Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen

Gestart door Lex, 19/12/2015 | 16:32 uur

Sparkplug

Citaat van: doncadena op 17/02/2016 | 16:12 uur
Bij de extra bestelde super Hornets zegt de US Airforce al, dat deze t.z.t vervangen worden door dat nieuwe vliegtuig en niet door de F-35.

Bedoel je niet de U.S. Navy? Alleen zij gebruiken de F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Citaat van: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 17/02/2016 | 16:34 uur
Tot slot, de winnaar van de T-X competitie zou ook meer worden ingezet voor home guard activiteiten, iets wat vermoedelijk ook ten koste zal gaan van een aantal F35A's.
Het moet nog maar blijken nog maar blijken of het T-X ontwerp ook bij gevechtssquadrons terecht zal komen. Het merendeel zal toch voor de vliegopleiding worden gebruikt.

Air National Guard squadrons worden vaak internationaal ingezet. Zitten zij wel op een toestel met beperkte mogelijkheden te wachten?
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: doncadena op 17/02/2016 | 16:12 uur
Verder zal men zijn investeringen gaan doen in een 6e generatie vliegtuig. Bij de extra bestelde super Hornets zegt de US Airforce al, dat deze t.z.t vervangen worden door dat nieuwe vliegtuig en niet door de F-35.

Die overtuiging deel ik en heeft derhalve direct gevolgen voor het aantal F35, met name voor de A en C variant. Voor het gemak kijk ik ook nog naar kisten als de F15C/D/E en de F16C (van af block 40) waarvan zeker 300 een end life update gaan ondergaan waardoor ze tot de jaren dertig operationeel mee kunnen. Laat dat ongeveer parallel lopen met de (nu nog) wensen van de USAF en USN voor een opvolgende generatie.

Dan de A10,  deze blijft gehandhaafd tot zeker 2022/23 en er wordt nu al voorzichtig gesproken over een waardige opvolger, aantallen die afgaan van de F35 familie.

Tot slot, de winnaar van de T-X competitie zou ook meer worden ingezet voor home guard activiteiten, iets wat vermoedelijk ook ten koste zal gaan van een aantal F35A's.

Mocht de F35 deal klappen of in dermate dramatische aantallen worden terug gebracht zoals destijds de F111, dan zou mijn voorstel voor de KLu zijn: nu 48-60 F18E/F/G? (kopen/leasen) en deze in de jaren dertig inruilen voor de F/X of FA/XX.

doncadena

Citaat van: JdL op 04/02/2016 | 18:14 uur
ik ben absoluut tegen de grippenNG
prachtig toestel voor gebruikers van de JAS39C/D maar hij heeft te weinig toekomstperspectief
dan hadden we rond 2030(maybe iets later) die dingen al weer kunnen gaan vervangen
De Gripen E heeft door zijn veel modernere software structuur veel meer toekomst perspectieven, dan de F-35.
Dat de F-35 zoveel toekomst perspectief zou hebben is een mythe., ontwerp en inrichting van zijn software is zijn grootste en tevens fundamentele probleem.
Zie de vragen van Elbert Dijkvraag van de SGP op basis van de rapporten van oppertester Gilmore van het Pentagon.
De F-35 zou van een nieuwe software "huishouding" moeten voorzien om het toestel te laten voldoen aan zijn begin 2000 gewekte verwachtingen en om snel moderne ontwikkelingen in te passen. Die complete herziening moet een verschrikkelijke en zeer kostbare klus zijn.
Ik zie dat niet gebeuren. Men zal het financieel mogelijke doen om de F-35 zo goed mogelijk, onder acceptatie van zijn beperkingen, te laten functioneren. Verder zal men zijn investeringen gaan doen in een 6e generatie vliegtuig. Bij de extra bestelde super Hornets zegt de US Airforce al, dat deze t.z.t vervangen worden door dat nieuwe vliegtuig en niet door de F-35.

dudge

Citaat van: Huzaar1 op 17/02/2016 | 12:25 uur
Dikke kans dat dit ten koste gaat van de kwaliteit.
Maargoed, zo raar is het niet.
Nederland zou tijdens de koude oorlog ook de Leopard1 bij DAF willen laten produceren. Doordat de dreiging zo enorm groot was en dit een latere levering van de tankvloot zou opleveren is hiervan afgezien. Maargoed als DAF dit zou moeten kunnen in de jaren 60-70. Dan betekent dat dat het iets is wat bij een auto/zware mechanica industrie past.

Dat, en Iran heeft ook gewoon een militaire industrie, bouwen nu al op BMP, T72 en Scorpion gebaseerde voertuigen, dan zal een gedowngrade T90 ook wel gaan lukken.

Huzaar1

Citaat van: Harald op 16/02/2016 | 13:55 uur
Iran wil ook al Russische T-90 tanks in Iran produceren. !!  Gaat de Perzische leeuw zich nu ook roeren en zijn klauwen en tanden laten zien ?

The commander of Iran's ground forces, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan ... Pourdastan said that he would prefer establishing T-90s tank production facilities in Iran, rather than buying the T-90s straight from Russia.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/will-iran-license-build-russias-t-90s-main-battle-tank/


Dikke kans dat dit ten koste gaat van de kwaliteit.
Maargoed, zo raar is het niet.
Nederland zou tijdens de koude oorlog ook de Leopard1 bij DAF willen laten produceren. Doordat de dreiging zo enorm groot was en dit een latere levering van de tankvloot zou opleveren is hiervan afgezien. Maargoed als DAF dit zou moeten kunnen in de jaren 60-70. Dan betekent dat dat het iets is wat bij een auto/zware mechanica industrie past.
"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion" US secmindef - Jed Babbin"

Sparkplug

Source: Raytheon Joining Alenia T-X Trainer Bid

Aaron Mehta and Lara Seligman, Defense News | February 16, 2016

WASHINGTON — Raytheon will announce Monday it is joining Alenia Aermacchi and CAE to offer the T-100 for the US Air Force T-X trainer competition, Defense News has learned.

.../...

Zie onderstaande link voor het complete artikel.
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/support/2016/02/16/raytheon-alenia-t-x-trainer-air-force-cae-bid/80469538/
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Citaat van: Harald op 16/02/2016 | 13:55 uur
Iran wil ook al Russische T-90 tanks in Iran produceren. !!  Gaat de Perzische leeuw zich nu ook roeren en zijn klauwen en tanden laten zien ?

The commander of Iran's ground forces, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan ... Pourdastan said that he would prefer establishing T-90s tank production facilities in Iran, rather than buying the T-90s straight from Russia.



Het plaatje voor de volgende decennia wordt er niet rooskleuriger op, twee aardsvijanden die dik gaan investeren in materieel waar wij slechts van kunnen dromen.

Harald

Citaat van: jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter) op 16/02/2016 | 13:10 uur
Confirmed: Iran and Russia to Co-Produce Su-30 Fighter Jet

http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/confirmed-iran-and-russia-to-co-produce-su-30-fighter-jet/

Iran wil ook al Russische T-90 tanks in Iran produceren. !!  Gaat de Perzische leeuw zich nu ook roeren en zijn klauwen en tanden laten zien ?

The commander of Iran's ground forces, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan ... Pourdastan said that he would prefer establishing T-90s tank production facilities in Iran, rather than buying the T-90s straight from Russia.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/will-iran-license-build-russias-t-90s-main-battle-tank/

Harald

Ottawa's Fighter Jet Dilemma Might Be Exactly What Ailing Bombardier Needs

There are few problems so bad that the intrusion of government can't make it worse. But the pickle the Liberals have inherited on the CF-18 fighter jet replacement program and Bombardier's bailout might both benefit from some creative thinking from Ottawa.

Is it possible that the government could maximize its stone-to-bird ratio and use one dilemma to help solve the other?

I was engaged in idle speculation with a defence analyst last week about the CF-18 replacements.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has said that a new statement of requirement for the jets will be released — one that is likely to effectively block any chance of Lockheed Martin's F-35 being chosen, in line with the Liberal Party's campaign commitment.

We discussed the options available. In the analyst's opinion, it came down to Boeing's Super Hornet, Saab's Gripen and Dassault's Rafale, with the last two being better placed to last into mid-century.

He acknowledged the problems of inter-operability with the U.S., if the Canadian military picked a European jet. The advantage, he said, was that both European manufacturers could "Canadianize" their planes by making them here.

The conversation suddenly became less idle. "You mean the entire plane could be made in Canada?" I asked.

"In theory," he said. "In fact, Saab has signed a deal to make the Gripen in Brazil, through Embraer."

That's Embraer, Bombardier's rival in the regional jet market. That's Bombardier, currently engaged in a life or death battle for survival. Bombardier, where "money goes to die," to quote Kevin O'Leary.

Ottawa is looking for "creative" ways to support the company. Bombardier has a $400-million funding gap over the next two years and has asked the federal government for help.

Could Ottawa bolster the ailing plane-maker's order book by directing a massive fighter jet contract its way?

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/171301/can-ottawa%E2%80%99s-fighter-dilemma-fix-bombardier%3F.html

orginele artikel :
http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-politics/john-ivison-ottawas-fighter-jet-dilemma-might-be-exactly-what-ailing-bombardier-needs

jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)

Confirmed: Iran and Russia to Co-Produce Su-30 Fighter Jet

Iran's defense minister revealed that Tehran is set to receive the Su-30 fighter jet at an undisclosed future date.

By Franz-Stefan Gady / February 14, 2016

During a recent television interview, Iran's Defense Minister, General Hossein Dehqhan, announced that Iran will sign a contract with Russia for the co-production of an undisclosed number of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter aircraft, Fars News Agency reports.

Should the deal go through, Iran will be the second country in the world after India to produce a variation of the Su-30 fighter jet locally. However, as of now, it still remains unclear in what capacity Tehran will be involved in the aircraft production process.

According to a source within Iran's Defense Ministry interviewed by Sputnik News, a contract could be signed as early as February 16, when the Iranian defense minister will arrive in Moscow to discuss the deliveries of S-300 air defense systems and the Sukhoi Su-30 aircraft.

"Minister Dehgan is taking a number of the Defense Ministry's representatives to the Russian capital to meet with their Russian colleagues and other highly-ranked officials," the source notes.

"The last stages will be discussed of delivering Iran the S-300 complex, the first part of which should arrive before the end of next month, and the second by the end of June. Minister Dehqwan will also discuss the delivery of Su-30 airplanes because the Defense Ministry believes the Iranian Air Force needs this type of plane. We've moved far in these discussions of purchases and I think that during the upcoming visit a contract will be signed," according to the source.

First rumors about a likely Iranian-Russian Su-30 deal emerged already in the summer of 2015 during the MAKS airshow, held near Moscow. "We are discussing the purchase of Sukhoi fighter planes," Dehqhan told Iran's Press TV back then.

However, Iran's Vice-President for Science and Technology Affairs, Sorena Sattari, who was also present during the discussions, downplayed the talks at the time: "We spoke about it but we didn't discuss purchasing them and talks were mostly focused on the technological issues."

As I explained previously (See: "Will Iran License-Build Russia's T-90S Main Battle Tank?"):

Under the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOP), an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran signed in July 2015, the UN arms embargo will be lifted 5 years after the JCOP adoption day. However, conventional weapons sales can be decided on a case-by-case basis meanwhile. "During the five years arms deliveries to Iran would be possible if they clear a notification and verification process in the UN Security Council," according to Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov.

It is unclear what variant of the Sukhoi Su-30 Iran is interested in, nor how many aircraft it wants to procure and within what timeframe.  During his recent television interview, General Hossein Dehqhan, also rejected the idea of procuring Chengdu  J-10 lightweight multirole fighter aircraft from China.

http://thediplomat.com/2016/02/confirmed-iran-and-russia-to-co-produce-su-30-fighter-jet/

Ace1

F-22 And Other Top Guns At The Singapore Airshow

Singapore Airshow managing director Leck Chet Lam says one of the top stars will be the U.S. Air Force Lockheed Martin F-22. This fifth generation fighter is so technologically advanced that the U.S. government refuses to allow it to be sold to any other nation. The USAF is also bringing the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the Boeing C-17, its large heavy-lift transport aircraft.

There is a requirement in the Asia-Pacific region for more military transport aircraft, which may explain the presence of Airbus Military's A400M at the show. The Royal Malaysian Air Force operates the A400M, but Airbus Military also is hoping to sell it to other countries in the region including Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand.

The Malaysian Air Force will bring the Sukhoi Su-30, the most highly advanced fighter in its fleet. At the 2014 Singapore Airshow, the Malaysians brought the MiG-29, but they are planning to phase out that aircraft type. One of the aircraft Malaysia is considering buying is the Dassault Rafale, which is why the French manufacturer brought it to the show. The Rafale has been riding a wave of success lately after securing orders from Egypt and Qatar, while a sale to India has not yet been finalized.

Another aircraft that has been achieving some sales success is the Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI) T-50. Indonesia and the Philippines have both ordered the type.

The Republic of Korea Air Force's T50 flying acrobatic team, the Black Eagles, will be performing at the show and the Republic of Singapore Air Force will be doing a coordinated flying display involving the Boeing F-15SG and the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

In terms of commercial aircraft at the show, Bombardier has announced that it will have the CSeries CS100 on static display. This aircraft type recently gained Transport Canada certification and is due to be delivered to launch operator Swiss International Air Lines in this year's first half.

Also on display is the Airbus A350. Singapore Airlines has ordered the aircraft and several other carriers in the region are considering it. Philippine Airlines, for example, plans to announce at the show whether it has ordered the A350-900 or the Boeing 787-9 to replace its Airbus A340s.

http://aviationweek.com/singapore-airshow-2016/f-22-and-other-top-guns-singapore-airshow?NL=AW-05&Issue=AW-05_20160216_AW-05_152&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2&utm_rid=CPEN1000002205251&utm_campaign=4964&utm_medium=email&elq2=81a38f470b0b4673bd5551d56cb8e67f

Harald

Finnish MoD Study Discounts Long-term Stealth Advantage

Evaluation of the Future Importance of Signature Management

The Exploratory Task Force for the replacement of the Hornet fleet performance launched a study to determine the importance of stealth technology in the future development of potential countermeasures technologies and measures developments.

The study was implemented by the Signal Processing and Acoustics Department of Aalto University and the Defence Forces Research Institute. The study analyzed the performance of 4+ and 5th generation fighters against a multirole MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) radar. The main research question relates to perceptible differences in 4+ and 5th generation multi-purpose fighters from the perspective of the radar.

Below is a summary of the public survey. The survey itself is confidential.

The role of military aircraft stealth in future warfare has generated a lot of discussion recently around the world. Stealth is undoubtedly a very important factor in the new generation of fighter aircraft performance, but not the only one. Its effectiveness depends on the aircraft's own characteristics, but also on its mission, flight path, weapons systems and counterparty radar systems, signal intelligence, other sensor systems as well as the performance of weapon systems. It is also good to remember that the improvement of stealth aircraft has accelerated the development of countermeasures. What is essential is to find out whether the objectives of stealth are of sufficient interest in various aspects of fighter aircraft.

Stealth in a platform is defined as the ability to operate without being detected, or that it is capable of affecting adverse weapon systems. To study stealth, it is essential to evaluate the aircraft's radar cross section (RCS), which can be used to infer how well the machine is visible to surveillance, monitoring and target tracking radar. Radar cross-section varies significantly depending on the location of the transmitters, radar, engine and radar receivers, and radar signal wavelength and waveform used.

Radar signals are reflected and scattered in a different way in different directions. Therefore, the radar signal received varies significantly, depending on the direction from which the radar "sees" the aircraft. Stealth surface design and materials contribute substantially to the way the signal is reflected and scattered in different directions. The shape of the aircraft design is most affected because it determines the direction in which the radar signal is reflected. The surface material is designed to attenuate reflected and scattered signals. Radiation-absorbing material (RAM) is placed in places of particular interest, which could reflect and scatter signals in undesired directions. These include, for example, air inlets and wing leading and trailing edges.

Stealth aircraft are usually designed for the frequency ranges used by the computer-designed radar operating systems. Protection against detection may not be as good in other frequency bands.

Future advanced radar systems will be based on the benefits of different radar signals, known as signal diversity. Using a wide signal diversity provides advantages to produce a radar transmitter and receiver with decentralized location, multi-frequency utilization, the waveforms used the flexibility and utilization of polarization variations in the radio-frequency signals. Since stealth features depend primarily on aircraft design, a distributed radar system can be used to achieve a clear advantage for the detection and separation of stealth aircraft.

In general, radar systems with several transmitters and receivers are positioned at various locations, called distributed MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). A single transmitter, or the receiver, may then be equipped with an antenna array, which allows for electronic scanning and the simultaneous reception of the reflected signals from several different directions.

For the study, different aircraft models were observed by advanced radar systems. The study of three-dimensional aircraft models, radio frequency signal propagation models, data analysis and advanced simulation software were used. It should be noted, however, that computer models are always simplifications of the actual aircraft. Therefore, simulations are always associated with the inherent uncertainty. For example, the effect of the airframe's surface treatment machine and materials of the machine or external weapon systems can be difficult to assess reliably alone computer simulation.

The simulations clearly showed that, at low frequencies, the radar detects stealth aircraft much earlier than higher frequency radars. Although the range resolution of low-frequency radar is generally lower, and their positioning less accurate, they can provide a rough estimate using a higher-frequency radar signal or other sensors, allowing more accurate monitoring of a target to be achieved.

In addition, at the lower radar frequencies the added benefit of stealth features is lower, due to the different types of aircraft detection, and tracking range was not as significant as the difference between the high-frequency radars. This supports the very information that for stealth aircraft the design emphasis has been on reducing the detectability of the aircraft by the most commonly used radar at higher frequencies.

In addition to the use of different frequencies, the team also studied the importance of radar transmitters and receivers and their decentralization on stealth aircraft detectability. Compared to a conventional radar system, MIMO radars can simultaneously transmit multiple waveforms, combined with the findings from a number of different receivers, and detect signals scattered and reflected in other directions.

As early detection of a radar signal receiver allows more decentralized stealth aircraft detection while traditional radar does not detect it.

Stealth design benefits depend on the location of radar transmitters and receivers relative to each other and to the aircraft. Thus, the aircraft flight path is also of great importance to its detectability. It may be noted, however, that the multi-spot radar is able to detect and monitor existing stealth aircraft to explore further afield.

By simulating the results obtained, MIMO radar has increased the likelihood of detection of an aircraft in a controlled area by about 30 percentage points compared to traditional autonomous radar. However, the importance of this fact in air warfare depends on many other factors. It is also noted that sometimes, from the stealthy object's point of view, it is sufficient that it be influenced, even if it is not detected. If the radar system receives returns that it cannot track, or on which missiles are unable to lock on, the situation is turns to the advantage of the stealthy aircraft.

The life cycle of fighter aircraft is very long. The Hornet replacement fighter is now already in production, and the fighters we purchase will be used for several decades. An aircraft's basic design is determined at the time of its acquisition, but sensors evolve over the years, so any assessment of the various options for the future fighter must also take into account how radar and other sensor technologies will develop.

Further research leads us to support the preparation of the fighter procurement by providing research-based information on the development of sensor technologies in the 2030s.

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/171262/finnish-mod-study-discounts-long_term-stealth-advantage.html

Sparkplug

Why Skunk Works ditched its clean-sheet T-X for Korean T-50

By James Drew, Washington DC | 15 February 2016

One year ago this week, Lockheed Martin Skunk Works chief Rob Weiss announced that his advanced design team had been working on a clean-sheet aircraft for the US Air Force's T-X programme as a potential alternative to the South Korean T-50 Golden Eagle, which Lockheed jointly developed with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and now exports around the globe.

That announcement was heard across the world, including in Korea, where the government spent billions of dollars to jointly develop the F-16 spinoff T-50 and procure the F-35 Lightning II. Indeed, Korea and Indonesia had even inked a deal to codevelop the KF-X fighter with significant technology transfer from the USA via Lockheed.

Last week, in the same Lockheed office in Washington DC where the clean-sheet was first disclosed, Lockheed declared that alternative design effort over, in favour of a block upgrade of the KAI Golden Eagle trainer known as T-50A.

At stake is a multibillion-dollar programme to produce 350 next-generation training aircraft and associated ground-based training systems to replace the 45-year-old Northrop T-38C Talon.

That announcement would have come as a relief to South Korea, which first unveiled its Lockheed-KAI T-50A offer for T-X with much pomp and ceremony in December.

"Frankly, when it came out last year in the media there was some concern," Weiss tells Flightglobal. "I said we'll be on stronger ground when we have done the work and really understand what the facts and the data tell us about a clean-sheet versus the T-50. Frankly, they've been as anxious as anyone to understand and hear the results of our study. They certainly understood why we had to do what we did."

Skunk Works has built its reputation in the classified world, producing revolutionary and legendary aircraft such as the U-2, SR-71 and F-117 – the world's first stealthy attack aircraft.

Today, the organisation is working on a variety of next-generation weapons systems from the "UQ-X" optionally piloted replacement for its U-2, to the air force and navy's next air dominance platforms. Other projects include including ship and land-based unmanned combat jets and new battle management aircraft like the E-8C "JSTARS" replacement, Weiss explained in 2014.

So why did such an organisation choose a mostly Korean-built trainer aircraft over something developed internally? According to Weiss, it came down to the metrics of cost, capability, schedule and risk.

He says work ceased on the clean-sheet alternative in late 2015 with 80% of the detailed design work complete, approximately five years after the two-pronged approach to T-X was approved.

"It's in the DNA of the Skunk Works to design new airplanes," Weiss explais. "This was a very sweet airplane and folks were passionate about it. It was very capable and it would do everything the US Air Force was looking for in the T-X aircraft.

"[But] we're all-in on the T-50 now and we're comfortable about that. "We're happy we did that study because now we understand the facts and the data. The facts and the data are that this is the right solution for the US air force because it's here now, it meets their capability requirements, there's no schedule risk."

The T-50A will be delivered as a block upgrade to the baseline T-50. It adds an embedded training system, fifth-generation cockpit, open system architecture and in-flight refuelling.

Weiss says the clean-sheet alternative might have cost approximately eight times more to develop, without adding significant capability "beyond a modernised T-50". Moreover, it would struggle to meet the air force's recently revised initial operational capability (IOC) date of 2024.

"Our team thought we had a really, really fine airplane . . . but it doesn't do any more than the T-50 already does, so at the end of the day – it costs more, takes longer, has higher risk and without adding significant value beyond the T-50," Weiss says. "That baseline [T-50] aircraft has over 100,000 flight hours. It's very mature. It's trained more than 1,000 pilots today."

The T-50A would be delivered from Lockheed's Greenville, South Carolina plant, which specialises in "nose-to-tail modification, maintenance, repair and overhaul" of in-service types. Lockheed is establishing a "warm" T-50A final assembly and checkout line there that should be ready by year's end.

The first two production-representative prototypes are being built, unveiled and flown for the first time in Korea but will arrive in America later this year for flight demonstrations. Weiss encouraged the air force to conduct a flight evaluation and he says new trainers could start rolling off the Greenville assembly line "within months" of a T-X contract award.


Lockheed Martin

"For the US Air Force to be flying our finest women and men in an airplane that's almost 50 years old is just unacceptable in my mind," he says. "That's where the T-50 shines. It meets all the capability requirements, so a clean sheet from anyone else is not going to provide additional capability. The cost of developing [a new] airplane is substantially higher and it's got all the schedule risk in it."

The air force responded to Lockheed's proposal during a budget briefing on 12 February, saying it remains committed to holding a fair and open competition between the clean-sheets proposed by Boeing and Saab, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems and the T-50 and T-100 derivatives proposed by Lockheed-KAI and Finmeccanica-Alenia Aermacchi respectively.

"We think we have a good [acquisition plan] that pits the people who have purpose-built and modified airplanes," says deputy chief of staff for plans and requirements Lt Gen James Holmes.

The air force's latest five-year spending plan includes $943 million for "advanced pilot training" research and development plus $63.5 million for the production of long-lead parts. IOC would be 2024, about one year later than planned due to "budget realities".

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/why-skunk-works-ditched-its-clean-sheet-t-x-for-kore-421946/
A fighter without a gun . . . is like an airplane without a wing.

-- Brigadier General Robin Olds, USAF.

Harald

Citaat van: Thomasen op 15/02/2016 | 13:17 uur
Is natuurlijk niet alleen voor Israel relevant. Al ben ik benieuwd hoe dit werkt voor de aan boord geplaatste F35B/F35C, die zouden dan ook met simpele storingsapperatuur, die de satelietverbinding verstoord, uit te schakelen zijn.


Daar heb ik ook al eens wat hoofdbrekens over gehad. Als het waar zou zijn dat als er voor en na een missie gelijk de F-35 (computer) gelinkt moet worden met "ïets" in de VS om te kunnen opstijgen en ook het onderhoudsprogramma ALIS dat afhankelijk is van deze "linking".
Dan heeft dat zeker de nodige consequenties, stel dat idd die data-overdracht/link gestoord wordt , wat zijn dan de mogelijkheden ?
Kun je dan nog vliegen ?

en niet overal zijn glasvezel aansluitingen
en satelliet verbindingen .... schakel de schotel op de grond uit en je hebt geen verbinding meer of .... nog drastischer schakel de satelliet uit.
Diverse landen, waaronder China, Rusland zijn druk bezig met projecten hiervoor.

Russia Flight Tests Anti-Satellite Missile
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/russia-conducts-successful-flight-test-of-anti-satellite-missile/

dudge

Citaat van: JP op 15/02/2016 | 10:40 uur

The IAF's Achilles' Heel

By all accounts, the F-35 is an impressive next generation fighter. But at the same time, as Aaron Lerner from IMRA news aggregation service noted this week, the F-35 suffers from one major weakness that arguably cancels out all of its advantages. That weakness is the F-35's operational dependence on software laboratories and logistics support computers located in the US.

In a manner that recalls Apple's ability to exert perpetual control over all iPhones by making it impossible for them to long function without periodically updating their operating systems, the US has made it impossible for foreign governments to simply purchase F-35s and use them as they see fit.

As Defense-Aerospace.com reported last November, "All F-35 aircraft operating across the world will have to update their mission data files and their Autonomic Logistic Information System (ALIS) profiles before and after every sortie, to ensure that on-board systems are programmed with the latest available operational data and that ALIS is kept permanently informed of each aircraft's technical status and maintenance requirements.

"ALIS can, and has, prevented aircraft taking off because of an incomplete data file," the report revealed.

This technical limitation on the F-35s constitutes a critical weakness from Israel's perspective for two reasons. First, as the Defense-Aerospace article points out, the need to constantly update the ALIS in the US means that the F-35 must be connected to the Internet in order to work. All Internet connections are maintained via fiber optic underwater cables.

Defense-Aerospace cited an article published last October in Wired.com reporting that those cables are "surprisingly vulnerable" to attack.

According to Nicole Starosielski, a media expert from New York University, all Internet communications go through a mere 200 underwater cables that are "concentrated in very few areas. The cables end up getting funneled through these narrow pressure points all around the globe," she said.

The Russians are probing this vulnerability.

In October the New York Times reported that "Russian submarines and spy ships are aggressively operating near the vital undersea cables that carry almost all global Internet communications, raising concerns among some American military and intelligence officials that the Russians might be planning to attack those lines in times of tension or conflict."

According to the report, the fear is that an "ultimate Russian hack on the United States could involve severing the fiber-optic cables at some of their hardest-to-access locations to halt the instant communications on which the West's governments, economies and citizens have grown dependent."

Given the F-35's dependence on the Internet, such an attack, while directed at the US itself, would also ground the IAF's main combat fighter.

Citaat van: JP op 15/02/2016 | 10:40 uur
The second reason the F-35's continuous dependence on a US-based logistics system is a critical weakness is that it would be irresponsible of Israel to trust that the US will not abuse its power to undermine and block IAF operations.

This brings us back to the Pentagon's insistence that Israel purchase only F-35s and missile defense systems. By giving Israel no option other than purchasing more F-35s, which the Americans control – to the point of being able to ground – even after they are deployed by the IAF, and defensive systems jointly developed with the US and built in the US, the Americans are hollowing out Israel's ability to operate independently.

Is natuurlijk niet alleen voor Israel relevant. Al ben ik benieuwd hoe dit werkt voor de aan boord geplaatste F35B/F35C, die zouden dan ook met simpele storingsapperatuur, die de satelietverbinding verstoord, uit te schakelen zijn.