Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen, deel 2

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Lockheed awarded $6.9 billion F-22 upgrade contract

By: Dave Majumdar Washington DC / 21-2-3013

The US Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a ceiling of $6.9 billion to upgrade the service's fleet of F-22 Raptor air superiority fighters.

According to Lockheed, the arrangement is a corollary to a previous Raptor modernization contract that was issued in 2003. "The Air Force uses this to authorize the Incremental Modernization capability efforts such as Increment 3.1, Increment 3.2A and Increment 3.2B," the company says. "F-22 modernization provides upgrades that ensures the Raptor maintains air dominance against an ever advancing threat - with capabilities such as advanced weapons, multi-spectral sensors, advanced networking technology and advanced anti-jamming technology."

The contract award comes just days before a 1 March deadline for when automatic defence budget cuts kick in. The USAF expects that the work will be completed by 20 February 2023.

The Increment 3.1 upgrade, which is already being fielded, adds synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ground mapping capability to the F-22. It also adds the ability to carry eight 113kg (250lb) Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) to the jet.

In 2014, the USAF hopes to field Increment 3.2A, which will add new electronic protection measures and new combat identification capabilities to the Raptor. It will also correlate data from the jet's receive-only Link 16 data-link and fuse it with the F-22's integrated sensors.

Later, in 2017 the USAF hopes to start installing Increment 3.2B modifications onto its Raptor fleet. Increment 3.2B is a hardware and software upgrade that will fully incorporate the Raytheon AIM-120D and AIM-9X air-to-air missiles onto the F-22. It will also further upgrade the aircraft's geo-location and electronic protection capabilities. However, the USAF expects to incorporate rudimentary AIM-9X and AIM-120D capability onto the Raptor before 2017.

The USAF is funding a subsequent Increment 3.3 upgrade as a separate procurement programme

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/lockheed-awarded-69-billion-f-22-upgrade-contract-382576/

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

UAE close to decision over UK, French fighters

By Reuters Thursday, 21 February 2013

The UAE is close to deciding whether to buy British or French fighter jets, after nearly five years of talks and numerous diplomatic visits.

French firm Dassault's Rafales jets and the BAE Systems-backed Eurofighter Typhoon are in a closely-contested race to win the deal for at least 60 new aircraft to replace the UAE's Mirage fleet.

"It's still an open field and a decision will be made in a short period of time," UAE military spokesman Obeid Al Ketbi said at a defence show press conference said this week.

It was the first official comment from the UAE since Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, who is also deputy supreme commander of the UAE armed forces, called Dassault's terms "uncompetitive and unworkable" in December 2011.

In talks for the sale since 2008, the comments were a blow to Dassault and opened the door to the Eurofighter.

But the French firm's star may be rising. Trailed by nearly 100 staff and reporters, Sheikh Mohammed visited the Dassault chalet at the biennial defence show to talk with French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and then had lunch with him public.

Sheikh Mohammed went next to the UK pavilion but it was a far shorter visit for the Eurofighter hopefuls although he spoke at length with British Defence Equipment Minister Philip Dunne.

Le Drian confirmed this week that negotiations on the jet sale had restarted.

Both French President Francios Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron have been in the Gulf Arab state in recent months to push their respective jets.

"We believe that our approach to the UAE through the UK government is a realistic approach and we hope it can come to a positive conclusion," Enzo Casolini, Eurofighter's chief executive, said in Abu Dhabi this week.

The British are offering industry participation. A metal piece that links the fighter's engine to the fuselage is being manufactured in the UAE. The Typhoon is developed by a consortium of BAE, Finmeccanica and EADS.

"Making a deal with Eurofighter means you would have three corporate companies which are the biggest in Europe. This is a huge opportunity for industrial participation," said Casolini.

Industry experts and firms who have done business with the UAE say it may wait to see which manufacturers land US$11bn in fighter jet deals with Brazil and South Korea, expected in the first half of this year, before making their own call.

Saudi Arabia and Oman both have orders for Typhoons while Dassault is striving to ink a first sale for the Rafales. Both fighter jets waged combat missions in Libya in 2011.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/uae-close-decision-over-uk-french-fighters-490362.html#

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

"We will continue to drop the price of the airplane out to approximately 2020 where the US government estimate is for an airplane, with the engine and all mission equipment, to be approximately $US67 million ($A66 million)," he said".

ALS dit niet alleen het verkoop praatje van LM is en uiteindelijk waar blijkt te zijn, iets waar de hele wereld nu openlijk aan twijfeld, dan kunnende heren verkopers een lange neus trekken naar de critischi.

De vraag is niet zo zeer vanaf welk jaar maar meer vanaf wel aantal?

Ik laat me graag positief verrassen.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Lockheed says JSF better and cheaper

by:Max Blenkin, AAP Defence Correspondent
From: AAP
February 21, 2013

DEFENCE company Lockheed Martin has defended its controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), declaring it will be better than current combat aircraft, and cheaper.

Test pilot Elliott Clemence, who flew classic and Super Hornets in missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, says the JSF is superior in critical areas such as stealth, aerodynamic performance and futuristic sensor technology.

So-called sensor fusion allows information from aircraft radar and other systems to be projected as an image on the inside of the pilot's helmet visor.

"The air performance in a combat configuration is just eye-watering," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

Mr Clemence said flying aircraft using older systems was akin to trying to drive a car while texting, operating the radar and programming the GPS.

Australia is considering acquiring up to 100 JSF aircraft which will be the country's principal combat aircraft out to mid-century. But so far the government is firmly committed to just two, with a decision on the next tranche of 12 deferred for about two years.

The JSF is regularly criticised for being too expensive, running behind schedule and failing to deliver promised capability.

On the ABC Four Corners program this week, the JSF was criticised as overweight, underpowered and unable to fly near lightning storms.

But Lockheed Martin F-35 program vice-president Steve O'Bryan said this didn't mean JSF had a problem near lightning. It just hasn't been fully certified as lightning-safe yet.

Some 30 JSF were delivered last year and 36 will be delivered this year.

"We will continue to drop the price of the airplane out to approximately 2020 where the US government estimate is for an airplane, with the engine and all mission equipment, to be approximately $US67 million ($A66 million)," he said.

"That is better than any fourth generation fighter out there today in terms of cost."

Mr O'Bryan said while there were challenges, flight testing was ahead of schedule and the latest software block had been delivered on time.

"We are confident we will deliver the full capability because we have adequate schedule and funding to do that by the end of 2016," he said.

"By all indications from the US government and all the partner countries who are able to evaluate the F-35, it is meeting all the mission requirements."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/lockheed-says-jsf-better-and-cheaper/story-fn3dxiwe-1226582922643

[Huzaar1]

Ja maar er zit toch niet 1 heel team op die drie ontwerpen? Ik mag toch aannemen dat elke versie A,B,C hun eigen team heeft? 
dan krijg je dus ook 3 verschillende uitkomsten, en zou het moeten betekenen dat de A versie net zo veel tijd of eigenlijk juist minder dan van de F-22 nodig heeft. Dus ik vind het gewoon allemaal erg vreemd. 

Niet helemaal. Immers moeten het niet 3 verschillende kisten worden, maar 1 kist in drie uitvoeringen. Al schijnt dat inmiddels de 'parts commonality' flink is gezakt. In principe zouden wijzigingen in de B variant dan ook effecten op de A variant hebben.

Daarbij zijn er meer redenen waarom een dergelijk programma mislukt. Ik las ooit een stuk waarin werd beargumenteerd dat de VS de meest succesvolle wapensystemen maakt in tijden van schaarste, en dat uit enorme budgetten helemaal niet altijd een betere prestatie komt. 

Dat komt omdat die toestellen vooral moeten werken, en de teams dan minder ambitieus worden. Toestellen in vredestijd moeten ook een geheel andere levensduur kennen dan in oorlogstijd. Ik geloof ook wel het statement dat in schaarste dus beter werkend spul wordt afgeleverd.  :)

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Top U.S. Stealth Jet Has to Talk to Allied Planes Over Unsecured Radio

By David Axe / 02.20.13

For the first time, America's top-of-the-line F-22 fighters and Britain's own cutting-edge Typhoon jets have come together for intensive, long-term training in high-tech warfare. If only the planes could talk to each other on equal terms.

The F-22 and the twin-engine, delta-wing Typhoon — Europe's latest warplane — are stuck with partially incompatible secure communications systems. For all their sophisticated engines, radars and weapons, the American and British pilots are reduced to one-way communication, from the Brits to the Yanks. That is, unless they want to talk via old-fashioned radio, which can be intercepted and triangulated and could betray the planes' locations. That would undermine the whole purpose of the F-22′s radar-evading stealth design, and could pose a major problem if the Raptor and the Typhoon ever have to go to war together.

The F-22-Typhoon training is a big deal for both air forces. Previous encounters between U.S. Raptors and Typhoons from the U.K. and Germany were brief and, some say, rigged to handicap the arguably more capable F-22, widely considered the best aerial fighter ever. Operation Western Zephyr, as the combined American-British aerial training is known, essentially merges separate flying squadrons from both air arms for unprecedented levels of cooperation.

Eight Typhoon FGR.4s and 200 personnel from the RAF's XI Squadron are spending more than a month with the 40 or so F-22s of the U.S. Air Force's 1st Fighter Wing, based in Virginia. The Raptors and Typhoons have flown mock battles against supersonic Air Force T-38s and Navy F/A-18 Hornets. And on Feb. 7, the F-22s and Typhoons flew to North Carolina to join a wide-ranging simulated air war also involving F-15s, F-16s and aerial tankers.

Next, the Raptors and Typhoons will travel together to Nevada to participate in Red Flag, the Air Force's main war game, scheduled for late this month. "Across the board, the training we're getting here is probably the best I've had on Typhoon," said Wing Cmdr. Rich Wells, the top officer in XI Squadron.

But the mostly incompatible communications systems complicate closer cooperation. The F-22 was designed during the Cold War to be a solitary hunter, able to silently swap radar-based targeting data only with other F-22s using a special, hard-to-intercept radio datalink. Accordingly, the Raptor does not have the full Link 16 datalink installed on the Typhoons and many other Western fighters, support planes, warships and ground-based air defenses. Link 16 is what allows different air, sea and ground forces from the U.S. and its allies to securely swap information back and forth during wartime.

To be clear, the F-22 can receive Link 16 data — and has done so with the Typhoons. "That information in addition to other systems was used for coordinating tactical actions during the training," Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, an Air Force spokesman, tells Danger Room. But the F-22s did not transmit targeting data back to the Typhoons, Sholtis says. In short, an F-22 pilot can see what a Typhoon pilot sees on his radar, but not vice versa.

For true two-way comms, Raptor and Typhoon pilots have to fire up their old-school voice radios and broadcast an easily-intercepted message, thereby jeopardizing the Raptor's stealth advantage. In other words, routine communication between F-22 and Typhoon pilots hobbles the American jets, downgrading them from fast, high-flying and hard-to-detect to just fast and high-flying. According to some accounts, the communications shortfall kept the F-22 out of the multinational Libya air war two years ago.

Efforts to upgrade Raptors with two-way Link 16 or another, more widely compatible datalink so far have been stymied by technical and budgetary problems. In 2008, the Air Force tested a ground station at Langley that was able to receive data from F-22s then pass it back up to other fighters, but it's not clear whether that technology is still in use.

In another quick fix, the government installed software "gateways" in a handful of support planes: four modified business jets and three Global Hawk drones belonging to the Air Force plus two of NASA's research planes. This allows them to translate between scores of different radio systems, including the datalinks on F-22s and other fighters. But most of the gateway planes are in Afghanistan. If one of these precious support planes is flying alongside the F-22s and Typhoons on their current training, the Air Force isn't saying.

The flying branch has launched a fresh effort to solve the F-22′s communications problem, recently requesting industry to provide a technologically mature system to allow "fifth-generation" fighters such as the Raptor to "digitally connect to and exchange data" with non-stealthy "fourth-generation" fighters like the Typhoon, according to an official document obtained by Flight.

In the meantime there could be limits on how closely the American and British jets can cooperate. The intensive training taking place in Virginia, North Carolina and, soon, Nevada is honing the pilots' skills and tactics, but only within the constraints of the mismatched communications.

The Raptor and Typhoon still make a powerful team: both jets fly high, fly fast, and have excellent sensors. The Typhoon carries more weapons, even as the Raptor is more maneuverable. The two planes' teamwork could prove useful in some future air war, assuming the British jet doesn't need the F-22′s targeting data — or provided the enemy's defenses aren't too tough and the F-22 doesn't require its stealth. Those are pretty big caveats for a stealth warplane that's supposed to be the best in the world.

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013/02/incompatible-comms-stealth/

[dudge]

Ja maar er zit toch niet 1 heel team op die drie ontwerpen? Ik mag toch aannemen dat elke versie A,B,C hun eigen team heeft? 
dan krijg je dus ook 3 verschillende uitkomsten, en zou het moeten betekenen dat de A versie net zo veel tijd of eigenlijk juist minder dan van de F-22 nodig heeft. Dus ik vind het gewoon allemaal erg vreemd. 

Niet helemaal. Immers moeten het niet 3 verschillende kisten worden, maar 1 kist in drie uitvoeringen. Al schijnt dat inmiddels de 'parts commonality' flink is gezakt. In principe zouden wijzigingen in de B variant dan ook effecten op de A variant hebben.

Daarbij zijn er meer redenen waarom een dergelijk programma mislukt. Ik las ooit een stuk waarin werd beargumenteerd dat de VS de meest succesvolle wapensystemen maakt in tijden van schaarste, en dat uit enorme budgetten helemaal niet altijd een betere prestatie komt. 

[Huzaar1]

Waarom was de ontwikkeling van de F-22 zo veel beter dan die van de F-35? Of is dat een domme vraag?

Eén concept voor één taak en niet één concept uitwerken in 3 verschillende met wel hele grote verschillen?

Wellicht was de stap van X naar F ook niet zo handig en was het slimmer geweest om eerst een kleine YF serie te gebruiken.

Het schijnt dat de YF23 op vrijwel alle fronten beter was...

Ja maar er zit toch niet 1 heel team op die drie ontwerpen? Ik mag toch aannemen dat elke versie A,B,C hun eigen team heeft? 
dan krijg je dus ook 3 verschillende uitkomsten, en zou het moeten betekenen dat de A versie net zo veel tijd of eigenlijk juist minder dan van de F-22 nodig heeft. Dus ik vind het gewoon allemaal erg vreemd.

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Are we losing out on the Indian market?

February 19, 2013Mikhail Hodarenok, RBK Daily

The relationship between Russia and India in military aviation is developing successfully and has an excellent long-term outlook.

Moscow showcased its state-of-the-art export models of aircraft engineering and air defence facilities at the Aero India 2013 show, which was held in Bangalore from 6 to 10 February 2013. There is a popular belief that Russia is losing the Indian market for combat aviation to the West but is this true?

To answer this, we must analyse not only the current market environment but also the events of the last five decades, for this is how old the relationship between Russia and India in military aviation is ‒ it started in 1963, when Russia first supplied MiG-21F-13 fighters to the Indian Air Force.

For a comparatively short period, the MiG-21 was the backbone of the Indian fighter fleet. The machine helped tip the scales in favour of India in military conflicts with Pakistan, which operated western, mostly American-made machines. The battle-tested fighter won the trust of the Indian Air Force, paving the way for further engagement.

Big-time politics played a crucial role in the bilateral cooperation. Russia and India have always shared the same position on major international and military issues. Furthermore, Russia has never used military and technical collaboration as a lever to shape Delhi's policies.

Estimates

India has never been a satellite of any foreign power and has built an independent military and technical policy. When it comes to combat aviation, it has diverse partners in military and technical cooperation. In the 1950s, the Indians kept a balance between fighters built in the UK and France. After 1963, those two countries competed for the second and third spots on the list of combat fighter suppliers to the Indian Air Force.

There are no prerequisites for this pattern to change. To make sure, we need to take a look at the structure of the Indian Air Force fleet.

The role of the core aircraft in the fleet is being shifted to the Su-30MKI from the MiG-21.

The MiG-29 lightweight fighter, which is currently undergoing a MiG-29UPG modernisation programme, will stay in the Indian Air Force for a long time, as will the Mirage 2000.

The core attack aircraft are the MiG-27 and the Anglo-French Jaguar.

The core fighter for the Indian Navy is the MiG-29K/KUB, which is replacing the Harrier.

The grand total is that Indian fighter aviation is using five types of Russian aircraft and three types of western European aircraft.

Outlook

Let us try to foresee the structure of the fighter fleet in 20 years' time.

Apparently, whatever the situation, the Su-30MKI will remain the core fighter for the Indian Air Force. After President Vladimir Putin signed another major contract for supplies of the Su-30MKI to India during his visit in December 2012, the portfolio of contracted fighters was expanded to 272 machines, more than 150 of which have already been delivered to India. British Flight magazine has reported with reference to sources in the Indian manufacturing sector that India was planning to operate up to 350 fighters of this type.

The Su-30MKI will soon undergo modernisation under two programmes, one of them envisaging a radical renovation of avionics, including installation of an active phased array radar system. The other programme is to arm the fighter with the unique Russian-Indian BrahMos missile. Alexander Fomin, Director of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, said before the opening of Aero-India 2013: "In December, we signed a contract to adapt the BrahMos to the Su aircraft and we are actively working on implementing this idea of our Indian partners."

The supplier of the Su-30MKI — the Irkut corporation — has developed, in association with Indian HAL, the infrastructure required for completely overhauling the Su-30MKI fighters delivered in the early 2000s.

The Su-30MKI will, therefore, remain the most successful programme of Russian-Indian military and technical cooperation for years to come, the foreign exchange proceeds not being limited to payments for the aircraft and kits. World practice has shown that revenues from modernisation, overhaul and other forms of aftersales service are often equal to those from sale of the original aircraft.

But let us get back to the outlook for the Indian fighter fleet.

The Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) will be the latest additional to the fleet after 2020; it is planned for the Air Force to have up to 200 FGFA fighters.

The modernised MiG-29UPG and Mirage 2000 will be phased out after 2030. Some experts believe that supplies of the new MiG-29 fighters with cutting edge avionics are the fastest way for the Indian Air Force to expand its fleet amid the obvious delays in supplies of the Rafale aircraft. Importantly, the Indian military authorities are deeply concerned over the reduction in the number of combat squadrons to 34 from the required 45.

The Indian Tejas fighter will become the core light fighter; some 200-250 machines will be acquired.

The MiG-29K/KUB will remain the main fighter of the Indian Air Force. So far, 20 fighters have been delivered to India (16 under the 2004 contract and four more under the contract signed in 2010). The current agreements will make it possible to increase the number of Russian-made fighters to 45. Further increases in the air force will depend on the progress of the national programme for construction of aircraft carriers. Experts think that additional orders for MiG-29K/KUB may be placed with the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG soon.

Finally, the Indian Air Force may acquire another fifth-generation fighter under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. This will be a MiG-29 class machine, which opens a new 'window of opportunity' for cooperation with Russia.

Russia's dominance on the Indian market for combat aircraft will thus remain in the foreseeable future. The long-term outlook for the period after 2030 envisions only one western aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force — the Rafale — whereas it currently operates three (the Mirage 2000, Jaguar and Harrier). In this context, the speculations that Russia is losing the Indian market to western competitors are inappropriate and pointless.

Prospects for cooperation

India is obviously trying to increase the share of combat aircraft produced domestically. Even so, the story of the Tejas lightweight fighter and, especially, its Kaveri engine has made it clear that international efforts are needed in order to pursue the basic aviation programme.

Russia, for its part, managed to respond to the Indian national production trend in a timely fashion and continued building on the mutually beneficial cooperation strategy.

Foreign competitors have been unable to develop the same sort of relationship with India. The Rafale, which won the MMRCA tender, envisages the same level of engagement (licensed production) that Russia achieved with its MiG-21 programme 50 years ago. Unlike the Su-30MKI and MiG-29K/KUB programmes, the Indian Defence Ministry is not involved in designing the Rafale but selects the designs from the proposed list.

New Delhi chose Russia to be its principal partner in the development of combat aviation, building on the best combination of political, technical and economic factors. The United States has no access to the Indian market for combat aircraft, as a politically unreliable partner (India remembers the US embargo after it tested its nuclear warhead) and an ally of Pakistan.

The level of political trust between India and Russia, as well as mutual understanding between technical specialists, is obviously higher than that between India and Russia's western competitors, this being critical for combat aviation, one of the most sensitive areas of military and technical cooperation.

The only more sensitive area is nuclear arms but they are developed exclusively as a national effort.

The main trend in promoting the relationship between Russia and India in the military and industrial sector is evolution from supplies of technologies to more advanced forms of technical and R&D cooperation. The two countries had been accumulating cooperation experience in licensed production and modernisation of the MiG-21, MiG-21Bis and MiG-27 aircraft.

In the second half of the 1990s, the Su-30MKI production programme witnessed a revolution, as Russia and India started working on the design for the perspective fighter together, while the leading Indian high-tech companies teamed up with Russian makers to develop and produce systems for the new fighter.

The Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG gained similar experience working on the MiG-29K/KUB programme and modernising the MiG-29 under the MiG-29UPG project.

The relationship with India in development of combat aviation is a two-way street. The ideas and solutions implemented in the Su-30MKI and MiG-29K/KUB are used in the Su-30SM and the Russian version of the MiG-29K/KUB, which is being acquired for the Russian Armed Forces.

The joint efforts of Russian and Indian specialists under the MiG-21, MiG-27, Su-30MKI, MiG-29K and MiG-29UPG programmes set the stage for a breakthrough in joint development of advanced aviation equipment within the framework of the FGFA project, the Russian-Indian fifth-generation PAK FA-based fighter.

New level of trust

Joint design, development and construction call for a higher level of trust and mutual understanding than purchases of machinery.

Credit must be given to the Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG, Corporation Irkut, Sukhoi Company and the entire United Aircraft Corporation for achieving this level of relationship.

This trust between the partners is Russia's strategic asset, guaranteeing that it will maintain its position on its largest combat aviation market, as well as an effective means for saving national resources by combining the efforts of the two countries.

Russian-Indian cooperation in military aircraft building effectively meets the requirements of both countries and is in line with the global trend towards internationalisation of military programmes. The Su-30MKI, MiG-29K/KUB and FGFA are our appropriate response to the Eurofighter and F-35 programmes.

Timeline of the collaboration between Russia and India in fighter aviation

Since 1963 ‒ supplies of the MiG-21F-13.

1967-1987 ‒ licensed production of various modifications of the MiG-21 at HAL facilities.

1980s ‒ supplies of the MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29.

1988-1997 — licensed production of the MiG-27M bomber-fighters at HAL facilities.

1996 ‒ Russia and India sign a landmark contract for development and supply to the Indian Air Forces of Su-30MKI multirole fighters (Corporation Irkut is the chief contractor).

1996-2002 ‒ Irkut puts together an international team to design and develop the Su-30MKI. The main parties involved are Sukhoi Design Bureau, HAL, and high-tech Indian and French companies.

2000 ‒ a contract is signed for production of the Su-30MKI in India under a licence from Irkut.

2002-present ‒ supplies of the Su-30MKI fighters to the Indian Air Force.

2004 ‒ contract is signed for supplies of the MiG-29K/KUB to India; leading Indian producers of avionics are engaged.

2009-2011 — supplies of the MiG-29K/KUB under a 2004 contract.

March 2010 ‒ a contract is signed for supplies of 29 MiG-29K/KUB fighters as an option to the 2004 contract.

December 2010 ‒ Russia and India sign an agreement on joint development of fifth-generation FGFA fighters.

Since December 2012 ‒ supplies of the MiG-29K/KUB under the 2010 contract.

December 2012 ‒ supplies of three modernised MiG-29UPG aircraft.

24 December 2012 ‒ a new contract is signed for delivery of 42 kits for licensed production of the Su-30MKI.

http://indrus.in/world/2013/02/19/are_we_losing_out_on_the_indian_market_22359.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Waarom was de ontwikkeling van de F-22 zo veel beter dan die van de F-35? Of is dat een domme vraag?

Eén concept voor één taak en niet één concept uitwerken in 3 verschillende met wel hele grote verschillen?

Wellicht was de stap van X naar F ook niet zo handig en was het slimmer geweest om eerst een kleine YF serie te gebruiken.

Het schijnt dat de YF23 op vrijwel alle fronten beter was...

[Huzaar1]

Waarom was de ontwikkeling van de F-22 zo veel beter dan die van de F-35? Of is dat een domme vraag?

[Zeewier]

Er zijn geen actieve Elektronische Oorlog Voering systemen in de F-35 ingebouwd.  1. Omdat EOV systemen elektro-magnetische straling uitzend en dus niet steels is.  2. Steelsheid d.m.v. hoofdzakelijk radar wegkaatsende constructie en secundair Radar Absorberende Materialen heeft een zware prijs in aerodynamische kwaliteit, dus lagere prestaties, hoger leeggewicht en een zeer aanzienlijke stijging van aanschaf en gebruiks kosten.  3. Stoorzenders die mee worden gevoerd door jachtvliegtuigen hebben meestal een vermogen van ruwweg 36 kW en ze wegen ook zwaar.  De F-35A heeft waarschijnlijk niet voldoende prik aan boord om zulke stoorzenders te voorzien van elektriciteit.
De F-35 heeft nu al een flinterdunne gewicht marge!  Die gaat waarschijnlijk overschreden worden bij eventuele inbouw van EOV systemen.

...heel betoog.

Wonderlijk dat de F-35 zwaarbeladen elektrische generatoren en omvormers heeft. Waarom heeft de F-22 dan niet die complicaties? De F-22 heeft twee P&W F119 motoren maar is ook zwaarder toegerust in electronic warfare. De P&W F119 en F135 zijn familie van elkaar. Hamilton Sundstrand levert generator & starters voor beide jets en is nochtans een betrouwbare producent. Het zou een oplosbaar probleem moeten zijn.

De dunne marge in gewicht geldt voor vluchten met maximale belasting als gunpods, 1000 ponders, etc. Maximaal 18.000 ponds last volgens de ontwerpeisen. En ik ga er niet van uit dat Nederland ooit met volle belasting gaat vliegen. Mijn voorkeur ging juist uit naar de F-35 vanwege de schone romp en vleugels, omdat het opties biedt een ander missieprofiel te kiezen dan zeg maar de Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen NG en Dassault Mirage. Probeer een ander schaakstuk te zijn op het Europese schaakbord. Ach, Clingendael stuurt ons al righting een "robuuste" krijgsmacht oftewel: dertien in een dozijn. Ook wel: we willen liever niet gebeld worden.

[Harald]

Stel je eens voor, met het CEC weet je precies waar de vijandelijke radar-, en radio antennes zich bevinden.
Een kleine vloot onbemande vliegtuigjes richt nu een 'potlood' straal elektro-magnetische golven op deze antennes.
Niet om ruis te veroorzaken.  Maar in eerste instantie, om binnen te dringen in het radar systeem zelf.  Zodat we kunnen zien waar de vijand naar kijkt.  Vervolgens gaan we deze radars voorzien van programmaatjes, zodat deze onze eigen kisten niet meer zien.
Omdat de antenne in de verkeerde richting kijkt. Of de echo's van onze eigen vliegtuigen worden weg gefilterd.  Of er worden op het vijandelijke radar scherm een groot aantal valse echo's gecreëerd.  De vijandelijke radars, radio's en hun netwerk worden dus gehackt.

interessant !!
dit werkt ook andersom ?  ..... kun je ook de systemen hacken van een aankomend vliegtuig door er een electro-magnetische golf erop te richten ?..   

[Harald]

A 'Stealth' Showdown in South Korea ... F-35 of the F-15SE of Typhoon...... de keuze is nog niet gemaakt.

The FX-III competition to provide South Korea with 60 new fighter aircraft is being decided at a transitional moment in the history of manned fighters.

On one side sits the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, Lockheed Martin's winning design for the U.S. and UK's future multi-role fighter requirement. It's the F-22's single-engine little brother: a stealthy platform built for strike and air defense, laden with sensors and the epitome of modern, network-centric warfare. It's also delayed, over-budget and has the unwanted distinction of being known as the trillion-dollar plane.

On the other side sits the Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagle – the latest, stealthy version of the F-15E Strike Eagle – and the Eurofighter Typhoon: two late Cold War-era aircraft that have been re-roled and upgraded for the new missions and realities of 21st century air warfare.

Despite the many strengths of both the F-15 and the Typhoon (more of which later), FX-III should be a one-horse race. The conventional take-off F-35A being offered to South Korea is the U.S. Air Force's replacement for the venerable F-16, while in Asia-Pacific it is due to enter service with Australia and Japan – both nominal South Korean allies, and probably Singapore too. In the words of numerous USAF leaders, in fighter terms it is "the only show in town," and if you believe Lockheed Martin, it is head and shoulders above the competition in terms of technology and capabilities.

The FX-III program also comes at a good time for the F-35, which this year has actually beaten its test schedule with a series of missile drops and firings, ironed out problems with the carrier and vertical take-off versions, and started ramping up to full production. It also has momentum on its side: South Korea's FX-III contest follows hot on the heels of Japan's F-X fighter program – also to replace 1970s-era F-4 Phantoms. The F-35 won in Tokyo in December 2011, beating the Typhoon and Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Nonetheless, questions remain over the F-35's cost and reliability, and in South Korea are exacerbated by Boeing's strong position as the supplier of the F-15K Slam Eagle. The F-15K won FX-I and FX-II, supplying 61 aircraft to the Republic of Korea Air Force (RoKAF) and building a solid reputation for interoperability, firepower and deep strike capabilities that would serve Seoul well against a North Korean attack. The Eurofighter, meanwhile, came out of the 2011 Libya conflict with its combat credentials enhanced and is gradually developing into a true multi-role aircraft.

Whichever aircraft wins the competition, the reality is that the capability gap between North and South Korea's air forces has been growing for years. Estimates by IHS Jane's reckon that North Korea has only 35 or so MiG-29 'Fulcrum' air-supremacy fighters in service, alongside about 260 obsolete MiG-21 'Fishbeds' and MiG-19 'Farmers' that would provide little more than target practice for the RoKAF's Lockheed Martin F-16C/D fighters and the FX-III winner.

That is not to say that the threat is not there. Randy Howard, director of F-35 Business Development activities for the Republic of Korea, points to North Korea's "integrated air defense system ... that does not allow South Korea, with its current assets, to penetrate and hold those strategic targets at risk." According to Howard, that's where the F-35 comes in. "What 5th generation aircraft do is give you proactive strategic deterrence. It's the ability to penetrate heavily defended airspace and hold targets of interest at risk any time you want to. That's what the F-35 can do because it's stealthy, it's really stealthy," he says.

Howard also points out that North Korea notwithstanding, Northeast Asia is a dicey neighborhood. "China and Russia are developing stealth fifth-generation fighters," say Howard. "South Korea has to decide: is fourth generation OK for us or do we have to move to fifth generation with the rest of the world?"

The difference between a modern fourth-generation fighter such as a new-build F-15 or Typhoon and a fifth-generation fighter such as the F-35 is a matter of some conjecture, but in layman's terms comes down to one key factor: stealth.

And as Howard makes clear, stealth is at the heart of Lockheed Martin's sale pitch. "The fact is, if you want a stealthy airplane, a truly stealthy airplane, you have to design that in from the very beginning," says Howard. "You cannot take an existing platform, a fourth-generation non-stealthy platform, and make it stealthy for the 21st century in a way that the fifth-generation F-35 and F-22 do."

Boeing, unsurprisingly, sees it differently. The F-15SE includes structurally stealthy features such as radar absorbing material, angled vertical tail fins and conformal fuel tanks and weapons bays that go some way to reducing its radar cross section, or RCS. Meanwhile, Howard Berry, Boeing's FX-III campaign manager, says that stealth, or radar signature, "is but one element" of a concept that he calls "balanced survivability" that also includes the F-15's electronic warfare (EW) suite and its advanced AESA radar (both of which the F-35 also fields).

Berry also made a subtle dig at the F-35's troubled development. "[The customer is looking at] capability, availability and what I'll call risk. Risk from the development perspective and risk that when somebody says to them that you're going to get an aircraft on such a date that they'll know when that aircraft shows up, it's ready to fight the fight."

The concept of "survivability" is not just Boeing's sales blurb. One of the key developments in the defense aerospace in recent years has been the growth of sub-system renewal rather than aircraft replacement: air forces around the world, including the USAF, are more interested in replacing key systems such as avionics, sensors, cockpit displays and fire control radars, than in buying new airframes. One key reason for this is that platform design has stabilized in the past 15-20 years – beyond stealth, the flight performance of a new F-16 and a new F-35 are not so different.

This is why the F-15 and the Typhoon still have a fighting chance in South Korea. Both would be delivered with AESA radars, EW suites and bolt-on sensors that are not so different to what is built into the F-35. Both are mature, proven platforms in service with top air forces and both also come with attractive offset options to sweeten the deal — in Boeing's case, it includes the joint design and construction of the stealthy conformal weapon bays. In Berry's words: "It's not just, as it might have been in the past, a build-to-print activity. Rather, it's Korean design teams working side by side with their Boeing counterparts, doing design, development, development testing and, in the end, manufacturing those conformal weapons bays in Korea."

Lockheed Martin, for its part, is offering to support South Korea's KFX indigenous fifth-generation fighter program, which Indonesia has also signed up for, and is teaming up with Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) to pitch KAI's T-50 Golden Eagle for the USAF's advanced jet trainer contest.

Choosing the Typhoon would show that South Korea is not entirely dependent on U.S. imports and may open the European market up to Korean military imports such as the T-50, while Eurojet has also offered a version of the Typhoon's EJ200 engine to power the KFX program.

So FX-III appears to be a more finely balanced contest than initially thought. It is also being swayed by political considerations after Park Geun-hye, the conservative candidate, reportedly asked President Lee Myung-bak to postpone the decision until after the December Presidential Election due to concerns that going ahead with it would undermine South Korea's negotiating position on costs. It's unclear quite why this would be the case, and the delay has been openly opposed by the RoKAF officials, but as Taiwan's interminable quest to buy 66 F-16C/Ds from the United States illustrates, fighter aircraft can have a funny effect on politicians.

http://thediplomat.com/2012/11/03/future-flight-south-korea-assesses-fighter-jets/

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

]reactie nr.1464 van Poleme

Zeker interessant verhaal, ik heb wederom wat geleerd.