F-22 Raptor.

[jed]

If cost is the problem, I bet China could make us some F-22 Raptors for about $500 each.

 

[BearCat204]

USAF 30-Year Plan Lays Out Aircraft Acquisition Through 2040 - Defense News

Thought this was interesting to add

 

[gsvol]

If cost is the problem, I bet China could make us some F-22 Raptors for about $500 each.

Yes but we'd have to pay workman's comp for about a billion people.

USAF 30-Year Plan Lays Out Aircraft Acquisition Through 2040 - Defense News

Thought this was interesting to add

Interesting, I wonder what will be the new USAF refueling tanker?

I ran across the following item this morning.

Marine Aviation has no Other Option but Wait for JSF.

I do know the Navy is updating it's submarine detection capability with the new P-8A Poseidon.

 

[gsvol]

Here's what I've got to say about this.

If you are going into a gunfight, you don't want the second fastest gun.

The F-16 dominates everything else on earth and the F-22 mops the floor with the F-16. It’s not a matter of air superiority—yes, it out maneuvers the F-16, but that’s not even necessary.

In training exercises, F-22s are able to take out F-16s when outnumbered by a factor of 4 ot 1. The F-16s don’t even get to “play”. They basically fly around looking for F-22s until the F-22s call to tell them they’ve been blown out of the sky.

Supposedly the F-22 can locate the F-16, “kill” it, and then fly over it making visual contact before the F-16 even detects it.

(Sort of like me vs LG, Volmn, Bammer15 and OB)

And Barry has canceled the program. Wouldn’t want complete air superiority over future threats, that would warrant another American apology. Better we be on a level playing field, and one step closer to world government dictated by the UN.

Other stuff:

Delays to postpone F-35 Israel deal

Last week, US Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said that the service’s plan to use the F-35 will probably be delayed by two years and cost significantly more than the $130 million initially expected.
------------------

Israel had planned to order a first squadron of 25 jets within the coming months and to procure another 50 by the end of the decade. Due to the delays, some IAF officers are calling for a review of the procurement plans and to consider the possible purchase of additional F-15Is made by Boeing Company. Israel already has a squadron of F-15Is that are capable of carrying massive amounts of weaponry and flying long distances, including to Iran.

Only F-16 jets strong enough to repel China

Only the United States-made F-16 fighter jets were strong enough to help Taiwan repel an attack from China's more sophisticated aircraft, reports said yesterday.

The Chinese-language Liberty Times daily said internal Ministry of National Defense reports showed the air force's Indigenous Defense Fighters and French-made Mirage 2000 jets were not up to the standards of China's most recent aircraft.

Taiwan has been trying to obtain upgraded F-16 C/D jets from the U.S., but the Obama Administration has so far failed to agree on the deal.

One Russian-supplied Sukhoi-30 from China's air force was the equivalent of 2.8 Mirages or 1.7 IDFs, the MND report said, according to the Liberty Times.

The F-16 would draw level with the Su-30, making the U.S. jet the strongest aircraft in Taiwan's arsenal, the paper said.

Pakistan plans military exercise with U.S.

The Pakistani air force joins U.S. counterparts in joint maneuvers over North America using the F-16 Fighting Falcon in late 2010, sources said Monday.

India expresses concern over US military support to Pakistan

Government expressed serious concern over the US equipping Pakistan army with modern weapons and asked Washington to ensure that they were not used against India.

"United States decision to provide sophisticated weapons (to Pakistan) is a matter of serious concern to India. The US should ensure that these weapons are not targeted against India", Defence Minister A K Antony told reporters here Saturday.

The high-voltage $11 billion contest to sell India 126 Medium Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MMRCA) is reaching the end of the trials phase in a blaze of potential controversy.

The Gripen NG, a light, agile, ultra-modern fighter built by Swedish aerospace giant Saab, has always been one of the hottest contenders in the fray. Saab’s default on the MoD’s trial directive, which lays down that the fighter being offered must be the one that comes for trials, will delight its rivals — Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Dassault, Eurofighter and MiG — since Gripen is now vulnerable to disqualification.

The arrival of the Gripen-D instead of the Gripen NG has a simple cause: the Swedish Air Force, having opted to buy the Gripen NG, has ordered a series of improvements on the Gripen NG prototype. With those under way, Sweden’s flight certification agency, SMV, has ruled that the prototypes require additional flight-testing in Sweden before the aircraft can be sent to India.

Northrop Grumman declines to bid on the latest KC-X RFP

 

[MWR]

Generally, when the number of a particular military aircraft produced is lowered, the cost per unit goes up. So the end result usually is the same amount of money is spent for fewer aircraft.

 

[gsvol]

The maiden flight of the X-51 Waverider aircraft — the first U.S. hypersonic vehicle to fly in six years — is scheduled to take place later in March.

New F-4Es for Turkish air force.

 

[BearCat204]

F4 is a quality bird as well, we still use them in aggresor squadrons to train fighters

 

[gsvol]

Boeing's A160T "Hummingbird" robotic helicopter looks like it's almost ready for prime time, as the company tested its military vehicle in a series of mock resupply tests. The 'bird performed a variety of maneuvers over seven test flights, including hovering at 12,000 feet with a load of 1,250 pounds carried by a sling.

F4 is a quality bird as well, we still use them in aggresor squadrons to train fighters

Back during the Vietnam conflict I was stationed at a detachment that stood atop a mesa on a large base in Texas where they sent F-4s for maintenance. We were about 10 or 12 miles from the runways.

The pilots thought it was great fun to buzz our barracks at treetop level about 4:30 every morning with their afterburners on, the shock wave would make your bunk bed move about 4 inches it seemed like and the windows would rattle for several minutes.

We complained to no end through channels and after there seemed to be no relief in sight, one morning a couple of guys unloaded a couple of shotguns with bird shot at the 4s as they made their routine morning maneuver.

End of problem, it never happened again and there never was much investigating done as to who the culprits might be.

F-4s are workhorses all right and pretty daggonned versitile.

F-5s are also useful in some situations and not very expensive compared to other similar aircraft. I've not ever seen one but I used to watch them when they were two seater T-38s.

Those guys wouldn't use half the runway to take off and most of the time they turned the nose straight up and went out of sight still going verticle.

 

[Nash270]

You pretty much don't want to bring anything less than a gun to a gunfight, if you think about it.

On that note, you dont want to bring a gun to a air-to-air missile fight.

I remember watching a show that was saying the next gen of air-superiority fighter will more than likely not have a gun. Due to the long stand-off range of new missiles and speed. Does the F22 have a gun?

 

[gsvol]

On that note, you dont want to bring a gun to a air-to-air missile fight.

I remember watching a show that was saying the next gen of air-superiority fighter will more than likely not have a gun. Due to the long stand-off range of new missiles and speed. Does the F22 have a gun?

The F-22 will come equipped with an internal cannon.

Lockheed Martin will install a M61A2 cannon, which is an improved version of the original M61. A new feature includes longer, composite-wound bullets. The M61A2 will be mounted just above the right wing root. To preserve the F-22's stealthy characteristics, an inward opening door will cover the muzzle until the weapon is fired. It is capable of firing 100 rounds per second, carrying 480 rounds in all.

(that's pretty old, I guess that's how they're doing it)

The first STOVL F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, aircraft BF-1, completed its first hover today (March 17).

With the lift system engaged, the aircraft slowed from 150 kt to zero airspeed and hovered at 150ft for 2 minutes, moving up and down and left and right to check hover control. BF-1 then continued to to a short landing.

A successful hover clears the way for the F-35's first vertical landing.

 

[rjd970]

On that note, you dont want to bring a gun to a air-to-air missile fight.

I remember watching a show that was saying the next gen of air-superiority fighter will more than likely not have a gun. Due to the long stand-off range of new missiles and speed. Does the F22 have a gun?

For the forseeable future, all American fighters will have a gun. In Vietnam they tried that experiment and the pilots hated it. Of course you don't want to bring a knife to a gun fight, but if you run out of bullets and can't get away a knife is better than nothing.

Although the gun will probably never be used in modern air-to-air combat, I think it will be aiken to marines carrying cermonial swords. It's more of a tradition thing that fighter pilots don't want to give up just yet.

 

[MWR]

For the forseeable future, all American fighters will have a gun. In Vietnam they tried that experiment and the pilots hated it. Of course you don't want to bring a knife to a gun fight, but if you run out of bullets and can't get away a knife is better than nothing.

Although the gun will probably never be used in modern air-to-air combat, I think it will be aiken to marines carrying cermonial swords. It's more of a tradition thing that fighter pilots don't want to give up just yet.

Gotta have the gun.

 

[gsvol]

Russians bidding on new USAF fuel tanker.

The UAC move Friday coincided with talks in Moscow between U.S. Secretary of State Hitlary Clinton and Putin, the Russian prime minister.

 

[gsvol]

New Russian fighter not so impressive.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

Most of the stuff we were terrified about during the cold war was crap.

 

[gsvol]

Most of the stuff we were terrified about during the cold war was crap.

We recovered a Soviet sub from deep water off the coast of Hawaii, they had thrown it together so fast that some of the bulkheads weren't even fastened in, they were just braced with two by fours.

At no time during the cold war did we not have air superiority capability.

In the late sixties they had fighters that could take our B-52s out but they never sent them to Vietnam because we had fighters that could take out their best and that would have been a huge embarrassment to them.

A couple of other aircraft articles I've recently read, the Marines have already completed verticle TOL tests with the F-35.

Australia is buying a bunch of the latest model F-18s, their first major upgrade in over 20 years.

And four senators have written the Pentagon a letter urging them to buy 100 aircraft for Navy/Marines.