the F-117 was a manned stealth jet that was cost-effective and operationally succesful. but it’s probably getting replaced by UCAVs as we speak 😉

The F-117 was retired in April 2008.

Note that the USN’s mighty UCLASS-D RFP is asking for a 1,000 lb payload only. Not a minimum of 1,000 lb… 1,000 lb internal payload with NO provisions for external payload! This is to be carried 2,000 miles… and is to be used only against “lightly-defended targets”!

Lightly-defended targets… just the opposite of the F-117, which was designed AND USED against heavily-defended targets – and the F-35, which is likewise designed and intended for use against heavily-defended targets.

Note also that the USAF doesn’t have a UCAV designed for use against heavily-defended targets either (they were part of the X-47 program, but dropped out to spend their money on the F-35)… just the various Predator versions, which are intended to stay out of the reach of just about all air defenses anywhere.

Tony William has written several articles of various guns, and had this to say in his article of RAF guns, and I have pointed him to this thread, and asked him to expand on the problems with the Aden 25:
The Development of RAF Guns and Ammunition from World War 1 to the Present Day

In the 1990s there was an abortive attempt to produce a new version of the Aden gun, chambered for the NATO 25 mm cartridge and known unsurprisingly as the Aden 25.

It was initially intended to arm the RAF’s Harriers from the GR5 onwards but was defeated by various technical problems, the final and insurmountable one being the sharp curve required of the path of the ammunition belt between the magazine and the gun, which caused unreliable feeding. It was abandoned at the end of the last decade after about 100 guns had been built, and the Harriers have remained gunless ever since, which is reportedly proving a disadvantage in Afghanistan.

Post-WW2 RAF ammunition:
The picture shows the cannon ammunition used by the RAF since the end of the Second World War, plus the 25 mm round which may be introduced into service with the F-35B. Note the two types of Aden ammunition: the early Low Velocity (which was almost identical to the Mauser original) which was soon replaced by the High Velocity, which sacrificed some shell weight to make space for more propellant to raise the muzzle velocity.
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20mm Hispano, 30mm Aden LV, 30mm Aden HV, 20mm M61, 27mm Mauser BK27, 25mm NATO (?)

Is China fueling a Naval Arms Race in the Pacific??? As just recently we’ve heard strong words coming from such countries as Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In the case of Japan they have announced the formation of a Marine Corp and the additional purchase of two more Aegis Destroyers. Plus, they have express interest in such types as the V-22 Osprey and more F-35’s. On the other hand Vietnam is said to be looking for addition fighters and naval craft. Even the very poor Philippines is purchasing 12 F/A-50’s and a number of New and Used Surface Warships. This is just a tip of the iceberg……So, is China Military Expansion having the reverse effect??? Could this vast expansion on China’s part get it in an Arms Race she just can’t win????

Japan:

Marine Corps – So they are doing what most other nations have already done… so what?

additional purchase of two more Aegis Destroyers – to replace two old air-warfare destroyers with obsolete systems… normal replacement.

V-22 Osprey – replacing aging transport VTOL aircraft (helos) with a modern “in-production” type… so?

F-35s – replacing old fighter-bombers with a current modern one… again, so?

These are all part of normal equipment replacement/renewal processes.

Philippines:
12 F/A-50s – replacing old no-longer-functional F-5 fighters (the only fighters they had left) with new light-fighters directly comparable to the old light-fighters in their capability and place in modern Air Forces (cheap export aircraft derived from a trainer)… really? This is a cause for concern?

a number of New and Used Surface Warships – to replace their old ones that used to work but no longer do so… sigh.

Except that the system is for cooling the internal avionics themselves to prevent malfunctions & damage from overheating electronics, not for exhaust signature reduction.

And the statement that radar can pick up heat!!! This shows no knowledge whatsoever of anything about how radar works or what systems modern aircraft or missiles DO use to detect heat from aircraft!

US Navy Eyes C-2, H-60 Replacement Programs

Why are they replacing such legacy planes in the Navy? What does this thing provide better? Is it faster? Stealthy?

The newest C-2 airframe was built in 1990… that’s 23 years, and carrier aircraft have hard life-limits based on number of arrested landings and catapulted launches. The fatigue stresses for those are such that you cannot extend their life without building a new airframe. By the time the C-2s are completely replaced (“mid-2020s”, replacement contract to be awarded in 2016, production to begin ~2020) the C-2s will be at the limit of their allowable landing/launch cycles.

The two options on the table are:
1. building new C-2s, probably with an airframe using different materials and structures (based on that developed for the E-2D).
2. a COD version of the MV-22 Osprey.

The H-60 production line is set to start its last new airframe in 2016, and while helicopters can have their lives extended much longer, the design is obsolete, using structures, materials, and techniques of the early 1970s, and are inefficient compared to modern ones, being heavy (which reduces payload) and expensive to build & maintain.

With production shut down replacing losses will be difficult, requiring completely rebuilding earlier versions that have been withdrawn from service and stored.

Time-frame for this is further away, with a production contract for the new H-60 replacement (MH-XX) not expected before the mid-2020s at the earliest.

Yes… that was the best part of that movie… and I liked that movie much more than “midget” Cruise’s version.

My nominee is the XFV-12A… A-4 Skyhawk cockpit & landing gear, F-4 Phantom intakes & main wing box, and the F401 engine intended for the F-14B (the engine upgrade was canceled in the 1970s budget-cutting).

Too bad the engineers screwed up the upscaling, and thrust losses in the ducting system left it with ~75% of the thrust needed to lift the aircraft.
What could have been!

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I’m not sure the USSR ever tried to sell it outside their borders.

The only customers for new aircraft (production from 1966-76) were the Soviet Air Force and the state-run airline Aeroflot.

The only users outside Russia/USSR have been Ukraine (3 prototypes retained by Antonov, which is located on the now-independent former republic) and Bulgaria (a few leased by Air Sofia in 1992).

By then the newest An-22 was 16 years old, so I suppose it has just “aged out”.

Intended as the “back-up” to the B-29, the Consolidated B-32 lagged behind its more-famous (and more-advanced) Boeing counterpart.

In great part this was because Consolidated was also developing the B-36 Peacemaker at the same time… a diversion of internal design and development resources that slowed both projects.

Problems with the pressurized crew areas meant that that feature was not installed on the prototype, and was dropped from the type altogether shortly after.

The first prototype flew with B-24-style twin tails, but stability problems led to a B-29 style vertical tail being fitted to the second prototype after its 25th flight. The 3rd prototype and the first 2 “production” aircraft also had the “B-29-style” vertical stabilizer, but this was later replaced by the taller one on these… and all other B-32s were built with the tall tail.

75 were delivered to the USAF, and 117 (some sources say 118 or 114) were built to flyable condition… those still at the factory were flown incomplete to Davis-Monthan Field, Tucson, Arizona for storage.

Information and specifications:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=2535

http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/cons_dominator.php

Book on the B-32 (both print and Kindle E-book versions): http://www.amazon.com/books/dp/0933126387
Note the other two books on the B-32 also available there.

1. XB-32-CO 41-141 on 28 February 1944
2. XB-32-CO 41-141 in flight
3. Large photo of Consolidated B-32-1-CF (S/N 42-108471), the first “production’ (and 4th overall) aircraft built. Note the original B-29 style vertical stabilizer.
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