I could not find an English language news piece about this, but today in somewhat surprising twist, Saab announced that its response for Finnish bid includes two Globaleye AEW&C aircraft, in addition to 64 Gripens.

Being kicked out of the Swiss fighter competition was a direct consequence of their Peace and Love management attitude (why an extra long range Gripen for a Swiss size country?). They just missed the train by their own fault. So it’s nice to see that they are reacting with an aggressive offer: the duo is what brings the most to the Gripen concept as we know it for years (yes, yes, we read their endless marketing mat. :sleeping: ).

Every pound of weight added to that extra bulky WB is another pound of fuel that have to be carried… And at 11G, that’s a minimum of 11lb per extra lb added to the total. Then fighter cost is function of weight. And that’s is not linear: more weight, more parts, more working hours… And then, you are toasted.
I think seriously that someone should have a look at that contract. There is no way this would save any money. 10y ago, as I said before, I would have agreed. But now it’s too late, irrelevant and counter-efficient.

Get a Deliveroo credit and start bunkering yourself in a tunnel.*

IIRC, for the first AIM-120C versions, they had to add a ballast behind the guidance unit to keep the same weight & balance even though the new unit was much smaller/lighter. Then they designed a larger engine to take advantage of the extra space & weight.

Nice to know!

* A wind tunnel

if France start to think at defending their oversee territories with a fresh look then that would be the least difficult to achieve (but the more costly).

i wouldnt even dismiss the possibility of all the Western 4.5 getting into ~2030 still in production.

Sadly!

Any link with that story?

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/collins-gps-outage-grounds-regional-flights-458819/

The 111 also had to go while still being exceptional. Sadly obsolescence of complex early surfacing systems and their inherent maintenance cost are an unavoidable wall in the face.

Man have to salute the new trend in US design to favor embedding existing technologies into open architecture.

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Sikorsky test flies Black Hawk helicopter without a pilot

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., June 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — A technology kit developed by Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company (NYSE: LMT), was used for the first time to operate a Black Hawk helicopter with full-authority, fly-by-wire flight controls. The May 29 flight marked the official start to the flight test program for the soon-to-be optionally piloted aircraft. Follow-on flight testing aims to include envelope expansion throughout the summer leading to fully autonomous flight (zero pilots) in 2020.

View the Video

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  OPVBlackHawkFirstFlight2019-Sikorsky

“This technology brings a whole new dimension of safety, reliability and capability to existing and future helicopters and to those who depend on them to complete their missions,” said Chris Van Buiten, Vice President, Sikorsky Innovations. “We’re excited to be transforming a once mechanically controlled aircraft into one with fly-by-wire controls. This flight demonstrates the next step in making optionally piloted – and optimally piloted – aircraft, a reality.”

This is the first full authority fly-by-wire retrofit kit developed by Sikorsky that has completely removed mechanical flight controls from the aircraft.*

Source:
UPI.com
https://news.lockheedmartin.com/2019…ogy#assets_all

*emphasizes are mine