] Rotable parts have to be serviced when the limits have been reached but after servicing can be installed at another (KC-10) aircraft. Many structural parts can also be salvaged from a (DC)MD10-30 airframe, but only if the donor aircraft has been properly documented (FedEx has a highly regarded mai...
Jump to postTwisted logic It still makes no sense to keep smaller, much older and less capable KC135s in service whose almost direct replacement, the KC46 is now entering service in substantial numbers while retiring a very capable much larger tanker that can carry a lot more fuel and cargo or passengers As st...
Jump to postA crime those are going away. Lots of life left in them had any planning been done. Yep. The highest-time jet has ~ 40K hours and many tens of thousands of cycles left. Pointblank is spot-on (as usual) with the financial reasons justifying scrapping the fleet, but there are other less tangible reas...
Jump to postAnd keeping the truly ancient KC135, it makes no sense A combined KC10 / KC46 tanker fleet would have been far more effective It's about numbers and sustainment. There is a large fleet of KC-135's in the USAF's inventory, compared to the number of KC-10's. The basic infrastructure costs to keep a f...
Jump to postThe accident rate dropped considerably in the mid-1970s, however. There weren't as many left? They learned what the F-104G could and couldn't do, they improved engine reliability and modified maintenance procedures, swapped the ejection seats for a safer model, added overrun protection to runways, ...
Jump to postJoint statement from Office of the President of Finland, and the Finnish Prime Minister on NATO membership: https://www.presidentti.fi/en/press-release/joint-statement-by-the-president-of-the-republic-and-prime-minister-of-finland-on-finlands-nato-membership/ Joint statement by the President of the ...
Jump to postReally wonder what other customer countries for the T72 think seeing this „record attempts“. India has a few. Maybe a good time to unload them for $$ and upgrade with their own modern tanks. bt The issue is with the specific interior layout of the T-72, and how the Russians are using the tank. Fixi...
Jump to postReuters is reporting a major feud brewing up between Boeing and a major subcontractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne over the Starliner valve issue: https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/exclusive-boeing-clashes-with-key-supplier-ahead-starliner-spacecraft-launch-2022-05-11/ Chicago-based Boeing a...
Jump to posthttps://mobile.twitter.com/NotWoofers/status/1524351169166024707 Never saw this footage. Interesting that Chinese state media is showing their viewers how bad things are going for Russian forces. The location is significant; see this Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1524448245...
Jump to postIf what they say is true, that the fight in the east will be an artilery duel, then with the 155s the Ukrainian have will out range the Russian. Then the only concern would be to protect the 155 batteries from Russian aircrafts. So look to western made mid to high altitude SAM systems as the next s...
Jump to postBack to the OP, at the time of conception the B-2 was a vital program providing the tip of the spear, a huge leap in stealth tech. It was going to be a large program but the unit costs got crazy so the fleet became 32 I recall. Enough for the mission after the Soviet Union collapsed, but other airc...
Jump to postSeems instead of potentially spending lots of $$ and lots of time (with all the usual delays in any new program) that the Stinger replacement should be more a Stinger update to 21st century tech. Or, they can go Mil-COTS, and buy an existing weapons system already in production. Remember, they inte...
Jump to postSo it does seem the last batch of Stingers in production were destined for Taiwan. If as Raytheon says the customer (Taiwan) are providing components Raytheon can no longer source themselves and US are possibly delaying deliveries, maybe Raytheon needs to find another source ASAP or Pentagon needs ...
Jump to postHow crazy the bee farmer is? Why not transit via east coast city or simply fly directly from SFO It's likely a freight forwarder arranged the original flights and the schedule. It is being claimed that Delta instead of putting on the direct flight to Alaska from Sacramento, put the shipment on a co...
Jump to postLooks like the Chinese are hanging the Russians out to dry; no evidence of China providing any overt military or economic assistance to Russia, and have even backed away from some deals: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-relieved-china-appears-heed-warnings-russia-2022-05-03/ WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reute...
Jump to postThe Russians are apparently using Soviet-era tyres: https://twitter.com/TrentTelenko/status/1521182849000423426 Photos of a Grad launcher that was captured by the Ukrainians show its tyres to have extensive cracks in the sidewall, consistent with age and sun rot. The manufacturing marks proclaim tha...
Jump to post5 of the 6 show stored in MCI (both Planespotters and FlightAware). Not sure where you are finding that they are in GWO? And just because an airline holds options is no guarantee that they exercise them. Those are the planes Planespotters still consider “Current” in AC’s fleet(because they have no ...
Jump to postThe US was looking for a Stinger replacement, so this war might just accelerate that decision. Something that is Humvee mounted and interfaces with longer range radar (even AWACs or F-35s?). Something that could also be an absolute point defense against cruise missiles The Pentagon considers the St...
Jump to postIf they are white tails, were they built to a customer order or speculatively? To a customer order that fell through at last minute before delivery. It was speculated earlier that these are ex-Longhao Airlines NTU's; not taken up because airliner purchases in China are subject to domestic CAAC appr...
Jump to postThe US was looking for a Stinger replacement, so this war might just accelerate that decision.
Jump to postI know Tyler is onto that hook, but it seems like bait to me. I strongly doubt the USAF is looking to reduce the buy in reality, but I can absolutely believe they are playing games haggling with congressional negotiators for funding. It’s an election year in the states for legislators, fyi everyone...
Jump to postSaw a similar video showing pictures from the derailment, similar to how some 737 airframe fell into a river while being shipped from Wichita to Renton. Unlike the 737 frames which were total loss, it seemed to me the tanks would be recoverable with minor damage. This may be the real video here. ht...
Jump to postTo me (not an expert) the F-15EX has one purpose - oversized hypersonic missiles. So if they are cutting down to 80 and accelerating the delivery, it could mean that they expect to have hypersonic that could be carried by the F-35 sooner than later. Still not a bad deal for Boeing as the US order o...
Jump to postFactory new B767 is unexpected: https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/freighter-operator/air-canada-buys-two-b767-300fs-as-revenues-climb/ Indeed however it shows the strength of the demand and thus the need to add capacity faster. It's nice to see another brand new 767 for Canada, especially a new...
Jump to postIt seems very silly to me to spec for a tiny fleet to have 4 engines today. The USAF can think ‘outside of the box’ in a number of ways regarding E-3/E-7/rivet joint replacements, so why does this need to be…such an enormous aircraft? Likely, power generation is an issue; battle management equipmen...
Jump to postThe initial accident report is saying that the pilot's seat had a malfunction and unexpectedly dropped to it's lowest setting during flight: https://rcaf.forces.gc.ca/en/flight-safety/article-template-flight-safety.page?doc=ch149-cormorant-ch149903-from-the-investigator/l15jmm95 The accident aircraf...
Jump to postEarlier today launched another step to it's all cargo network: https://www.aircargonews.net/airlines/freighter-operator/air-canada-cargo-adds-second-freighter-and-expands-network/ Kinda wanted the 2nd one in the new colours. Shucks. 3rd one I guess. :D Air Canada likely wanted this aircraft in serv...
Jump to postHow would Flair have an advantage? ACPPA imposes on Air Canada a number of requirements that increase costs for Air Canada, that does not apply to other airlines. For example, Air Canada is mandated under the law to maintain it's HQ in Montreal, but it's main hub and operations centre is in Mississ...
Jump to postAnd ACPPA demonstrates otherwise - re rules applying equally. Just saying The big difference is that the ACPPA is applied to the detriment of Air Canada, giving all other airlines an advantage. Not the other way around, which in this case would give an advantage to Flair and possibly a disadvantage...
Jump to postIt appears as a consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, an Indian order for 48 Mi-17V5's from Russia has been cancelled by the Indians, with the Indians pursing a domestically made helicopter: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/make-in-india-iaf-mi-17-choppers-russia-1938341-2022-04-16 Aimin...
Jump to postI'm curious how Turkey could actually stop another Russian cruiser if it just decided to sail up the Bosporus. Two or three barges under the bridge at the narrowest point should do the trick. Take it back, the chanel is pretty wide. Curious though, for big ships, would they typically need a local p...
Jump to postAnd you can have the CH-47 with the external budged fuel tanks for extended range, like what the MH-47 and Canadian CH-147F's have, and a number of foreign users have picked up that option.
Jump to postUSAF re-engines things when parts become an issue. That’s not the case for the legacy herc fleet. The T-56 has plenty of power for the Herc, and they don’t care one iota about fuel efficiency. Upgrading some E or H models to the RR might make sense, I dunno, at some point, but in today’s budget env...
Jump to postOK, the M113 are for the bin. Just too many russian IFVs to drive with the M113 around any more. The M113s can be most useful as heavy mortar platform. You can launch your mortar and quickly displace. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M106_mortar_carrier bt They are used as a Armoured Personnel Carri...
Jump to postThe loss of the cruiser Moskva is a big blow to the Russians; with that ship out of the picture, that's also a big hole that has opened up in the Russian air defence flank over the Black Sea. The cruiser carried about 64 S-300 long range air defence missiles, combined with 40 SA-8 OSA short range a...
Jump to postThe loss of the cruiser Moskva is a big blow to the Russians; with that ship out of the picture, that's also a big hole that has opened up in the Russian air defence flank over the Black Sea. The cruiser carried about 64 S-300 long range air defence missiles, combined with 40 SA-8 OSA short range ai...
Jump to postHow much better can you get than a Canon DSLR with picture stabilization, the right optics, enough battery and a large memory for not a lot of money? It looks like a low-end, consumer camera with a kit lens. Far from the best quality. An early model Canon Rebel with the nifty fifty. Maybe a few hun...
Jump to postThe Ukrainians have posted a video of a captured Russian Orlan UAV, and it appears extremely crude: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqMxXxtIgOg It's effectively a Canon DSLR camera strapped in with velcro to a fiberglass hobby chassis. The fuel tank appears to be a modified plastic water bottle. It'...
Jump to postAs I stated in non-av, the UK has never operated land based Harpoons and barely due to their phasing out next year (with no direct replacement even ordered) the ship mounted ones. Not that this has stopped some from getting excited and with other suggestions about the Ukrainians suddenly being able...
Jump to postThe Canada Transportation Act requires any airline flying domestic routes in Canada to be at least 51% Canadian-owned (75% until 2018). This is why Amazon Air cannot operate in Canada, because it is owned by a U.S. company, it's not allowed to fly CVG-YHM-YEG or GEG-YEG-YVR, for instance. Cargojet'...
Jump to postOnly the later blocks, namely Block II missiles. Do not leave us hanging if you know if the UK harpoons are block II. :scratchchin: :listen: bt As I stated in non-av, the UK has never operated land based Harpoons and barely due to their phasing out next year (with no direct replacement even ordered...
Jump to postbikerthai wrote:Can a harpoon be programed to attack GPS point?
Also shipped launched harpoon has a boost rocket, so it might work better as launched from trucks.
bt
No big deal and a waste of a phib. They still have no organic air to air refueling, AEW, or ASW. They do not have the range or persistence of a true carrier. Worst of all, they cannot keep up with a carrier battle group. It's far better for CVNs to operate with the British and French carriers that ...
Jump to posthttps://youtu.be/oNEStBdM7EI S-300 being transfered. Dang, those trucks are huge. Any ideas on the location of the video? bt Even if someone knew that exactly, it would be better to remain silent, after all the whole thing should get into Ukrainian hands and be brought to the right place so that th...
Jump to postThe US had to have Fighter CAP's and AWACs to counter Mig-21's in North Vietnam for strike packages heading north. Putting Russian aircraft at risk from adding enhanced air to air capabilities would further weaken the already weak Russian Air Force. Just knowing that advanced sidewinders and harpoo...
Jump to postHere they say that one reason for the Herky was that it can deal better with one engine out compated to a twin. https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/45086/this-is-our-first-look-at-the-navys-next-doomsday-plane Other question would be how fast can they get off the ground and out of the area, we ha...
Jump to postNo big deal and a waste of a phib. They still have no organic air to air refueling, AEW, or ASW. They do not have the range or persistence of a true carrier. Worst of all, they cannot keep up with a carrier battle group. It's far better for CVNs to operate with the British and French carriers that ...
Jump to postWonder if it would be possible to configure Polish MiG-29's to fire western missiles and then add aircraft to the Ukrainian AF? Would stun the Russians if the MiG's had the Meteor or AIM-120. Also convert some Bulgarian SU-25's to carry either the Harpoon or Penguin missiles. Might put at risk thos...
Jump to postVery interesting! Thanks for sharing this. Beyond the F-35s, what aircraft are up for replacement within the RCAF in the next few years (next few decades as we say in Canada)? A310(CC-150) = A330MRRT CP140 = Boeing P8 Poseidon, although I think the Global express could be an option too. CT-144 = pr...
Jump to postThey likely won't be used against tanks; they will be aimed at Russian trains......... Where did the targeting information come from? And the Switchblade UAV system is actually 10 UAV's per system, so 100 UAV's total. They are sending 100 switchblade 300s and 10 model 600s. There is a vehicle launc...
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