Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen

[Harald]

?ELEKTRONISCHER KAMPF?   ( EW variant Eurofighter, gaan we een "Wild Weasel" versie krijgen )
Deutsche bauen 15 Eurofighter zu St?rern um

https://www.krone.at/3040058

Der Krieg in der Ukraine ist stark von St?rsignalen gepr?gt: GPS, Radar, Funk - alles, was Wellen aussendet, kann potenziell unterbrochen oder verwirrt werden. Die deutsche Bundeswehr reagiert darauf, und baut 15 ihrer Eurofighter zu Plattformen f?r den ?elektronischen Kampf? um. Mit der Hilfe eines Eurofighter-Rivalen.

?Arexis?-Sensorenl?sung
Konkret bauen die Deutschen nun die ?Arexis?-Sensorsuite von Saab in die Kampfjets ein. Dabei handelt es sich um eine komplexe Sensorenl?sung, die Strahlen aller Art entdecken und st?ren kann.

Arexis electronic warfare solution
https://www.saab.com/products/arexis

https://www.aviacionline.com/2023/06/germany-chooses-saabs-ew-arexis-system-for-its-eurofighter-electronic-warfare-aircrafts/

[Benji87]

Oke, hoe bedonderd gaat dedonder zich straks voelen. Zijn de Belgen weer de aap gelogeerd.

Ik denk het niet Dedonder zal ongetwijfeld al in overleg zijn om deel te nemen aan dit project. Als de Belgen ergens behoefte aan hebben is het wel een toestel wat met Mach 5 kan opereren 🤣

[Huzaar1]

Oke, hoe bedonderd gaat dedonder zich straks voelen. Zijn de Belgen weer de aap gelogeerd.

[Benji87]

Frankrijk wil tegen 2050 een hypersonisch Espadon-gevechtsvliegtuig bouwen dat meer dan 6174 km/u kan vliegen

Het Franse staatsbureau voor defensieonderzoek Onera hoopt dat zijn baanbrekende project zal resulteren in de lancering van een hypersonisch gevechtsvliegtuig. De organisatie wil haar visie bereiken tegen 2050.

Dit is wat we weten

Het project heet Espadon, wat vertaald kan worden als Zwaardvis. Het heeft een financiering van ongeveer 5,4 miljard dollar ontvangen. Ren? Mathurin, directeur defensieonderzoek bij Onera, zei dat het onderzoek naar het programma zich richt op nuttige ladingen, wapensystemen, voortstuwing en aerodynamica.

Het Espandon-model heeft al windtunneltests ondergaan. Onera bracht een verkleind model van het hypersonische vliegtuig naar de Paris Air Show. Ren? Mathurin merkte op dat hun ontwikkeling pas over tientallen jaren hypersonische snelheden (Mach 5 | 6174 km/u) zal kunnen bereiken.

https://gagadget.com/nl/265044-frankrijk-wil-tegen-2050-een-hypersonisch-espadon-gevechtsvliegtuig-bouwen-dat-meer-dan-6174-kmu-kan-vliegen/

[Sparkplug]

Gaat je stealth hiermee niet naar de prullenbak?

Ja, maar is ook niet voor alle type missies nodig.

[Master Mack]

Gaat je stealth hiermee niet naar de prullenbak?

[Sparkplug]

Op de grond ziet het er zo uit.


Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 314 declares initial operational capability (IOC) for the F-35C Lightning II. (Lance Cpl. Juan Anaya/Marine Corps)

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2020/12/06/the-marine-corps-first-f-35c-squadron-is-ready-to-deploy-on-carriers/

[Harald]

TERMA F-35 MULTI-MISSION POD  ( was al bekend, maar wordt weer getoond in 2023 in Parijs )

Terma has delivered more than a 100 Gun Pods for the F-35 Lightning ll, the only certified external pod for the F-35 fighter jet. Terma is now introducing the F-35 Multi-Mission Pod ? a further development to the Gun Pod, providing additional mission payload volume for the platform.

https://www.terma.com/news-events/news/news-archive/2022/introducing-the-terma-f-35-multi-mission-pod/


https://twitter.com/Terma_Global/status/1668946507997892613?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1668946507997892613%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=

[Harald]

Eurofighter ? L?sung von Saab f?r den Elektronischen Kampf ausgew?hlt
https://esut.de/2023/06/meldungen/42696/eurofighter-loesung-von-saab-fuer-den-elektronischen-kampf-ausgewaehlt/

( Artikel via google translate vertaald )
Het Federale Bureau voor Uitrusting, Informatietechnologie en Gebruik van de Duitse Strijdkrachten (BAAINBw) heeft Saab's "Arexis"-sensorsysteem gekozen als oplossing voor de Duitse EK Eurofighter, zo schrijft het bedrijf in een persbericht. EK staat voor Electronic Combat. Op dit moment heeft Saab echter nog geen contract getekend en geen overeenkomstige bestelling ontvangen.

Vorig jaar maakte het Ministerie van Defensie bekend voornemens te zijn 15 Luftwaffe Eurofighters in te schakelen voor EK-missies. Het gaat vooral om het materieel voor de SEAD-rol (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense).

Volgens de aankondiging is de selectie van de Arexis-sensoren gebaseerd op een actueel marktonderzoek door de BAAINBw. Deze studie evalueerde de systemen van Europese en internationale EK-aanbieders op tal van criteria, zoals systeemprestaties, integratie-inspanningen en wettelijk luchtvaartrecht.

?We verwelkomen deze beslissing en kijken uit naar de volgende stappen. Het aangeboden Arexis-systeem is de optimale oplossing voor de EK-eisen van de Duitse Eurofighter?, aldus Anders Sj?berg, CEO van Saab Deutschland GmbH, in het persbericht. Saab gaat samen met AI-partner Helsing een groot deel van de dienstverlening in dit project op haar locatie in Beieren verzorgen.

Volgens Helsing zou de Eurofighter in 2028 in staat moeten zijn tot elektronische gevechten. De Arexis-sensorsuite van Saab wordt mogelijk gemaakt door de op AI gebaseerde software van Helsing voor cognitieve EK. De focus ligt dan ook op verkenning en zelfverdediging tegen vijandelijke luchtverdediging. Volgens het bedrijf zal de Duitse Bondsdag zich dit jaar over de beslissing buigen.

De AI-oplossing van Helsing maakt het mogelijk om geregistreerde radargegevens terwijl ze nog in het vliegtuig zitten te analyseren en binnen milliseconden precieze zelfbeschermingsmaatregelen te bepalen.

[Harald]

Signing of MOU paves way for Philippines to acquire the Saab Gripen fighter

The Philippines and Sweden have recently entered into an agreement that could lead to a significant deal involving the supply of Saab Gripen fighter aircraft to the Philippine Air Force (PAF). The memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by Acting Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Swedish Defense Minister P?l Jonson during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last week.



The agreement focuses on defense materiel cooperation and holds the potential for Swedish defense industries to contribute to the modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. ?The signed agreement paves the way for advancing cooperation in the areas of logistics, defense industry development, and exchange of related information between the two countries,? Philippine Department of National Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong was quoted as saying.

The recent signing of the MOU follows discussions between Galvez and Swedish Trade Minister Johan Forssell in Manila last month, where they finalized the details of the agreement and addressed other aspects of bilateral relations.

In a separate development, PAF Chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Parre?o led a delegation to Sweden, engaging with the Swedish Air Force and visiting the Saab facility. During the visit, they had the opportunity to examine the JAS-39, as well as the Saab 340 airborne early warning and control aircraft.

The acquisition of multi-role fighters has been a long-standing goal for the PAF as part of its deterrence strategy. Alongside the Saab Jas-39 Gripen, the PAF has been considering the F-16 from Lockheed Martin, for its fighter jet requirement.

https://alert5.com/2023/06/06/signing-of-mou-paves-way-for-philippines-to-acquire-the-saab-gripen-fighter/#more-97654

[Benji87]

Wel een leuke uitleg over hoe de fighters van de 6e generatie eruit gaan zien.

[Benji87]

The Air Force next-generation fighter will be selected in 2024

Little is known about the secretive sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, other than it will be extremely expensive.

WASHINGTON. The Air Force has formally begun to solicit proposals for its secretive Next Generation Air Dominance fighter, according to a service news release, with the goal of awarding a contract for the jet next year.

The Department of the Air Force released a classified solicitation to industry for an Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract for the Next Generation Air Dominance Platform with the intent to award a contract in 2024, the release says, which doesnt specifically state when the notice was posted. This solicitation release formally begins the source selection process providing industry with the requirements the DAF expects for NGAD, as the future replacement of the F-22.

The NGAD Platform is a vital element of the Air Dominance Family of Systems which represents a generational leap in technology over the F-22, which it will replace. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in the release. NGAD will include attributes such as enhanced lethality and the abilities to survive, persist, interoperate, and adapt in the air domain, all within highly-contested operational environments. No one does this better than the U.S. Air Force, but we will lose that edge if we dont move forward now.


According to the release, the NGAD program will leverage open architecture standards to ensure that contractors can compete to sustain the aircraft throughout its lifecycle, which would help to drive down costs to keep the aircraft flying. The pool of vendors vying to build the aircraft is unclear, though defense giants Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman are assumed to be in the mix.

The Air Force is requesting billions of dollars over the next five years for NGAD R&D efforts, with an initial buy of 200 planned, though a price tag for the fighter is currently unclear. However, Kendall has hinted it is going to be incredibly expensive, being multiples of the F-35, likely totaling several hundred million per tail.

Separately, the fighter will be powered by an adaptive engine developed through the Next Generation Adaptive Propulsion (NGAP) program, leveraging the work achieved by the Adaptive Engine Transition Program that officials are seeking to discontinue in fiscal 2024. General Electric and Pratt & Whitney are both competing to build the NGADs powerplant, with a GE official recently suggesting that a ramp-up in funding for NGAP could carry both vendors through the prototyping phase.


The Air Force?s Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones that will join NGAD in combat will be separate from the fighter?s solicitation process, according to the release.

At least one full-scale NGAD prototype is known to have flown in 2020, but the programs high classification levels have mostly shrouded its status in secrecy. Last year, Kendall said the program had entered the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase for the fighter, though he later backtracked to clarify that the program had not passed the milestone B marker that formally launches EMD, according to a report in Defense News.

Following Kendalls remarks, the Defense Department Inspector General launched a review of NGAD to determine the extent to which the Air Force demonstrated that the critical technologies used in the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter aircraft were mature enough to support entry into the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the NGAD programs acquisition timeline, according to a September 26 memo.

The results of that review have not been made public, and its currently unknown where in the design phase the program rests. According to Kendall, the Air Force plans to field the fighter by the end of the decade.

https://breakingdefense.com/2023/05/the-air-forces-next-generation-fighter-will-be-selected-in-2024/

[Ace1]

Close Cousins: IAI Lavi versus F-16 Viper

Some experts feel that the performance of the IAI Lavi would be broadly comparable to today?s F-16C/D Viper in most departments and superior in some.

IAI?s Lavi (Young Lion) fighter bomber successfully completed its maiden flight at the end of December 1986. Only three complete prototypes were built before the Israeli Government voted to discontinue development due to concerns over costs. Nevertheless, the project illustrated the advanced capabilities of IAI, and many of the aircraft?s components went on to be made commercially available. Furthermore, much of the technical knowhow accumulated during the development of the Lavi contributed to the achievement of Israel?s first launch of a satellite into space in 1988.

As told by Bertie Simmonds in his book F-16 Fighting Falcon, it?s always going to be the way that the Lavi was compared to the F-16 as there were some similar design traits. In essence though, the Lavi was smaller and lighter than the General Dynamics F-16, with initially a less powerful powerplant, meaning the resultant thrust-to-weight ratio was slightly lower. Unlike the F-16 with its traditional tail section, the Lavi?s configuration was that of a tailless canard delta, although the wing was unusual in having shallow sweep on the trailing edge. The wingtips ? like that of the F-16 ? were fitted with missile rails to aid combat persistence.

The wing area was 38.50 square metres, 38% greater than the wing area of the F-16, giving an almost exactly proportionally lower wing loading, while the control system was relaxed static stability and quadruplex fly-by-wire (FBW), with no mechanical backup. The Lavi was a very unstable aircraft ? even compared to an F-16 ? so like the Viper the computers were what kept the Lavi in the air.

One very similar design feature was the engine intake, which was a plain chin type scoop, similar to that of the F-16, which was known to be satisfactory at high angles of attack. The sharply swept vertical tail, effective at high angles of attack due to interaction with the vortices shed by the canards, was mounted on a spine on top of the rear fuselage, and supplemented by the two steeply canted ventral strakes, mounted on the ends of the wing root fillets.

Normally jet fighters are designed as single-seaters first and then a two-seater ? with the second seat taking away either avionics or fuel. IAI designed the two-holer first, allowing the spare room to allow for any future avionics fit ? they did after all use the ?camel hump? models of the McDonnell Douglas A-4. IAI learned lessons well. Internal fuel capacity was 3330 litres around 16% less than the F-16 although figures show that this was offset by the Lavi?s lower drag and the better fuel consumption of the PW1120 (the Pratt & Whitney PW-1120, a development of the F-100 which was in service with both the F-15 Eagle and the original F-16A and B Fighting Falcons).

Like the F-16 the Lavi had a blown, wraparound bubble canopy. The cockpit itself dispensed with the F-16?s sidestick controller, as IAI wanted a more traditional, centrally mounted one. It?s thought that feedback from pilots in combat led to a worry about what would happen to a Lavi or F-16 pilot if their right arm or hand was injured. With a right-hand-side sidestick controller fitted, the left hand could not easily take control and fly the aircraft hack to base.

A sidestick controller also meant less console space on the right-hand console. The Lavi also had an upright seat, rather than the raked F-16?s ejection seat, due to Israeli Air Force (IAF) pilots often complaining of neck strain while scanning the sky in an F-16. Otherwise the Lavi cockpit was of the time benefitting from HOTAS or ?hands on throttle and stick? controls, a Hughes wide-angle HUD or head-up-display and colour and black and white head-down displays.

In the nose of the Lavi would be the Elta EL/M-2035 multi -mode pulse Doppler radar. Developed from that in the Kfir-C2, it was an advanced set for the day, which could track several targets at once with boresight, look-up and track while scan modes. It had two air-to-ground modes and ground mapping and terrain avoidance. Also as part of a standard fit was the Elta/Elistra Electronic Warning System which could work in both passive and active modes. Carried internally, this could be backed up with podded electronic counter measure pods and jammers.

The weapons to be carried on the Lavi were standard for the IAF of the time. As well as underwing fuel tanks, the internal cannon was from the trusted DEFA company of 30mm calibre, capable of up to 1500 rounds per minute and housed in the right wing-root. Israeli pilots had come to trust the DEFA cannons from the Dassault Mystere of the 1950s, through to the Mirage and even had them fitted on American A-4 Skyhawks rather than the 20mm Colt Mk.12s. Air-to-air armament was to be the Rafael Python 3 infrared homing short-range dogfight missile. Air-to-ground weapons would include the dumb Mk.80- series freefall bombs, the Hughes AGM-65 Maverick family of missiles, the IAI Gabriel anti-ship missile and the IAI Popeye air-to-ground missile.

Some experts feel that the performance of the IAI Lavi would be broadly comparable to today?s F-16C/D in most departments and superior in some. Like the canard foreplanes fitted to the likes of the Eurnfighter Typhoon and the SAAB Gripen, control authority of unstable aircraft is better than that of a conventional tailed machine, meaning that the Lavi would supposedly be quicker into a turn than an F-16. Those that flew the Lavi heaped praise on its agility and power.

Today the Lavi is almost a memory. Prototypes B-01, 04 and 05 were sold for scrap. B-02 is on display at the IAF Museum in Hatzerim. B-03 was flying into the 1990s as a demonstrator in support of IAI?s advanced fighter aircraft and cockpit technology programmes. There were also rumours that one aircraft was delivered to South Africa in the early 1990s or that design cues were used on the Chinese Chengdu J-10 after technology was sold by Israel to China. This has been denied by both countries.

https://theaviationgeekclub.com/close-cousins-iai-lavi-versus-f-16-viper/amp/

[Harald]

French Navy will not receive new Rafale M fighter jets under 2024-30 LPM

According to information published by Opex360 on May 8, 2023, Admiral Pierre Vandier, who serves as the head of the French Navy, has confirmed that the Navy will not receive any new Rafale M fighter jets under the 2024-2030 military programming law.

https://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/naval-news/naval-news-archive/2023/may1/13140-french-navy-will-not-receive-new-rafale-m-fighter-jets-under-2024-30-lpm.html

[Sparkplug]

Most advanced AMRAAM variant, AIM-120D-3, completes critical milestone for operational use

April 18, 2023


An AIM-120D-3 sits at Raytheon?s Tucson, Arizona plant. The AIM-120D-3 is the latest variant of the combat-proven AMRAAM, developed under the Form, Fit, Function refresh, known as F3R.

The AIM-120D-3 is produced under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh, or F3R, program

TUCSON, Ariz., April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Air Force has completed the Functional Configuration Audit, or FCA, of the latest variant of Raytheon Technologies' (NYSE: RTX) Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile. The AMRAAM? AIM-120D-3 is on-track toward fielding by both the Air Force and Navy this year.

The AIM-120D-3 features modernized hardware, including 15 upgraded circuit cards developed with model-based systems engineering initiatives under the Form, Fit, Function Refresh program, and uses the latest System Improvement Program-3F software. The missile brings tremendous capability to counter both current and future threats and is postured to receive continuous Agile software enhancements through upcoming SIP efforts.

"Integrated on 14 platforms in 42 countries, AMRAAM is the only fielded air-to-air weapon with the ability to counter peer threats at extended range," said Paul Ferraro, president of Air Power, Raytheon Missiles & Defense. "The AIM-120D-3 takes the known and trusted AMRAAM to the next level to meet the evolving needs of the warfighter and combatant commanders."

The AIM-120D-3 Functional Configuration Audit follows a test program encompassing captive carry missions, platform bench testing and a series of live firings from multiple Air Force and Navy platforms - proving out the weapon's effectiveness. F3R testing continues with the AIM-120 C-8 variant ? designed for international customers -- with FCA expected on that version later this year.

All AMRAAMs planned for production are D3 or C8 variants incorporating the F3R functionality.

https://www.rtx.com/news/news-center/2023/04/18/most-advanced-amraam-variant-aim-120d-3-completes-critical-milestone-for-operat

Latest AMRAAM Cleared for Deployment; Multiyear Buy Bridges the Gap to JATM

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/latest-amraam-cleared-deployment-jatm/