I'm totally aware of "first aviate, then communicate". But they had lots of time to declare an emergency. Even just pushing the button and saying "Mayday Mayday China Eastern 5735 going down " would have sped rescue efforts. Seriously, in flight training the protocol was "a...
Jump to postMr. Gryder put out a different video a couple of days after the crash, stating that from the outset he had great difficulty thinking of any scenario that would put a B738 in such a dive profile and bring it down in such a short space of time, besides pilot deliberate action. Lots of outcomes could ...
Jump to postAmazon buys 38 Vulcan launches from ULA launches for their 'Kuiper' broadband constellation, in addition to 18 Ariane 6 and 12 (+15 options) New Glenn launches from Blue Origin. https://spacenews.com/amazon-signs-multibillion-dollar-project-kuiper-launch-contracts/ That's a massive order for ULA gi...
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 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 postQuestion: How will a MIUS drone, with only 3,800 lbs thrust and a 13,000 lb gross weight possibly take off a short aircraft carrier without a catapult? Small delta wings are not known for their low speed/high lift capability. If there is no drag at all, that level of thrust / weight gets you to abou...
Jump to postC-130s will be useful for reconstruction as well as war. Is there a sufficient supply of them used? I suppose CH-47 are also useful dual role. Not sure of many CH-47 frames available. bt This is crazy. A C130 costs about $8,000/hour to operate if someone gives you the airframe for free. A CH-47 is ...
Jump to postActually not Baykar Akinci, but Baykar MIUS is planned to be used on carriers: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baykar_Bayraktar_MIUS Interesting. The original article says the aircraft carrier was to be composed of Bayraktar TB3. It's a serious step up (560 mph vs 130 mph, 3300 lbs vs 620 lbs, &quo...
Jump to postI’m curious if the A’s they order will have probes or a receptacle. Or both. The A’s range is more important than the C’s endurance, but that probe would be pretty nice. It would not matter too much for Canada, as our tanker fleet is also due for replacement, and the only contender is the Airbus A3...
Jump to postYou can't compare a yoga ball to a marble - even that's being rather kind, honestly. The losses we are seeing in MODERN WARFARE with Ukraine are proof of my argument, you simply can't fly 4th gen or 4+ gen aircraft in contested airspace. You'll die. It absolutely is an on/off thing, which is why I ...
Jump to postIt's NOT A STEALTH AIRCRAFT in any way / shape / form. Its' RCS is likely several times larger than the F-117, which was shot down by a (relatively) primitive SAM system decades ago. Stealth is not an on/off option. The RCS simply determines the range at which the aircraft can be picked up by a rad...
Jump to postGermany will order additional Eurofighter - maybe even replace the Tornados on a 1 : 1 base. The EF will also get upgrades for electronic warfare. This should sustain the EF line for some time to enable the FCAS transition. Maybe. Which will be better supported 30 years from, Rafale or Typhoon? Bec...
Jump to postSpain is ordering 20 more Tranche 4 Typhoons to replace its oldest Hornets. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/spain-approves-eurofighter-buy-upgrades True! (Also, did you know there is no easily findable list of Rafale or Typhoon operators with a count of each. So I'll update my tables...
Jump to postTyphoon operators Germany - 141 with 33 being retired and 38 new ones on order UK - 101 operational, 8 more withdraws planned Italy - 95 Spain - 68 Saudi Arabia - 72 with 48 on order (but the order is stalled and unlikely to be fulfilled) Qatar - 24 on order Kuwait - 28 on order Oman - 12 Total: 44...
Jump to postWas it LM or Finland that didn't want the F-16 bid. Typical competition do not specify a particular airplane. They specify a set of requirements and potential suppliers would provide a proposal of the aircraft that they think best fit the requirements. Sometimes the buyer provide money to prepare t...
Jump to postWhy did the F-16 not bid on Finland's HX program? Maybe Finland wanted a plane that would be supported for the next 30+ years. Most western air forces are replacing their 16s with 35s. "To support the growing demand for new F-16 Fighting Falcon from partner nations, the U.S. Air Force has team...
Jump to postWhy did the F-16 not bid on Finland's HX program? Maybe LM will make more money on the F-35 sale than F-16 or the F-16 would lose against the european competitors? Putting in a bid costs money, if not millions, at least tens if not hundreds of thousands out of pocket. Is it not the decision of LM a...
Jump to postWhy did the F-16 not bid on Finland's HX program?
Jump to postyes drones like the X-47B/C are the way of the future not tiny short range 3K lb/1.3ton drones, those may have been super effective in a land war but try to use it against an enemy with relatively sophisticated navy and coastal defenses Which is more effective (and cost effective) between an F-35, ...
Jump to postDudes! Now back to the idea of drones from carriers. These drones can do recon, and fire Hellfire-sized missiles and bombs. It seems to me a great idea for operations-short-of-war. Dude! "Operations short of war" is just a euphemism for "we can shoot at them and they don't have the t...
Jump to postDudes! There is no arresting wires. There is no full sized catapult. You cannot fly an F-18 or Rafale off these boats. No one is selling used Harriers. Also Harriers cost a surprisingly huge amount of money to operate. You cannot get Harriers. These boats could operate drones, or helicopters or both...
Jump to postTurkey has built an aircraft carrier of 27,000 tons, designed to operate up to 10 F-35s. But Turkey cannot get an F-35s. So they will operate a ~40 drones, a modified version of their Rayaktar (like a Predator with folding wings). They weigh about 3,000 lbs each. Launch will be via electric motor ca...
Jump to posttphuang wrote:Except that Chinese aircraft are a lot better than Russian ones. J-10C dominates Su-35 in DACTs.
If you're hit by an EMP, you'd feel nothing and have no effects. Like I said, all that is black magic to me. All I know is they tell us to not walk in front of the airplane when the nose radar is on. bt You were taught good black magic. Amana introduced the microwave oven "The Radar Range"...
Jump to postI am sure they shielded all of the things that need shielding, with stealth being radar transparent is good. All of the electronics must be well EM shielded, in particular any aircraft certified to carry thos You forgot the most important shielding aspect. That's the EMI/EMP shielding for the occup...
Jump to postAnother aspect is the range of the Tu-141, cited as approx. 1000km. To reach ZAG, it would need to be launched in western Ukraine, the westernmost part of Belarus or Moldovia. Belarus doesn't make sense given the reported route across Hungary and Romania, and there are no Russian troops in the othe...
Jump to postThe USAF has no use for next gen engines. Fuel burn is a secondary concern to serviceability and reliability for military applications. The new gen engines are more efficient but at the cost of being heavier, more expensive to purchase and more expensive to maintain. They really only make sense in ...
Jump to postno one seems to understand the Russian strategy, does appear to have built some complacency... Seems like everything is moving in slow motion. Wonder if this is a sign that all major military decision is now coming directly from Putin. Similar to how German delayed reaction to the Normandy invasion...
Jump to postGiven the still significant (in nearly all areas) gap in quality between state of the art Western tech and Chinese tech I am really suspicious of any claims that the J-10 exceeds the Rafale. It isn't impossible, but I think it is very unlikely that one for one, with equal support (pilot quality, AW...
Jump to post, I don't believe that Ukraine was ever given such capability at least with western data networking, Would not want sensitive equipment to fall into Russian hands. Secure communication hardware is easy enough because it rely on an encryption key to be useful. I'd say some dummy terminals to receive...
Jump to postI would *love* to know which has the better electronics, the J-10 or the Rafale. If the J-10 is better (or even the same) that would mean a lot!
Jump to postLooks like Ukraine is getting reinforcements from Poland, with the Poles transferring their fleet of MiG-29's to Ukraine via the Americans at Ramstein AFB: https://www.gov.pl/web/diplomacy/statement-of-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs-of-the-republic-of-poland-in-connection-with-the-statement-by-the...
Jump to postBecause for a tiny bit of weight you get a large increase in flexibility. Also, a KC-46 should be much more economical than a C-17, and much longer ranged than C-130. And this cheaper option can carry more tonnage than than the KC-Y without adding any more weight. https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-S...
Jump to postIf they really build the plane without a cargo door, I'm gonna be looking side-eye. Why? Every one is saying that the USAF don't use tankers to cary cargo. They have C-17s and the civilian transport, and the KC-46 in a pinch. bt Because for a tiny bit of weight you get a large increase in flexibili...
Jump to postWell, without the cargo requirement, there goes one of the reason why the A330 was chosen ove the KC-46 for many Air Forces. Curious though, how much weight can be saved by not having a cargo floor? bt It does seem like a lot of empty airframe to carry around for just fuel... Like a flying bag of L...
Jump to postI dunno. I'd bet pretty heavy in a 1-v-1 match between a J-10 and a Rafale. Of course an equal-dollar matchup might be 3 J-10s vs 1 Rafale. I dunno who wins that. I note the J-10s delivery schedule is SO much faster than the Rafale. Someone can help my memory didn't it take less than year to begin J...
Jump to postYea for them, but I doubt it impresses Lockheed-Martin. Does anyone know the production rates of other fighters: Eurofighter or F-15 or Gripen or Tejas or JF-17 or any others? https://www.flightglobal.com/defence/dassault-plans-rafale-rate-rise-to-cope-with-export-success/147796.article I don't thi...
Jump to postOutput of Rafale fighters will increase to three per month by the middle of the decade on the back of export sales success for Dassault Aviation. Yea for them, but I doubt it impresses Lockheed-Martin. Does anyone know the production rates of other fighters: Eurofighter or F-15 or Gripen or Tejas or...
Jump to postThere are many problems with Russians air force - They don't train long enough or realistic enough. As such, they are capable of directing large scale manuevers. We have already seen that. All you ever see is a couple of aircraft here and there. That's why they still have yet to establish air super...
Jump to postThe Takeaways from aviation week and space technologies podcast: They are surprised Russian long range aviation has been inactive since the first day. It was used more in both Chechnya and Syria. Maybe the Russians have learned lessons from those conflicts. They did lose a T U – 160 in Chechnya. Rus...
Jump to postAesma wrote:Cruise missiles aren't cheap. How many do they have and how much do they cost ? Apparently they use Ukrainian engines, to boot.
https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/03/why-isnt-russias-bomber-fleet-attacking-ukraine-in-mass/ I posted earlier but want to reiterate that I'm befuddled, that the Russians aren't using their standoff weapons launch platforms (Tu160,tu22m,tu95) more aggressively which can remain in Russian airspace an...
Jump to postDuke91 wrote:Boeing 'beating' Airbus in net orders in 2021 by adding some orders from the accounting book...
I thought this was interesting "Instead, the roughly 300 modern combat aircraft which the VKS have positioned within easy range of the main contact zones in northern, eastern and southern Ukraine appear to have largely stayed on the ground throughout the first four days of fighting . This has ...
Jump to postI thought this was interesting "Instead, the roughly 300 modern combat aircraft which the VKS have positioned within easy range of the main contact zones in northern, eastern and southern Ukraine appear to have largely stayed on the ground throughout the first four days of fighting . This has a...
Jump to postI thought this was very interesting, and written by an insider.
https://twitter.com/janedvidek/status/1 ... 8183382020
I see I was unclear. My apologize. My best guess (and no one knows for sure, the people who are confident should not be) is that there will be people with Ukrainian emblems doing the day-to-day patrols, backed up by Russian peacekeepers. It will be somewhat sort-of similar to every other occupation...
Jump to postDefine your interpretation of "control". I wonder if you're being pedantic. If you walk into the middle of the town .. it's whoever controls the police you see. If you drive between towns, it's whoever is running the checkpoints. It's the people who control what's on TV, and operate the e...
Jump to postMake an actual prediction (if you want). Who will control a majority of Ukraine a month from now? I predict the large country with the large army and the large population, and that seems a very easy prediction. Define your interpretation of "control". I wonder if you're being pedantic. If...
Jump to postIt's a race between Russia slowly gaining more Ukrainian territory and Russia imploding. Make an actual prediction (if you want). Who will control a majority of Ukraine a month from now? I predict the large country with the large army and the large population, and that seems a very easy prediction....
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