toanThe PDF shows that “only” 338 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS) are included in this procurement.
462 is the procuring number for NVGs, not for Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS).
The fighter numbers of Royal Saudi Airforce today (Not including the trainers) :
* EF-2000: 6+.
* F-15C/D: 82
* F-15S: 71
* Tornado IDS: 87
* Tornado ADV: 24 (will be replaced by EF-2000)
* F-5 A/B: much less than 110 (The total number of F-5 that Royal Saudi airforce bought, and most of them has been retired, the remainder will be replaced by EF-2000).
The total number of fighter for Royal Saudi Airforce today: much less than 380.
When the F-15SAs begin to be delivered to Royal Saudi AF after 2012, the service life of Royal Saudi AF’s F-15C/Ds has already surpassed 30 years at that time ~ just the time for a fighter to retire and being replaced.
If someone still wants to believe that Royal Saudi Airforce will have near 470 fighters (which is 40% to 50% more than the number of serviceable fighter it has today) at time of around 2020s, then just let the time to tell him the truth…..
toanSorry, missed the Sniper pod line!
Wow, if the Saudis go for the extra Typhoons that will give them what?
156 F-15SAs
72-144 Typhoons
100 odd upgraded Tornado IDS variantsThat does not even take into account their 70 odd F-15C/Ds.
Thats 470 top end fighters. Equipment wise that probably makes them the 3/4th most powerful air force in the world….
1. The 82 old F-15C/Ds shall be replaced by the 84 new F-15SA.
2. If Royal Saudi Airforce decides to buy more Eurofighters after 2010, they shall be used to replace the Tornado IDS today.
3. The manned fighters for Royal Saudi Airforce at the time of near 2020 should be:
A. 72 Tranche II and III Eurofighters:
* Air-defense and Air-dominance.
* Introducing advanced A2G capability (Storm Shadow etc.) after 2015.
B. 154 F-15SA :
* 84 newly-built fighters and 70 upgrading F-15S.
* Air-defense, long range striker and bomber, SEAD/DEAD, and anti-ship.
* I think the 70 upgrading F-15S shall be replaced by F-35 or something else at the time around 2030.
C. 80 Upgrading Tornado:
* For firing long range cruise missile and smart weapons like Storm Shadow, SPEAR, and Brimestone etc.
* I think it may be replaced by more EF-2000 and / or F-35 at the time around 2025.
toanThe first CVF as an LPH? That’s insanity!
Not so insane.
The anticipated service life of CVF is 50-plus years, there are still many modifying and upgrading chances for it during its long service life~You may buy more F-35B or C for it 20 years later, or you can revise the two ships for the NG UCAVs and energy weapons after 25 or 30 years…….But if the two ships are cancelled right now, there will be simply no chance anymore.
If being a LPH is the only way now to let RN keep two CVFs, then just let QE be a LPH ~ Remember how awful the early life of Queen Elizabeth I was :D??
toanA good chance for Eurofighter Typhoon to prove itself and its own advertisements in the next 2+ weeks ~ RAF Typhoons versus IAF Su-30MKIs / Mirage 2000s / MIG-27 in Indra Dhanush 2010……
toanI wonder why the UK’s cutting choices are so extreme (either scrapping all 120 GR4s, or retiring all 50 Harriers……) ? Can’t it preserve some parts of both fighters (such as 40 to 60 GR4s + 20 to 30 Harriers) for the necessary missions ?
toanI think it shoud mean 2.7 billion pounds (4.3 billion USDs) for 40 Tranche 3A.
The RAF only gets 16-extra Eurofighters from Tranche 3A project because it has sold 24 Tranche 2 Typhoons to RSAF without compensation.
toanIs the financial condition of UK today much worse than France ?? Why does the defense cut of UK become so deep and disastrous comparing with the defense cut of France (It seems that France only sacrifices Mirage 2000D upgrading, New AAR tanker, and some FREMM frigates for its defense cut, while UK sacrifices almost everything……. ) ??
toanHey, what happens when all this stuff becomes “self-aware”, just like in the Terminator films!? 😀
If a country wants to use an UCAV to replace the manned fighter for the jobs of air-superiority completely, it must be dare to let it have “self-aware” and the right of deciding firing weapons on its own at first.
Controlling hundreds of UCAVs from the ground stations several hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away with the help of satellite datalink is simply too risky ~ Image what will happen if your enemy is advancing enough that it can interfere / block your datalink (with the help of advanced EWS or EMP weapons), or destroy your satellites for datalink, or just take out your ground stations at the beginning of war ??
toanI think an air superiority UCAV means that:
1. It must have enough A.I. to replace the brain of well experienced fighter pilot.
2. It must be celver and flexible enough to manage thousands of possible emergent situations if they happen.
3. It must be trustable enough that human can give the right of “Deciding the time for firing the weapon” to the UCAV ~ Remote control by human may always be interfered, which should not be a good idea for an air superiority war machine, and the right time for firing the weapon during a A2A combat often lasts no more than two seconds.
4. The humans must be dare enough to let machines decide when and how to war without worrying that something like “Terminator” or “Matrix” may happen one day ~ And this is not just a problem of technology……
Personally, I think a totally independent air superiority UCAV is just like a commercial nuclear fusion plant ~ Both of them won’t be possible until 2050s at least…..
toanFrench Form Rafale Training Squadron
Oct 8, 2010
By Michael A. Taverna [email]mike_taverna@aviationweek.com[/email]
ST. DIZIER, France
France has stood up a squadron of Rafale F3 multirole fighters at its big fighter base at St. Dizier, in Eastern France, to train pilots transitioning to the new combat aircraft.
Unlike the first two squadrons, which are devoted to combat duty, the new unit, designated 2/92 Aquitaine, will serve to train beginner pilots, navigators and crew flying older generation aircraft for service on Rafale. The unit will train both air force and navy pilots, ramping up gradually as the number of Rafales in service grows. The fleet currently consists of 38 twin-seaters and 39 single-seat aircraft, a figure that is due to grow to 39 twins and 44 singles by the end of 2013.
The new squadron will transform 6-10 beginner pilots annually, including up to four for the navy, along with 12-15 pilots trained on other types of aircraft and four-six navigator/weapon system officers. It will draw on 28 twin-seat and 22 single-seat air force Rafales in service in the first two squadrons, 1/7 Provence and 1/91 Gascogne, and up to four to be supplied by the navy. The 1/7 Provence unit was formed in 2006 and 7/91 Gascogne in June.
Student pilots also will train on the ground using four fixed base combat trainers. The trainers are currently at the Rafale F2 strike standard but will be upgraded to F3 by 2012.
Instruction will include the full gamut of Rafale missions, from air interdiction, strike and reconnaissance to in-air refueling, as well as tactical training, instrument flying and other basics. The squadron will be staffed by 10 instructors, including one from the navy, two reconnaissance specialists, one weapons officer and eight simulator operators. Training will last nine months and include 68 flights and 39 simulator sessions.
Two further combat squadrons are preparing to stand up, one in November at a new base in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, and the other in Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France.
toanWhat is particularly interesting is that only 88 radars are ordered, while 112 aircraft are to be built as part of T3A.
The delivering shedule for T3A is between 2012 to 2016, while the anticipated available time of produtional AESA Captor is post-2015, which may be just in time for equipping the last 24 Tranche 3A Typhoon…..
However, if the Tranche 3B project is finally cancelled completely, what will the four European AFs be able to do after 2015??
1. Just let the last 24 Tranche 3A Typhoons to be the only group of Eurofighters with AESA radar in the foreseeable future, until a MLU project for Eurofighter that should be happened at the time of 2020 to 2025.
or
2. Upgrading other T3A fighters with AESA and swashplate after 2015, whose M-scan radars’ mechanical anttenae and motors have just entered service for no more than three years.
or
3. Upgrading T2 fighters with AESA and swashplate after 2015, whose average service life of their M-scan radars is only five to six years at that time.
or
4. Just let all productional Eurofighters equipped with M-scan radars, until a MLU project for them that should be happened at the time of 2020 to 2025…..
toanWell, I don’t think RAF/GAF/ItAF/SpAF will introduce a M-Scan CAPTOR from 2012, and then replacing its mechanical anttena and motor with a AESA +/-swashplate from 2015 ~ That is too wasteful…..
toanNow it is sure that the Tranche 3A Typhoon will keep using M-Scan radar ~ and if the Tranche 3B plan is totally cancelled finally, the productional EF-2000 (From Tranche 1 to Tranche 3A) may have to keep using the M-scan radar until post-2020 or even post-2025 at least………
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4847080&c=AIR&s=TOP
Selex Signs for Eurofighter M-scan Radars
toanWell, if the Rafale’s deal between France and UAE are broken up finally, this may be due to the most ridiculous reason I’ve ever heard……:D
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6904SF20101001
Dispute over article freezes France-UAE arms talks
By Emmanuel Jarry
PARIS | Fri Oct 1, 2010 2:53pm EDT
PARIS (Reuters) – A row over a French newspaper article is behind the breakdown of talks for a sale of French warplanes to the United Arab Emirates worth $5-6 billion, a senior French government source said on Friday.
UAE officials were angry about a June 26 article in Le Figaro, owned by conservative politician Serge Dassault, whose family-controlled Dassault Aviation made the Rafale, government officials said.
The newspaper said the UAE used Israeli technology to help secure its borders. Business with Israel remains a sensitive subject in the Gulf where most countries including the UAE have no relations with the Jewish state.
“We understood that it (the suspension) was for several months and we hope the talks will resume,” the senior government source said.
A spokesman for Dassault Aviation declined comment.
Officials in Abu Dhabi could not be reached for comment on Friday, which is the local weekend.
The article appeared days after French Defense Minister Herve Morin said a sale of 60 Rafale aircraft to the UAE was near completion in what would be the plane’s first export deal.
Asked on Friday on the television Parliamentary Channel if talks over arms sales to foreign countries including Brazil and Abu Dhabi had been derailed, he said: “Nothing is messed up.”
Word that talks over the sale of Rafales could be in trouble surfaced last month when specialist publication Defense News reported that Abu Dhabi had expressed interest in the Boeing F/A-18, a U.S.-built competitor to the Rafale.
Sources familiar with the issue confirmed to Reuters in Washington this week that UAE had asked for technical information about the F/A-18 Super Hornet, puncturing exclusive talks with France on the Rafale.
toanIf the description mentioned above (the operating cost of EF-2000 is around 90,000 £ per hour) were true, then:
1. 90,000 £ = 140,750 USD
2. The average flying hours of a EF-2000 per year: 200 to 300 flight hours.
3. The annual operating cost of a EF-2000 = 140,750 * 200 ~ 300 = 28.15 ~ 42.23 million USD per year.
Which would mean that the operating costs of two to three year for Eurofighter is enough to buy a newly-built Typhoon, or the total life time (6,000 to 8,000 flight hours) operating cost of a eurofighter is enough to buy 10 to 15 newly-built Typhoons…..
The UK government and RAF must be crazy to let such kind of fighter enter the service ~ They should buy F-22 that are more capable and much cheaper…….:D
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