TomcatViPSigning a defense contract with a end-term president that won’t seek any re-election? That’d sound weird and ill-advised. I mean, they just have to keep the A400 flying to reach the same leverage effect given the situation. I would be surprised if anything is inked firmly;y tomorrow.
Today Trappier:
“Il n’y a rien de finalisé, donc nous restons humbles devant les discussions qui restent à venir”, a insisté Eric Trappier.
——–
Nothing is finalized. We are hence in an humble position regarding future negotiations(MDBA CEO Trappier)
“Part of the talk (meeting) today revolved around possibilities in terms of acquiring French defence equipment including the Rafale. Although Malaysia is not ready yet (to purchase the aircraft), it will take note of the aircraft’s success in several countries,”Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said.
TomcatViPFrench COTAM* dependency to Russia scrutinized in a report by the Fr parliament
L’opération Serval au Mali en 2013 donne une bonne idée de cette dépendance: en à peine deux mois, l’armée de l’air a affrété 115 vols d’An-124, 47 d’Iliouchine Il 76 (un avion de transport russe, plus petit que l’An-124), et 7 vols d’Antonov 225, le plus gros avion du monde, disponible à un seul exemplaire, chez la compagnie ukrainienne ADB.
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Statistics taken during Operation Serval in Mali in 2013 gives a good idea of this dependence: in just two months, the air force chartered 115 flights of An-124, 47 from Iliouchine Il 76 (a transport plane from Russia, smaller than the An-124), and 7 flights of Antonov 225, the largest airplane in the world [owned] by the Ukrainian company ADB
[…]
Car si les Antonov sont des avions ukrainiens, “98% des pièces de rechange viennent de Russie, les 2% restants de l’est de l’Ukraine”, soulignait le compte-rendu.
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Even when the Antonov are flown under Ukrainian colors, 98% of spare parts comes from Russia and only 2% are sourced in East Ukraine, underline the report
In his report, speaker François Cornut-Gentille conclude:
Dans les faits, ce sont les Russes et les Ukrainiens qui ont la maîtrise de la projection de nos forces sur les théâtres extérieurs, assène le député dans son rapport. C’est une véritable épée de Damoclès qui est suspendue au-dessus de la France.” Une arme redoutable dans les mains du Kremlin, dont Vladimir Poutine s’est déjà servi, estime François Cornut-Gentille : l’élu de la Haute-Marne rappelle que la société russe TTF Air 224 a interrompu ses vols au profit de la France en septembre 2015… soit un mois seulement après l’annulation du contrat des porte-hélicoptères Mistral à la Russie, prononcée en août. “La mise à disposition d’Antonov 224 devient un enjeu diplomatique, déplore François Cornut-Gentille. Une nouvelle dégradation des relations avec ces deux Etats [Ukraine et Russie] pourrait paralyser totalement les capacités de projection aérienne de la France. En dépit des grandes phrases, l’autonomie stratégique est en réalité virtuelle.”
————–
“In fact, Russians and Ukrainians are the ones in control of the projection capabilities of our armed forces on external theaters” […] It is a real sword of Damocles [(menace)] that hangs over France. “A formidable weapon in the hands of the Kremlin, that Vladimir Putin already used he considers […], recalling that the Russian company TTF Air 224 interrupted its flights to the benefit of France in September 2015 … only one month after the cancellation of the contract for the helicopter carriers Mistral destined to Russia t[…]. The availability of the Antonov 224 had become a diplomatic stake, deplores François Cornut-Gentille. A further deterioration in relations with these two states [Ukraine and Russia] could totally paralyze France’s projection capabilities. In spite of the great phrases, strategic autonomy is in reality virtual. “
François Cornut-Gentille suggère d’étudier le scénario d’une acquisition de gros porteurs par la France: les fameux An-124, les C-5 Super Galaxy américain, voire une version militarisée de l’A380 ou du Beluga d’Airbus.
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François Cornut-Gentille suggests studying the scenario of an acquisition of large carriers by France: the famous An-124, the C-5 Super Galaxy American, or even a militarized version of the Airbus A380 or Beluga.
Source:
Challenges.fr
*French strategic airlift command
TomcatViPIn 2015, France declined an offer for 23 upgraded C5M at LESS than half the price of the A400M*
Consultés, les Etats-Unis et Lockheed Martin s’étaient déclarés ouverts à la vente d’appareils rénovés, sur la base d’un prix estimé entre 85 et 115 millions de dollars pièce. Les avions seraient cédés à une somme symbolique, l’essentiel du coût étant lié à leur remise à niveau. Les Etats-Unis proposaient même de céder, gratuitement, jusqu’à 23 C-5A, la plus ancienne version du gros porteur.
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Following the consultation, the United States and Lockheed Martin had declared themselves open for the sale of refurbished aircraft, on the basis of an estimated price ranging between 85 and 115 million dollars. The aircraft would have been offered at a symbolic price, the bulk of the cost covering only their upgrades. The United States was even proposing to give up to 23 C-5A, the oldest version of the large cargo plane, for free.
Source:
Challenges.fr
*Earlier, back in the early days of the A400M project, France had already declined an offer for Ex-USAF C-141 airlifter.
TomcatViPI don’t think the JPO will last beyond 2020 but given they have known of Lt. Gen Bogdan’s upcoming retirement for some time now it is good to promote someone from within given that start of FOD phase and OT&E.
I hadn’t read the report before writing my own reply, but, yes, retiring and being replaced make for a substantial difference.
TomcatViPBogdan to be replaced by Winter according to Marcus Weisberger. (twitter)
Aaron Mehta confirms.
Logical: the focus is now in the C version. After the oleo hiccup, the Navy would certainly like to get its hands more symbolically on the program.
What a great achievement b/w.
TomcatViPX-37B Space Plane Breaks Orbital Record
As of today (March 25), the X-37B has spent 675 days on its latest Earth-circling mission, which is known as Orbital Test Vehicle-4 (OTV-4). The previous record was 674 days, set during OTV-3, which lasted from December 2012 to October 2014.
Source:
Space.com
TomcatViPTomcatViPSigning a defense contract with a end-term president that won’t seek any re-election? That’d sound weird and ill-advised. I mean, they just have to keep the A400 flying to reach the same leverage effect given the situation. I would be surprised if anything is inked firmly;y tomorrow.
TomcatViPLockheed’s $29 Billion Copter Poised to Win Pentagon’s Approval (CH53K)
The “big” revenue potential for the helicopter designated the CH-53K was the primary incentive for Lockheed’s $9 billion acquisition of the Sikorsky helicopter unit from United Technologies Corp. in 2015, Bruce Tanner, Lockheed’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. He said the King Stallion is the same size as its predecessor, the Super Stallion, but can haul triple the cargo.
“Frankly, when we acquired Sikorsky it was the 53K program that drove most of our valuation as to why we wanted to own Sikorsky,” Tanner said. “It was the fact of that aircraft.”
Source:
Bloomberg.com
TomcatViPJakarta receives more former USAF F-16 Block 25 fighters
Indonesia has received 18 of 24 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 25 fighters that have been refurbished after USAF use.
Source:
FlightGlobal.com
TomcatViPUpdate:
The SDF has advanced a small distance along the dam from the northern bank but its progress is slow because Islamic State has heavily mined the area, the Observatory said. […] the dam had stopped functioning but that Islamic State remained in control of its main operational buildings and turbines.
U.S.-backed forces capture IS-held airport near Euphrates dam
A U.S.-backed Syrian alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias on Sunday took a military airport in northern Syria held by Islamic State, close to the country’s largest dam that may be in danger of collapse.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a U.S.-led international coalition, said in a statement they had seized the air base.
Source:
reuters.com
TomcatViPt’s a joke — hence the smiley 😉
need to catch up with your sense of humor. 😮
TomcatViPThe last two brand new Chengdu J-7 trainers took to the skies last week over in China. That marks the end of MiG-21 production history, 1956-2017.
Impressive.
How many were produced in total combined?
TomcatViPhttps://twitter.com/wildaboutimages/status/842315796382597120
So what is the max AOA in this clip ? 🙂
Even if I find this slow motion footage beautiful, there is no high angle of attack involved here.
TomcatViPNot yet. It does not appear to be on anyone’s wishlist (US services or partner nations) for block 4 either given what we have heard of the four sub-blocks. With the USAF beginning MS-177 integration on the Global Hawk a new recce pod is unlikely to be on their wishlist for the F-35 although it wouldn’t be long before someone does offer enhanced ISR capability through the multi-mission pod that is already integrated.
Why would you need a pod? Radar, ELINT, IR and Visual sensor are alrdy embedded (and subject to future upgrade). All the services have expressed the difficulty to handle the surge of information. A recce pod will be a very specific niche that would have to compete with appropriate usage and tactics. An invest capped by all the VLO objects that would be fielded in the future. Not sure if someone would like to put money in it when algorithms, multi-spectral and post-processed information (in the cloud) would do equally or better.
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