SNAFU!

Monday, March 07, 2011

F-35C breaks sound barrier for the first time

via NAVAIR..

F-35C breaks sound barrier for the first time

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – The first F-35C test aircraft (CF-1) flew faster than the speed of sound for the first time over a test range near the Navy and Marine Corps F-35 integrated test facility at Naval Air Station Patuxent River March 4.

During a test flight to expand the flutter envelope, CF-1 reached Mach 1.02 at 30,000 feet with U.S. Marine Corps pilot Lt. Col. Matt Taylor at the controls.

“It’s great to be part of bringing stealth capability to the big-deck carriers,” said Taylor. “We accomplished a large number of test points, and CF-1 handled great going past Mach 1. It was a privilege for me to take the F-35C over that milestone for the first time.”

CF-1 gathered enough supersonic flutter data for the team to continue supersonic envelope expansion in the near future.

Flutter is an evaluation of structural loads on the aircraft experienced at various speeds and while performing prescribed maneuvers. The test and evaluation team at NAS Patuxent River will expand the flutter envelope to demonstrate the required durability and reliability of the aircraft in advance of delivery of the aircraft to the fleet.

The F-35C is distinct from the F-35A and F-35B variants with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for greater control in the demanding carrier take-off and landing environment. Carrier suitability testing for the F-35C variant is scheduled to begin later this year with land-based catapult and jet blast deflector testing.

The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program is in the system development and demonstration phase, focusing on delivering three different, new aircraft variants to the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force. The integrated test force at NAS Patuxent River is focused on testing and evaluation of the F-35B and F-35C.

AF-7, the second F-35 Lightning II production jet, takes off on its first flight Friday, March 4, from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. The F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant flew for 1.3 hours. AF-7 is the second and final aircraft from Low Rate Initial Production lot 1.

Only the CH-53K can perform missions required of Israel's Air-Space Force.

via Flight Global...

Fleet pressure prompts Israel to rebuild scrapped CH-53

By Arie Egozi

With no immediate substitute for the Israeli air force's Sikorsky CH-53 transport helicopters in the frame, the service has decided to rebuild one aircraft which was cannibalised for spare parts and dumped in a scrapyard several years ago.
The need to reactivate aircraft 985 is one outcome following an Israeli CH-53 Yasur crash in Romania in July 2010.
Six Israeli crew members and one Romanian observer were killed when the aircraft came down during a joint exercise.
According to a report in the Israeli air force magazine, the service's 22nd maintenance unit will perform the rebuild, which will fit the aircraft to its modernised 2025 standard.

The upgrade, already being carried out on all Israel's operational CH-53s, will see the installation of 20 new systems, including an advanced electronic warfare suite, and a satellite communications fit to expand the type's operational capability.
The project will also introduce an altitude hold-and-hovering stabilisation system and a laser obstacle ranging and display capability.

Israel plans to continue flying its current fleet until it can acquire Sikorsky's new-generation CH-53K, under development for the US Marine Corps.

Only the CH-53K is designed for the type of missions Israel's Yasur helicopters are required to perform, the air force says.

Wow.

Can we see a future joint helicopter formed from the CH-53K?

It would make sense.

It would lower costs.

It would be extremely capable across the entire spectrum.

The only problem is that the US Army is aiming for an airplane even larger than the 53K...something approaching the size of the C-130....

My best guess is that the CH-47 will continue to be modernized and that the Joint Heavy Lift Helicopter project will die a well deserved death.

Mommy make the bad man stop and the former Defence Department Assistant Deputy Minister

Read the whole thing from the Montreal Gazette, but this is the operative paragraph....

As part of the Harper government’s efforts to promote the F-35 stealth fighter, a top Conservative MP is criticizing a respected retired public servant who has advised government on defence purchases.
Edmonton MP Laurie Hawn, who’s the parliamentary secretary to Defence Minister Peter MacKay, has been sending out emails promoting the F-35 purchase and attacking critics of the deal, including former Defence Department assistant deputy minister Alan Williams.
The email, which has circulated among retired and serving Canadian Forces members as well as journalists, also attacks a retired Australian air force officer who has raised questions about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and an Australian aviation analyst who has done the same.

I've been amused and annoyed at the tactics employed by F-35 critics.

Let me assure you that the mailing lists for these notices are large..surprising...and if you follow the "FACTS(?)" provided and then read stories put out by so called journalist after the fact then you'd be more than disgusted.

Suffice it to say that a critic of the program got tarred with the same brush as supporters have for a couple of years now and he's running hoping that Mommy makes them stop.

Suck it up big boy!

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Post of the Week...

via Live Proud...

Charlie Sheen 47, is all over the news because he’s a Celebrity drug addict. While Andrew Wilfahrt 31, Brian Tabada 21, Rudolph Hizon 22, Chauncy May 25, are Soliders who gave their lives this week with no media mention.

Supercruise...whats the definition?

From Strategypage...

The F-22 is still one of only three aircraft (in service) that can supercruise (go faster than the speed of sound without using the afterburner.) In addition to the F-22, the Eurofighter and the Gripen can also supercruise.

Huh?

The Eurofighter and Gripen can super-cruise?

What then exactly is super-cruise?

And how is it that the SU-27 family isn't on this list...What about the later blocks of F-15/16's?

Is it even viable? The F-22 can buts it has much shorter legs than the much derided F-35 (I laugh at those who slam the F-35 for being short ranged yet talk about the F-22 being more suited to long patrols over the Pacific...can't they read...the F-35 can fly much further on internal gas).

What is fuel consumption like in S/C? Has its use been wargamed? Besides the launch of A2A and A2G weapons during the cycle to give them extra hmmph then what good is it really?

Golan MRAP...why didn't it succeed?

I'm looking back at the history of the MRAP program and one vehicle keeps popping up as "looking" like a winner yet failing to gain substantial orders. The Golan.

Does anyone have specific information on why it wasn't chosen and why the manufacturer failed to seek sales elsewhere? It would be appreciated.

Sunday's Must Read..."The ARG at the Vortex of Change"

Second Line of Defense writes....

Lessons Learned From Operation El Dorado Canyon
During Operation El Dorado Canyon in Libya in the late 1980s, the United States conducted a strike against the Libyan government in response to the state-sponsored bombing of a disco in Berlin that resulted in the injury of over 200 people, and cost the lives of two individuals. Much of the accolades that followed the successful raids on Libya revolved around the long-range, EF-111 and FB-111 bombers, along with the KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft that conducted long-range refueling operations while originating operations out of the United Kingdom.
Less talked about was the role of the Naval Forces off the coast of Libya that also participated in the raids. Well over 30 Naval strike aircraft participated in the raids as well, and the Naval Force was also on stand-by to conduct search and rescue operations as needed with helo-borne forces. The Naval Fleet provided command and Control as well, and the security of the airspace was guaranteed through the use of carrier-based F-14 Tomcats that were in position to react should something arise.

What is more important is what did not take place. Had there been an unforeseen emergent air threat that resulted in significant delays, the bomber force that had transited the Atlantic would have been unable adjust to the extended operations, and would likely have had to turn back toward England without dropping their ordnance. In an equivalent scenario in today’s day and age, that would most certainly be viewed as a strategic failure and then subsequently be plastered all over the mass media as exactly that.

What is more important is what did not take place. Had there been an unforeseen emergent air threat that resulted in significant delays, the bomber force that had transited the Atlantic would have been unable adjust to the extended operations, and would likely have had to turn back toward England without dropping their ordnance.

What the Naval Services provided operational commanders during Operation El Dorado Canyon is exactly the same thing the ARG provides today– the ability to react to change and absorb operational friction across a spectrum of operational conditions. That is something that typically doesn’t make the history books. Instead of a single-focus, long-range strike capability, the USN-USMC team provides operational commanders with a series of strategic, operational and tactical options that a one-dimensional bomber force cannot provide.