mattScare mongering to get more investment into the industry? as for the Indian government and composites, i wish the reporter had looked around the Imperial College, Cambridge + Cranfield departments for materials and composites before saying anything. Although its not goverment funded their are lots of things being found and done! and the MOD does fund research projects.. In that sence its similar to what India did.
Do they want the British government to hand them out free autoclaves, VRTM machines and Instroms + Zwick machines or something?
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mattRe: RE: Single Engine v. Two Engines
Originally posted by Adrian_44
“In recent years, however, Alaska’s airports have suffered
> significant losses in service because of the introduction of
> new, long-range aircraft that no longer needed an Alaska
> refueling stop, and the opening of Russian airspace with the
> resulting shortening of many northerly air routes.”
While the new long range airliner aircraft don’t need a stop over between North America and the Far East. Non-stop is a selling point but, the reality is that flying a DC-10 from New York to Anchorage to Tokyo takes less time! Yes, dispite the one hour stop-over in Anchorage, it is faster than a non-stop flight.Adrian
Thats from an Official document i found online, just quoted it here .. 🙂
mattFive RAF bases to close in £1bn cuts
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 02/04/2004)
The Ministry of Defence is planning the biggest cuts in Armed Forces’ equipment for decades as part of attempts to save more than £1 billion from the defence budget.
Five RAF bases are to go, with the scrapping of all the RAF’s 62 ground-attack Jaguars, all its 79 ground-attack GR7 Harriers and all its 39 Puma helicopters.
The Royal Navy will lose the two carriers Illustrious and Invincible, at least two frigates and its 88 Sea King helicopters, and close four naval storage bases.
The Army will have to close a number of camps on the Salisbury Plain training area and axe at least 50 Challenger 2 tanks, 50 Warrior armoured personnel carriers and all 118 of its Gazelle helicopters.
The cuts are so wide-reaching that ministers are planning to hold back the announcement of some until after a general election.
At least three Scottish infantry battalions are in danger of being amalgamated, a move that could spark a widespread defection of Labour voters north of the border to the Nationalists.
But the Government believes the suggestion by Oliver Letwin, shadow chancellor, that the Conservatives would cut the defence budget, now denied by the Tories, makes it impossible for them to challenge any cuts.
The Royal Scots and the Black Watch, two of the most famous Scottish regiments but both with recruiting problems, are most likely to go.
The overall cuts will lead to 2,000 officers being made redundant across all three services as well as a number of senior NCOs. The large-scale disposals come after the Treasury won its battle with the MoD over cash shortages caused by the adoption of a new accounting system, the cost of expensive new programmes and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Under the new Resource Account Budgeting system it costs government departments more money to keep open large numbers of bases.
Working groups within the MoD were told to find ways to save money from current equipment to protect projects such as the Navy’s two new carriers and the RAF’s Eurofighter/Typhoon aircraft.
The RAF bases to close include Coltishall in Norfolk, which houses all the RAF’s Jaguar ground-attack aircraft, Wittering in Cambridgeshire, home of Joint Force Harrier, and Benson in Oxfordshire.
Military commanders are furious at the long list.
Nicholas Soames, shadow defence secretary, accused the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, of planning “to wreak havoc on the Forces”.
mattPentagon Contract Announcement
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Apr. 16, 2004)
Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colo., and Northrop Grumman Space Mission Systems Corp., Redondo Beach, Calif., are being awarded a $220,000,000 cost-plus fixed-fee contract to provide for the Space Based Radar (SBR) Concept Development effort.
The SBR program will provide global persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance through delivery of Surface Moving Target Indication, Synthetic Aperture Radar imaging, High Resolution Terrain information, and derived products for use by DoD and intelligence community users.
The Concept Development effort will consist of each contractor developing multiple candidate architectures for an SBR system. These architectures will be reviewed by the government at an Alternate System Review (ASR). After ASR, each contractor will select a single solution set for further development into a SBR system design. This design/development work will culminate in a system design review (SDR) of both designs. SBR will be followed by a source selection for a follow-on contract to design, develop, test, produce, and deploy Increment One of the SBR system.
At this time, $30,500,000 has been obligated to both contractors. This work will be complete by April 2006. Solicitation began January 2004. The Lockheed Martin effort will be performed at Lockheed Martin, Littleton, Colo., and other locations. The Northrop Grumman effort will be performed at Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, Calif., and other locations. We will obligate $30.5M to Lockheed Martin and $30.0M to Northrop Grumman. This work will be complete by April 2006. Solicitation began January 2004.
The Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., is the contracting activity.
-ends-
mattBoeing Unmanned Combat Aircraft Makes Aviation History
(Source: Boeing Co.; issued Apr. 18, 2004)
ST. LOUIS — Target confirmation, arm and release consent. With those three commands from its human operator, a Boeing X-45A unmanned combat aircraft made aviation history by releasing an inert (non-explosive) Global Positioning System-guided Small Smart Bomb and hitting a ground target today at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Range, China Lake, Calif.
“For the first time, an unmanned combat system has demonstrated that it can successfully deliver precision weapons on target,” said Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President and CEO Jim Albaugh. “Unmanned systems like the X-45 are well suited for high-risk missions like the suppression of enemy air defense and precision strike. Once fully developed, these systems will provide commanders with effective and affordable solutions that compliment and support war fighters on the ground, in the air, or at sea.”
During the test an operator authorized release, and when the aircraft determined it was within range the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) X-45A technology demonstrator dropped the guided 250-pound weapon from its internal weapons bay at 35,000 ft. and 0.67 Mach (approximately 442 mph). The aircraft autonomously performed all maneuvers, bay door operations, and weapon-away release sequences under human operator supervision.
The next major milestone for the X-45 J-UCAS program will be the demonstration of multiple-vehicle coordinated flight. That event will take place following a series of single-vehicle checkout operations and coordinated flights between an X-45A and a manned T-33.
The X-45C, a much larger version of the A model, is being built by Boeing IDS in St. Louis, with its first flight scheduled for mid-2006. The J-UCAS X-45 program is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/U.S. Air Force/U.S. Navy/Boeing effort to demonstrate the technical feasibility, military utility and operational value of an unmanned air combat system for both the Air Force and the Navy.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $27 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
mattU.S. Air Force Welcomes First Lockheed Martin C-130JSuper Hercules
(Source: Lockheed Martin; issued Apr. 16, 2004)
LITTLE ROCK AFB, Ark — The U.S. Air Force formally accepted its first Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules here today marking the beginning of a new generation of cargo and personnel transport for the active-duty Air Force.
“There is no question the Super Hercules is going to have a long and dynamic career with the Air Force,” said Ross Reynolds, C-130J program vice president. “We have delivered C-130Js to operators around the world and it is very gratifying to see this amazing aircraft beginning the combat role for which it was designed.”
Little Rock is home to the Air Force’s C-130 Center of Excellence, which provides C-130 aircrew and maintenance training for all U.S. military branches as well as for 27 allied nations. Last week, the base cut the ribbon on its new Lockheed Martin C-130J Maintenance and Aircrew Training System (JMATS) facility, a simulator-based schoolhouse which will support C-130J entry into the fleet.
The C-130J, the latest addition to the C-130 fleet, is capable of operating from rough dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. The Super Hercules is a quantum leap in airlift technology bringing 40 percent greater performance over current Hercules.
While the exterior looks very much like previous C-130s, the C-130J mission and propulsion systems have been completely redesigned. The new J-model can fly farther, faster, higher and longer, delivering heavier loads to and from shorter runways. Its transformational technology and avionics advances reduce manpower needs onboard the aircraft from five to three and provide for lower operating and support costs.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the C-130’s first flight. More than 2,260 Hercules aircraft of all types in more than 70 different variants have been delivered to more than 60 countries since the program began. Today, 67 countries, counting those that bought used aircraft, fly the Hercules. The C-130J is the latest version to come off the longest, continuous, active military aircraft production line in history.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., a business area of Lockheed Martin, is a leader in the design, research and development, systems integration, production and support of advanced military aircraft and related technologies. Its customers include the military services of the United States and allied countries throughout the world.
Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support (LM STS), headquartered in Orlando, FL, is a preeminent supplier of military and commercial platform training solutions for customers worldwide. LM STS provides the academic and simulator training program to support the Department of Defense’s C-130J “schoolhouse” at Little Rock AFB.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.
mattTests Begin for F135 STOVL Propulsion System for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Tests Begin for F135 STOVL Propulsion System for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
(Source: Pratt & Whitney; issued Apr. 16, 2004)
WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — The F135 STOVL propulsion system team of Pratt & Whitney (P&W), Rolls-Royce and Hamilton Sundstrand has begun testing of the short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) engine configuration for the F-35B variant of the Joint Strike Fighter.
Test engine FX641 was delivered ahead of schedule and follows the continued successes of conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) engines FX631 and FX633.
FX641 has run up to military power (full power without afterburner) in both vertical lift and up & away operating modes. STOVL mode involves engagement of the LiftFan and employment of the Roll Posts and 3 Bearing Swivel Module (3BSM). These initial tests will focus on the lift component effects on the main F135 engine and are expected to run through May.
Said Major General Jack Hudson, Program Executive Officer and Program Director, Joint Strike Fighter Program, “The STOVL propulsion system represents a significant technical challenge, and getting FX641 to test is a major accomplishment for the F135 team and the F-35 program. We look forward to a successful test program in West Palm Beach.”
“I am extremely proud and continue to be impressed with all this team has accomplished,” said P&W F135 Program Director, Bill Gostic. “Delivering this STOVL propulsion system to test involved the dedication of every individual on the team and many personal sacrifices. We are anxious to continue testing and meeting the customer requirements.”
Chris Cholerton, Program Director for Rolls-Royce, said, “This is a very exciting milestone and delivery ahead of schedule is a tremendous achievement by the team. We are delighted to bring our long-standing STOVL expertise to the team and we look forward to a successful test program.”
The F135 STOVL propulsion system team consists of Pratt & Whitney, the prime contractor with responsibility for the main engine and system integration; Rolls-Royce, providing the Lift System, incorporating the LiftFan, 3 Bearing Swivel Module and Roll Posts; and Hamilton-Sundstrand, provider of the F135’s control system, external accessories and gearbox. The F135 is an evolution of the F119 engine powering the F/A-22 Raptor. The F135 will power all versions of the F-35 – CTOL, CV, and STOVL. Among the aircraft the F-35 will replace are the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 and United Kingdom’s Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier.
Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company, is a world leader in the design, manufacture and service of aircraft engines, industrial gas turbines and space propulsion systems.
Rolls-Royce is a leading provider of power systems for air, land and sea, and operates in four global markets – civil aerospace, defense aerospace, marine and energy.
Hamilton Sundstrand, also a UTC company, is among the world’s largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products and a major supplier for international space programs.
mattWhat about German Mig-29’s ? they seem to be getting rid of them. or What about FC-1’s no flaim here, but i think by the time they do come into power they might have started limited production of the aircraft, and i do not see Avionics or Engine problems for any plane going to Iraq. Also cost effect.
mattits not stealthy!
mattOriginally posted by PLA
I do not live there. For the rest. If a country is normal then I have no problems against defence material. If a country is almost ruined then I hope the first pay attention to basic needs. Not that they have no rights for defence but leaving the Iracis dying while buying top tech USplanes isn’t very logical to me… I hoped I could skip the basic explaining but probably I touched the nerves cause reacting direct with correlation to Pakistan is clear… I hoped you moved on but it is still deep…
Oh i am sorry is their a hint that they would be buying top tech ?
The coalition will fund the purchase from Jordan of two C-130B Hercules transport aircraft, which will be operational in October, and a squadron of six UH-1H Iroquois (Huey) helicopters due to go into service in July
mattSopwith Camel!
Stealthy! and small!
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