FedaykinEuropean
There are three front line Harrier squadrons currently – 1, 4 sqdns RAF and 800 sqdn, RN. One squadron is tasked to Op Herrick in Afghanistan and the other two are usually on stand-down/training cycles so, if it became a critical national emergency, there exists a ready pool of pilots and aircraft that could deploy. Rumour is that a dozen or so complete FA2 airframes are being held in airworthy storage somewhere too…though I have no definite information on that.
I think there are some airworthy FA2 airframes being held in the Uk but purely on the off chhance that they can be sold on. Initially they were looking at India but that fell through, I wouldn’t be surprised if some offers were made to Thailand.
FedaykinFedaykin, the IAF ACM is on record as having stated that the IAF would reduce fighter types to 3-4 by the end of 2020..the MKI on the heavy end, the MRCA on the medium end and the Tejas on the light end..the PAK-FA will follow on later. The Mirage-2000, MiG-29, Jaguar, MiG-27 and Bison are all due to retire by 2025 when the last of the Tejas and MRCA are delivered.
One of the biggest reasons why the IAF may not want the MiG-35 is that their entire fleet, apart from the Tejas, would then be Russian, and traditionally the IAF has sourced its fleet from different sources and not been completely Russian.
Good to hear 21Ankush, they need to make that push towards fleet consolidation whilst maintaining diversity of suppliers.
Whilst EADS/Eurofighter consortium would dearly like the Indian order, with the larger domestic order book from the partner nations and the Saudi order it can easier afford to loose the contract. On the other hand this is crunch time for Dassault they have to get this order! Arguably the American types and the Gripen are probably interesting for the IAF but have little chance of getting the contract and the Eurofighter is probably a bit too big, expensive and too air superiority focussed. To me it looks like it is a two horse race between RSK Mig and Dassault, with the issue of maintaining a smaller but still diverse fleet and the silly stuff played by the Russians it really is the best chance for Dassault.
FedaykinI would hope that this disappointment means that the DGA and Dassault put in their best efforts to get the Indian MRCA deal..they would need to be more flexible in ToT and offer a very competitive price which would surely be lower than the Typhoon..probably closer to the domestic price of the Rafale..around $75 million per unit maybe. and liberal access to all the software and avionics, so as to be able to match up to what Saab and MiG will definitely offer.
I think the Indian order is critical for the future of Dassault in the fighter business! Tough contract to get on the other hand, looking at it practically the Indian airforce would be stupid to not go for the Mig35. There fast jet fleet is already a logistics nightmare.
FedaykinOne option might be to take the Mirage 2000-9 sold to the United Arab Emirates and develop that into an export product, in cooperation with Lockheed Martin. The United Arab Emirates also flies the F-16. But given the competitive reality on the ground, there is no chance of cooperation.
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Interesting article and I agree with many of it’s points, certainly if Dassault don’t get an export sale soon they will have to make some stark choices about participation in the global fighter market. The fact is it’s too sophisticated for their traditional markets, undercut by Russian types and the Gripen.As for customers at the upper end of the market they appear to be either happy with the larger Eurofighter program or waiting for the F35.
I didn’t get the statement above on the other hand, why would it be in the interest of Lockheed Martin to work with Dassault and develop a version of the M2000-9. They already have an ongoing order book for the F16 (every time I think that they will close that production line they get another order) and they want people to buy the F35 in the future – why muddy the market.
FedaykinPhotos of Israeli navy ship Hanit hit during war revealed
on Friday night, July 14,. An Iranian missile fired by Hizbullah hit an Israeli Navy Hanit off the shores of Beirut. Four soldiers were killed in the biggest blow to the IDF’s morale during the 34-day conflict. the IDF has prevented the publication of detailed photographs of the incident. Now, 15-months later, exclusive images from the deck of the ship have been obtained by Ynet. For the first time, the hole that was left near the helipad on the advanced gunship, and the damage the missile caused, can be seen.
My gut feeling is still that the Hanit was hit by a variant of the YJ-7/C701 (or its Iranian copy) rather than the YJ-8/C801 which was reported by the Israeli millitary and press.
The damage to the Hanit would be more consistant with the smaller YJ-7, the launcher is far easier to hide, easier to smuggle into the area (the YJ-8 launcher is massive) and it doesn’t require a radar to provide guidance data. Most importantly we know that the YJ-7 is built in Iran, I doubt that Iran would give away its stocks of Chinese built YJ-8 when they can give them something off a local production line.
FedaykinAnyone have any estimates on what moving to Poseiden would have cost compared to developing Chevaline and continuing to support Polaris by ourselves?
There is the wiki article but…
I don’t have the figures but I remember a documentary somewhere saying that by the 80’s it would of been cheeper to build five new submarines and adopting Poseiden then developing Chaveline.
FedaykinSo they fly two different intakes, but the area has not been markedly increased.
And they really seem to like area ruling. Do they have a high speed or supersonic wind tunnel in Iran? That coke bottle waist is totally over the top.
On the engine: They might have been able to source J85 parts. But they might also have gotten their hands on RD-38 or RD-41 engines.
Considering the aircraft appears to be scaled up with bigger intakes and burner pipes lets look closer to home! What about a reverse engineered variant of the J79. They have been making parts for that engine for years maybe thats whats really going on here….just an idea.
FedaykinThe Americans used the same strop system as well for a long time, have a look at a picture of the F8 launching off a carrier.
FedaykinThe achievements are pathetic, period. If they had managed to make new build tomcats or even Phantoms fair enough, but F-5’s, and it took them over 25 years. Give me a break.
Again saying their acievements are pathetic is rather strong, building an aircraft like the F5 is a big ask for their local industry whilst new build F14 is frankly out of the question. They can probably replicate many sub systems and parts of the aluminium and steel structure for the Tomcat but the Titanium pivot box will be beyond them.
The F5 is a sensible start point for reverse engineering.
FedaykinThey have been thinking about it for years, but as we have seen their indigenous industry is not far short of a joke and they are not exactly at the top of most countries customer lists when it comes to arms deals at the moment. However there was a parade in Iran the other day at which the president declared that any country that attacked Iran would feel nothing but regret and according to the BBC they unveiled a new long range missile but all I saw were the Shahabs and battle fiel ballistic missile that we have known about for years.
Saying there indigenous defence industry is a bit strong, OK they can’t replicate technology at the state of the art but since the revolution they have managed to keep an ever aging fleet flying, produce upgrades and reverse engineer technology.
Iran has actually turned down defence deals with Russia and China due to technology transfer issues.
FedaykinWith the limited flight deck real estate on the old Ark being able to fit an arrester gear system which can be set to have the same run out regardless of aircraft is a real benefit.
Before they extended her flight deck the hawkeyes had to be towed back if they catched the last wire on the Charles de Gaulle.
FedaykinIt depends on the opinion (read bias) of the person writing the article ste, to be fair to key publishing they do publish articles from people who fall on both sides of the procurement article. I have seen articles before in their magazines that favour the navies side of the argument.
In reality these articles show up the real problem which is underfunding of all three services. We have such an acute situation now with budgets that all the service’s are briefing against each other in a vain hope to get a larger slice of the money pie!
FedaykinFolks,
I know this forum does not publish AEROPLANE, but does anyone remember reading that article in a past (about year back) where it describes the new arrest gear system the RN came up to handle the massive forces generated by the new Phantom F-4K? It is the system where a piston moved through a tube and displaced water through opening to another tube mounted to its side. If anyone remembers that article I would appreciate a comment. Unfortunately I mentioned the last system fitted to the ARK ROYAL and forgot I had loaned that issue out (one of these days I will learn not to loan magazines out). Again, i would really appreciate it.
Jack E. Hammond
Here is a link to an article on Beedalls Navy Matters site about the CVA-01 carrier, it has all you want to know about the arrestor gear system eventually fitted to the Ark Royal:
http://navy-matters.beedall.com/cva01.htm
Some things worth noting is that the DAX-2 water spray arrestor system built by Mactaggart Scott is half the weight and a third of the cost of the current American MK.13 arrestor gear engine. Also it can halt all aircraft regardless of weight or landing speed in the same run out distance.
Makes you think…
FedaykinLooking back at the battle of the River plate how do people think Commodore Harwood would of adjusted his tactics if he had HMS Cumberland on his gun line as well?
FedaykinNot to mention the River Plate encounter. Neither Ajax, Achilles or Exeter was a qualitative match for the Graf Spee.
Your right of course on the Prince of Wales, but, even the most powerful ship is vulnerable if she’s not quite finished and has an inexperienced crew.
I have always loved the Alaskas, for some reason. Perhaps cause it was as close as we got to having battle cruisers in the US Navy.
You might consider the USN lucky that they managed to keep clear of BC’s. As one famous RN Admiral, Admiral Beatty, commented on our BC’s at Jutland: ‘There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.’.
The Battle of the River Plate has always interested me, whilst Ajax, Achilles or Exeter were not a qualitative match for the Graf Spee its amazing how much damage they did cause through the use of clever tactics. I have always wondered on the outcome if HMS Cumberland had been available for battle rather than refiting in the Falklands, her extra eight 8-inch guns would of been an influence on the outcome. Maybe with four against one rather than three it would of been enough to overwhelm the Graf Spee and allow them to get in and finish her with torpedos.
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