This was some news of Mig developing a single engine of 5th Gen Fighter by Piotr Butowski

Since he is a reliable person in such affairs , where does Mig stand with respect to this project ?

Not sure if this is still alive. After India rejected MiG’s design and instead went for the Sukhoi one, MiG may have pulled out of the 5th Gen fighter market…or maybe not.

—–JT—–

If a small country needs a light fighter, that can have a small multi-purpose radar and carry some a-a missiles and land attack weapons, then maybe one of these new jet trainers can be used as the platform. Most of these new trainers are configured to be used for these purposes. But maybe for a bit more you can buy a dedicated light fighter like the Gripen (not sure how much difference there is in the cost of a new Gripen versus those of a new Chinese and Russian designs which will always be cheaper than a British or Italian design).

I would stick with a turbo prop and for the advanced training buy a couple of the actual fighters with a two-man cockpit for training.

—–JT—–

Would be interesting if this program does come to fruition. Another 5th Gen fighter to throw into the arena. This could be a real possibility for customers who want a lower cost 5th Gen and without the restrictions of the F-35.

—–JT—–

A bit random but I am the sort of armchair general guy who says “what if?, why not?” and then draws a picture to illustrate what I mean. So, here is my line of thought as to the optimum expeditionary frigate/destroyer – somewhere between FREMM and Absalon, and actually with a RN weapons fit in mind.

Although BAE Sys would no doubt push for their products, I think that a OTO-Melara lightweight 127mm main gun with Volcano ammunition is the best choice. CIWS would be three 35mm Millennium guns (one forward, two aft).

Hangers would be on either side of the ship with an air-control room between them, and a medium sized Slyvr VLS capable of Aster-15/30 but mainly for Storm Shadow. SAM would be VL MICA.

Single integrated mast similar to Thales systems with multiple phased arrays including surface search. Single Sat uplink atop the mast (not Sampson).

Modest Ro-Ro/flex deck. Two 11m boats on flanks. Pop-up automatic 20mm guns forward of bridge.

On top there is a large flexible weapons deck similar to that on Absalon (but bigger). Whole range of weapons options and/or mission modules (removed via crane). Typical weapon here would be loiter attack drones (as per recent British test flight).

Powerplant as per Type-45 but exhaust between hulls to reduce IR sig and leave upper deck clear for max weapons/flex.

Obviously I’e never built a boat in my life so this is all guesswork 😉

Nice drawing…looks a little like the HSC N130.

One question, any ideas why the NATO navies don’t use multi-use VLS in their ships that would fire SAM and SSM? The Russians seem to use this a lot more. It would help with the stealth and space since you don’t need a special boxed off area for the SSM launchers.

—–JT—–

Hey, just found this on the BGV website, interesting designn for lightweight LCS type role:

Very interesting design and when you read about, that is one fast ship! France should have gone with this instead of the FREMM 🙂

—–JT—–

Just curious, would it be difficult to develop a 3P round for the 76mm?

It does have specialized ammo…if you go to the OTO Melara website, it lists all their 76mm ammo. Some rounds do have specialised directed fragmentation capabilities.

—–JT—–

I would like to see a common VLS system used so that SAMs and SSMs can be combined in the same launcher. Maybe include in the VLS system 4xSSMs (I like the NSM but not sure if it’s designed to be launched vertically), 8xMedium/Short Range SAM (either ESSM or Aster-15) and 16xShort Range SAM (VL MICA, the LFK NG or for the future, a hypervelocity missile like the HFK).

For the last ditch CIWS there’s always the 35mm Millenium which can also provide close in protection from speed boats. Not sure if also adding a remotely operated turret, like the Typhoon, would add much to the equation. I still like the 76mm Oto Melara, as it has potential to engage a wider range of targets where the 57mm would be more limited. It has a good rate of fire (120/rpm) but with new rounds, the range can be extended to over 30km. Even some of these litoral last minute ditch attacks may happen within 20km of the target, so with the 76mm , you could start engaging the target, where with the 57mm, you wouldn’t have that option. Also, for those last minute/very-short range attacks, that’s what the 35mm guns would be used for.

—–JT—–