Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen

[Harald]

Het gaat "lekker" ik ben bijna zover om te suggereren: hou het bij 12 F35 en vraag voor 24+ een offerte aan bij Boeing, de nieuwste variant van de F15 dan wel graag.

Die eerste bestelde F35's kun je prima door leveren aan Noorwegen, Noorwegen wil ze vast wel graag hebben zodat ze sneller over kunnen naar de F35. 

[dudge]

Bedoelde dat de stealth-panelen bedoelt voor lage infrarood uitstraling de warmte van de motor binnenhouden. Dat is simpelweg het neveneffect van stealth: geen warmte uitstraling betekent geperkte koeling. Reken maar dat de Chinese fabrikanten tegen hetzelfde euvel aanlopen. Een tweede motor maakt het alleen maar erger.

Ah zo, ja, zou kunnen.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Wat een trein wrak.

Het gaat "lekker" ik ben bijna zover om te suggereren: hou het bij 12 F35 en vraag voor 24+ een offerte aan bij Boeing, de nieuwste variant van de F15 dan wel graag.

[Zeewier]

Bedoelde dat de stealth-panelen bedoelt voor lage infrarood uitstraling de warmte van de motor binnenhouden. Dat is simpelweg het neveneffect van stealth: geen warmte uitstraling betekent geperkte koeling. Reken maar dat de Chinese fabrikanten tegen hetzelfde euvel aanlopen. Een tweede motor maakt het alleen maar erger.

[dudge]

Hitte opbouw, is dat niet sowieso het gevolg van stealth-coating en absorptiepanelen?

Retorische vraag. Krijg ik geen antwoord op. Dat weet ik ook wel.

Is sowieso al een gevolg van vliegen/wrijving. En daarbij, misschien dat stealth coatings het erger maken, maar het blijft een design fout als het ontwerp daar niet mee om kan gaan. Als de luiken elke paar minuten open moeten om te koelen, heeft het hele stealth verhaal weinig nut natuurlijk.

[StrataNL]

Het nieuwste Directorate Operational Test & Evaluation report FY2015 ( DOT&E ) betreffende de F-35.
Het is met 82 pagina's het langste DOT&E rapport ooit.
zie: http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2015/pdf/dod/2015f35jsf.pdf

Wat een trein wrak.

Mooie timing......

Valt me op dat tijdens interviews het maximum inzetbaarheidspercentage gegeven wordt, en niet het gemiddelde. Gewoon om het beter te laten lijken dan het is.

[Harald]

Even enkele feiten uit het DOT&E rapport.

- Weapons bay temperature becomes excessive. Pilots are restricted from keeping the weapons bay doors closed for more than 10 cumulative minutes when flying at airspeeds equal to or greater than 500 knots at altitudes below 5,000 feet; 550 knots at altitudes between 5,000 and 15,000 feet; and 600 knots at altitudes between 15,000 and 25,000 feet.

- All variants of the fleet Block 2B aircraft are restricted from exceeding 3 G's in symmetric maneuvers when fully fueled in order to avoid exceeding the allowable pressure in the siphon fuel tanks. The allowable G force increases as fuel is consumed.

On ejection of a typical 74 kg person the probability of death being 23 percent, and the probability of neck extension, which will result in some level of injury, being 100 percent.

Extra info over de bovenstaande punten, los van de softwareproblemen, zijn deze en andere zorgwekkend !
Je zou nu eigenlijk niet eens je schietstoel durven gebruiken ! ... 100% kans op nekklachten, 23% kans dat je het niet overleeft..

Pentagon Report Casts Further Doubts on F-35's Combat Readiness

Aviation Week has published a 48-page report from Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon's Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, which casts serious doubts on whether the Marines' current version of the F-35, the Block 2B, is capable of entering combat on it own.

Writes Gilmore: "If in an opposed combat scenario, the F-35 Block 2B aircraft would need to avoid threat engagement and would require augmentation by other friendly forces."

He lists off some of the problems facing that the current version of the F-35 Block 2B, including the fact that the F-35 is unable to deploy weapons or defensive countermeasures while flying at its maximum speed—pilots will need to slow down from the F-35's max speed of Mach 1.6 to Mach 1.2 or less in order to fire.

Software bugs continue to plague the fighter as well, with 11 out of 12 weapons tested during Block 2B evaluation severely hampered. The software malfunctions, Gilmore writes, "required intervention by the developmental test control team to overcome system deficiencies and ensure a successful event (i.e., acquire and identify the target and engage it with a weapon)."

More troubling are the overheating issues, which have been known about for years and have yet to be fixed.

The F-35's weapons bay can overheat if the plane is maintaining high speeds at an altitude of under 25,000 feet and an atmospheric temperature 90° F or greater. The trouble occurs if the plane's weapon day doors are closed for upwards of 10 minutes, and opening the bay doors negates the F-35s stealth capabilities. The F-35 is also unable to pull more than 3.8 Gs with a fully loaded fuel tank, due to known problems with with the fuel tank siphon. The plane can only pull its maximum of 7 Gs once its fuel tanks are at least 45 percent empty.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a19199/pentagon-reports-puts-hard-limits-on-f-35s-combat-utility/

[Zeewier]

- Weapons bay temperature becomes excessive.

Hitte opbouw, is dat niet sowieso het gevolg van stealth-coating en absorptiepanelen?

Retorische vraag. Krijg ik geen antwoord op. Dat weet ik ook wel.

[Poleme]

Het nieuwste Directorate Operational Test & Evaluation report FY2015 ( DOT&E ) betreffende de F-35.
Het is met 82 pagina's het langste DOT&E rapport ooit.
zie: http://www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY2015/pdf/dod/2015f35jsf.pdf

F-35 AVAILABILITY FOR 12-MONTH PERIOD ENDING OCTOBER 20151
Operational Site        Average    Maximum    Minimum   Aircraft Assigned (2)
Whole Fleet               51 %           56 %          46 %                134

Eglin F-35A                55 %           62 %          39 %                 25
Eglin F-35B (3)           43 %           48 %          26 %                   0
Eglin F-35C                66 %           79 %          57 %                 17
Yuma F-35B               39 %           62 %          16 %                 17
Edwards F-35A           32 %           66 %          17 %                   8
Edwards F-35B (4)      19 %           27 %            0 %                   6
Nellis F-35A                51 %          77 %           33 %                 10
Luke F-35A                 62 %          75 %           50 %                 30
Beaufort F-35B (5)      46 %           60 %          24 %                 18
Hill F-35A (6)              80 %           81 %          79 %                  3

1. Data do not include SDD aircraft. 2. Aircraft assigned at the end of October 2015. 3. Eglin AFB F-35B ended operations in February 2015. 4. Edwards AFB F-35B operational test operations began in October 2014. 5. Beaufort MCAS F-35B operations began in July 2014. 6. Hill AFB F-35A operations began September 2015.


Even enkele feiten uit het DOT&E rapport.

- Weapons bay temperature becomes excessive. Pilots are restricted from keeping the weapons bay doors closed for more than 10 cumulative minutes when flying at airspeeds equal to or greater than 500 knots at altitudes below 5,000 feet; 550 knots at altitudes between 5,000 and 15,000 feet; and 600 knots at altitudes between 15,000 and 25,000 feet.

- All variants of the fleet Block 2B aircraft are restricted from exceeding 3 G's in symmetric maneuvers when fully fueled in order to avoid exceeding the allowable pressure in the siphon fuel tanks. The allowable G force increases as fuel is consumed.

On ejection of a typical 74 kg person the probability of death being 23 percent, and the probability of neck extension, which will result in some level of injury, being 100 percent.

Wat een trein wrak.

[Sparkplug]

F-35A cost and readiness data improves in 2015 as fleet grows

By James Drew, Washington DC | 02 February 2016

The cost of operating the Lockheed Martin F-35A has come down 37.6% compared to last year and is now $17,000 cheaper to fly per hour than its fifth-generation cousin, the Lockheed F-22 Raptor.

According to air force cost-per-flight-hour (CPFH) data obtained by Flightglobal, the conventional takeoff and landing F-35 cost $42,200 to operate per hour in fiscal year 2015 compared to $67.5 in 2014 and achieved a 68.6% mission-capable rate as the fleet grew to 51 aircraft.

The director of operational test and evaluation reported this week that F-35As located at Hill AFB maintain the highest aircraft availability rate, averaging 80% followed by F-35Cs at Eglin AFB at 79% — compared to the Lightning II fleet-wide average of 51%.

The air force gets its CPFH numbers, dated 26 January, by dividing the of operating and sustainment cost of an aircraft by the number of hours flown to predict future funding allocations.

Northrop Grumman's RQ-4B survived termination in part by dramatically lowering its CPFH in 2013 and 2014, according to company and air force officials. Its flight-hour costs came down 5.7% in 2015 to $14,030 with 31 aircraft in the inventory.

The aircraft's 32 manned rivals, the Lockheed U-2S fleet, experienced a 5.9% increase in flight-hour costs and maintained a 68% mission-capable rate compared to the Global Hawk's 78%.

The air force data shows the service maintaining fighter force of 1,660 aircraft including twin-seat trainers with an average cost of $34,000 per flight hour – the cheapest being the F-16C with a mission-ready rate of 73%, and most expensive being the stealthy, supermanoeuvrable F-22A (67%).

According to the data, the air force's fighter inventory includes 806 F-16Cs today that will eventually be life-extended or replaced by the F-35A as well as 212 F-15Cs, 217 F-15Es and 183 F-22s.


US Air Force

The air force counts 159 bombers including 62 B-1Bs, 77 B-52s and 20 B-2As with a cumulative average age of 34 years. The B-1B fleet, which recently exited the Middle East region to receive upgrades, has the lowest mission-capable rate among the bomber fleet in 2015 at 47.5% followed by the B-52H (72.6.8%) and B-2A at (55.6%).

The tiny B-2A fleet is the most expensive bomber to maintain ($128,805 per flight hour) followed by the B-1B ($58,488) and B-52H ($67,005) because fixed costs are divided among fewer aircraft.


US Air Force

According to a tally of the air force data, the average mission capable rate stands at 77%, with the worst being the WC-135 Constant Phoenix, which can detect and analyse nuclear tests, at 8.2%. The readiest was the 23 twin-turbofan-powered C-21As at 100%.

The lowest-cost aircraft are air force's trainers and unmanned aircraft, which includes the T-6A Texan II (445 aircraft) and T-1A Jayhawk (178), MQ-1B (134) and MQ-9A (176). The most expensive are the four 747-based E-4B National Airborne Operations Centres ($149,580) followed by the B-2A bomber and OC-135B Open Skies treaty monitoring aircraft.

The air force's 5,117 aircraft are an average of 27 years old, most having entered service before Operation Desert Strom.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/f-35a-cost-and-readiness-data-improves-in-2015-as-fl-421499/

[Poleme]

 
Degene die zijn geschiedenis niet kent is gedoemd.

Kom, we gaan eens terug naar het Europa van 1941 - 1945. 
De Duitsers komen in ops Barbarossa erachter dat hun tanks te licht bepantserd en bewapend zijn t.o.v. de Russische T-34 en KV-I tanks.
Dit leidde tot de ontwikkeling van de dik 45 ton zware Panther, 55 ton zware Tiger en 69 ton zware KonigsTiger tank.
Deze tanks waren ontworpen  om andere tanks te bestrijden.  De Amerikanen en hun bondgenoten hielden vast aan de veel lichte M4 Sherman.  Die niet ontworpen was voor tank vs tank gevechten, maar puur ter ondersteuning van de infanterie.

Een numeriek geallieerd overwicht op de grond was niet voldoende om deze Duitse zware gemechaniseerde eenheden te neutraliseren.
Dus creëerden de geallieerden een lucht overwicht, zodat jachtbommenwerpers zoals de Typhoon en vooral de P-47 Thunderbolt de superieure Duitse grondgebonden vuurkracht konden overvleugelen.
Amerikaanse generaals merkten op dat de P-47 Thunderbolt in het bijzonder hun grondtroepen vele malen van de ondergang had gered.

Daar gaan we dan in een toekomstig conflict.  Onze NAVO strijdkrachten zijn expeditionair licht tot middelzwaar bewapend.  De 'heavy metal' is enorm ingekrompen en er wordt niet of nauwelijks in nieuwe heavy metal geïnvesteerd.
Hoe gaan we een lucht overwicht creëren zonder F-15C Eagles en F-16's, maar met een vloot die hoofdzakelijk uit '21ste eeuw A-7 Corsair' (F-35) jachtbommenwerpers bestaat?   De F-35 is een heel goede oplossing voor de problemen van ops Allied Force boven Voormalig Joegoslavie in 1999.
Maar in een huidig en toekomstig hoog intensief conflict wordt deze F-35 een gemakkelijk doelwit.

[dudge]

Heel naar voor de USAF, dat hun PowerPoint word ingehaald door de realiteit.

De Britten hadden er ook al last van.

[Sparkplug]

Pentagon budget 2017: USAF postpones retirement of 'devastating' A-10

Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly | 02 February 2016


The A-10's 'devastating' performance against the Islamic State in the Middle East has prompted the DoD to defer retirement until 2022. Source: US Air Force

The US Air Force (USAF) has postponed the retirement of its Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft as a consequence of its continued need on the battlefield, it was announced on 2 February.

Previewing the upcoming release of the Pentagon's fiscal year 2017 (FY 2017) budget request, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter disclosed that the A-10's retirement will be deferred until 2022 on account of its "devastating" performance against the Islamic State in the Middle East.

The decision not to immediately withdraw the A-10, as previously outlined, represents a spectacular volte-face for the Department of Defense (DoD), which had stated that it was necessary to retire the 1970s-vintage platform so as to free up resources and personnel for the introduction into service of its successor, the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

Since the DoD's intention to fast-track the retirement of the USAF's approximately 300 A-10s from the planned out-of-service date of 2028 to 'as soon as possible' were first announced in 2014, the issue has been hotly debated and contested at the highest levels of government.

Supporters of the legacy platform asserted that it offers an unparalleled close-air support capability, primarily by means of its 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger cannon, and that its divestment would go so far as to endanger the lives of US and coalition troops on the ground. The DoD countered this by claiming that the A-10 was past its prime and that it could no longer be expected to survive for long over a modern battlefield (a position that appears to have been fatally undermined by the platform's showing against the Islamic State).

Ever since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, the USAF has attempted on several occasions to rid itself of the A-10, claiming that the platform is 'a one-trick pony'.

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http://www.janes.com/article/57656/pentagon-budget-2017-usaf-postpones-retirement-of-devastating-a-10

[Sparkplug]

USAF considers defensive lasers for future fighters

By James Drew, Washington DC | 02 February 2016

The dawn of the combat laser era might begin in 2021 when the US air force hopes to begin demonstrations of a podded electric laser system for fifth and sixth-generation fighter jets that can destroy incoming missiles, not just steer them off course.

Today, the air force research laboratory started gathering market information under an advanced technology demonstration programme known as SHiELD, or self-protect high-energy laser demonstrator.

According to the request for information notice, the project seeks to integrate a "moderate power" electric laser into a protective pod for supersonic combat jets, including fifth-generation jets like the Lockheed Martin F-35 and F-22 as well as future fighters and bombers.


Northrop Grumman

"SHiELD seeks to expand moderate power (tens of kilowatts) laser weapon operation into the supersonic regime by demonstrating system performance under transonic flight, and acquiring aero-effects data under a supersonic environment relevant to current and future tactical aircraft," the notice states.

"Advanced laser options under investigation are those with size and weight appropriate for integration as part of a complete laser weapon system into an aerodynamic integrated pod-like structure carried by a tactical aircraft."

The laser pod would be significantly more powerful than current-generation self-protection capabilities like Northrop Grumman's directional infrared countermeasure (DIRCM) system. It's added power could burn or otherwise disable infrared and radar-guided missiles at high speeds.

Military scientists hope to validate the laser pod in a laboratory environment (technology readiness level four) by 2017 and be ready for prototype demonstration by 2021, the notice says.


General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

The air force has long sought to introduce airborne laser weapons, but the technology remains elusive. Lockheed Martin has explored laser weapon options for the F-35, and US special operations forces want to install a laser gun on the new AC-130J Ghostrider gunship by 2020.

Instead of chemical lasers that were favoured for the defunct Boeing YAL-1A airborne laser testbed, air force and industry officials now see electric-powered lasers as the best way forward.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-considers-defensive-lasers-for-future-fighters-421535/

[Sparkplug]

US Navy plans SLEP for Super Hornet fleet

Gareth Jennings, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly | 02 February 2016


With the earliest delivered Super Hornets set to reach the end of their service lives in about 2017, the US Navy is to roll out a service life extension programme for the type that should help offset delays with the F-35C. Source: US Navy

The US Navy intends to launch a service life extension programme (SLEP) for its fleet of Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet combat aircraft, a notice posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website reveals.

The notice, which was originally published by the The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) on 19 January and updated on 1 February, is for Boeing to undertake a SLEP of the F/A-18E/F aft fuselage to extend the life of the aircraft upwards from the current 6,000 hours.

NAVAIR revealed no details pertaining to the number of aircraft involved, the extent of the increase in the service life of the aircraft, timelines, or contract values. Neither did the notification say whether the effort would be extended to international operators, which are currently limited to Australia but expected to include Kuwait shortly.

The US Navy fields approximately 550 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the first of which entered service in the late 1990s. The earliest aircraft to be delivered are expected to reach the end of their current 6,000-hour service lives in about 2017, which is two years ahead of the planned declaration of initial operating capability for the carrier variant Lockheed Martin F-35C Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft.

Delays to the F-35C have already prompted the US Navy to execute a SLEP for 150 of its more than 600 legacy F/A-18 Hornet fleet (including US Marine Corps [USMC] assets). The goal of this particular SLEP is to increase the service life of the 1980s-vintage jets out to 10,000 hours, with the aim of keeping them in operational service until 2035. Other enhancements being considered for the legacy Hornets include a new active electronically scanned array (AESA) integrating the Link 16 datalink, colour screens in the cockpit and navigation upgrades with a moving map display, new Naval Aircrew Common Ejector Seats, and the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System.

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(331 of 584 words)

http://www.janes.com/article/57646/us-navy-plans-slep-for-super-hornet-fleet