UK government expands its discussions on Tempest

https://www.janes.com/article/87318/uk-holds-team-tempest-industry-day

Second unit of PLA to head to Russia to train for S-400

http://tass.com/defense/1048793

USAF takes first delivery of AC-130J…

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-air-force-takes-first-block-30-ac-130j-ghostrider-456697/

And thanks for picking up the news, Rob!

“

Also, the engine should be significantly less visible in the infrared and radio wave range. This is achieved by a special design of the nozzle and the inlet.

”

[USER=”25366″]Acatomic[/USER] – This doesn’t necessarily mean a F-22 style nozzle.

“…but now with real RAM coatings, i guess it will be grey or dark grey in color.”

[USER=”70376″]stealthflanker[/USER] – Huh? Dig up the construction photos. It uses a conductively loaded carbon fiber shell backing with absorbent adhesive tiles covering it and then absorbent paint coatings on top of that. It already has RAM. Color (a property resulting from a material’s electrical permittivity and magnetic permeability in the visible spectrum) is irrelevant. It is only the conductivity, electrical permittivity, and magnetic permeability in the microwave region that must be controlled.

It is also interesting that the article mentions that further research on a three stream engine is being done. The Russians are looking at the same upgrade path as the US. Also of note, and unexplained, is that he says the new engine will be on the Su-57 starting in the mid 20s. (2024-2026?) If true then that is a long flight test period. (Started in Dec. 2017)

It isn’t just about variable cycle, the engine program is testing new materials that are lighter and run at very high temps.

Yup. It is the recent advancements in materials and fabrication methods that makes the predicted benefits of GE’s VCE engine possible.

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:”none”,”data-size”:”full”,”title”:”CeramicMatrixOutlook.jpg”,”data-attachmentid”:3854905}[/ATTACH]

https://matmatch.com/blog/the-future…-gas-turbines/

https://www.compositesworld.com/blog…rix-composites

Another point, many like to focus on the potential increased power, but the USAF is more interested in the range improvements and extra cooling potential. Both the F-35 and the F-22 have pushed right to the edge of current thermal management technologies in LO aircraft. Without AETP cooling advances, future growth in the F-35 or sixth generation avionics and DEW wouldn’t be possible. The added benefit is that it will remove some of the supersonic low altitude time limitations on the F-35 as well.

This is spot on. Although characteristics such as total thrust and TWR are still important, it will be efficiency, thermal signature management, and electrical power generation which will be of primary importance going into the coming decades.

…

but SNR is proportional to RCS..

Related…and actually inversely so for jamming, and so the return signal is masked similarly to how it would have been with a lower RCS asset. The difference is that, by raising the noise level up instead of dragging the echo signal down, you eliminate the ‘unaware that anyone is there’ factor. So it is similar…not identical!