tullamarine wrote:Ozair wrote:Anyone know why a United 787 and AA 777 are at CBR today?
I assume they were weather diversions. AA73 will reposition to SYD later this afternoon. I assume the delay in repositioning relates to crew hours.
Anyone know why a United 787 and AA 777 are at CBR today?
Jump to postkitplane01 wrote:Are you talking about the F-18E Block 3? Because the F-18E normally has it's data spread among three screens, unlike the F-35 or the Gripen which has one large screen.
A major factor in considering the Gripen is its penalty in having to trade ordnance payload for fuel. Below is something I wrote on the Finnish F-18 replacement thread I think last year. The Gripen E cannot take off with a full load of fuel and a full weapons payload. It trades weapons payload for f...
Jump to postIf I was starting my navy from scratch, I'd be real interested in the Gripen-M. Same or better performance, better range, uses less deck space, uses fewer maintenance people, and SIGNIFICANTLY lower operating cost. Jane's claimed the land Grippen was $4,700/hour and the F-18 (land version) was $11,...
Jump to postIt's not obvious that an F-15 at high altitude can dodge an incoming modern missile. The purpose is to trigger the missile launch. Once a lock is detected, you can hit the afterburner and leave the area. From high altitude, you have a better chance to survive. And the trade is not one for one for t...
Jump to postInteresting argument in favour of Gripen being chosen. Was this approach investigated in Sweden-Finland exercises when Finland used Draaken? Brig. Gen. Anders Persson, the Swedish deputy chief of the Air Force, zeroed in on Sweden and Finland as potential points of incursion for Russian forces. Adv...
Jump to postWhat a waste of taxpayers money. All KC10A's are low on hours/cycles and the DC10 series is just like the DC8 series very sturdy built and requires mimimal structural maintanance. (few AD's), compared to Boeing built aircraft. On top of that the KC-10A flightdeck has been upgraded a few years ago. ...
Jump to postkc135topboom wrote:Mortyman wrote:The Airbus 330 Mrtt is not only a tanker but also a cargo and troop transport.
As is the KC-135, KC-10, KC-46, KE-3, KC-137, B-707TT, and KC-767.
The USAF has never has any kind of organization when it comes to retirements. Usually retirements come along when a jet hits a critical maintenance requirement like a C/D check. Congress has slowed down the KC-10 retirements due to the KC-46 issues still plaguing the fleet. Originally 16 were suppo...
Jump to postO.K. So imagine it's 2021, and Iraq has a modern SAM system. But the allies use correct tactics for this new situation. How many allied planes are lost, and how effective is close air support given this new situation? Agree with GalaxyFlyers response, it really isn’t something we can state with any...
Jump to postI revise my plan. Buy some hose/reals for the C-130s. Upgrade to a boom based tanker if and when Canada actually orders from F-35s. (I feel like Canada's track record of actually taking delivery of new fighters is not strong.) Ha… Canada could very well delay their competition again and if that hap...
Jump to postI mean the thing in 2003, when 1,600 SAMs were fired and 1 plane and 6 helicopters were shot down. Thanks for the correction. Too many older radar guided systems in the Iraqi inventory for which the US and Coalition partners had effective EW tactics as well as precision guided weapons which removed...
Jump to postThey might be pragmatic about this, using the opportunity/need to support AC and repurposing/converting some aircraft as has been done before 30 years ago to serve as tankers/transports/VIP. Agree, I expect used A330s are converted to MRTT from Air Canada or subsidiary holdings. It won’t save a lot...
Jump to postVery cool photo on the front page today: 6325619 I had no idea that any F-14s were painted like this in U.S. service. Me either, I thought you had mistakenly posted an Iranian F-14 at first but that is USN so maybe an aggressor. Aggressor F-14 from Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center . It is indeed...
Jump to postVery cool photo on the front page today: 6325619 I had no idea that any F-14s were painted like this in U.S. service. Me either, I thought you had mistakenly posted an Iranian F-14 at first but that is USN so maybe an aggressor. Apparently it is an Iranian F-14 but wearing USAF markings for the fer...
Jump to postI don't know that an F-15 could do the job either. I think it would get shot down. It would have to cross quite a lot of defended airspace. Neither of us knows the details to the Iraqi and Iranian air defense systems, but if an F-15 can get there the Iranian military needs to do a better job. The d...
Jump to postI wonder if the Diehl HOPE could fit internally, both space and weight wise. best regards Thomas Unfortunately not. At 5m it is going to be too long and the internal A2G station is only rated for 2.5k so the HOPE will be too heavy for the station. They could probably increase the weight capability ...
Jump to postIf you accept the premise that in the future, it will be increasing true that if-you-can-see-it-you-can-kill-it, then radar is just a way to announce to the enemy your location. One can imagine a world where turning on a radar is rather like sticking you head out of a foxhole: it draws enemy fire. ...
Jump to postDoes Israel have a history of airborne assault? There was that famous raid on Entebbe to free airline hostages. They made a movie about that. Imagine a mixed force of Apache's and F-35s. That could very easily be Israel's future. What would an F-15EX bring to that? The ability to bring deep penetra...
Jump to postI imagine that Israel has the plan to crater the enemies runways. They did in 1967, and I'm sure that's taught in their history books. Is it not possible that Egypt or Saudi Arabia could get even a few planes within 60 miles of Israeli airports for just a short while, with heavy losses? Launching f...
Jump to postHello everyone, I would like to ask a question regarding the naming of the F-15EX. I am sorry if it has been written before but I can´t get through all the posts and the search function is lacklustre at best Will the USAF call the new variant F-15EX? Or is this just Boeing´s commercial name like F-...
Jump to postDutchy wrote:Interesting, it looks indeed looks like a Dassault Rafale, almost the same length and wingspan and almost the same max. take-off weight with similar performance. Just 30 odd years later.
The twin engine concept has been released to the public. Indian TEDBF naval fighter showcased by HAL Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has showcased for the first time its Twin-Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF) concept for the Indian Navy (IN), with a scale model displayed at Aero India 2021. Show...
Jump to postThat's some eye-opening info Ozair. All the more reason to take full advantage of the F-35's design and try to free up as much internal space as possible. I think it is realistic (if a little effort was made) to carry these combinations completely internally: 6 AMRAAM and 2 ASRAAM/AIM-9x 4 Meteor a...
Jump to postThe F-35 is indeed a more capable aircraft than the F-16 but in practice, if the cost per hour is a concern, what percentage of its operational life will an F-16 fly with a significant load out? When you say operational life do you mean on combat operations/deployments or do you mean every single f...
Jump to postIt is politics alright, but I doubt the Senators in Boeing's camp has anything to do with the initial concept. Recall the idea came at the time when Trump hired the Boeing Exec to become Sec of Def. Because of domestic issue, he was never confirmed. But the idea lived on. It would not have lasted t...
Jump to postIn a relatively uncontested air environment, why do you need F35's?. More like a second hand F16. There are additional advantages than just the stealth to the F-35 compared to the F-16. The sensor fusion engine on the F-35 is taking in all the information the aircraft sensors is receiving and proce...
Jump to postIf starting from scratch, I would buy as much stealth fighter as needed for air defense, but task them for ground attack as needed. The rest of my money I would spend split between drones and helicopters, with no light attack nor non-stealthy fighters. All ground attack operations that can be done ...
Jump to postBesides the internal weapon bay, don't forget that the F-35 have significantly larger percentage of composite structure that gives it a greater weight advantage over both the F-16 and the F-15. I wonder if you just take the F-35 and eliminate any radar absorbing coating, thus the associated mainten...
Jump to postBesides the internal weapon bay, don't forget that the F-35 have significantly larger percentage of composite structure that gives it a greater weight advantage over both the F-16 and the F-15. It does but holes inside planes are heavy... The internal weapons bay results in a higher empty weight th...
Jump to postThat is somehow hard to imagine if you stick to flight associated cost. Surely, if you unfairly distribute any given share of R&D expenses over the fleet, I can see the F15 being cheaper in the hour. Otherwise? Not so much. But would be interesting to see non-tilted numbers. I did a comparison ...
Jump to postI read somewhere that even with two engines cost of operating the new F-15 will be less than the F-35 per flight hours. That is somehow hard to imagine if you stick to flight associated cost. Surely, if you unfairly distribute any given share of R&D expenses over the fleet, I can see the F15 be...
Jump to postSo, paying $160 million per F-15 instead of half that for F-35s is "the more budget-conscious option"? Really depends on which budget you are saving doesn't it? How much more would it cost to train extra pilots switch over the 15 pilots to man more F-35's while maintaining required operat...
Jump to postThe A-10 has never been shot down by a MANPAD. To remain man portable the missile must sacrifice warhead size to get the required speed and range. Are you sure...? February 2 1991– An A-10A Thunderbolt II (Serial Number : 80-0248)[38] was shot down by an Igla-1 (SA-16) surface-to-air missile. The p...
Jump to postBeing reported that the conformal external fuel tanks for the Super Hornet could be dropped from the development for the Block III upgrades due to technical, sustainment, and structural risks: https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/new-concerns-prompt-us-navy-review-key-fa-18ef-...
Jump to postN328KF wrote:GCT64 wrote:The French could stick with the Super Frelon by going for the Avicopter AC313 / Changhe Z-18 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicopter_AC313
Do you really see a chance of that happening? There would be so many things wrong with going this route.
Simple question here: What determines when a pilot wears a JHMCS helmet versus just a standard HGU-55? I've seen photos of F-15/16/18/22 etc. where pilots are wearing both, but with the F-35, it seems the Lightning II's version of the JHMCS is always worn. Is it a mission specific requirement when ...
Jump to postNice reminder that the Lavi, full of sensitive US technology, ended up in China, yet I do not recall it being a massive scandal in the US, I can think of far less serious infractions by others getting them worked up and threatening sanctions, I guess when the one flogging sensitive US technology is...
Jump to postIs this how others see it? JF-17 is a successful program that accomplished it's goals and the Tejas is a disaster? ⋅ Tejas India on Wednesday cleared the country’s largest-ever indigenous defense deal worth $6.5 billion for the purchase of 83 LCA MK1A Tejas light combat aircraft....indige...
Jump to post2018 study. New administration will have it's own thoughts but I think I like the spread it out idea. F-35s, F-15EX and F-16 Block 70/72s. Maintain F-22 and A-10 fleets. Focus on getting the NGAD to market and fielded in a timely manner. https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/aircraft-propulsion/us...
Jump to postThanks Ozair, nice find. I was at Miramar in '90 and worked on the A model. As the NATOPS confirm, the A+ (and D) were not allowed to use AB on takeoff from carrier decks. Didn't allow them to take off using AB on land either (at the time, at least). Asymmetric thrust with the increased power was t...
Jump to postSome interesting comments The Outgoing Secretary of Defense Thinks the F-35 Is a "Piece of..." In the twilight of his extremely short tenure, the sixth and final person to the hold the office of Secretary of Defense under President Donald J. Trump had some pretty strong words to say about ...
Jump to postWas probably just a matter of time before the LRASM was integrated with the F-35 given the US and Australia will operate the missile and potentially others to follow. The USN has yet to acquire the JSM which can be carried internally on the F-35 but LRASM is significantly bigger and is external carr...
Jump to postHmmm, deliveries starting as soon as 2027... That seems a long time away to me, perhaps this was part of the accommodation with Israel that the UAE could order F-35 but not operate them until past a specific date. UAE signs up for F-35 in 11th hour of Trump administration: report Hours before the sw...
Jump to postReadiness still isn't where it needs to be for the F-35 fleet and it appears that the canopy delamination issue is still impacting the fleet despite the JPO bringing on an additional supplier last year. The Defense Department still isn’t meeting its F-35 readiness goals The F-35 joint strike fighter...
Jump to postThat would be interesting. I'll be watching closely to see if the F414 EPE actually makes it to production. That could have a knock-on effect for the SH in other competitions. Unfortunately I suspect it is just poor research by Janes (the irony if true given what they used to represent). This artic...
Jump to postBelgium just signed for 4 Sky Guardian MQ-9B’s. It looks to use the vehicles as well in the maritime surveillance/anti-submarine roles. https://www.defensenews.com/native/general-atomics/2020/07/30/mq-9b-skyguardian-the-next-generation-of-remotely-piloted-aircraft/ I think again that a mixed fleet ...
Jump to postKuwait will be delayed in receiving their Bk 3 SHs ordered in 2018. Covid is cited as the reason for the delay. These SH will be a blend of Blk 2 and Blk 3 systems I expect due to some Blk 3 systems being US only. The article also mentions using a enhanced F414 engines but this is the first time I h...
Jump to posthttps://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2474659/c-17-fleet-hits-milestone-reaches-4-million-flight-hours/ 09-9205 out of Charleston did the ceremonial flight to cross over the 4M flight hour mark. I counted about 26 in the air at the time, so yeah...lol Thanks, per the analysis we di...
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