Thursday, April 26, 2018

Quantum radar to render stealth technologies ineffective

via New Atlas.
Stealth technology may not be very stealthy in the future thanks to a US$2.7-million project by the Canadian Department of National Defence to develop a new quantum radar system. The project, led by Jonathan Baugh at the University of Waterloo's Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), uses the phenomenon of quantum entanglement to eliminate heavy background noise, thereby defeating stealth anti-radar technologies to detect incoming aircraft and missiles with much greater accuracy.
Story here. 

Everyone, even our allies, is working overtime to crack stealth and make it a non factor going into the future.

We've heard about quantum radar before.  If I recall correctly this was a path of research that the Chinese were following (don't know about the Russians). Additionally we know about the claims being made about GaN AESA that Raytheon, SAAB and others are building at this very moment.

I put this to you dear Reader.

If the F-35 loses stealth then how in God's name will it survive the future battlefield?

It's not comparatively fast.

It's not designed to fly high.

It's endurance is nothing special.

It's basic electronics (AESA, IRST, etc...) are all nothing special....even its sensor fusion is being claimed as a feature on what is called 4th gen fighters these days.

So without stealth the F-35 becomes what it has always been.  A mediocre fighter that is outstanding in only one  model..the F-35B when compared to the Harrier.

https://www.popsci.com/china-says-it-has-quantum-radar-what-does-that-mean

https://www.wired.com/2008/05/lockheeds-spook/

http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/inventions/chinas-claim-it-has-quantum-radar-may-leave-17-billion-f35-naked/news-story/207ac01ff3107d21a9f36e54b6f0fbab

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2021235/end-stealth-new-chinese-radar-capable-detecting-invisible-targets-100km


BAE Systems - CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicle Facts

Jesus...what is this chicks problem with the cops???

 
https://tacticalsquad.tumblr.com/post/173322187790
 


Anyone have any background on this?  Been getting the vid but not the info on the "problem"....

Let's get real on Russia recovering cruise missile fragments/components.


Ok boys.

Let's get real on debris/recovered missile parts after the strike on Syria.

First a little story.  I took a course a long time ago from the FBI covering Post Bomb Blast Investigation.  No big deal, the war on terror was high and I guess they wanted bodies in case bad shit ever happened again in the US.  My thinking?  If things went south they would have us put on blue jeans, give us those Incident Response Force Jackets and we would scour the ground so the real agents could start running down the suspects.

But I digress.

What I learned from that course is that when bombs explode you don't get vaporization.  You get micro fragmentation.  In other words even with the hotness of the time, fertilizer bombs you will have evidence left behind.

Components that can be painstakingly reassembled by some geek in a lab coat in a flight hanger somewhere.

That adds up tenfold when you're talking about modern munitions.

Think about what we're talking about with a cruise missile.  We're talking about a devise that has a warhead on its nose but is designed to flying a couple hundred miles, maneuver, sometimes at high speed other times at high subsonic and hit a target precisely.

Additionally it has to be rugged enough to survive launch from ships or aircraft AND carriage/storage till its needed.

Long story short.

Munitions are tough.  Cruise missiles are tougher.  There will be fragments left behind.  There will be components that help the attacker identify it.

So while I am a supporter of trying to befriend Russia, on this they're full of shit.  A few components and fragments don't mean a thing except cruise missiles struck a target and they got some grunts to pick up the pieces.

Open Comment Post. April 26, 2018.


Eurofighter "Mudhen" Version versus the F-35...They say it's 90% Better....




I use the above images for a reason.  The decision in Germany is what to replace the Tornado Strike Fighter with...the F-35 or the Typhoon.  The weapons carriage you see is going to be critical in this decision I believe...especially the version carry Brimstone and a couple of Paveways along with a pod.  Why?  Because the plane can perform precision strikes retains its fantastic maneuverability and blistering speed, especially in comparison to the F-35.

But enough of my words.  Check this out via Defense News.
“Stealth is only 10 percent of the capability mix,” Eurofighter marketing chief Raffael Klaschke told Defense News on Wednesday. “We’re still better at the other 90 percent,” he argued, referring to the aircraft’s combat capabilities.

While the company could rest easy with the German Defence Ministry’s recent proclamation that the Eurofighter is the preferred path for the upcoming multibillion-dollar Tornado-replacement program, Lockheed Martin’s massive showing at the air show may have some officials nervous.

Eurofighter CEO Volker Paltzo doubled down on the argument that the Typhoon would guarantee continued vibrancy in the European military aircraft market. “I want to underscore that every euro spent on Eurofighter within Europe stays in Europe,” he told reporters.

Executives also stressed that the European aircraft would come free of any “black boxes,” a reference to the expectation that all technological and operational details would be owned by Europeans, which may not be the case with the F-35
Story here. 

Interesting isn't it?

We already knew about the pushback against stealth...we've seen that even in the US Navy.

What I discounted (and shouldn't have) was the brewing issue of ALIS.  I have yet to see any real benefit to operating forces with regard to that system.  It seems error prone form my seat and needlessly grounds aircraft and has the potential to not only "spy" on allies but also render them helpless when aircraft are needed the most.

What challenges does the Typhoon face?

The Europeans didn't modernize it on a realistic timeline.  They didn't make the move to AESA radar and other advanced electronics as quickly as they should have.

From what I can tell they haven't worked as quickly as they should on next gen engines to keep the plane relevant.

That was then, this is now.

If Germany chooses to change course they could lead the rest of the Eurofighter consortium into a new age while the Europeans work on a 6th gen (skipping 5th gen) fighter.

I don't for one minute believe the F-35 will be in service till 2070.  That would mean that fighter tech has stagnated...that would mean that human technology would stagnate for the next 50 years.  The very idea is insane.

So in reality we're looking at the Europeans being able to take a beat, build an Uber Eurofighter and start work on their 6th gen.

It's doable if they're willing to rise to the challenge.  Even more it makes sense if they can build a proper roadmap.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Four Meteors, Two Bombs, Six Brimstones and Two ASRAAMs....


This is a pretty flexible bomb loadout for a dual role mission.  I know other aircraft can carry the same but its still nice to see.

Deputy killed, his cruiser stolen and an armed robbery committed...Sovereign Citizens have to be targeted...

via Washington Post.
 A Maine man killed a sheriff’s deputy, stole his cruiser and robbed a convenience store early Wednesday, triggering an intensive manhunt in a heavily wooded rural town in Maine, officials said.

Somerset County Cpl. Sheriff Eugene Cole was killed at about 1:45 a.m. on U.S. Route 2 in Norridgewock about 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Bangor, state police said. His cruiser was driven to a Cumberland Farms store, which was robbed.

Aircraft and armored vehicles were seen around Norridgewock and schools were locked down as federal, state and local law enforcement officials searched for 29-year-old John Williams, of Madison, Maine, who remained on the loose after abandoning the stolen cruiser, state police said Wednesday.

“Many times we’re able to say that there is not an ongoing threat, but that’s not the case today,” said State Police Lt. Col. John Cote at a news conference. “There certainly is an ongoing public threat. He’s considered armed and dangerous.”
Story here. 

I'm about to piss a great many of you but fuck it.  We've gone round and round about Black Lives Matter.  I said they're a protest group.  You guys said they were much more.  I said ANTIFA was simply anti-fascists and you guys supported the people on the other side (yeah....some of you supported Nazis).

Ok.  So be it.

But ya know what you've missed?  These Sovereign Citizens.  Out of all the groups that worry me, from infiltration of terrorists groups into America, to Nazis/KKK, the only ones that cause me pause because I'm absolutely convinced they're batshit crazy are the Sovereign Citizens.

Unbeknownst to most they've been on a rampage over the past couple of years and I'd bet that 90% of the police shootings are either members or sympathizers to their positions.

You want to know what group needs to be focused on because they're a real threat? 

Sovereign Citizens.

The FBI should get out of doing the public relations non-sense of targeting protest groups and get after the guys gunning for cops.

Side note.  This dude might be some whacked out Meth Head (and not a Sovereign Citizen) but it doesn't change any of the above.  

CH-53K arrives in Berlin...




Wow.

That is one big bird!  Looks good too.

Yeah I've read the reports that the schedule is slipping.  Yeah I know they still have yet to deliver on the plan to reduce the cost of the thing...

But I do know (now I do) what's happening to the current fleet of CH-53E's and it's essential that they get this thing moving and moving now.

Do I care if LM sells some to the Germans or Israelis?  No not really.  Another couple dozen won't make a difference. 

They've SOMEHOW raised the number of airframes requested from 200 (that the GAO questioned) to now 225.

I can live with even that. 

All I want is a sense of urgency from Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky to fix whatever problems is causing the delay, a vigorous push from the Deputy Commandant for Aviation and the issues that we're seeing with the Wing cleaned up ricky tick quick.

Pentagon reveals multi-year block buys for F-35's. It won't work....


via Flight Global.
As the F-35 moves towards full-rate production in three years, the US Air Force and Navy plan to transition from purchasing the aircraft in one-year blocks to multiyear procurement contracts, according to a Selected Acquisition Report released in in late March.

The USAF plans to start the first round of multiyear procurement deals with a three-year contract in 2021, followed by successive five-year procurements beginning in fiscal 2024 until the end of the programme.

The USN plans to continue one-year procurements through fiscal year 2023, followed by successive five-year procurements from fiscal year 2024 until the end of the programme.

Multiyear procurement contracts are a special mechanism that Congress permits the DOD to use for a limited number of programmes at full-rate production to reduce costs by several percent. In total, the DOD plans to purchase 2,456 F-35s: 1,763 F-35As for the USAF; 353 F-35Bs and 67 F-35Cs for the Marine Corps; and 273 F-35Cs for the USN.
Story here.

This is an ambitious plan.

Too bad it won't work.

The problem is more than the F-35.  Let's just assume that they FINALLY get all the bugs worked out and the plane starts to deliver.

They're facing two terrible problems. 

The first is the upgrade path.  By 2021 when they first start this multi-year buy they're going to be starting the first of many upgrades to get the plane to equal current top tier 4th gen airplanes...especially looking at its EOTS that is a gen behind current SNIPER pods...so money will have to be diverted to testing and implementing the system on jets they're buying.  That will add cost at an inopportune time.

The second is the budget.  Republican defense hawks have been sounding the alarm that this is the last big budget the Pentagon will receive.  Quite honestly considering our current fiscal state, we shouldn't have given the Pentagon this much money now.  In the future?  It just won't happen.

There are other issues that will take a whack at the F-35 program for the services too.

For the USAF they're looking at a MASSIVE budget trainwreck.  They're trying to put into service the F-35, the KC-46, and a replacement for several other jets that perform important roles...those low density high demand airframes the ground guys depend on...besides that you have competing interests inside the service from the B-21 for nuclear deterrence to buying a new Air Force One to even building hypersonic weapons and rebuilding weapon stocks.

The US Army will be howling from the sidelines.  They're gonna want their Next Generation Combat Vehicle, continue AMPV production, rebuild Strykers to the 30mm variant, design a Bradley II, and of course buy a shit load of JLTVs as well as working on the next gen Chinook, replacement for the BlackHawk and make a decision on which way they go for an Apache Attack replacement.

The US Marines will also be screaming.  No more banging on the Wing.  They need new rides so the CH-53K is essential AS IS getting the MV-22 to one configuration!  We need the ACV, the AAV Survivability Upgrade (along with enhanced lethality options for both) as well as JLTVs, more cannons and MLRS.

The US Navy?  They might be in the worse shape of all with regard to this plan.  They'll be getting Advanced Super Hornets for comparative pennies while being pressured to buy more F-35C's.  Meanwhile they need to sort out their new Cruiser sized Destroyers, figure out where they go with Burkes, put into service new subs, build a new set of Command Ships, figure out what they're gonna settle on with the AFSB/MLP type ships and other important things.

Oh and did I mention they're gonna be trying to do all this while undergoing the biggest social change in the military since the 1950's?

This is ambitious but they're making plans for people down the road to carry out.  The General's club is tight but if they have to bail because the politicians won't fund it then they can't start a coup and make it work.

I said that to mean this.

They better have a plan B, cause even I can see this is simply wishful thinking....