tiddlesIn respect of Australia add their vast mineral wealth and a surprisingly paranoid outlook about their South Pacific neighbours – just have a look at the APA website if you are unsure about that paranoia
The only paranoia Australia has about its South pacific neighbours is if they might miss the plane to one of the SP islands for their annual holiday.Noumea,NZ, Fiji ,Vanuatu, Tonga,etc pose no threat to Australia.It is true we have vast mineral wealth but the current Gillard Labour Govt. has taken the axe to the Defense budget and it is at its lowest level of GDP since 1938.The 10 C27 we are getting fit well with the C17, C130J, C27 idea of horses for courses,Australia itself is a big place and a mixed fleet has always been the aim. Getting a replacement for the Caribou has been fiddled with by various Govts since the 90s.If we had not got the C27 then a few more C130J would have been purchased which would have been a bad move for a number of reasons which arent necessary to elaborate on.The RAAF are happy to be getting these birds in lieu of the C130J.
APA have no cred with any Australian Forumers and thought to be a bit nutty, but they do at least offer another view [democracy at work] which few people agree with.
tiddlesFWIW I have also read it somewhere but cant remember where .Whoops there is a bit in this SAAB blurb
http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CFoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.saabgroup.com%2Fen%2FAir%2FGripen-Fighter-System%2FGripen-for-ETPS%2FGripen-in-operation%2F&ei=jSnVT9XSDMSTiQfjiLyDAw&usg=AFQjCNEM01rAZAFLBzBJ9fZRFk8pVRDEXw&sig2=5PgBazvaeQyKgT06NyXIGg
Tiddles
tiddlesI notice in the article from the Minister for Defence, where the C27J and the C130 are compared, the airlift capacity of the RAAF is listed, with no mention of the Airbus KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport. Doe’snt it ever get used to carry equipment or personnel?
AFAIK the RAAF MRTTs are able to carry personel but have not been modified at this point to allow them to carry pallets etc. This suited the RAAF initially as they quietly wanted the planes to be used exclusively as tankers and were worried they might end up being permanently be used for other roles if they became true MRTTs, after all there are only 5 of them. At the time of order there were no mods in place similar to the A310 MRTT used by Canada, for the A330 MRTT ordered by OZ
Tiddles
tiddlesMistake
tiddlesMeko 200
Australia, ANZAC class
1 helicopter: Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk (RAN)Greece, Hydra class
1 Sikorsky S-70B-6 Aegean HawkNew Zealand, ANZAC class
1 helicopter: Westland Wasp (RNZN)Turkey, Yavuz class:
1 x AB 212 ASW helicopterTurkey, Barbados class:
1 x S-70B Seahawk or AB 212 ASW helicopterPortugal, Vasa da Gama class
2 Super Lynx Mk.95 helicopters
The RNZN are using the Seasprite not the Wasp.
Tiddles
tiddlesThis is a picture I’ve taken from in my car while driving…
Nice pic. but does not look like the Enterprise to me or is this a pic of an LHA taken somwhere else.
Tiddles
tiddlesGreat pics Stereo,these birds will be valuable additions, or at least in the case of P3K a return to service for the RNZAF.
Tiddles
tiddlesedit
tiddlesI may be mistaken, but I believe the RAAF had evaluated the Tornado (or at least it may have been pitched to them) prior to purchasing the F/A-18 A/B. (similar time-frame to the Canadian Forces competition/purchase – Tornado had been pitched at the time)
At the time of the comp. the F 111 had been in service with the RAAF about 5 years . The Tornado was culled from the comp.early because its main role was air to ground operations with only basic self-defence capability & in the F 111 they already had a swing wing bomber. The fighter variant of the Tornado was on the drawing boards but still about a decade away from being available. The RAAF wanted a multi-role fighter & eventually got the FA/18. From about about 11 contenders it eventually had gotten down to the F16 & FA/18 with the Hornet chosen.
Tiddles
tiddlesPlease tell what new Boeing tankers (or even military transports, save the C-17) have Australia, UAE, Saudi and the UK ever purchased?
Australia operated a small[4] number of converted Boeing 707-200Cs until recently,however I am not sure if they were new at the time of conversion,I doubt it.
Tiddles
tiddlesThe time is not that far away [about 12 months] when we will know exactly just how well the “big tanker” really is, however there is also a good chance that we will never get to see the Frankenstien version of the 767 at all .
Tiddles
SOURCE:Flight International
Qantas receives second A330 for Australia’s KC-30 tanker conversion
By Craig Hoyle
Qantas Defence Services has received its second of four Airbus A330-200s to be converted to a multi-role tanker transport standard for the Royal Australian Air Force.
Delivered to the company’s Brisbane airport facilities in Queensland on 25 June from Airbus Military’s Getafe site near Madrid in Spain, the aircraft will begin its transformation to the KC-30A configuration. This includes the addition of military equipment, under-wing hose and drogue refuelling pods and a refuelling boom mounted beneath its rear fuselage.
Qantas began converting its first A330 in June 2008, with this expected to be the first of five KC-30As – including a prototype now in advanced flight testing in Spain – to enter RAAF service from around mid-2010.
In-country conversion of the first aircraft “is progressing well”, says Greg Combet, minister for defence personnel, materiel and science. The tanker is expected to leave Brisbane later this year for Getafe, where it will complete its “extensive certification and qualification flight-test programme”, he adds.
Airbus Military has recently conducted dry contacts between Australia’s prototype A330 tanker and a French air force Boeing C-135, and used the new type’s Cobham 905E under-wing pods to connect with Spanish air force Boeing EF-18 fighters (below). Data gathering and flight control law work on the configuration has now been successfully completed, says Combet.
The RAAF’s KC-30A fleet will be operated from Amberley air base, Queensland. The service lacks and in-flight refuelling capability, having retired its last Boeing 707-based tanker in June 2008.
tiddlesFrom Alert 5. There is not much new in this story except the cost of the upgraded thrust M88 development cost ,at 250 – 300 mill Euros it might be too big a cost for the UAE to carry for a 60 plane purchase if that is how the cost is structured. IMO the current thrust is plenty good enough for modern requirements even in the UAE. Weapons systems ,radars, ew systems etc. are much more likely to determine the outcome of the rare, if ever, A2A engagements. The RAAF currently operates the upgraded version of the FA18A/B [Similar weight to the Rafale] & the thrust is the !5.8K version of the GE404 & I have never struck a complaint on OZ Forums or in OZ Mags [Leaked info] about the power available for Excercises against a variety of other aircraft including Malaysian Mig29s where a reasonable amount of success has been achieved over the years. The conditions out here can certainly be very hot particularly in the North of the country, & conditions in Malaysia are probably similar to UAE.RAAF Hornets performed without problems during GW2 but had no requirement for any A2A action. The requirement for an upgraded M88 would only provide another 4klbs of dry thrust for a dubious & pointlessly expensive return IMO.
Tiddles
United Arab Emirates Closing in on Rafale
Jun 22, 2009
Michael A. Taverna/Paris
The Rafale fighter could be one step away from securing its first export order, following submittal last week to the French government of final technical requirements for a 6-10 billion euro ($8.3-13.8 billion) 60-aircraft purchase by the United Arab Emirates late last week.
Dassault Aviation officials say the document signifies basic agreement on the specifications, permitting the two sides to proceed to negotiation of pricing and financing terms. The French also will have to help find a buyer for the UAE’s fleet of 63 Mirage 2000-9 fighters, which the Rafale will replace. Laurent Collet-Billon, head of French armaments agency DGA, says the objective is to sign a contract by year’s end. But Dassault Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne, mindful of a last-minute loss to the Lockheed Martin F-16 in Morocco in 2008, cautioned “against crying victory before the last whistle blows.”
The UAE wants an aircraft reflecting the most advanced current Rafale standard, including active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, Meteor beyond-visual-range air-air missile, Damocles targeting pod, and an enhanced OSF forward infrared search and track system and missile warning receiver. These improvements, including the AESA, are to be introduced into the French armed forces starting in 2012. Meteor integration is slated to begin only in 2013-14 for service entry in 2017-18, but military officials say this date can be moved up if necessary. The UAE envisions replacing its first Mirage 2000-9s in 2013.
The UAE is also demanding a higher thrust version of the fighter’s Snecma M88 engine to suit the hot-and-high conditions prevalent in the Middle East. A test program for the new powerplant, aimed at raising thrust to 9 metric tons from 7.5 tons currently, was announced in the run-up to last week’s Paris Air Show. The main focus of the program is a new high-pressure core design that will begin running in September as part of a package of improvements, known as the Pack CGP-9T, intended to reduce M88 ownership costs for the French armed forces.
A demonstrator for the low-pressure part of the engine began testing this spring. The test program would enable the higher-power version to be available within three years of contract signature, Snecma executives say.
For the time being, the question of funding the M88 upgrade, estimated to cost 250-300 million euros, remains unresolved. So far, the French government says it has no requirement for the higher-thrust version, which means the UAE would have to pick up the tab – perhaps along with other interested customers like Kuwait, with a similar requirement. But the government had initially dragged its feet at funding the AESA, forcing industry to bear the cost of development through deferral of a six-aircraft Rafale order, only to reinstate the order last year.
tiddlesThis story is really about the JSF but I thought that Gripen fans might be more interested in it.From ARES
Tiddles
JSF leader undercuts Norways Claims
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 6/18/2009 1:24 AM CDT
I had a prior appointment and missed Wednesday’s JSF press briefing, but refer you to today’s Show News and a story by Rob Hewson (page 28). Hewson asked program manager Gen David Heinz about the NOK18 billion price for 48 aircraft quoted by Norway in November, when the country committed to the JSF over the Gripen NG.
Heinz’s response: “I do not recognize those numbers”. The lowest quote he gave for the F-35A was a unit flyaway cost of $80 million in mature, full-rate production. Norway’s government claimed a unit price of $70 million – but that includes all start-up costs (such as simulators, mission planning systems, initial spares and other support equipment), and Norway claimed that the cost was fixed.
An odor of lutefisk is wafting out of Oslo
tiddlesYeah …just like you did to South Africa!!!
That was just a warmup for The Ashes series ,we didnt want to “peak” too soon.:):)
Tiddles
tiddlesYeah …just like you did to South Africa!!!
That was just a warmup for The Ashes series ,we didnt want to “peak” too soon.:):)
Tiddles
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