Really & Truly

oh, really!:p

Yes , really!!!
What a coup ,to all OZ thread readers who like this name I suggest we write to all Aus. Military Mags. asking them to promote the name Aardpiglet for the Aussie F-35. We have about 8+ years to push our cause,we must win.
I had always thought that the JSF would eventually be called JEFF but for some unexplicable reason that did,nt happen.

All the Best

All the best for a Merry Christmas to all members & their families, it is Christmas morning here & we are waiting for our grandaughter to wake up & see what Santa has bought her.

The RAN will not operate the F35 in the VSTOL variant.

The RAAF will operate them, probably in the following mix.

1 Sqdn F35 VSTOL
2 Sqdn (may be disbanded)
3 Sqdn F35 CTOL
75 Sqdn F35 CTOL
77 Sqdn F35 CTOL
2 OCU mix of both types (may be renamed 2 Squadron)

The RAN has neither the manpower nor the resources to set up an air wing organisation that duplicates the RAAF, they will simply operate the F35 off the LPAs (for which reason I suspect that the Navantia design will win out, its large enough to operate a detachment of the F35B, where the Mistral is not).

Unicorn

Just trying to see if I can get a post to go through. Sorry for the interruption

LHD Contenders

As far as I know there was no proposal from Italian builders,however, the April issue of Defence today [Aust] has an article saying that Northrop Grumman put forward a proposal for a cheaper San Antonio class & are still in the wings ready if the SPS or Mistral proposals fail & feel they could meet pricing & local involvement requirements.Their main problem is the size of the flight deck.
The article pointed out that the Tenix Navantia proposal would not have a ski jump & possibly a revised propulsion system to keep down costs. It suggested that the extra size & weight of the SPS was taken up by the need to operate STVOL aircraft. & the final proposal will have similar capabilities to the Mistral. Both ships seem OK to me but the Mistral is up & seemingly running well.

What Performance

There has been a lot of interesting discussion about fitting various upgraded motors to the Gripen & no doubt it can/will be done but a fair bit of work will need to be done to allow it. Does anyone have any real projected performance figures that will come from an extra few thou. lbs. of thrust, obviously improved T/W but what will be the real benifits in performance ,are they enough to make it all worthwhile. To get extra range they are talking about shifting the landing gear out the wings which will allow more fuel in the fuselage ,but it seems like a big job to get probably another 1-1.5k lbs of fuel.
The Gripen is too small to be trying to squeeze too much more out of it,there is nothing wrong with it in the niche it has at the moment.
Larger motors are often touted for Rafale & Ef2000, does anyone really know what benifits they would really provide, probably improved sustained turn rate but is it enough to justify the cost of what have already been expensive programs.

Operating off LHD

Yes, it sound a bit stupid but it wasn’t a requirement from the french navy, so, no F-35 on the french mistral but I doubt that it’s impossible to made a deck with the specific hardness/paint/ …. able to handle the use of F-35.

Getting the deck strong enough is only part of it. eg the Harrier can land & take off the HMS Ocean but it cannot “operate”them.The same situation would be evident on the Mistral, it is not designed to ,or have the systems to operate as an SCS ship. Any how a ship designed as a 20,000 ton LHD was really meant to be used for other purposes & should be able to fulfil them very well .Also I will be convinced that the Navantia design can fulfil its LHD role & alternatively an SCS role when I see it in action, I am a bit dubious ,it seems a bit small to me.

C5 refueling

I saw a doco on the C5 on I think Discovery Ch.not long ago, It showed a C5 being refueled over the Indian Ocean at night ,it looked like a hairy experience ,those blokes really know their stuff.It took some time for them to hook up, & I was wondering what would happen if either plane made a mistake & the C5 had been speared through the fuselage by the tanker . Has this ever happened, I think planes have been unable to unhook from a Drogue but I dont know the aftermath of it.

Link

I have a fairly new computer but cant seem to attach files ,its pathetic. There is an article re Mistral off Lebanon in the defence section of this link.
For anyone who has not seen it try http://www.seaandnavy.com/