Open Comment Post. 21 Nov 2019

A400M...Three missions in one...

Check out the plane here.

Of course its advertising but it gives a decent overview of the capabilities they claim it has and has some nice graphics to go along with it.  The "three missions in one" thing is kinda cool (although obvious and applies to virtually every cargo plane) and I like the effort.

What caught me by surprise?  The number of orders and deliveries.  174 ordered and 84 delivered?  Didn't think it was that many. 

One other thing.

I didn't know it was as fast as it is.  Mach .72?  I'm not an aviation guy but that seems kinda fast.  I could be wrong but maybe we need to take another look at this thing.

Speed and range.  If we're gonna re-conquer the Pacific we need speed and range...to include our airlift.

USAF Special Ops is looking for a CV-22 replacement...

via Air Force Magazine.

Air Force Special Operations Command is looking forward to a future replacement for the CV-22 Osprey, a revolutionary capability that is still new to the command, AFSOC’s head of requirements said.

Brig. Gen. David Harris, the command’s director of strategic plans, programs, and requirements, said the Osprey’s advancement changed how the Air Force is able to insert special operators by being able to fly faster and higher, and carry more. An Osprey’s top speed of about 240 knots, for example, is faster than helicopters such as H-60 variants and CH-47 Chinooks. The Osprey can get “above the clouds” and fly on an instrument profile before dipping through a hole in the clouds to drop troops in a small landing zone.

“They’re getting people to the target area that we weren’t able to get to the target area before,” Harris said during a Nov. 18 AFA Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Event in Arlington, Va.

So AFSOC is looking at: What’s next? A future Osprey replacement could have improved cargo-carrying capability, such as three pallet positions, to serve a larger logistics role. It could have low-observable technology to be more stealth. It could fly much faster, at a speed of 450-500 knots, he said. All capabilities that could help AFSOC “get into places we haven’t seen before,” Harris said.

These capabilities will help provide more dilemmas for a capable adversary to face, he said. While it can be easier for an enemy to deny a larger mobility aircraft’s ability to land at austere locations, a vertical lift capability is harder to counter.

“If our adversary is targeting every 5,000-foot runway that is out there, every 6,000-foot runway that is out there, can they target every batch of grass that’s out there?” he said.

The Osprey has been a “workhorse” in current operations, especially in Afghanistan, Harris said.

Interesting.  We've seen Harriers but so far none of the sci-fi type tilt jet assault craft. Until we can build something like the Halo Hornet we're stuck in a speed, range and lift box ....

Spanish & Italian Forces @ "Toro 19" Exercise...

Royal Air Force CH-47 via "The Don" Photography...

#WokkaWednesday you say?

Here are a few of my @RoyalAirForce Chinook efforts...https://t.co/4BGwF2Gxao pic.twitter.com/Y8GlPt8YJ3

— The Don Photography (@THE_DON_TOG) November 20, 2019

Weds Wild...Don't mess with Rhinos!

The power of a Rhino pic.twitter.com/M2GHNcUZBy

— Nature is Lit🔥 (@NaturelsLit) November 19, 2019

Proposed tank to replace the Leopard 2...

Le char du futur franco-allemand #MGCS dans le collimateur de l’#Espagne

➡️Option désormais évoquée officiellement par l'armée espagnole pour remplacer ses Leopard 2E à l'horizon 2035

➡️https://t.co/9LXarnZeCL pic.twitter.com/3n9Pj3GZFJ

— Forcesoperations (@ForcesOperation) November 18, 2019

China releases images of the new CH-AS-X-13 Air Launched Ballistic Missile on a H-6N bomber.

#China releases images of the new CH-AS-X-13 Air Launched Ballistic Missile on a H-6N bomber. This weapon is essentially an air-launched DF-21 - the interesting question is whether it will be an Air-Launched ASBM, or just have a land-attack role? https://t.co/AMw0QuNP30

— Dr. Malcolm Davis (@Dr_M_Davis) November 19, 2019

Open Comment Post. 19 Nov 2019

Heartbreaking News. Data shows F/A-18 pilot survived for 10 hours on the ocean surface before drowning after KC-130 mid air collision

via Stars and Stripes.

Smartwatch data suggests a Marine Corps pilot who ejected from his F/A-18 Hornet after colliding with a KC-130J tanker last year off the coast of Japan was alive on the surface of the ocean for nearly 10 hours before he drowned.

The heartrate data is included in a command investigation report on the incident, which claimed the life of Capt. Jahmar Resilard, 28, along with five Marines in the tanker. The group flew out of Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni near Hiroshima.

Resilard — referred to as “MP2” by investigators — was wearing a Garmin Fenix 3 smartwatch when he ejected from the fighter jet at 1:44 a.m. on Dec. 6, according to the command investigation report released Sept. 26.

“The data from the watch indicated that MP2’s heart was beating at an average of 86 beats per minute until approximately 1130,” the report states.

“MP2’s Garmin smart watch indicates that MP2 was alive on the surface of the ocean from approximately 0145 until approximately 1130 (nine hours and 45 minutes) in 68 degree Fahrenheit water.”

Story here. 

If this doesn't get you in your feelings or break your heart then you need medical help.

A USMC Aviator was alone in the ocean for hours, hoping and praying for rescue in vain.

Aviation Centric Marine Corps?

I'm not buying but many are so let me ask you this.  Why aren't we at LEAST buying some sea planes that can range out far and conduct rescue operations when the next airplane that goes down is a C-130 with Marines or Soldiers inside?  How about a CH-53K or MV-22 filled to the gill with personnel?

This is unsat and needs to be corrected.  A high tech force that can locate and kill a terrorist in a crowded city but can't rescue it"s people in a wide open ocean?

Sad and pathetic.  Oh and make no mistake ... solutions exist to solve the range and location problem TODAY!

How will we react to India having astronauts circling the globe? Make that 4 space faring nations on this planet...

India aims to send astronauts into space by December 2021, and Russia is helping to train them https://t.co/nA0E6rPgl1 pic.twitter.com/wWSQiF95Lu

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) November 18, 2019

I say 4 with the meaning that 4 nations will be able to launch people into space (well it'll be 4 once we...the US...get our fucking head out of our ass and get our space program back on track...the Indian's will probably beat us back to space).

Open Comment Post. 18 Nov 2019