Why would anyone want a BAe HS.748 for goodness sake

now it is being slowly replaced by the ATR 72/74 series. those chiming whirring engines, i used to hate but when actually being a passenger in it, not bad for rough frozen airstrips.

BAE could take away £5bn India fighter deal

BAE’S good relationship with the Indian government could possibly land it a £5bn pound fighter jet deal, it has been claimed.
India, which is seeking to replace its current fleet of Soviet-built jets, is reported to have told officials at the company and the UK Ministry of Defence they should replace German rival EADS, which is currently leading talks over the deal.

The Indian government will announce a short-list of candidate aircraft in the battle for its contract next month, when it is expected to ask BAE and the MoD to step in to lead talks ahead of EADS, its partner in the Eurofighter jet-building consortium.

South Ribble MP David Borrow, a member of the parliamentary defence select committee, said the close relations between the UK and India would give Eurofighter the edge over other aircraft bidding for the lucrative contract.

He said: “The good relationship with the Indians could be the reason behind their decision to ask BAE to take the lead, or there could be problems in negotiations with EADS.

“It should not be a problem for the consortium to carve up the work differently and if it believes it has a better chance of winning the deal with BAE than EADS, then it will do.”

BAE chief executive Mike Turner said last week that he expected India to become one of the company’s “home markets” alongside the UK, the United States, Sweden, Austria, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, where it has struck multi-billion pound deals.

He said the group was “determined to go forward” in India as
deals in the UK dry-up, with cuts to MoD budgets expected to bite this year.

The consortium, which also includes Italian firm Alenia, showcased the Eurofighter Typhoon at the Singapore Air Show last week, which was attended by Indian government representatives.

EADS spokesman Theodore Benien said: “We have received firm orders for over 700 aircraft from Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain and Austria as also for 72 aircraft from Saudi Arabia and we have already delivered about 140 of them.

“Typhoon is one of the main contenders for the Indian Air Force’s multi-role combat aircraft competition.”

http://www.lep.co.uk/business/BAE-could-take-away-5bn.3811475.jp

CF-18 makes emergency landing

The Canadian Press

February 15, 2008 at 3:02 AM EST

THUNDER BAY, ONT. — A CF-18 Hornet fighter aircraft from 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., had to make an emergency landing at the Thunder Bay, Ont., airport Thursday after part of it broke off.

Public affairs officer Capt. Jennifer Jones said the aircraft was one of two Hornets flying to Mirabel, Que., to undergo modernization upgrades.

Both were scheduled to land at Thunder Bay to refuel.

But roughly 10 kilometres from the airport, one of the aircraft lost its left tail rudder, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.

Capt. Jones said the landing was completed safely and the pilot wasn’t hurt.

The rudder fell somewhere northwest of the airport and has yet to be retrieved.

It is described as about one foot wide by three feet long, and made of carbon fibre.

Since the fibre can be an irritant, people are cautioned not to handle the rudder if they find it. Instead, they are urged to contact local authorities, or the base at Cold Lake.

“The main thing to drive home is, if anybody sees (the component) just call,” said Capt. Jones.

The incident is being investigated to determine the cause.

Capt. Jones said the other aircraft will continue the trip to Quebec.

too bad it can’t be downloaded…

i sometimes download video clips from Aviapedia or from YouTube.

Dirty Little Secrets

How Russia Screws Itself
by James Dunnigan
January 12, 2008
Discussion Board on this DLS topic

India and China are both playing rough with their largest arms supplier; Russia. China and India both have price disputes with Russia, and India is also upset that Russia is supplying China with RD93 jet engines for Chinese made fighters that are being sold to Pakistan. Both China and Russia are threatening to halt purchases if Russia does not back off on attempts to raise prices on contracts that have already been agreed to. China is playing a weak position here, because of a Western embargo on arms sales to China (because of China being a sometimes brutal police state and behaving badly by selling weapons to all manner of nasty people). India is in a stronger position, and is buying more and more weapons from Western suppliers. Currently, India is in the market for 126 top-line fighters. India has told Russia that if those RD93 equipped Chinese fighters keep going to Pakistan, Russia can forget about its chances of winning the competition (worth over $6 billion) for the 126 fighters.

How did it get to this?

In November, 2007, after changing its mind several times over the last few years, Russia finally agreed to allow the use of Russian made engines, in Chinese made JF-17 (also known as FC-1) jet fighters that are exported (to Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.) Lebanon, Burma, Iran and Sri Lanka have also shown interest in this low cost fighter that is similar to early model F-16s.)

Earlier in 2007, Russia announced that none of the 500 Russian RD-93 jet engines China is buying could be exported to a foreign country. This was a problem, as China needs those engines for the 150 JF17 fighters it is building for Pakistan. What makes this particularly nasty is that Pakistan has invested $150 million in the development of the JF17. Pakistan thought Russia would give China permission to export the RD93 equipped aircraft. After all, China was such a large customer for RD93 engines (originally designed for the MiG-29), and those 500 RD93 engines are worth $1.25 billion.

But apparently India played hardball, and demanded that the Russians forbid the export of the RD93s from China to Pakistan. India is a major customer for Russian weapons, including cooperative development deals. China is a big customer for Russian weapons as well, but India buys more stuff, and is seen as less of a future threat to Russia than China. Pressure from many other nations interested in the JF-17 apparently caused the Russians to finally relent.

But it gets more interesting. China has been developing a similar (apparently identical) engine to the RD93, the WS-13. Actually, this effort is being aided by Russia, which is selling China technology needed for the manufacture of key engine components. Russia isn’t happy about this, because they don’t want competition in the low cost jet engine market. Then again, China has a history of stealing technology it cannot buy, so the Russians are making the best of a bad situation. China says the WS-13 is nearly ready for service. Maybe, maybe not. Building high performance military jet engines is difficult, and China has had problems mastering this kind of stuff. Not that they will not eventually acquire the skills, but until they do, they need the Russian made RD93s.

China shipped two RD93 equipped JF-17s to Pakistan in March 2007, and informed the Russians that, according to the their interpretation of the 1992 RD-93 contract, China could re-export the RD-93 engines. The situation sat, unresolved, until the Summer of 2007, when the Russians said that they believed that the 1992 contract was quite clear about China needing Russian permission, and China didn’t have it. The Russians were playing hardball, at the behest of the Indians. Apparently, India is expected to use this RD-93 veto to get Pakistan to offer up some appropriate in the current peace talks between the two countries.

Russians problems are largely of its own making. In several warship and fighter sales deals, they screwed up and quoted too low a price. Russia admits that, and wants to change to a higher price. Both China and Russia are not cooperating. To further complicate matters, China has been shamelessly stealing Russian military technology, and producing copies, without compensating the Russians for the stolen technology. China denies this, but it’s all pretty blatant.

No one knows how this will all turn out. All three nations believe they have strong negotiating positions, but eventually, someone will have to blink, and back off.

http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/20081120282.asp

Tu-22M5?!

Soviet TU-22M “Backfire” bombers (ZT)

图-22M是前苏联图波列夫设计局研制的可变后掠翼超音速轰炸机，北约组织给它的绰号是“逆火”(Backfire)。 Figure -22 M is the former Soviet Union Tubeiliefu Design Bureau developed variable sweep-wing supersonic bomber, and NATO to its nickname is “Backfire” (Backfire). 1982年夏，在维也纳美苏最高级会议上，前苏联当局提供的材料中称“逆火”是中程战术轰炸机。 Summer 1982, in Vienna the US-Soviet summit, the former Soviet Union Administration to provide material “Backfire” is the medium-range tactical bomber.

估计图-22M从60年代中期开始研制。 Figure -22 M estimates from the mid-1960s started to develop. 1970年7月，西方在喀山地区的图波列夫工厂附近发现图-22M的原型机，据估计当时至少生产了两架。 July 1970, the West in the Kazan region Tubeiliefu factory was discovered in the vicinity of the M -22 prototype, it is estimated that the production was at least two. 第一架于1970年开始试飞。 The first flight began in 1970. 随后又制造了12架预生产型，从1973年开始，用于飞行试验、系统试验、静力试验和作为武器平台进行评价。 Then created a 12-pre-production, from 1973, for the flight test, system test, static testing and evaluation as a weapons platform. 生产型1974年交付部队使用。 Production-1974 delivered to the army units. 1975年初，远程航空兵已组成两个图-22M中队。 Early 1975, long-range air force has been formed two diagrams -22 M Squadron. 目前，前苏联远程航空兵约有200架图-22M，海军航空兵有160多架在服役。 Currently, the former Soviet Union there are about 200 long-range air force plans -22 M, the naval air forces in more than 160 service.

图-22M是前苏联第一种航程较远的超音速轰炸机，据推测，其低空作战半径为1390公里，加上AS-6导弹的射程，图-22M可以从前苏联西部基地利沃夫起飞，以低－低－低的作战方式，用M0.65的速度飞行，攻击除葡萄牙和挪威以外的所有欧洲北约国家。 Figure -22 M is the former Soviet Union’s first supersonic bomber distant voyage, it was speculated that the low-altitude combat radius of 1,390 km, AS-6 missile with the range, -22 M plans from the former Soviet Union can take-off bases in western Lviv, low – low – low type of combat flying with the speed M0.65, Portugal and Norway, in addition to attacks from all European NATO countries. 其高空亚音速作战半径达3700多公里。 Its high subsonic combat radius of more than 3,700 kilometers. 如果空中加油，可以从前苏联北极基地起飞，攻击美国本土的目标，然后飞回国内的基地。 If air refueling, can take off from the former Soviet Union Arctic base, the objective of attacking the United States, and then fly back to domestic bases. 另外，图-22M还可执行海上侦察和反舰攻击任务。 In addition, the implementation of plans -22 M can maritime surveillance and anti-ship attack missions.

TU-22M的主要型别： TU-22M main types:

Tu-22M0：最初原型机，共制造了 9 架。 Tu-22M0: initial prototype, created a total of nine. 据信只装备了一个中队。 It is believed only equipped with a squadron. 两侧的进气道唇口从里到外是向后倾斜的，有较大的附面层分流板。 On both sides of the inlet lip from the inside to outside is tilted backward, greater segregation of surface plate. 机翼翼根后缘有一个很大的鼓包，但它们并不是用于放置主起落架的。 After wing Yigen there is a margin of drum kits, but they are not used for the placement of the main landing gear. 各型图-22M的主起落架均收到机身内。 -22 M various types of plans are the main landing gear received body.

Tu-22M2（“逆火”B）：第二种生产型，在 1972 年到1983年间共生产了 211 架，它与的一种生产型相比，主要区别是去掉了空中受油管（由于受美苏限制战略武器谈判的影响）。 Tu-22M2 ( “Backfire” B): The second production in the 1972 to 1983 produced a total of 211, with a production-based than the main difference between them is removed by the air tubing (because by the US-Soviet strategic arms limitation talks impacts). 1975年开始服役。 Commissioned in 1975. 翼展加大，翼根后缘的鼓包被去掉，只在翼下保留了稍为鼓起的整流罩。 Wingspan up, Yigen edge of the drum kits were removed and only retained in the wings slightly muster under the fairing. 经常能看到的机头空中加油探管被拆掉，取而代之的是较长的整流罩。 Can be seen nose-air refueling probe was removed and replaced by a longer shrouds. 武器包括机腹半埋式携带的一枚AS-4“厨房”空－地导弹，以及两侧机翼固定段下携带的两枚AS-4导弹。 Weapons, including machine abdominal half buried carrying an AS-4 “Kitchen” empty – missile, as well as on both sides of the fixed wing to bring the two AS-4 missile. 两门Gsh-23双管23毫米机炮装在机尾一个鼓形整流罩内。 2 Gsh-23 twin 23 mm cannon mounted on the tail of a drum-shaped fairing.

Tu-22M3（“逆火”C）：第三种生产型，也是以使用的最先进的型别，先进远程轰炸及海上型。 Tu-22M3 ( “Backfire” C): The third production, but also to the use of the most advanced type, and advanced long-range bombing and sea-based. 。 . 主要的改进有：改装了推力更大的发动机、重新设计了进气口和尾部喷管，有效地提高了推重比；重新设计了弹舱，加大了载弹量；大大改善了电子设备。 Major improvements: greater conversion of the engine thrust, the redesigned intake and tail nozzle, effectively improving the Thrust-Weight Ratio; redesigned cabin shells, and increased load of bombs; greatly improved electronic equipment. 该型飞机已经可以称得上是真正的超音速战略轰炸机了。 The aircraft can be regarded as truly a supersonic strategic bombers. 1985年首先进入黑海舰队航空兵服役。 In 1985 the first to reach the Black Sea Fleet air service. 采用楔形进气道，机头罩上翘，没有可见的空中加油探管。 Use wedge inlet, Bending Upwards of hooded and has no visible aerial refueling probe. 机身武器舱内有旋转发射架，可挂六枚RKV-500B(AS-16)短距攻击导弹。 Supplied weapons inside a rotating launcher, which can be linked to six RKV-500B (AS-16) short-range attack missile. 机翼固定段下可挂两枚AS-4空－地导弹或四枚AS-16导弹。 Fixed wing of the two can be linked to AS-4 space – to missiles or four AS-16 missiles. 机尾的鼓形整流罩内装一门Gsh-23毫米机炮。 Drum-shaped tail of the contents shrouds a Gsh-23 mm cannon.

Tu-22M4（“逆火”D）：该型于 1990 年完成了原型机的制造，但由于设计局和制造厂都缺乏资金，是发展工作难以为继，最后不了了之。 Tu-22M4 ( “Backfire” D): This type of in 1990 completed a prototype manufacturing, but because of the design of factories and the lack of funds, work is the development of sustainable, the last sitting.

Tu-22M5：1997 年俄罗斯决定对“逆火”C 作出的改型，并重新编号为 Tu-245。 Tu-22M5: In 1997, Russia decided to “Backfire” the modified C, and renumbered as Tu-245. 该型将装备地形规避/地形跟踪雷达系统，是该机具有自动低空飞行能力。 Will be equipped with this type of terrain avoidance / terrain tracking radar systems, low-flying aircraft with automatic capacity. 预计将使用到 2020 年。 Expected to be used in 2020.