The sad reality of the F-35C. It will be produced in the lowest numbers and most expensive variant...

I've been monitoring the conversation about the Super Hornet's absolutely mindblowing performance and gotten an inkling of the planes future ability to track targets (perhaps including stealth) at long range without use of its AESA radar (this also shows us why the RAF MIGHT BE PUSHING for more Tornadoes instead of F-35s).

Which lead me to this realization.

Even if the F-35 program progresses on track from this moment out, the F-35C will be produced in the lowest numbers and be the most expensive variant.

To take this line of thinking further an Aussie reader named Jason had the thought that the Navy might simply abandon the F-35 on cost grounds and seek to push ahead with only the Super Hornet as a money saving move.

I think he's onto something.

Boeing already has the contract so why are they broadcasting these capabilities?  To make sales overseas?  They could keep all this inhouse and simply present these capabilities to military leadership.  To thumb their noses at Lockheed Martin?  Nah, they're playing nice and insist on saying that the
Super Hornet will complement the F-35.

So why are they doing this?

I think that report I've been barking for, the one ordered by the SecDef comparing the Super Hornet to the F-35 brought some painful facts to the table.

I think the Navy has never been a fan of the F-35.  I think Boeing is carrying the Pentagon's water and making a case to the public for why the Super Hornet is good enough.

Remember there is a segment of the population that wants gold plated whatever for the military despite the cost and will agitate if the uber plane isn't in Navy Grey.

This is a public relations campaign to sell the Super Hornet as the sole fighter for the Navy to its members and the general public.

Long story short.

The F-35C is dead.  One down, two to go with the understanding that these planes are Dracula on steroids so the best we can hope for is a truncated buy.

One last thing.

Have you noticed that all the talk has disappeared from earlier?  We heard talk of revising the B-1R, turning the F-15 into a missile truck, making the F-16 a missileer and other idea to tout missiles while the stealth fighters searched for targets.

That talk has gone away.  Why?  Because they're trying to push the F-35 across the finish line and while those ideas will be revised later they will only serve to slice numbers now.

Are you a gazelle or a lion?

Be a lion @etthehiphoppreacher ・・・ Be phenomenal or be forgotten. Edited: @benlionelscott

A post shared by Never a Doubt ⚔️ (@thatgeardude) on May 26, 2018 at 5:28am PDT

Fighting over dinner....

That fox doesn't stand a chance.  He better let go or the rabbit becomes the appetizer and he'll be the main course!

The Warzone Blog has been on a tear! Latest on the S-500!

Forgot who sent the link on this but hit me up so I can credit you!

Story here.

Ponder this.  I don't know if it's even possible but I do know that the US has done it.  What happens if the Russians can turn the S-400/500 into an anti-ship missile?  What happens if they can somehow get it airborne and we're looking at a 250-400 mile anti-air missile carried by fighters to knock out our AWACS?

Nine years ago the Navy retired its dedicated carrier tanker, carrier anti-sub, and a plane with double the range of anything flying off the deck....

Story here.

This story is enough to make you get a bit emotional and to wonder what they were thinking.  The weird thing?  They're trying to recapture all these capabilities when they have airframes sitting in the desert that can be easily refurbished for use today.

If all of the above isn't bad enough then focus on the ES-3A model.  Electronic warfare back in vogue?  Well this would be an AWESOME supplement to the Growler....if we were serious about EW!

I guess this magnificent airplane suffered from the biggest sin in aviation.  It just plain worked well but wasn't sexy enough.

This will get someone killed...

Geez.

This will get someone killed.  That looks so much like a real Glock that I would shoot someone with hesitation and not even feel one bit guilty to find out its an airgun.

I hate regulation.

I hate big brother.

But on this one we need some type of identifier for public safety...Bright orange tips I ONCE THOUGHT were goofy and silly.

Not anymore.

Not after seeing this.

Game Changer! DTP-N and TTNT, combined with the IRST Block II sensor allows Block III Super Hornets to engage enemy stealth aircraft from well beyond visual range....

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!

via National Interest.

The Block III Super Hornet aircraft incorporates a host of new capabilities ranging from an upgraded 9000-hour airframe, new range-extending conformal fuel tanks (~120 nautical mile boost in mission radius), radar cross-section improvements, enhanced satellite communications, to a new advanced cockpit display system. But the two most significant developments are the addition of the Distributed Targeting Processor-Networked (DTP-N) computer—which exponentially increases the Super Hornet’s processing power—and the high-speed, high-bandwidth, high-throughput anti-jam Internet Protocol-based Tactical Targeting Network Technology (TTNT) datalink.

When the power of the DTP-N and TTNT are combined with the IRST Block II sensor, the resulting capability allows for a pair of Block III Super Hornets to engage enemy stealth aircraft from well beyond visual range—far beyond the range of the jets’ Raytheon AN/APG-79 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar.

As Gillian explained, while the IRST Block II is not part of the Block III program, the advanced processing, datalinks and sensor-fused display onboard the new Super Hornet variant enable the new capabilities envisioned for the new sensor.  As Bob Kornegay, Boeing’s capture team leader for domestic F/A-18E/F and EA-18G programs, explains, the critical Common Tactical Picture sensor-fused display will be enabled by the Block III aircraft’s powerful high speed anti-jam TTNT datalink and the sheer computing power of the DTP-N processor, which is needed to run the complex algorithms that make multi-aircraft data-fusion possible.

What makes the new IRST particularly capable is that it operates in the long wave infrared band, which allows the sensor to passively detect and track targets well beyond the range of the APG-79 radar. “It can see a hot airplane,” Kornegay said. “It has much longer range—it is a long wave long range IRST—so it can see much further than radar can.”

Story here.

Positive Memes...

Open Comment Post. May 26, 2018

Correction! UK Strike Brigade article via UK Land Power!!!!

Thanks to some eagle eyed readers I'm posting this correction to a story I posted earlier.

Information and musing on the UK Strike Brigade is via UK Land Power Blog (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!).  

Sorry for the confusion and my mistake.