tiddleshttp://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1149301&postcount=214
Tmor Good find about the Joust sim. So, the tiffy was all configured with the meteor while the other birds were sort of stuck with R77, mica, amraam types. No wonder, that explains quite a bit.
And that was for the original su-35, somewhat comparable to a modern MKI, but to a lesser degree. What about a the newer Su-35 with newer missiiles such as the R-77 (izd-180)? I mean surely in 1996, Joust wasn’t simulating an Irbis or AESA equipped flanker type. Hell, the Bars NO11M was hardly developed to the current capacity in those days. What about an F-15S/K with AESA and Amraam D versions?
Interesting indeed.
FWIW, here is another twist to the MRCA/Rafale saga in india:
http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/15/stories/2009051560051000.htmUSS.
Here is another story from The Hindu newspaper Dated today
Tiddles
Rafale allowed to take part in aircraft bid
http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/21/stories/2009052155261100.htm
K.V.Prasad
NEW DELHI: French fighter aircraft Rafale has been allowed to take part in the Indian Air Force’s bid to acquire 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the Defence Procurement Board here on Monday, sources in the Defence Ministry said. Rafale, made by Dassault, was earlier declared out of the race after technical evaluations. Sources in the Ministry said the Technical Evaluation Committee had made the recommendation, as Dassault did not provide information on some equipment and add-ons that the IAF wanted to be in the aircraft. However, the Defence Procurement Board, which met under the chairmanship of Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, decided not to accept the recommendation. The Board felt the French firm should also get a look-in when the Indian Air Force conducted field trials over the next few months, the sources said.
After the news emerged in April, the French launched a fresh bid. Many of the issues that remained unresolved were since then addressed, the sources said. Now that the parameters set out in the technical evaluations had been complied with, it was felt that Rafale should be allowed to take part in the bid, along with Boeing’s F/A18, Lockheed Martin’s F-16, Saab’s Gripen, MIG-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon.
F/A18, F-16, MiG-35 and Eurofighter Typhoon took part in the Bangalore Aero India Show this February, but Rafale and Gripen did not participate in the live display.
Saab announced the opening of its office in India and put up a cockpit simulator, while the French delegation was led by its Defence Minister.
tiddlesHere is one of the original stories from an Australian daily that started speculation on OZ Boards. The best info available at this time is that 2 subs may be mothballed & the RAN has a multi staged plan to have 3 full crews of 58 sailors plus a 34 man maintainence crew for each boat ,building up to 4 crews beyond 2011.[Not mentioned in the story but from a well connected Australian poster]
John Howard’s military spending slashed Article from: Steve Lewis and Ian McPhedran
March 30, 2009 12:00am
THE troubled Defence Department is facing big budget cuts as the Rudd Government attacks John Howard’s spending binge on national security.
In a move that will further strain relations with the Defence Department, the Government is looking to wind back a promised 3 per cent increase in military spending as it seeks billions of dollars in budget savings.
The savings measure could strip about $1 billion from proposed Defence funding over the next few years.
But the global economic meltdown has forced Canberra to cut deep across all government agencies.
The numbers of sky marshals patrolling Australian flights are also expected to be wound back despite Opposition claims they are needed to protect air travellers.
Relations between the Government and Defence are already at breaking point over the spy scandal engulfing Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon.
The Minister has been leading a major reform push at Defence — but is battling to budge a departmental culture adverse to change.
So dire are the economic forecasts that Defence’s long awaited White Paper plan for the next 30 years, due out next month, is now expected to be delayed until after the May 12 Budget.
Defence spending has rocketed since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks from $13.7 billion to $22.4 billion.
The Rudd Government last year agreed to continue a 3 per cent real increase in Defence funding through to 2017.
But senior ministers want to reduce the 3 per cent rise for several years -promising to reinstate it once the Budget returns to a healthier state.
Instead, it is likely Defence will be granted an increase in real funding of just 1 per cent.
This would save the Budget about $1 billion over the next two years.
Defence will also be asked to find savings by:
FINDING more than $1 billion in efficiency savings.
SACRIFICING a $3 billion warship.
REDUCING its frontline jet fighter fleet.
ACHIEVING savings of almost half a billion via job cuts.
CUTTING supplier costs by $400 million.
MOTHBALLING two Collins class submarines.
Other initiatives on the drawing board include a plan to keep three ageing guided missile frigates and F/A-18 Hornet fighters operating well beyond their use-by date.
Taxpayers have paid more than $17 billion to protect the country from Islamist terrorists since the 9/11 attacks.
But the Budget razor gang is demanding significant savings and many of the former government’s programs will be on the chopping block on Budget night on May 12.
The push to extract major efficiencies from Defence has upset the top brass, but the White Paper team has been relentless.
“The golden era of defence spending is over,” a well-placed source said.
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tiddlesAustralian Prime Minister Keven Rudd has slashed the Australian defence budget effectivly ending hope for a fourth Hobart class Destroyer.
Other items on defence bill that have been effected are:
- Susspension of F-35 order, and possible cuts to the number ordered
- Cutting the 3% defence increase
- Mothballing the Collins Class subs
- And delaying the P-8 buy
There had been a lot of speculation here about buying a fourth AWD, but this is the first conformation we have of one actually having been ordered.
Same too with the P-8, till now only a speculation- perhaps our AP-3C’s will get the re-winging after all, but how this will work with the purchase of UAV technology is still a matter for debate.
The F-35 order is an on going up and down project, to the point where the Australian people now really don’t care what happens with the machine. What is becoming critical is the replacement of the Hornets, by 2015 the planes will be at the end of their useful service lives and delays in this program have severe remifications across the board.
Mothballing the Collins fleet would be a considerable money saver but a major loss in defence capabilities in terms of reccon and strike options. Sure the fleet has had it’s problems, but to give the whole game away to save money- lunacy.
Another problem faced by the RAN is staffing, trained staff are way down on operational requirements with over 8000 positions in desperate need of filling. So in all, the cutting back may actually save the money required and also give the RAN a chance to build up it’s numbers.
Hi Ja The White Paper is not out yet & is unlikely to be announced until after the May budget. Unless you have a definate govt. source then the cuts mentioned are more speculation than fact. However I will say that there has been talk in the media of less AWDs which could mean not only no 4th. but maybe no 3rd. The talk is that some of the subs will be mothballed but not all of them but as you have pointed out there are manning problems at this time & they dont have crews for all of them [3] anyway. The F35 & P8 stories are just speculation at the moment AFAIK, although there have been rumors of cutting fast jet numbers right now which will eventually mean less F35s in the long run. Still I think at the moment we are just guessing a bit but there will definately be cuts.There are bound to be cuts effecting the Army as well but this not an Army Forum.
Regards
Tiddles
tiddlesFrance may be also after a piece of the action, I dont think they would have ever considered the Boeing 767,cant think why.
Tiddles
28 Feb 2009
SOURCE:Flight International
France closing on structure of tanker deal: AirTanker
By Max Kingsley-Jones
Airbus Military and its partner AirTanker are hopeful that long-running dialogue with the French air force about the replacement of its tanker fleet is close to reaching the point where the structure of any acquisition deal will be finalised.
France has 14 ageing Boeing KC-135 tankers and EADS’s Airbus A330-based multirole tanker transport is seen as a likely lead candidate to replace them from 2015.
The EADS UK-led AirTanker consortium is supplying 14 A330 tankers to the UK Royal Air Force for its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft requirement under a £13 billion ($18.3 billion) private finance initiative deal. Chief executive Phillip Blundell says AirTanker has held “quite a lot of dialogue with the French to help them to understand what we’ve done on the RAF programme and to see how it would, or would not, suit them”.
Speaking at an event at Airbus’s Broughton, UK plant to mark the shipment of the first RAF A330 tanker’s wings to Bremen for equipping, Blundell said: “I get the sense that the French are getting ready to make a decision, at least on the procurement methodology if not necessarily the timescale.”
Airbus Military’s head of defence capability marketing Pete Scoffham says that while the “PFI route” is available should the French want it, “we’d prefer them not to, as it is extremely complex”.
EADS Casa tanker project director Antonio Caramazana says negotiations have been ongoing with France for the “last four or five years”, and that its requirements depend on “their needs and their budgets. Currently they’ve got 14 aircraft and they would like to replace one-for-one.”
Blundell adds that the requirement is to provide “somewhere between six and 14 aircraft”.
tiddlesFrance may be also after a piece of the action, I dont think they would have ever considered the Boeing 767,cant think why.
Tiddles
28 Feb 2009
SOURCE:Flight International
France closing on structure of tanker deal: AirTanker
By Max Kingsley-Jones
Airbus Military and its partner AirTanker are hopeful that long-running dialogue with the French air force about the replacement of its tanker fleet is close to reaching the point where the structure of any acquisition deal will be finalised.
France has 14 ageing Boeing KC-135 tankers and EADS’s Airbus A330-based multirole tanker transport is seen as a likely lead candidate to replace them from 2015.
The EADS UK-led AirTanker consortium is supplying 14 A330 tankers to the UK Royal Air Force for its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft requirement under a £13 billion ($18.3 billion) private finance initiative deal. Chief executive Phillip Blundell says AirTanker has held “quite a lot of dialogue with the French to help them to understand what we’ve done on the RAF programme and to see how it would, or would not, suit them”.
Speaking at an event at Airbus’s Broughton, UK plant to mark the shipment of the first RAF A330 tanker’s wings to Bremen for equipping, Blundell said: “I get the sense that the French are getting ready to make a decision, at least on the procurement methodology if not necessarily the timescale.”
Airbus Military’s head of defence capability marketing Pete Scoffham says that while the “PFI route” is available should the French want it, “we’d prefer them not to, as it is extremely complex”.
EADS Casa tanker project director Antonio Caramazana says negotiations have been ongoing with France for the “last four or five years”, and that its requirements depend on “their needs and their budgets. Currently they’ve got 14 aircraft and they would like to replace one-for-one.”
Blundell adds that the requirement is to provide “somewhere between six and 14 aircraft”.
tiddlesA year ago from the boom, on an A310. On the A330, I’m not sure. Ask the Ozzies.
This is the last info that I have seen on OZ T5C Forum
Tiddles
(Source: EADS; issued January 19, 2009)
An A330 MRTT built for the Royal Australian Air Force completed another major program milestone when the A310 Boom demonstrator, used as test bed for the new EADS fly-by-wire boom, made a series of contacts during a flight test over waters off the coast of southwest Spain. Both aircraft departed from EADS facilities in Getafe, Madrid, where Airbus Military has the tanker conversion centre.
The A330 MRTT is equipped with two wing-tip mounted ‘hose-and-drogue’ refuelling pods, an advanced aerial refuelling boom in the tail, as well as complete capabilities in Military Navigation, Military Identification, MIL-COMs including a Tactical Data Link and Defensive Countermeasures equipment.
“This flight test represents a significant milestone in the program, as it is the first time that a contact between two different tankers developed on Airbus platforms has been performed” said Carlos Suarez, CEO of Airbus Military. “We are very pleased about the progress of the final test phase that commenced in December 2008 and look forward to completing the flight test program that will lead to final military certification and qualifica-tion.”
During this phase of the flight test campaign the aerodynamic configura-tion of the pods has been proven and several hose-deployed tests have been conducted at different altitudes and airspeeds. In addition several contacts between the A310 Boom and the A330 MRTT Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) system located on top of the A330 MRTT aircraft have been made, showing, as expected, the excellent flying qualities of the A330 as a receiver aircraft. Also, the mili-tary avionics system has been tested successfully.
tiddlesA year ago from the boom, on an A310. On the A330, I’m not sure. Ask the Ozzies.
This is the last info that I have seen on OZ T5C Forum
Tiddles
(Source: EADS; issued January 19, 2009)
An A330 MRTT built for the Royal Australian Air Force completed another major program milestone when the A310 Boom demonstrator, used as test bed for the new EADS fly-by-wire boom, made a series of contacts during a flight test over waters off the coast of southwest Spain. Both aircraft departed from EADS facilities in Getafe, Madrid, where Airbus Military has the tanker conversion centre.
The A330 MRTT is equipped with two wing-tip mounted ‘hose-and-drogue’ refuelling pods, an advanced aerial refuelling boom in the tail, as well as complete capabilities in Military Navigation, Military Identification, MIL-COMs including a Tactical Data Link and Defensive Countermeasures equipment.
“This flight test represents a significant milestone in the program, as it is the first time that a contact between two different tankers developed on Airbus platforms has been performed” said Carlos Suarez, CEO of Airbus Military. “We are very pleased about the progress of the final test phase that commenced in December 2008 and look forward to completing the flight test program that will lead to final military certification and qualifica-tion.”
During this phase of the flight test campaign the aerodynamic configura-tion of the pods has been proven and several hose-deployed tests have been conducted at different altitudes and airspeeds. In addition several contacts between the A310 Boom and the A330 MRTT Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) system located on top of the A330 MRTT aircraft have been made, showing, as expected, the excellent flying qualities of the A330 as a receiver aircraft. Also, the mili-tary avionics system has been tested successfully.
tiddlesSlow boat to OZ.
According the book Wings across the Ocean [Gillett] it says By 1942,war service indicated that carriers seldom exceeded 25 knots. As a result 25 knots was specified for the new classes. Antony Preston alludes to the same view in his book Aircraft Carriers saying. After discussion with carrier captains a top speed of 23 knots full load was specified. Gilletts book shows HMAS Melbourne as having a top speed of 24.5 knots. What the books do not say is under what circumstances the carrier captains needed a higher speed .Probably for more wind over deck to allow the launch of aircraft [handy] or even in dire combat situations [also handy] ?? HMAS Melbourne served Australia well but really was gobbling up too much of the RAN budget for what it provided as would probably have the Invincible if that deal had not fallen through. Not having an AC allowed gave RAN the money to modernise its fleet although a few mistakes IMO have been made.
Tiddles
tiddlesTyphoon & AESA
This may have been posted on another thread but I couldnt find it,so here it is ,I hope it is not a repeat .
Tiddles
Typhoon & AESA
Ares
A Defense Technology Blog
AESA And Typhoon
Posted by Bill Sweetman at 2/19/2009 10:24 AM CST
Everyone buying fighters wants an active electronically scanned array (AESA) these days, no doubt after reading Dave “Mr AESA” Fulghum on the subject.
But Eurofighter remains wary about the issue. The consortium’s executives still stay that – for today – the mechanically scanned (M-Scan) Selex Captor beats any in-service AESA for the Typhoon’s mission, even though Selex itself is ready to go with its Vixen range of AESA radars. A clue as to why they think that way emerged at the Aero-India seminar last week.
Discussing future technologies, Dr, Peter Gutsmiedl, senior vp engineering at EADS Military Air Systems, pointed out ways in which AESA could be integrated into Typhoon – one being the conventional fixed, canted antenna. They included an antenna with auxiliary side arrays, an azimuth gimbal and the so-called “swashplate” radar, a canted antenna on a rotating mount:
What’s behind this thinking? A few years ago, Prof. John Roulston – former technical director at BAE Systems’ radar division, now part of Selex – presented a paper in which he pointed out a limitation of AESA: at extreme scan angles the effective aperture decreases, and the performance of the radar (range, sensitivity and jamming resistance) declines as a result. So today’s M-Scan has a larger field of regard than a fixed AESA, and better performance at the edge of the scan envelope.
This is important for Typhoon because the whole system – in the air-to-air regime – is influenced by air-combat simulations in which a fighter-to-fighter engagement could involve multiple MRAAM shots, followed by a supersonic turn to evade the adversary’s fire and extend the F-pole – the distance between the launch aircraft and the target at impact. To do this, it’s essential to have a radar that can continue to track the target and guide the missile as the shooter turns away.
The gimbal of a pointable AESA does not have to be anything like as fast as an M-Scan gimbal. The high-speed stuff, tracking a moving target, is still done electronically, with the gimbal moving relatively slowly to optimize the field of view.
Moreover, the electronic field of view is now added to the gimbal scan: the swashplate design shown here adds the 60-degree AESA limit to its 45-degree cant angle, to cover 105 degrees in all directions – a total 210-degree field around the nose.
By the way, the designers of the Su-35 think the same way, and the F-22 has space, weight and cooling provision for side arrays, but so far they have been deferred due to budget cuts.
________________
tiddlesOZ Super Deal
Here is a breakdown of the basic package as purchased by Australia to give you some idea of real costs.
Tiddles
This is the entire package:
“The Government of Australia has requested a possible sale of 24 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Aircraft, 48 F414-GE-402 installed engines, 6 F414-GE-402 spare engines, 24 AN/APG-79 Radar Systems, 24 AN/USQ-140 Multifunctional Informational Distribution System Low Volume Terminals, 30 AN/ALR-67(V)3 Electric Warfare Countermeasures Receiving Sets, 145 LAU-127 Guided Missile Launchers and 30 AN/PVS-9 Night Vision Goggles. The proposal will include integration of the AN/ALE-47 Electronic Warfare Countermeasures Systems, Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems, 12 Joint Mission Planning Systems, and AN/ALE-55 Fiber Optic Towed Decoys. Also included are system integration and testing, software development/integration, test sets and support equipment, spare and repair parts, maintenance and pilot training, software support, publications and technical documents, U.S. Government and contractor technical assistance, and other related elements of logistics and program support. The estimated cost is $3.1 billion.” DSCA.
Here is a link that details the extended 10 year package.
http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/NelsonMintpl.cfm?CurrentId=6437
____________
tiddlesRafales back in the Ghan
I am not sure if this is new news or not .
Tiddles
Rafale Back in Afghanistan
Posted by Robert Wall at 1/14/2009 3:11 AM CST
French air force Rafale fighters have returned to Afghanistan.
Three of the aircraft arrived there on January 13 to releave three Mirage 2000Ds. They will operate alongside three Mirage 2000Ds that remain at the Kandahar base. The Mirages typically are doing the laser-designating for the Rafales, when they drop LGBs.
The three Rafales are single-seat aircraft and belong to the 1/7 fighter squadron.
The Rafales have been to Afghanistan several times now, both those belonging to the French navy and air force.
tiddlesBad news indeed, but in this case as in many others it is impossible to work out just what the Indians are hoping to achieve by some of their decisions,that is ,when they occasionly do get around to making a decision. Why they persevere with the Kaveri is beyond me, the vast majority of the worlds countries have to rely on imported motors & being so detirmined to develop the ability to put a home grown motor in such a lacklustre plane as the LCA doesent make sense to me .
Tiddles
tiddlesHow can that be good news ? It was supposed to be good for the Rafale and Dassault the co-dev and future commonality of the engines may have tilted the MRCA balance in the Rafale’s favour. If true that is bad bad news for the Rafale fans.
Maybe my English Expression is a bit faulty, after all I am only an Australian,I did write LESS good news [than the video]meaning bad news I am afraid.
Cheers
Tiddles
tiddlesLiked the video,very sexy.Here is a bit of less good news.
Tiddles
Date:26/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/26/stories/2008122660011000.htm
——————————————————————————–
Back
National
IAF not keen on French offer for Kaveri engine
Ravi Sharma
BANGALORE: Indian Air Force (IAF) is not keen on accepting an offer from the French company Snecma to join the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) in co-developing the long-delayed Kaveri turbofan combat aircraft engine.
The Kaveri engine, which has been under development at the GTRE for two decades at a cost of almost Rs.2,000 crore, is specifically being built to power the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft — Tejas.
Of little use
A committee set up by the IAF has indicated to Air Headquarters that the Snecma offer will not meet the Air Force’s operational requirements, nor help India acquire the technological know-how to indigenously develop a combat engine.
Constituted in September under the chairmanship of Air Vice Marshal M. Matheswaran, to look at the Snecma offer, the committee had as its members representatives from the designers of the Tejas — the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the manufacturers of the Tejas — the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification, and IAF officers posted at ADA, the National Flight Test Centre and the Aircraft Systems and Testing Establishment.
Not in India’s interest
Highly placed sources told The Hindu that the committee felt that the Snecma offer was not in the IAF and India’s interest primarily because the French were offering a fully developed engine accepting which would “compromise and even kill the efforts, however meagre” that Indian defence laboratories had made towards developing the indigenous Kaveri engine.
The offer would also not help India get a co-designed, co-developed engine but rather an engine under a licence production arrangement, and at a great financial cost.
Explained a member of the committee: “It would be better if GTRE and other laboratories working on the Kaveri brought the engine to its logical conclusion even if it took a few more years. At least we would have mastery over the core technology. This will be better than importing the French core, paying a lifelong royalty, but saying the Kaveri is our indigenous effort. Neither the French nor anybody else will give us the know-how on the core technology.”
tiddlesit will not be a M88, Snecma as i understood it would just bring the hp compressor!
totally deferent engine? on the tejas? the GE engine they use is bigger!
I have posted this Tejas story because it mentions the re engining, no mention of M-88. This is from OZ Forum T5C.
Tiddles
TEJAS to be re-engined?
——————————————————————————–
IAF insists on changes to Tejas
Ravi Sharma
It does not meet minimum air staff requirements
Surely it’d just be easier to cancel the damn thing?
IAF will consider acquiring 125 more Tejas’ when Mk2 variant is developed
Mk2 will take a few years because a new powerful engine has to be chosen
BANGALORE: The Indian Air Force has categorically ruled out placing further orders for the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Tejas, with its current configuration.
In 2005, the IAF placed an order with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for 16 fighters and four trainers. The then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said a decision on an additional 20 aircraft was under consideration. But that plan has come a cropper since the overweight, under-powered Tejas does not meet the IAF’s minimum air staff requirements (ASR).
The IAF decision though is not the end of the road for the Rs. 6,000-crore LCA programme. It will consider acquiring 125 more Tejas when an improved — Mark 2 (Mk2) — variant is developed. As indicated by an IAF committee in 2004, any further order will be subject to the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the designer and developer of the LCA programme, showing “firm visibility that the aircraft will meet the ASR.”
Recently, the IAF even made a few suggestions on improvements in Tejas Mk2, including a more powerful engine, optimisation of the aerodynamic qualities and weight of the aircraft and “dropping and replacing” certain parts to take care of obsolescence.
Tejas Mk2 will take a few years to fructify, the biggest challenge being choosing a new powerful engine. In December, the ADA is expected to issue a request for proposal to General Electric for its GE F414 and to the European consortium Eurojet for EJ200, in a bid to procure 99 engines (with an option to buy another 49).
Once the engine is chosen, fuselage modifications will have to be carried out, flight tests started and evaluation undertaken. All trainer aircraft even after Tejas Mk2 rolls out will continue to have the present GE F404 engines.
Cold weather trials
On the LCA programme, the ADA is getting ready for ‘cold weather trials.’ They were to have been conducted in 2007 but were not because of questions about the aircraft’s reliability.
Two or three aircraft are scheduled to leave for Leh on December 8. Cold weather trials include landing the Tejas at Leh, one of the most challenging airfields in the world, and ‘cold soak’ when temperatures are around minus 15 degrees C to see if the systems on board function normally.
Slow pace
The IAF is also worried about the slow pace and quality of work at HAL. More so, because it will not be able to deliver by 2013, as scheduled, the 20 aircraft for which orders have been placed. Defence Minister A.K. Antony recently said the Tejas would enter squadron service by 2011, which date, according to officials, is highly optimistic as hardly 10 or 12 test sorties are now being undertaken. The IAF expects the final operational clearance for the Tejas only after 2012.
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