Today Fr Media began relaying the state of hanger among relative’s families :

Crash du vol MS804 d’EgyptAir : la colère des familles de victimes

. “On n’arrive pas à comprendre pourquoi la diplomatie française ne vient pas nous aider”, déplore le jeune homme
—— ————-
It’s hard to understand why the French diplomatic body doesn’t support us in our fight

I think the awnser lies in the DFCS (the digital fight control system). The Tomcat was an old lady without real FBW and the pain to reprogrammate all its systems to take all the benefits from the new engine installation could have been deemed unncecessary, especially when the Cat had already 30+ AoA and fantastic manoeuvring skills (see all the work done with the flanker).

I put that on aero earlier but after having read part of the maual, it could be this.

Most systems are from the F16. It make maintenance of the 117 sustainable on the long term.

Training will certainly emulate J20, UAS or even PakFa presumed sneaking tactics.

After stealth fighters and jumbo jets, China’s ‘secret weapon’: aero engines

“We are very positive that we can provide the best solution for New Zealand for the mission requirements that they have presented to us (and) I think they are very interested in the KC-390. But we understand and respect that this is a competition and we will fulfill all the required steps of the process,” Embraer Defense & Security President and CEO Jackson Schneider said

Wew.

And a 190MPA

Another senior Embraer executive also revealed that the manufacturer is considering the development of a maritime patrol version of its new E190-E2 commercial airliner at the invitation of the New Zealand government to meet a forthcoming RFI for a Future Air Surveillance Capability.

As far as I drive…

I have to admit…

No

And no to will be good. We are sadly dealing recursively with conceptual error involving the design phase. Quality is also seemingly abysmal.

Range with a given payload is what should be compared. The question from the user is how many troop can I airlift at x range in T time? What condition should I avoid? May I assault land directly a garrison or should I airlift 10km away and let them walk the remaining way with all the hazardous consequences that would jeopardized my effect-base strategy?

Cost is an obvious variable that I did not mention but overall cost is more important. How many chopper would I loose in a given tactical situation (see the garrison example)? This what matters the most: cost of direct and indirect support in my daily operation (how longer will last my engagement given that I am more or less impaired in my ability to engage where and How is the most suitable, cost of human life…).

So, you might see only volume and troop numbers in the mil 8/17, but think that this strategy led Warpac to field aside the Mil24 and let their troop without an Apache/Cobra equivalent… The overall picture is what one should keep the focus on.

But then, it’s a world market and you can panache any buy (assault, troop ferying and utility).

12 feet 5 inches ~ 4m < 4.7 😉 (mind that ballistic resilience involves mainly surface exposure. This is why I mentioned the comparative volume of each airframe).

Aircraft was loaned to a Luxemburg based company (CAE) owned by a Fr national with good ties in this business. The company own a small fleet of GP aircraft dedicated to the needs of the French services. Most of its civilian pilots are retiree of the Air component of the DGSE, making them de-facto a covert DGSE airline such as was Air America in its time.

The Metroliner was bought modified on the US used market. It is said that modifications included ISR and radio communication monitoring systems*. Since the airframe was retired already modified in the US, I am sure a representative list of its systems might be found in the press.

At the time of the crash, the aircraft was piloted by two Ex-DGSE pilots with three DGSE personnel in the cabin making it one of single heaviest acknowledged loss of the Fr secret service in recent years.

In the Mil thread I pointed towed a controversy raised by the DGA at the time of the contract attribution regarding the lack of professionalism in maintenance records for this company.

The aircraft itself had more than 50 registered catastrophic incidents in the last 40 years.

Following the crash, all CAE’s planes were grounded on technical grounds.

In French:

L’appareil, qui s’est écrasé lundi, est immatriculé, lui, aux États-Unis et appartient à une société luxembourgeoise CAE Aviation créé par un polytechnicien français, fils de général, qui met à disposition des États qui le souhaitent, sa flotte d’avions spécialisés pour des missions de surveillance et de reconnaissance lorsque les moyens militaires de ces pays sont pris de court. Et il loue même des avions pour des opérations aéroportées «gouvernementales». Ces avions ne portent d’ailleurs aucune mention nationale sur leurs ailes. Des appareils dits «mercenaires».

Seule certitude, l’appareil de construction américaine parti en vrille à peine envolé, un Fairchild Metroliner Mark 3, a une réputation détestable. Il fait partie des avions dits «cercueil volant» car il a connu pas moins de 50 crashs recensés en 41 ans d’exploitation.

CAE Aviation est un fournisseur habituel des renseignements français, mais aussi de l’OTAN ou de l’Union européenne. Depuis le crash de Malte, les neuf avions que la société loue à la DGSE et à la direction du Renseignement militaire (DRM) en France sont cloués au sol pour des vérifications techniques.

Source:
Le Parisien.com

Le quotidien.lu

*(http://lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr/archive/2016/11/11/le-president-donne-les-noms-de-5-des-11-soldats-morts-pour-l-17154.html)