Until now, Błaszczak said, the modernization of the armed forces had been impacted by “delays, incompetence, helplessness and lack of interest” from previous administrations.
Błaszczak said significant progress on the purchase of the F-35s had already been made. He added that finalization of the aircraft contract—expected to be the largest defense contract in Polish history—was now a “matter of time.” The letter of offer and acceptance to proceed with the Foreign Military Sale is expected to be signed before year’s end, with deliveries expected in 2024.
No details have been provided about the number of additional F-16s or whether they would be new-build or secondhand aircraft. Poland already operates 48 Block 52 models. The country could purchase Block 70 aircraft, but would end up flying a mixed fleet unless the Block 52s were bought up to the Block 70/72/F-16V standard. Officials have previously suggested secondhand aircraft could also be in the cards.
The Harpi Szpon program calls for the purchase of a low-observable unmanned aircraft system in the class of the U.S. Kratos XQ-58 or the Australian Boeing Air Teaming System. Polish officials say the platform should be able to perform both reconnaissance and combat tasks, and attack “well-protected targets without exposing pilots to danger.”
The Observer program appears to call for a layered intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance system using satellites, smallsats, reconnaissance aircraft and a mixed fleet of unmanned aircraft systems, but does not outline the type of equipment or numbers to be purchased. Projects such as Kruk—Polish for Raven—to purchase a new fleet of attack helicopters will also proceed once existing programs to buy helicopters for the country’s special forces and navy have been completed, Błaszczak said. No mention has been made of a new program to replace transport helicopters such as Poland’s fleet of Soviet-era Mil Mi-8 models or the Mil Mi-2 scout helicopters.
Programs to develop a multilayered air defense system are also proceeding. Wisla/Vistula is to deliver a medium-range air defense system and Narew a short-range air defense system, of which around a dozen will be acquired, Błaszczak said. Purchase of the Patriot air and missile defense system is continuing.
Officials are also looking to buy containerized weapons with submunitions that allow for the attack of large groups of mechanized and armored vehicles. It is unclear whether the Groszek program, Polish for “spot,” is linked to the U.S.-made CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon. Such a weapon was listed in the package of weaponry included in Poland’s purchase of the F-16. The country is not a signatory to the convention on Cluster Munitions. Warsaw also wants to purchase loitering munitions.
Other buys planned include tactical missile launchers capable of striking targets 300 km away, as well as new surfaces and anti-tank systems. Warsaw also wants a new infantry armored fighting vehicle and a tank destroyer capable of destroying multiple tanks with salvos of missiles.
Kartik wrote:FCAS partners appeal to govts to move programme forwardAirbus and Dassault have called on the German and French governments to commit to additional funding and the launch of the demonstrator phase for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS)/Système de Combat Aérien Futur (SCAF) programme.
...
As the plan currently stands, the first phase of the demonstrator phase is now due. This is to be followed by the release of a common operational document due in 2020. A demonstrator platform will fly in about 2026, and between 2026 and 2030 the design will be fine-tuned ahead of the specifications being frozen in time for an in-service date of between 2040 and 2045.
Netherlands to Buy Nine More F-35s
The Dutch government has confirmed it will purchase an additional nine F-35s for its air force, making it the first European air service to increase its F-35 order.
The additional nine F-35s, which will bring the Dutch fleet to 46 aircraft, are being purchased thanks to an increase in defense spending announced in September. The aircraft will reduce the burden on the F-35 fleet, particularly if they are deployed on operations, State Secretary for Defense Barbara Visser told the Netherlands House of Representatives on Oct. 8. It will also allow the air force to react more quickly to conflicts.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force wants to be able to deploy at least four F-35s on a long-term mission.
The purchase of the nine additional aircraft will cost around €1 billion ($1.10 billion), Visser says. The cost includes spares, additional training resources and infrastructure.
“By adding nine aircraft to the current fleet, the defense organization is better able to perform constitutional tasks,” the Dutch defense ministry says. It added that the purchase means “the foundation is laid for a third F-35 squadron,” hinting at possible additional future orders. Until now, the Netherlands had only purchased enough aircraft for two frontline squadrons.
No details on when the additional aircraft will be delivered have been released. But the last of the 37 aircraft currently ordered is due to arrive in mid-2023 from the assembly line in Italy, where 29 of the Dutch aircraft are being built.
As one of the nine original F-35 partner nations, the Netherlands had originally pledged to purchase 85 aircraft to replace its locally assembled F-16 Fighting Falcons.
Dutch F-35s will be based at two bases on Dutch soil at Leeuwarden and Volkel. A handful will also be located in the U.S. to support training.
—Tony Osborne in London
The U.S. Navy’s final F/A-18C Hornet made its last active-duty flight on Oct. 2 at NAS Oceana, Virginia.
Aircraft number 300 was assigned to Strike Fighter Sqdn. (VFA) 106, entering service in October 1988—the same year that Lt. Andrew Jalali, who flew its final flight—was born.
The squadron, which trains Navy pilots to fly Super Hornets, transferred more than 50 F/A-18 Hornets to Navy Reserve and U.S. Marine Corps units during the last year. The squadron has already received updated F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets. But this aircraft, tail number 300, will be stripped for parts and then scrapped, the Navy says.
Kartik wrote:brar_w wrote:Just look at historic growth between test points and flight test hours between the F-16, F-18E, F-22 and F-35 dev/ops test programs. There is no chance in hell that KAI can actually fashion together a development and operational test program of a proper 5th generation multi-role fighter (with IWB, internal sensors etc etc etc) and get all of that done in under a decade unless they are sitting on a huge leap in M&S and simulation test capability that the rest of the world does not have. And the clock really does not even begin ticking until they have a set of production representative test articles so don't expect this thing to be operational with its fully advertised capability before the middle of the 2030's. You are not going to convince the test community to validate test points with non production representative tech demonstrators and you cannot even begin doing fatigue testing on them.
4 years was not even possible for 4th gen fighters. Not a single 4th gen fighter was put into service from first flight in 4 years. Even with the KAI KF-X being a quasi 5th gen fighter (no internal weapons carriage initially), it seems like they're setting themselves up for not being able to meet such timelines. Add to it the fact that they have done no full scale development work entirely on their own, with extensive hand holding from LM on the T-50. their partner from Indonesia is providing funding and engineers but brings little fast jet design and development experience to the table.
Regarding Production standard prototypes, I wonder whether they have just 1 or 2 Technology Demonstrator type prototypes planned. For the Medium Weight Fighter (Tejas Mk2) the plan is to go straight to Production Standard Prototypes.
Fitted with a homegrown active electronically scanned array, or AESA, radar, the jet has a max take-off weight of 25,600 kg and a max payload of 7,700 kg, according to KAI. The jet can fly as fast as Mach 1.8 and has a cruising distance of 2,900 km.
The KF-X Block I will not have an internal weapons carriage, which is planned for subsequent production blocks. The initial version will also lack air-to-ground striking capability since the homegrown long-range air-to-ground missile is to be developed by the mid-2020s. The Korean version of the Taurus air-to-ground missile is being developed by LIG Nex1, the country’s precision guided weapons maker....
Despite development progress, there are signs of challenges in the jet fighter program, including a potential funding loophole. That’s because Indonesia, the only international partner of the KF-X, has been backtracking from its original commitment to investing 20 percent of the development costs. KAI is obliged to pay for 20 percent, and the government is to fund the remainder.
Under a 2016 deal, Indonesia is obliged to pay around $1.3 billion to acquire up to 48 jets called IF-X in Indonesia and get the transfer of fighter jet technologies.
But the South Asian nation has paid only $190 million, some 13 percent of its financial commitment, citing domestic budgetary constraints. As of July, Indonesia has funding shortfall of $250 million, according to DAPA officials.
Jakarta, instead of cash, has offered to make payment in kind, including the provision of CN235 transport aircraft produced by Indonesian Aerospace, also known as PTDI, under a license.
https://www.defensenews.com/2019/10/15/ ... ves-along/
In the high desert of California, where some of the most important aircraft in aviation history have been built and flown, the next airplane destined to take its place among those aeronautical icons continues to take shape on a legendary factory floor.
That airplane is NASA’s X-59 QueSST (short for Quiet SuperSonic Technology), an experimental piloted aircraft designed to fly faster than sound without producing the annoying – if not sometimes alarming – sonic booms of previous supersonic aircraft.
That factory is better known as the Skunk Works, a renowned Lockheed Martin division that for the past 76 years has used an out-of-the-box approach to design and manufacturing that has produced the nation’s most advanced airplanes.
Now that legacy continues as the company assembles the X-59 for NASA in Palmdale, California, where, for the first time since the initial machined parts were delivered in November 2018, workers can see the familiar outline of an airplane forming.
“It’s pretty obvious when you look at it on the production floor. You can see there’s an aircraft starting to get built,” said Craig Nickol, NASA’s project manager for the X-59, which also is known as the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator.
And with the recent completion in September of a major project milestone – known as the Critical Design Review, or CDR – the X-59 will rapidly accelerate its evolution from an airplane on paper toward an airplane ready to roll out of the factory and take flight.
“The CDR showed us the design was mature enough to continue into the next phase and essentially finish the assembly,” Nickol said, noting the next milestone will come in December when an independent review board will present their findings from the CDR – a gathering known as a Key Decision Point.
“They’ll go through their review of the CDR, present any findings or issues that need to be addressed and then will make a recommendation if we should proceed with the project,” Nickol said.
Based on the results from the CDR, no show-stopping issues were identified and the pace of assembly work on the X-59 is already ramping up.
“I think now the rubber is really hitting the road as we have dozens of parts coming in each week that we’ve completed the design engineering on and will be ready for installation,” said Mike Buonanno, a Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer who is the company’s vehicle lead for the X-59.
“We’re on track to meet all the key performance requirements of the airplane, including those driven by its shape, which is so essential to the mission of the X-59,” Buonanno said.
The X-59’s mission is to gather data that has the potential to aid in the opening of a new era of commercial supersonic air travel over land.
Here’s the deal:
During the 1960’s, as both the United States and Europe were developing a civilian supersonic transport – the SST and Concorde, respectively – the general public made it known they did not want to endure the constant annoyance of sonic booms from airplanes flying over their work and homes.
So, in 1973, after several years of research and due process, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned aircraft from flying over land faster than Mach 1 – the speed of sound, which can vary based on temperature and atmospheric conditions. That would prevent the loud sonic booms.
Although the SST program was cancelled in 1971, the Concorde went on to fly for British Airways and Air France from 1976 to 2003, its supersonic cruising near the United States limited to only over the Atlantic Ocean.
Still, the demand for commercial supersonic air travel continued, which prompted this question: What if you could fly a supersonic airplane that didn’t produce loud sonic booms? What if, for those on the ground below, those sonic booms were quiet enough not to be an annoyance, or perhaps not heard at all?
That’s what the X-59 is going to help find out.
Based on decades of research into supersonic flight that included work in wind tunnels, testing concepts on aircraft in flight, and using powerful supercomputers to run simulations, NASA’s aeronautical innovators think they’ve come up with a solution.
By carefully designing the aircraft’s shape and overall configuration, engineers have found a way to manipulate the shockwaves coming off an airplane flying supersonic so they don’t produce sonic booms as intense as those the public is wary of.
It will be the X-59’s job to validate those theories, and once that’s done the airplane will go on the road, so to speak, and be flown over several U.S. communities (yet to be selected) so residents below can provide reactions to what they might or might not hear.
That data will then be passed on to the FAA and international regulators who, it is hoped, will use that information to help rewrite the rules so that supersonic flight over land is regulated based on noise levels and not the arbitrary speed of Mach 1.
When that happens, a major hurdle will be cleared for the nation’s aviation community to move forward in establishing a new market for commercial supersonic flight over land, where people and packages can get to their destinations in half the time...
LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) says it’s ready to proceed into final assembly and testing of its first Dream Chaser cargo spacecraft, as the company retains plans to eventually develop a crewed version of the vehicle.
At a media event at a company facility here, SNC took possession of the primary structure of the first orbital Dream Chaser vehicle. That structure was built for SNC by Lockheed Martin and recently shipped from a Lockheed facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to SNC.
“This is a really, really complex structure,” said Steve Lindsey, SNC senior vice president of space exploration systems. The company described the structure as one of the most complex all-composite structures ever built in the aerospace industry, serving as the fuselage of the vehicle and the structure around which the rest of the vehicle will be assembled.
Lockheed Martin contributed to the construction using both its space and aeronautics expertise, the latter coming from a facility that makes composite structures for the F-35 fighter aircraft. “We took our space knowhow in our Lockheed Martin space business area and integrated that with our aeronautics division and their manufacturing capabilities to bond composites together,” said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of commercial civil space at Lockheed Martin.
John Curry, the Dream Chaser program director for its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) 2 contract with NASA, said the other components of the vehicle, including the two wings and a separate cargo module, will arrive late this year and early next year. The goal, he said, is to have the vehicle fully assembled and tested by April 2021.
SNC will then fly the vehicle on a C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio for three months of environmental testing. That will include acoustics, vibration and thermal vacuum tests. From there, the spacecraft will be flown to the Kennedy Space Center for final preparations for its launch on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket no earlier than September 2021.That mission is the first of at least six under the company’s CRS-2 contract to transport cargo to and from the International Space Station. It will join Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus and SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which have been providing cargo delivery services for several years under the original CRS contract and will continue to do so, with some upgrades, under CRS-2.
Kirk Shireman, NASA’s ISS program manager, welcomed the upcoming addition of the Dream Chaser to the fleet of vehicles supporting the station. “This vehicle really offers unique capabilities,” he said. Its cargo capacity to the station of 5,500 kilograms will be the largest of any of the cargo vehicles, and its ability to land on runways will give crews immediate access to cargo. “We’re really looking forward to having this capability.”
Those missions can, in theory, be handled by a single Dream Chaser vehicle. Curry noted that the vehicle is designed to fly at least 15 times. However, the company expects to build more to meet additional demand it foresees developing.
“We’re already working with Lockheed and others, looking at that second structure and when we’re going to start that. Our intent has always been to build a second vehicle,” Lindsey said. Additional vehicles will depend on demand, but, he said, “our intent is to build a fleet of these.”
While SNC received some NASA commercial crew awards to start development of Dream Chaser, Lindsey said the company has invested a “huge amount of money” to complete this first orbital vehicle. “We’re investing over a billion dollars of our own money into this program.”
SNC is still holding out hope that it will still be able to develop a crewed version of the vehicle that was set aside after losing out to Boeing and SpaceX for commercial crew contracts in 2014. The CRS-2 contract, Lindsey said, allows SNC to complete development of the cargo version of the vehicle, whose design is about 85% common with the crewed version.
“I do think this is a great people mover,” Curry said. “So I think one of these days, once we fly our missions to the space station, it’ll be like ‘Field of Dreams’: build it and they will come. I think we’ll be flying crew soon enough.”
While there’s no near-term NASA opportunity for a crewed version of Dream Chaser, Shireman said with an extension of the ISS beyond 2024, which looks likely, there may be opportunities to add new commercial crew providers in much the way SNC was added to the contracts for cargo delivery. “We haven’t forgotten about it,” he said.
brar_w wrote:French Navy firms up plans to buy E-2D Advanced Hawkeye; Jane's Navy International;Henri-Pierre Grolleau, ParisFrance is to order three Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early-warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft in 2020, the French defence minister has confirmed.Florence Parly made the commitment in an interview published in the Les Echos national newspaper.
The French Navy had been closely following the introduction of the E-2D into US Navy service, with the type to be adopted to replace the three E-2C Hawkeyes serving with Flottille 4F at Lann-Bihoué, near Lorient, in Brittany.
The E-2C has been in French Navy service for more than 20 years and the Marine Nationale is looking at the new E-2D as the obvious replacement. The newer variant is fitted with an entirely new AN/APY-9 radar with combined electronic/mechanical-scanning capabilities, more powerful processors, and an improved man-machine interface with larger screens. The airframe and engines remain the same, however, which will help accelerate and facilitate the transition from the E-2C to the E-2D.
Separately, Parly also confirmed that the contract for seven Dassault Falcon 2000LXS Albatros maritime surveillance aircraft will be inked in 2020. The type has been selected as part of the Avsimar (Avions de surveillance et d’intervention maritime, surveillance, and maritime intervention) programme to replace fast-ageing Guardians and Falcon 50s. Seven offshore patrol vessels will be ordered for surveillance missions in French overseas dependencies.
Parly also revealed that two upgraded Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft and two NH90 Caïman helicopters will be delivered in 2020, bringing the number of Caïmans to 26 out of 27 planned. She also said the Suffren nuclear attack submarine will begin sea trials in February 2020 and that it should be officially delivered to the Marine Nationale in August.
Admiral Olivier Goutay, commander of the French Naval Aviation, explained in a recent interview that “Compared to the Alizé [that used to be] in service on board [the former] carriers Foch and Clemenceau , the E-2C offered considerably improved operational capabilities, allowing us to better understand the tactical environment around the task force. The E-2D will bring even more advanced operational capabilities against the latest airborne and surface threats. The E-2D will be operated by Flottille 4F and flown from the Charles de Gaulle and her successor. The Marine Nationale is also conducting a study to determine what advantages the unit might have moving from Lann-Bihoué to Landivisiau where the Navy Rafale M fleet is stationed.”
Comment
“It is the physics of longer wavelength and resonance that enables VHF and UHF radar to detect stealth aircraft,” Westra wrote in his article titled Radar vs. Stealth.
UHF-band radars operate at frequencies between 300MHz and 1GHz, which results in wavelengths that are between 10 centimeters and one meter long.
Typically, due to the physical characteristics of fighter-sized stealth aircraft, they must be optimized to defeat higher frequencies in the Ka, Ku, X, C and parts of the S-bands.
There is a resonance effect that occurs when a feature on an aircraft—such as a tail-fin tip— is less than eight times the size of a particular frequency wavelength. That omni-directional resonance effect produces a “step change” in an aircraft’s radar cross-section.
Effectively what that means is that small stealth aircraft that do not have the size or weight allowances for two feet or more of radar absorbent material coatings on every surface are forced to make trades as to which frequency bands they are optimized for.
That would include aircraft like the Chengdu J-20, Shenyang J-31, Sukhoi PAK-FA and indeed the United States’ own Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and tri-service F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Only very large stealth aircraft without protruding empennage surfaces — like the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit or the forthcoming Long Range Strike-Bomber — can meet the requirement for geometrical optics regime scattering.
“You can’t be everywhere at once on a fighter-sized aircraft,”
However, as Westra and many other sources point out, UHF and VHF-band radars have historically had some major drawbacks. “Poor resolution in angle and range, however, has historically prevented these radars from providing accurate targeting and fire control,” Westra wrote.
Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin appear to have overcome the traditional limitations of UHF-band radars in the APY-9 by applying a combination of advanced electronic scanning capability together with enormous digital computing power in the form of space/time adaptive processing.
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South Korea unveils fighter jet mock-up amid program challenges
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1WU1H2
Boeing Defense, in partnership with Saab Dynamics, on 26 September conducted a long-range test firing of the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) from the Andøya Space Center in Andenes, Norway.
The Andøya shot marks the third official firing event of GLSDB; earlier shots were conducted at the Vidsel Test Range in Sweden in March 2015 and – in co-operation with the US Army Aviation & Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center (AMRDEC) – at the US Air Force Eglin Gulf Test and Training Range in Florida in 2017.
For the September test, GLSDB was launched in “challenging conditions” from a customised, fully autonomous ISO container, out to a range of 130 km at a pre-determined target area in the sea. “The Andøya Test Center is one of the very few, if not the only, firing ranges in Europe where we can fire at ranges out to 150 km,” Svein Daae, Saab director of marketing, GLSDB, explained to Jane’s .
“The target area was out in the open sea, where the depth is about 2,000–3,000 m, which makes it very difficult to anchor a target. Therefore, we decided to aim at a point in the sea, crosshair-designated by an overhead drone.”
“We’d shortened the shot down to 130 km to ensure that we had very accurate telemetry data. Drone imagery from the shot showed that we’d hit the crosshair precisely, with a very high impact angle; telemetry data determined that, despite the conditions, including strong headwinds, we could have hit a target well beyond 150 km,” Daae added.
In addition, the test was able to determine the effects of launching GLSDBs from a container, in terms of damage, test pressure, and incidental heat surplus. A typical containerised autonomous GLSDB configuration comprises two co-mounted launch pods – identical to those in the M270 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) – each with six GLSDB rounds.
The GLSDB/ISO container concept was introduced earlier this year during Bold Quest 19.1 – a multinational joint fires interoperability demonstration and assessment event, held in April–May in Finland, and sponsored and facilitated by the US Joint Staff. “The Norwegian Army had a mock-up in the container and ‘simulated’ long-range fire support from the container’s position. They tested it in the strategic scenario during the exercise, to see how such capacity would influence the scenario, and possibly learn how to use it in the command chain,” said Daae.
GLSDB is the development of a teaming agreement between Boeing and Saab signed in August 2014. The solution integrates the Boeing GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bomb I with the legacy M26 rocket motor from the Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), using an interstage adaptor. Weighing 600 lbs (272 kg) and measuring 154 in (391 cm) in length, 9.5 in (24 cm in diameter) and with a deployed wingspan of 63.3 in (160.8 cm), GLSDB has a range of forward range of more than 150 km and a backward range of 70 km.
The weapon system is furnished with a fragmentation multipurpose warhead, an integrated electronic safe/arm fuze (ESAF) system with programmable impact and delay settings, and a height of burst sensor. Terminal accuracy is delivered by Global Positioning System (GPS)-supported Inertial Navigation System (INS) guidance – which is initiated after the motor is disconnected and the wings unfold – aided by an Anti-jam and Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module (SAASM) and an Advanced Core Processor Two (ACP 2) Module.
The GLSDB solution is able to leverage variant developments for the baseline GBU39/B SDB I, including Laser GLSDB, which is a semi-active laser (SAL)-guided option for engaging moving targets.
While currently optimised as a land-based surface-to-surface application, Daae said that the GLSDB concept is also gaining traction in the maritime domain, in coastal defence and ship-borne applications.
“The SAL variant is a version of the current air-launched SDB I. But we tested it in ground-launched mode during the trials at Eglin in 2017, and the SAL seeker performed fine. So, a SAL version could be used for slower moving targets such as larger warships, and we could send up to 12 at one target. There are also some nations looking to use GLSDM from smaller vessels, and because all the guidance is within the effector, all we’d need is a launcher, and to know our own position. But it could also be launched from a container on board a ship,” he added.
Other GBU-39/B developments that could be leveraged for GLSDB include Focused Lethality Munition (FLM) – an option for low collateral damage and, in the future, home on radar/jammer, area attack and advanced seeker options.
