US military, technology, arms, tactics

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 17 Mar 2023 21:03

From the official twitter account of the US Navy

https://twitter.com/USNavy/status/16360 ... 44115?s=20 ---> We have ships.

Reply to the above tweet from the US Naval Institute

https://twitter.com/NavalInstitute/stat ... 52001?s=20 ---> You need more.

astal · Post by **astal** » 21 Mar 2023 03:33

Here is a detailed article describing the E7A Wedgetail. Though it has been around for a while and is operated by Turkey, Australia, UK and S.Korea, the US is yet to get its version which would be the state of the art.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/t ... capable-of

Some highlights:

1. They are moving from a mechanically scanned array in a disk to what they call a MESA (Multi Scanned Electronic Array) in an elongated array similar to NETRA.
2. E7 series is smaller than E3 AWACS with less crew and much more capability (from 60 years of technology improvement)
3. There are some details on how the aircraft is converted from a Boeing 737-700 and it takes more than 2 years to modify the plane after manufacture.
4. First one to be delivered in FY 2027

Cybaru · Post by **Cybaru** » 21 Mar 2023 08:42

astal wrote:Here is a detailed article describing the E7A Wedgetail. Though it has been around for a while and is operated by Turkey, Australia, UK and S.Korea, the US is yet to get its version which would be the state of the art.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/t ... capable-of

Some highlights:

1. They are moving from a mechanically scanned array in a disk to what they call a MESA (Multi Scanned Electronic Array) in an elongated array similar to NETRA.
2. E7 series is smaller than E3 AWACS with less crew and much more capability (from 60 years of technology improvement)
3. There are some details on how the aircraft is converted from a Boeing 737-700 and it takes more than 2 years to modify the plane after manufacture.
4. First one to be delivered in FY 2027

Excellent article! Hopefully, some won't clamor for the chappati anymore, seeing uncle is also going with a burrito.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 21 Mar 2023 09:48

10 minutes of funny story:

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 22 Mar 2023 07:00

US Air Force secretary wants ‘another shot’ at adaptive F-35 engine

WASHINGTON — U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is having second thoughts about the Pentagon’s decision to upgrade the F-35 fighter jet’s current engines instead of developing a next-generation replacement.

In a discussion at the McAleese & Associates conference in Washington, Kendall said the decision to upgrade the fighters’ current Pratt & Whitney-made F135 engines instead of developing a new adaptive engine “was the right decision, given the constraints that we have, but [a choice] that I worry about a little bit.”

“If we had the opportunity to reconsider that, I think that would be something I’d like to have another shot at,” Kendall said. “Right now, it’s unaffordable. The only service that wants the new technology is the Air Force right now, and we can’t afford it by ourselves.”

The F-35 is scheduled to receive a series of significant upgrades in the coming years known as the block 4 modernization effort, which will include the ability to carry more weapons, better recognize targets and conduct advanced electronic warfare. But to handle those upgrades — which F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin said will introduce about 518 capabilities — the military says the fighter will need much greater power and cooling abilities.

Since 2016, the Air Force has allocated nearly $2.7 billion for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, which sought to fund research, development, prototyping and testing of a new kind of engine intended to provide greater thrust, power and cooling abilities. The adaptive engine model uses three streams of air for greater cooling, and has an adaptive cycle that would allow it to switch to the most efficient configuration for any given situation.

General Electric Aviation and Pratt & Whitney each developed adaptive engines as part of AETP — the XA100 and XA101, respectively. But while GE pitched its XA100 as a replacement for the F-35, Pratt said an upgrade of the current engines — which it calls the Engine Core Upgrade — would be a more cost-efficient option that would work on all F-35s.

Ultimately, the Air Force announced in its budget briefings March 10 and 13 that the military would not transition AETP to a program of record, and would instead go with the F135 upgrade.

The potential cost of an adaptive engine, which Kendall last year pegged at more than $6 billion, proved a major sticking point. So did doubts over whether it could be made to fit in the Marine Corps’ F-35B, which has an engine that swivels down to allow the jet to vertically land. While GE said it had found a way to make its engine work in the F-35B, the Pentagon was apparently skeptical.

Installing an adaptive engine into “the Marine Corps variant was going to be very, very difficult, if not impossible,” Kendall said in the March 10 budget briefing with reporters at the Pentagon.

Kendall also called the adaptive engine “a really good fit” for the Air Force’s F-35A variant on March 10.

And at Wednesday’s McAleese conference, he expanded further on what made an AETP engine attractive to the service noting that the adaptive engine would have provided more fuel efficiency than the F135 Engine Core Upgrade.

He explained the adaptive engine’s greater fuel efficiency would have translated to less fuel burned and more cost savings, plus extended range, which he described as a “really attractive” benefit — a handy capability in a fight in the large Pacific region.

Kendall said it also would have introduced competition into the F-35 engine market, which Raytheon Technologies-owned Pratt & Whitney has dominated.

If the Air Force were to decide to go it alone on AETP, Kendall said, it would be a multiyear, multibillion-dollar program — one that would have been out of the service’s reach. “It’s a major lift, and you just can’t do everything,” he added.

The Air Force plans to roll some of the technologies developed as part of AETP into its Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion program, which aims to produce similarly advanced engines for its future sixth-generation fighter known as Next Generation Air Dominance.

“The AETP technology advanced the state of the art,” Kendall said. “So we’re going to benefit from that indirectly.”

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 22 Mar 2023 07:23

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 23 Mar 2023 01:17

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 23 Mar 2023 08:48

Is the Navy ready? How the U.S. is preparing amid a naval buildup in China | 60 Minutes

Worth watching to understand US position against China

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 31 Mar 2023 08:44

No calls for fully independent board inquiry ?

F-35 Engine Running Too Hot Due To ‘Under-Speccing,’ Upgrade Now Vital

The U.S. military sees planned engine upgrades for all the variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as critical because the Pratt & Whitney F135 engines that power all of the aircraft have been "under spec since the beginning," according to the top officer in charge of the program. This means the engines have to routinely operate at higher-than-expected temperatures, which has led to costly increased maintenance and logistics requirements and hurt the F-35's overall readiness rates.

Seriously though, this just illustrates how iterative development of other components will always be required as new technologies (possibly power intensive) emerge.

"The original program engine specification allocated 15 kW [kilowatts] of bleed air extraction to support system cooling requirements, and the F135 engine was designed, tested, and qualified to this specification with a level of margin available for future growth," Schmidt wrote. "During the final stages of initial aircraft development, air vehicle cooling requirements grew to exceed planned bleed air extraction."

"To provide the necessary bleed air, the engine is required to run hotter, and the program is realizing the effects of this through an increase in operating temperature, and a decrease in engine life, which is driving earlier depot inductions and an increase in lifecycle cost," the written testimony adds.

So, "I also have a derived requirement for power and thermal management, because I'm running out of power at the end of Block 4," Schmidt added when actually speaking during the hearing.

"Without upgrades, the addition of Block 4 capabilities will further degrade engine life and increase program lifecycle costs, because while the current TR-2 and TR-3 aircraft have sufficient cooling and power (while impacting the engine life as stated above), capabilities in Block 4 and beyond will increase cooling and power demands beyond current capabilities of the air system," he elaborated in his written remarks.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 31 Mar 2023 20:53

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... blackhawk/

Nine U.S. soldiers were killed late Wednesday when two Army helicopters crashed following an apparent collision in southwestern Kentucky, triggering an investigation and a sprawling effort to notify the families of those involved, Army officials said Thursday.The soldiers, members of the 101st Airborne Division, were aboard HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters conducting a training exercise in Trigg County, to the west of Fort Campbell, Army officials said. The crash occurred at about 10 p.m. local time.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 04 Apr 2023 20:16

First View Of LRASM Missile Aboard A US Navy P-8A Poseidon
https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/se ... -poseidon/
04 April 2023

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 04 Apr 2023 20:17

https://twitter.com/WarshipCam/status/1 ... 01633?s=20 ---> If anyone's looking for a nice free poster of the U.S. Navy ships Raytheon has come out with their annual publication - free to download and shows current/planned ships. Link is https://prd-sc101-cdn.rtx.com/-/media/r ... tal_v3.pdf

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 04 Apr 2023 20:18

https://twitter.com/gwjphantom/status/1 ... 47907?s=20 ---> Three cockpit shots from today never ceases to amaze me what the camera and lens combo picks up as they pass at 500mph. Giraffe. waves, and what looks like a map of the Mach Loop.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 05 Apr 2023 19:23

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/stat ... 10945?s=20 ---> Man the F-35's supply chain arrangement just got battered at Sea-Air-Space. The whole just in time concept is not a feature, it's a bug. They need parts on shelves, especially if the F-35 is used for its intended purpose — combat against a major foe. The 7-11 stocking model is a liability.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/stat ... 15840?s=20 ---> It's so weird how we build these machines (not just the F-35!) at such great cost, but don't really procure the parts or weapons needed for them to do their job in a sustained conflict. It's a systemic failure of such huge proportions. It is really telling of where the priorities lie. If you could make parts and smart bombs in weeks or even a couple months at a huge ramped scale that would be one thing. but many items have lead times in years and very constrictive production capacity. Not good. Ukraine is a glaring red flag here too. Needs to change. Too many platitudes and not enough action after so many years of this. I asked an F-35 maintainer what he need most. He said immediately "parts, please, please parts."

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/stat ... 25472?s=20 ---> To that point, it's even a morale issue. You have aircraft sidelined for so long waiting on one part and cannibalizing the fleet down to generate sorties. Yet the answer is there it just cost money. This has been going on for so many years. How can we take leadership seriously when this is the case?

mody · Post by **mody** » 05 Apr 2023 23:31

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/n ... sive-video

SM2 missiles intercepting a super sonic sea skimming target.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 12 Apr 2023 20:40

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 12 Apr 2023 21:11

M777 howitzers can fire up to 150km - General Atomics unveils LRMP high-precision manoeuvring ammunition
https://gagadget.com/en/weapons/233930- ... mmunition/
11 April 2023

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 19 Apr 2023 23:10

Air Force Announces F-15EXs Are Headed To Two New Bases
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/a ... -new-bases
18 April 2023

MeshaVishwas · Post by **MeshaVishwas** » 29 Apr 2023 09:26

U.S. Army grounds all non-critical aircraft after latest fatal mid-air collision- CBS News

The U.S. Army on Friday grounded all aircraft — except those in "critical missions" — following a mid-air collision Thursday involving two helicopters in Alaska which left three soldiers dead and a fourth wounded. It marked the second such mid-air collision in the last month.

The Army said in a news release provided to CBS News that Chief of Staff James McConville ordered the "aviation stand down" after the two recent fatal accidents which claimed the lives of 12 soldiers, including a mid-air collision involving two Black Hawk helicopters near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, March 29 which left nine soldiers dead.

All aviators, except those in critical missions, are grounded until they "complete the training," the Army said.

"The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel," said McConville in a statement.

Thursday's mid-air collision involved two AH-64 Apache helicopters that were returning from a training mission near Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the Army disclosed.

And in February, two members of the Tennessee National Guard were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed during a training mission near Huntsville, Alabama.

"We are deeply saddened by those we have lost," McConville said in his statement. "It is their loss that makes it all the more important we review our safety procedures and training protocols, and ensure we are training and operating at the highest levels of safety and proficiency."

Active-duty units will be required to complete the training between May 1 and May 5, while units in the National Guard and Reserve will have until May 31, the Army said.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 01 May 2023 19:52

From the Vice Chief of the US Air Force....

New Pilot Training Delayed by Aging Trainers, Vice Chief Says
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-f ... -shortage/
20 April 2023

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 07 May 2023 22:44

https://twitter.com/RealAirPower1/statu ... 43584?s=20 ---> Did you know that the F-22 and F-35 have a mission capable rate (MCR) of 50% and 53%, respectively? The average age of these aircraft is 15 and 4 years respectively! F-16's MCR is 71%, while the average age of the type in USAF service is 30+ years!

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 08 May 2023 00:21

Does the above imply they can't perform half the missions expected of them? Or that they can go in but can't come back

Jay · Post by **Jay** » 08 May 2023 05:55

Cyrano wrote:Does the above imply they can't perform half the missions expected of them? Or that they can go in but can't come back

That's for "poor" countries Cyrano ji. In US parlance it simply means build twice the numbers required so it becomes a non issue.

Cyrano · Post by **Cyrano** » 08 May 2023 14:57

ha ha ! good one !

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 18 Jun 2023 06:45

This Is Why F-15EX Deliveries Have Been Delayed
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/t ... en-delayed
08 June 2023

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 18 Jun 2023 20:14

The Instant Flares Are Released From An F/A-18 Hornet Seen In Incredible Photo
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/t ... ible-photo
17 June 2023

We see flare release images regularly, but we have never seen a photo showing the instant countermeasures pop out of their dispenser before.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 20 Jun 2023 06:59

MQ-9 Reaper Lands On Remote Dirt Strip For The First Time
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/m ... first-time
17 June 2023

Alongside the landing, the MQ-9 also executed a resupply via a travel pod, pointing towards the USAF’s desire to use the Reaper in new ways.

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 03 Jul 2023 20:28

A must see Twitter thread.

https://twitter.com/DylanA_Nguyen/statu ... 05824?s=20 ---> Assorted Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor closeups…

Guddu · Post by **Guddu** » 10 Jul 2023 04:35

This is mostly an Israeli technology, but did not find an Israel specific forum. It is quite cool.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1678124767243644930

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 14 Aug 2023 17:01

B-21 Raider powers up, prepares for first flight later this year
https://www.sandboxx.us/news/b-21-raide ... this-year/
11 August 2023

ernest · Post by **ernest** » 15 Aug 2023 07:02

Guddu wrote: ↑10 Jul 2023 04:35 This is mostly an Israeli technology, but did not find an Israel specific forum. It is quite cool.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1678124767243644930

Wasn't something like this demoed by Newspace in an Indian Military event

I remember seeing Large Octa/Quadcopters deploying smaller ones that navigated to targets before detonating

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 20 Aug 2023 06:17

About the MC-130:

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 21 Aug 2023 18:10

Luke AFB graduates 1,000th F-35 pilot
https://www.aetc.af.mil/News/Article-Di ... -35-pilot/
10 August 2023

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 21 Aug 2023 21:10

10 Reasons It’s Time To Kill GE’s Unneeded Fighter Engine
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthomp ... er-engine/
09 May 2023

hgupta · Post by **hgupta** » 21 Aug 2023 21:22

Rakesh wrote: ↑21 Aug 2023 21:10 10 Reasons It’s Time To Kill GE’s Unneeded Fighter Engine
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthomp ... er-engine/
09 May 2023

Behind a paywall. Archive.pz doesn't work. Can you post it?

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 21 Aug 2023 21:44

Weird why it is showing up as being behind a paywall. I checked the link again and it works fine. I don't subscribe to Forbes either.

I do not want to post the entire article, due to copyright violations. Some more articles on the topic;

The Messy Battle to Build the F-35's Next Engine
https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... ew-engine/
01 March 2023,

F135 Engine Core Upgrade
https://www.prattwhitney.com/en/product ... re-upgrade

^^^ Above article is right from the horse's mouth and includes the Forbes article at the bottom

hgupta · Post by **hgupta** » 21 Aug 2023 22:00

It is a hack job paid by Pratt & Whitney. The article is gibberish and is short of real details of why US should not fund GE's engine. Pratt & Whitney is scared of GE's engine proposal.

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 21 Aug 2023 22:15

That might be. However, the factual points argued against GE proposal are hard to ignore.

Half ton extra weight. Not fitting within the same engine bay. Not the same cost as an existing engine. Requiring extra time to certify the engine.

Dr. Kendal from all accounts is an extremely well regarded professional within the highest levels of US defence management system. If he is having difficulty presenting to Congress about the engine change. Then there are serious issues to overcome by GE.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » 21 Aug 2023 23:56

hgupta wrote: ↑21 Aug 2023 21:22
Rakesh wrote: ↑21 Aug 2023 21:10 10 Reasons It’s Time To Kill GE’s Unneeded Fighter Engine
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lorenthomp ... er-engine/
09 May 2023
Behind a paywall. Archive.pz doesn't work. Can you post it?

https://archive.ph/5NCQH

Rakesh · Post by **Rakesh** » 21 Aug 2023 23:58

Thank you Lisa