BlackArcherMirage-2000. Nothing else compares to its beauty.
BlackArcherAccording to Air International.
There will come a follow-up contract on Yak-130 and Su-30SM(in a new variant, SM2?), most likely in 2019. The SM2 contract is to be a big one.There is rumors that Algeria are looking at a small contract with Su-30SM2 along with IAF(super MKI).
So is it decided as to what the Su-30SM2 variant will feature in terms of radar and engine? Are other avionics changes planned and any new weapons for integration?
IAF’s Super-30 program will most likely not involve any new builds. Upgrades for existing fleet will be included.
BlackArcherThe JF-17 carrying the Aselpod is carrying it on the centerline. So structural mods planned to the Block I and Block II for a dedicated station under starboard the air intake? Not a very straightforward task, but would seem necessary since a centerline station for a LDP is a waste, especially for jets that are endurance constrained.
BlackArcherOnly 4 out of 128 German Eurofighters are combat ready
(Source: Deutsche Welle German Radio; posted May 02, 2018)
Only a handful of the German Air Force’s Eurofighter jets are combat ready, according to a report in the magazine Der Spiegel published Wednesday.Due to a technical problem with the defense system of the combat aircraft, only 10 of the Luftwaffe’s 128 Eurofighters are mission ready, according to the report.
The problem stems from a cooling liquid leak in the aircraft’s wing pod sensors, which are used to recognize hostile jets or incoming attacks. Without the defense system the Eurofighter jets are not combat ready.
The shortage of aircraft means that Germany is unable to fulfill its NATO obligations to have 82 combat ready jets for crisis situations.
The wing pod issue is only one problem facing the Luftwaffe. Der Spiegel reported that there are only enough missiles to make only four Eurofigher jets ready for combat.
The German military confirmed to Der Spiegel the technical problems with the Eurofighter, but would not comment on the number of combat-ready aircraft, given that this information is classified.
The revelation in Der Spiegel is the latest report to cast doubt on Germany’s military readiness and capabilities. The report is the latest to cast doubt on Germany’s military capabilities and readiness. It raises questions of whether Germany is really meeting its NATO commitments.
Accounting tricks
In a Bundeswehr document provided to the German parliament last year, the military classified 39 of 128 jets as combat ready.
A Bundeswehr spokesperson told Der Spiegel that the “daily actual availability” of the Eurofighter right now is better than last year.
However, Der Spiegel said that the military appeared to count any Eurofighter that can fly as ready, even if they are only available for training or for maneuvers without missiles or defense systems.
“These jets are barred from participating in real deployments, such as air patrols in the eastern flank of NATO,” Der Spiegel wrote.
Looks like a particularly poor readiness for such a large fleet. What seems to be the real issue? Issue with the DASS leading to such a large number of jets being unavailable?
BlackArcherI would suggest the other way around. The J-20 at least is already in service
With Russian sourced engines. I get it that you’re saying it tongue in cheek, but to even suggest that Russia would look at the J-20 when it has the Su-57 is laughable.
BlackArcherFrom AW&ST
BERLIN—The Eurofighter consortium is proposing the integration of new weaponry, performance enhancements and additional capabilities to the Typhoon fighter as part of its offer to replace Germany’s Panavia Tornado fleet.
Consortium partner Airbus announced it had delivered on Germany’s request for information for a Tornado replacement on April 24, the eve of the ILA Airshow here. Competitors—Lockheed Martin with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and Boeing with the F-15 Eagle and the F/A-18 Super Hornet family—are understood to have delivered their information through the U.S. government.
Eurofighter CEO Volker Paltzo told journalists on the opening day of the show April 25 that an additional Eurofighter buy from Germany would help secure Europe and Germany’s aerospace industrial base and maintain sovereignty. “There are no black boxes” in the Typhoon,” Paltzo said. Germany, he said, has “access to all data in the program,” and the software on the aircraft already meets national airworthiness requirements.
Included in the offer, according to Eurofighter officials, is the integration of additional weaponry and capability building on the Phased Enhancement program that is currently integrating the MBDA Brimstone air-to-ground missile, the Storm Shadow cruise missile, and the Meteor long-range air-to-air missile. The Airbus offer is similar to that being performed as part of Project Centurion for the UK Royal Air Force, transferring the weapons and capabilities from the Tornado over to the Typhoon.
Integration of air-to-ground weapons already has begun on German Typhoons as part of Project Odin.
Among the weapons being offered for integration as part of the Tornado replacement program are the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile for the anti-ship mission and the Taurus cruise missile. Taurus already has undergone a partial integration because of its similar size, shape and weight to the Storm Shadow. Also being offered is the MBDA Spear 3 precision-guided munition and the Brimstone, a weapon Germany wants to install on the Eurofighter as part of upcoming Typhoon upgrade packages.
Airbus also is proposing adding the ability to perform destruction and suppression of enemy air defense missions using emitter detection systems that are yet to be integrated onto the aircraft, as well as the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM). That mission currently is performed by the ECR version of the Tornado in German service. The new batch also would receive the Euroradar electronically scanned array radar, currently under development but with more advanced modes.
A key element in the new radar capability would be additional computing processes allowing it to be optimized for different tasks, adjusting power outputs depending on the phase of flight or mission.
In what is likely the first major upgrade for the Eurofighter’s Eurojet EJ200 engine, the consortium is keen to make use of the engine’s growth potential to boost thrust by around 15% as well as improve fuel efficiency and range. This will be combined with a new design and enlarged 1,800-liter fuel tank. The aircraft currently is fitted with 1,000-liter fuel tanks. Other modifications will include the Aerodynamic Modification Kit, test flown in 2014, to improve maneuverability and handling, particularly with heavy weapon loads.
Eurofighter says they also are comfortable with delivering integration of the U.S. B61 nuclear weapon onto the aircraft, a process that requires U.S. certification. Paltzo said he was confident the U.S. government would not use the certification requirements of the weapon as “leverage” to force Germany towards a U.S. platform such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
A win for the Typhoon also would provide a bridge for the development of any future European combat air system being developed by France and Germany, Paltzo pointed out, as the technologies developed for the Typhoon would be edged into the new aircraft.
However, the Eurofighter faces stiff competition from the U.S. fighters particularly the F-35. The Eurofighter is said to be the favored platform of German politicians, but German air force officials have said they favor the F-35 because of its low-observability characteristics.
Paltzo said the company was looking at a potential market for as many as 300 Typhoons in Europe. The aircraft is currently being marketed in Belgium, Finland, Poland and Switzerland. The German requirement alone is for a one-for-one replacement of the country’s Tornado fleet, which currently numbers 90. This could push production of the fighter out into the 2030s. Current orders for the partner nations, as well as orders from Kuwait, and more recently Qatar, have pushed production out to 2024 at present.
BlackArcher
BlackArcherGiven that Dassault is the lead agency in the design, my hopes are that we’ll see a beautiful looking fighter concept.
BlackArcherDon’t be stupid, no one really believes they can design and develop a 5th gen fighter by themselves, least of all the PAF. Whether it’s a clean sheet design or based on the J-31, it will involve the Chinese. There is the outside chance it could be based on the TFX, or rather, licensed production via some form of partial funding of the TFX, but chances of that are very slim. In terms of 5th Gen, they don’t really have any option apart from China.
Well, lots of your compatriots on your nation’s defence fora believe that Project Azm is going to be a fully indigenous effort, as ludicrous as that sounds.
Anyway, if it is the J-31 that will be the likeliest basis for PAF’s next gen fighter, then Project Azm is basically likely to be nothing more than some Pakistani input and customization into a program that has already seen 2 prototypes flying with no Pakistani input so far. Perhaps some avionics choices, weapons choices,
the TF-X at least is still in design, with plenty of scope for work packages to be shared with PAC.
BlackArcherDoes Pakistan really believe it can design, build and test a 5th gen fighter? And is the PAF willing to bet its future fleet on such a dream?
Or is Project Azm a collaborative venture with China’s AVIC or Shenyang for a Pakistani version of the J-31?
BlackArcheris China looking to export the J-10B?
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