Is there any news on the CAS on demand concept where the JTAC controls drones?

It seems to me the XQ-222 could be a good drone for that, with possibly additional external payload when stealth is not required.

that would imply the JTAC to be more or less a pilot.

Halloweene, the final contracts are modifications to existing ongoing contracts that close out the contracting activities on a lot. Essentially you keep adding long lead costs and the final contract pays the difference between what has been paid already (to advance production) and what has been agreed to or forced upon the vendor as the final contract price. The unit cost data that the program-office has provided includes unit cost of the engine and contractor fees for both the engine and the airframe. You can ask your journo buddies to get the JPO on the record on this but they’ve said it a number of times now. LRIP-10 deal has not yet been signed (still a handshake) perhaps because there isn’t a person to sign it yet for the government but regardles, Flight has a FOIA request to get the exact breakup.

As an example, the P&W LRIP-9 engine contract was $1.4 Billion, however when it was announced in April last year, the only new portion was the $1.038 Billion that they contracted for at that time, the rest was paid earlier hence it was a contract modification of an existing contract that covered long lead production.

So, the final overall price is the cost indicated in final contract?

@Spudman reading your link, thx.

That is the F-35A that is only a few $mils away.

The F-35C tacks on another $12 mil over and above the F-35A cost (per SAR).

Really? Adding lonf lead items procured in 2015 and engines ordered separately (in july i think)?

Eurojet has already offered India an uprated EJ200 for the AMCA program with reheated output of 120kN.

Had Turkey wanted a licensed production version of the EJ200 there would be no need for the establishment of a dedicated joint Turkish-Roll-Royce Research and Development Centre. See http://www.rolls-royce.com/media/press-releases/yr-2015/pr-06-10-2015-rr-supports-turkeys-advancement-in-manufacturing-technology.aspx

Under the agreement signed between the UK and Turkey, Turkey will obtain the technology of the EJ200 AND develop it further with Rolls-Royce.

There is a reason as to why industry sources are calling the TF-X program a poor-man’s F-22 program.

ok, a tweaked up EJ 200 to 120kn, but it would have a much higher dry thrust no? Btw, not so much science fiction. Hot parts for a tweaked up M88 are being tested at 2200K at DGA propulseurs.

You are obviously more confident than I in the likely effects of future advances in signal processing. I’ve heard some Dark Hints, but these were probably more related to EW/ECCM that anti-stealth capability. For the moment, I am content to take the word of those who have studied the subject indicating that stealth is likely to retain its advantage through the first half of this century.

Alas, we have here in the UK the Defence & Security Equipment International exhibition starting tomorrow, and I need to be in attendance. So I will have to abandon this discussion, at least for the moment.

(Having to wear a suit, shirt and tie is not something I look forward to these days, given my age, but the exhibition is too good a chance to get one-on-one briefings on programmes that interest me or my clients.)

I remember in the seventies, track fusion was attempted here using L11. The problem was not computation power or L11 bandwidth, but conceptual. Trying to fuse tracks already computed by each asset proved to be a very bad idea.

Btw, passive airborne radars do exist and are being tested at ONERA.

So essentially what Lockheed is trying is to create an Intermediate range Missile that is much longer ranged then the Aim-9x, but not quite as long legged as the Aim-120D. A fairly good proposal given the amount of them that can be carried internally, but the only problem i see is that the USAF is not yet ready to fund the NGM which is a proper Aim-120 replacement and is only letting DARPA deal with the technological and propulsion issues…A potential CUDA development would not negate the need to develop the NGM and having 2 Air to Air missile development programs seems extremely unlikely. The only option i see for such an effort by the USAF or the USN (Unlikely since they are not onboard the NGM) is if the ditch NGM plans for the future and go in for this instead. It would have been nice to see Lockheed put up a picture of a mixed load of Aim-120D and CUDA..

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The Mysterious LM ‘CUDA’ Missile”…

http://www.elementsofpower.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-mysterious-lm-cuda-missile.html

Reinventing MICA?

I think Y-20 has a legitimate point : Which is an optimal fuel cycle for long range missions? The less you have the less you drag, on the other hand there are problems underlined above, time lost for refueling, security margins etc.