Internationale fighter ontwikkelingen

[Harald]

USAF issues RfI for F-16 SLEP effort

The US Air Force (USAF) is moving ahead with a service-life extension programme (SLEP) of its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft, with an initial sources sought notice being issued to industry on 14 January.

The request for information (RfI) posted on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website seeks to determine the level of industry support for a SLEP for up to 300 of the service's 1,017 Block 40/42 and 50/52 C- and D-model F-16s.

The USAF received its Block 40/42 F-16C/D in 1989, with deliveries of the first Block 50/52 aircraft commencing in 1994. Although the type will eventually be replaced by the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), the SLEP seeks to extend their flight hour life from 8,000 to 12,000 hours (about eight years of operational flying). The fleet is also receiving new ground collision avoidance systems (some 26% of F-16 aircraft losses and 75% of F-16-related fatalities are caused by 'controlled flight into terrain').

While the USAF received its F-16s under multiple blocks, each with differing capabilities, all aircraft delivered since late 1981 have built-in architecture that permits multirole capabilities. The newer Block 50/52 aircraft also include the capacity to carry and deliver additional precision-guided munitions, such as the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition and AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon.

According to the RfI, a SLEP contract award is expected in the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2018, with low-rate initial production of the kits beginning at the same time. Full-rate kit production will commence in the fourth quarter of FY 2019, with installation beginning in the fourth quarter of FY 2020 and running through to the end of FY 2021. Responses to the RfI are due no later than 6 February. The possibility exists for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) interest in the SLEP also.

http://www.janes.com/article/57336/usaf-issues-rfi-for-f-16-slep-effort

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Deze Typhoons komen van BAe toch?

Dat is, als de handtekening definitief wordt gezet, een Italiaanse deal. Dat zal denk ik een hoofdrol worden voor Alenia Aermacchi. Hoe eventuele werkverdeling binnen het gelegenheidsconsortium is geregeld weet ik niet.

[dudge]

Als alle plannen doorgaan dan wordt het best een interessante luchtmacht, een combi van Eurofighter tranche 3A (of B) en  de (Advanced) Super Hornet.

Zowel Boeing als Airbus zien hun fighter productielijn hard opdrogen, een welkome lifeline voor beiden.

Deze Typhoons komen van BAe toch?

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

AIRSHOW-Kuwait says sticks to F-18 jets despite approval delays

Als alle plannen doorgaan dan wordt het best een interessante luchtmacht, een combi van Eurofighter tranche 3A (of B) en  de (Advanced) Super Hornet.

Zowel Boeing als Airbus zien hun fighter productielijn hard opdrogen, een welkome lifeline voor beiden.

[Sparkplug]

AIRSHOW-Kuwait says sticks to F-18 jets despite approval delays

By Nadia Saleem, Manama | January 21, 2016

Kuwait's air force is sticking to plans to purchase Boeing's F-18 Super Hornet to replace ageing fighter jets, despite a lengthy congressional approval process in Washington that has frustrated industry players.

"The Super Hornet is one of the best solutions for us," Abdullah Al Foudary, commander of the Kuwait Air Force, said on the sidelines of an industry event in Bahrain. "We have the legacy F-18s that we have to find a solution for in 2030-2040."

U.S. industry executives and military officials have grown increasingly concerned about delays in approving the sale of 28 Boeing F/A-18E/F fighter jets to Kuwait, a deal valued at around $3 billion.

The fighter planes are of increasing importance to Kuwait amid rising regional tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, after an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran by protestors angry over the execution of a Saudi Shi'ite cleric.

Kuwait, an ally of Saudi Arabia, is also part of the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen and is primarily supporting that effort with its air force and F/A-18s.

Al Foudary said the air force would play the most important role in addressing regional threats.

"We have to set up priorities and buy new capabilities so we can cope in this situation," he said.

Boeing must decide in coming weeks whether to start building the jets using its own funding to ensure that materials that take years to procure are on hand when needed.

The company is likely to make that investment as a bridge to additional U.S. Navy orders expected in fiscal 2018, according to a source familiar with the issue.

The company is anxiously awaiting the release of the Pentagon's fiscal 2017 budget plan on Feb. 9 to see if the Navy orders even a few jets in fiscal 2017, potentially through a separate war-spending supplement.

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last week said foreign military sales helped ensure continued production of U.S. weapons systems, such as the Boeing Co F/A-18E/F fighter jet, and also helped the U.S. military and its allies work seamlessly in joint military operations.

But Mabus called for continued efforts to accelerate what he described as a slow and "torturous" approval process for military sales to foreign customers. (Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by William Maclean and Tom Heneghan)

http://www.reuters.com/article/kuwait-defence-idUSL8N1550FT

[Sparkplug]

Reviving F-22 Raptor production a 'non-starter'

By James Drew, Washington DC | 20 January 2016

The secretary of the air force has become the latest official to douse hopes of restarting Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor production, which was capped at 187 aircraft and closed in 2011.

The tooling and equipment needed to produce the twin-engine air-superiority fighter, which was barred from export because of its sophistication, remain in storage along with video instructions for various assembly processes.

This equipment will aid in the remanufacture of spare parts for the aircraft and its two Pratt & Whitney F119 engines, but some Raptor advocates want to see the assembly lines in Marietta, Georgia and Fort Worth, Texas reborn. This was done for improved versions of the Lockheed U-2 and Rockwell B-1.

That idea is "pretty much a non-starter," service secretary Deborah Lee James said when asked about the prospect of resuming serial F-22 production at a recent CSIS event in Washington DC.

"If you were to ask [air force chief of staff Gen Mark Welsh] or any of the uniformed officers in the air force, they would probably tell you they would love to have more F-22s.

"The original plan was to have quite a few more additional F-22s, and it was a regrettable set of circumstances – a combination of budget overruns and taking way longer than originally projected – that actually caused what became an early termination for the F-22 programme."

Optimised for air-to-air combat in a Cold War fight against Russia, the original requirement was for 750 aircraft. That number later dropped to 339, and then 187 plus eight test aircraft.


Lockheed Martin

Some retired and serving USAF officials have called ending F-22 production "the biggest mistake ever," particularly as the aircraft sees combat action in Syria, and as Russia and China finalise development of competing fifth-generation combat jets. Former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney even pledged to restart F-22 production during his 2012 campaign.

Air Combat Command chief Gen Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle said in September that he "dreams" about the day F-22 assembly resumes, but admits it's an expensive proposition. In 2010, a RAND study commissioned by air force placed the cost at $17 billion (2008 dollars) for 75 more aircraft.

"The very prospect of re-opening that [F-22 line] is pretty much a non-starter," says James. "We've got what we've got. We've got the F-35 coming, approaching initial operating capability. It's not the same, but they will complement one another and we'll have to go forward as is."

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/reviving-f-22-raptor-production-a-non-starter-421019/

[Sparkplug]

Israel gives green light to F-15I upgrade

By Arie Egozi, Tel Aviv | 20 January 2016

Israel will embark on a "deep" upgrade of its Boeing F-15I Ra'am fleet as it looks to maintain the type as the backbone of its air force's strike capability, despite the parallel acquisition of the Lockheed Martin F-35.

The enhancement has been mooted for some time, but Tel Aviv has recently given the green light to the programme.

Modifications will include structural changes, the addition of an active electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, updated avionics and new, unspecified weapon systems.

A selection process for the radar is ongoing, with a decision due mid-year. It is thought Israel favours the Raytheon APG-82(V)1 radar selected by the US Air Force for its F-15Es.


Israeli air force

Lt Col Yiftach, head of the Israeli air force's aircraft branch, told the service's website, although some missions will eventually pass to the F-35, the Boeing type will remain a "strategic aircraft".

"When we want to reach far distances with few aircraft and many arms – the F-15I wins," he says, noting its "great carrying abilities".

Yiftach says: "There is a reason it hasn't stopped flying and conducting missions after 18 years. As an aircraft that only operates with one squadron, it has every extreme ability we would want our aircraft to have."

It will also take time to integrate weapons onto the F-35, says Yiftach.

Flightglobal's Fleets Analyzer database records the service as operating 25 F-15Is, along with a combined 42 A/C-models.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-gives-green-light-to-f-15i-upgrade-421013/

[Harald]

Northrop Will Fly T-X Prototype This Year

Northrop Grumman intends to fly a prototype of the company's T-X concept early this year, in anticipation of an upcoming Air Force competition to replace the aging T-38 fleet used for advanced jet training.

Northrop is working with aerospace company Scaled Composites, which it acquired in 2007, on an internally funded T-X demonstrator aircraft, Tom Vice, president of the company's aerospace sector, told reporters Jan. 14 during a media trip. Vice did not specify exactly when the prototype would fly, but said the event would take place in the first half of this year.

"We intend to fly the aircraft at a time which we believe aligns with the competition. So we will fly it when the competition dictates it," Vice said. "Obviously we're trying to hold on to the uniqueness of the design, but we will be flying that airplane probably in the first half of 2016."

..../....

Vice declined to give further details about the T-X demonstrator, but said the aircraft "is more than just a prototype." The company's T-X proposal bears a striking resemblance to the T-38 Talon, also built by Northrop, according to December press reports.

..../....

Voor gehele artikel zie LINK
http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/support/2016/01/19/northrop-fly-t-x-prototype-year/78966566/

[Sparkplug]

Storm Shadow dropped from UK's F-35B follow-on integration plan

Richard Scott, London - IHS Jane's Missiles & Rockets | 18 January 2016

Key Points
• The integration of Storm Shadow on the F-35B as part of UK follow-on development has been dropped
• The UK is looking to integrate the Meteor BVR air-to-air missile and the SPEAR Cap 3 stand-off precision guided weapon as part of Block 4

The United Kingdom (UK) Ministry of Defence (MoD) has abandoned plans to integrate the MBDA Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missile on the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), and is instead looking at the far future integration of a new long-range deep-strike weapon projected under the still embryonic Selective Precision Effects at Range (SPEAR) Cap 5 programme.

To read the full article, Client Login

(102 of 1347 words)

http://www.janes.com/article/57304/storm-shadow-dropped-from-uk-s-f-35b-follow-on-integration-plan

[Lex]

Dus zal een baan van leeuwarden verlengt moeten worden voor als de windrichting de verkeerde kant op staat
Of is dat niet zo heel problematisch?

Dat zal de toekomst uitwijzen; afwachten dus maar.

[JdL]

Stel dat het zo zou zijn dat de vereiste baanlengte voor take-off 8kft zou zijn:
Baanlengtes EHVK: beiden >9900ft;
Baanlengtes EHLW: 9700 & 6500ft.

Dus zal een baan van leeuwarden verlengt moeten worden voor als de windrichting de verkeerde kant op staat
Of is dat niet zo heel problematisch?

[Lex]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?

Stel dat het zo zou zijn dat de vereiste baanlengte voor take-off 8kft zou zijn:
Baanlengtes EHVK: beiden >9900ft;
Baanlengtes EHLW: 9700 & 6500ft.

[JdL]

maar er zijn ook kritieken van een bedenkelijke aard.

+1
Die de media maar al te graag aangrijpen om het toestel nog verder af te kraken

[Sparkplug]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?

Het is de bedoeling dat komende juni een F-35A naar Nederland komt. Dan weten ze meteen of de start/landingsbanen de juiste lengte hebben    :lol:

Sommige kritieken op de F-35 zijn terecht, maar er zijn ook kritieken van een bedenkelijke aard.

[JdL]

Zijn de banen van Volkel en Leeuwarden op dit moment lang genoeg voor de F-35?