FRP F-35As should be cheaper than both the Rafale and Eurofighter, but that price is at least 5 years away.
I think that there are still some chances that we could see these in larger numbers:
Eventually they spent quite a lot of money on the development of the block 60 that I deem a very valid aircraft.
Glendora – I did some measurements on Google Earth and that particular shelter is about 70 feet across… which makes the UAV 60-some feet tip to tip, which suggests an X-47B.
At the moment I have no reason to question your measurements, but on the other hand, also I have no reason to question aviationintel statement that the soft shelter measures 80 feet. And currently I don’t have the time to verify which measurement is more accurate :(. Maybe, if you have some time on your hand, you can get in touch with Tyler to figure out what measurement is correct. Also note that some comments on that blog post shared your same view about an X-47 mock-up still at Palmdale (other users disagreed with such claims). Please note that I have nothing to do with aviationintel, I just read that blog from time to time.
I hope that both used as measurment the below image and the one spotted by the a/c flying the zone:
That said, and conceeded that your post is a constructive try to spot some further light on this rather mysterious and intersting “supposed” A/C, I think that “the thing” in the picture, for what I can see, looks rather different, from an X-47B;
quite a wide wingspan with a rather undersized fuselage section for an X-47. This configuration makes me think of a high endurance ISR/reconaissance platform. So the thing depicted in that blurred picture could eventually be what now has been dubbed RQ-180.
Hopefully some more news and data will be released/leaked in the next months, so our speculations could have more ground.
Stealth and speed/altitude are both elements of survivability. You can look at the Blackbird, ISINGLASS, the RQ-180, the F-22 and the T-50 and they all represent different trades, at different cost levels.
Yes, I agree. The perfect formula could be found from the right balancing of these elements. It seems that LM is highlighting the need for speed for this project with its SR-72 recently leaked concept, while NG has more confidence in low signature, with its supposed RQ-180 concept (leakead right a month after the SR-72, while the contigous LRS-B contest is on its way).
Maybe both concepts are being developed by LM and NG or maybe all this is a useless waste of bytes on the forums and blogs for aviation enthusiasts. We’ll see in the next months.
For the moment, AW succeeded to put the SR-72 on its paper edition cover of November and the RQ-180 on the December issue. I guess they are for sure the ones having the fastest Return On Investments :).
I think lookieloo was referring to this piece: Opinion: High Speed Could Be The Next Stealth which in fact was written By Bill Sweetman. But Bill S. didn’t seem to have the same opionion about “speed as next stealth” which in fact was an opionion by LM.
The incipit of that article:
Lockheed Martin has labeled the hypersonic technology to be used in the proposed SR-72 Mach 6 aircraft as the “new stealth.” It is really the old stealth, and it points to a classic example of how almost every military and political leader in Western defense fell in line behind a technical miscalculation.
Moreover when on Tyler’s aviationintel blog were leaked some of the first images of what we now know most probably was the RQ-180 from Northrop Grumman Plant 42, Palmdale, Tyler quoted previous works from Sweetman which seems to be aware of existence of the RQ-180 since a long time ago.
“In December 2012 Aviation Week journalist Sweetman concluded that Northrop Grumman had been working on a large, armed UAV for the Pentagon and CIA — one with greater speed, payload, range and stealth than the current drones.
Development began in 2008, Sweetman surmised, based on his analysis of company documents and interviews with industry insiders. “It is, by now, probably being test-flown at Groom Lake,” Sweetman wrote of the new drone.
The purported location, at least, made total sense. The Air Force’s secret facility in Groom Lake, Nevada, is part of the so-called “Area 51” complex and previously was the test site for the U-2 and SR-71 reconnaissance planes and the F-117 stealth fighter
So Sweetman did not “shot his wad too-soon again” as lookieloo suggests.
Anyway, the text on aviationintel is of interest on what really matters -the RQ-180 – since most of the aviation enthusiasts don’t care too much about being pro or against BS. And let’s give credit to Tyler for being one of the first to put in the right scheme some of the scattered pieces of the puzzle.
A picture of the alleged “thing” from the page I just linked above:
Much appreciated, Glendora. What dates were these first flights?
You are welcome. Pictures were taken at Decimomannu yesterday 27th of November. Now BAE and other sources have released further images and a press release: http://www.baesystems.com/article/BAES_163539/typhoon-flight-tests-with-storm-shadow-missile-started
I recently pictures of Israeli F-15Ds carrying Popeye missiles and fitted with CFTs.
Does this indicate the the IDF is using its D models for strike mission?
Additionally the CFTs were fitted with 2 weapons racks each, smaller than those on the Strike Eagle, are these for AIM-120 type AAMs or can PGMs be carried?
Yes, the IDFn have been using its F-15 B/D for strike missions. One of the most notable ones was Operation Wooden leg, in which 6 B/D bombed the PLO headquarters in Tunisia.
You can read some intersting details on such operation from extracts of the book Israeli F-15 Eagle Units in Combat, some pictures of the B/D whick took part to the mission are also available there (according to the same source also the 2 single seater F-15s escorting the B/Ds dropped bombs in Tunis).
Israel is for sure using also its “A” for ground attack:
About the CFTs used by IDF fot its A/B/C/D (and by the USAF for some of its Cs):
I think they are different from the ones used on the Strike Eagles, and I don0t know exactly how the weapon loads are arranged.
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