Mil News USA, Canada & Caribbean Nations Military News & Discussion Thread

[Hiryu2.0]

Swift Response,, 2021, Hungary Pápa Air Base: 15 american paratrooper injured.

The shear winds blew a group into each other, they crashed and landed in the forest near the airport

Sok amerikai katona sérült meg egy magyarországi akció során a héten

A Pápa Bázisrepülőtér környékén 15 katona sérült meg a héten.

infostart.hu

 

[BCNTM]

US Navy to retire two littoral warships up to 14 years early

The USS Independence, which was commissioned in 2010 is set to decommission on July 31, while the USS Freedom will be decommissioned on September 30.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[BCNTM]

New paint for stealth jets is even better at hiding them from radar

A new spray-on ceramic could make stealth fighter jets faster, stronger and more invisible. Testing shows it absorbs more than 90% of energy from radar, while polymer only absorbs up to 80%.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[BCNTM]

US Air Force's sixth generation fighter engine completes testing

A new engine that will power the F-35 and the US Air Force's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) programme has completed testing.

www.aero-mag.com

 

[BCNTM]

This Is Our First Look at the Air Force’s Secret New Fighter Jet

Here's everything we can see on the mysterious sixth-generation plane.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[morris]

Aevum announces all-in-one drone for satellite launches, cargo delivery and surveillance

Initially announced as a small launch provider, the company's Ravn X drone will be multimission with a new patented modular payload system.

www.c4isrnet.com

A large unmanned aircraft from Aevum that can launch small rockets while flying will also be able to deliver cargo and host intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads.

 

[BCNTM]

The First Two B-21 Bombers Are Nearly Complete—and the Air Force Already Wants More of 'Em

Still, the planes won't fly until 2022.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[BCNTM]

An anti-drone system that sneezes targets to death? Would that be a DARPA project? You betcha

Hotshot snotbot shows grotty terror plot buzzbots what's what

www.theregister.com

 

[BravoZulu]

USAF:
The total program cost of reengining the B-52H fleet of 76 airplanes will be about $11 billion, a 9 percent jump over a previous estimate because of more up-to-date data, Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth told lawmakers June 17.

Roth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that recent press reports of a 50 percent increase are incorrect. This new number reflects information obtained from virtual prototyping of the system, along with “a reassessment of the requirement” and the inherent complexity of integrating a modern, commercial engine onto the “aging platform that the B-52 is,” he said.

The cost increase also takes into account the “realities of buying from the current industrial base,” Roth said.

The Air Force was not immediately able to provide precise numbers, or whether the 9 percent is a base year or then-year cost.

Roth also said the B-52 Commercial Re-Engining Program is one of USAF’s “Pathfinder” programs for using new congressional authorities to conduct “mid-tier” acquisitions, meaning the programs skip time-consuming steps that add little or no value. Using this approach will shave “about three years” off the B-52 CERP, he said. However, he said the approach requires “rigorous metrics” to determine if the approach is working and the willingness to change course if it’s not.

The CERP is also employing a paperless, digital, side-by-side comparison to evaluate various engine candidates for the program. A request for proposals on the CERP is expected to be released this summer.

The B-52 program was initially estimated to cost about $10 billion, but Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Force Materiel Command have said the program will likely “pay for itself” through an expected 30 percent gain in fuel efficiency and sharply reduced maintenance requirements. The engines likely will never be removed from their wings because the aircraft are expected to retire before the engines need an overhaul.

AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said last week the CERP could produce a disproportionate reduction in the need for tanker support of the B-52, as much as a 50 percent drop “depending on the scenario.”

A B-52H Stratofortress is “cart started” at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, April 28, 2021. Updated with modern technology, the B-52 is capable of delivering the full complement of Joint developed weapons and will continue that combat capability for decades to come. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Max Miller.

https://www.airforcemag.com/b-52-engining-cost-up-fresh-data-industrial-realities/

 

[muck]

With criticism over the KC-46 mounting, Boeing and Airbus are likely to face off once more for a US tanker programme. A House Armed Services Committee hearing revealed that Boeing has lost $5 billion on the KC-46, which is years behind schedule and plagued by issues such as tools and scrap metal being left behind in aircraft delivered to front-line units.

Though the service shot down a proposal by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va) to re-compete the KC-X over fears that doing so would cost more than completing the contract, the US Air Force has started the search for a new tanker, dubbed the KC-Y. As many as 160 aircraft are to be acquired once KC-46 production ends. The new bridge tanker must be operational in 2029. (Source)

Funnily enough, its the Republicans who seem intent on not giving the KC-Y to Boeing's KC-46: Ranking HSAC member Wittman, R-Va., Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), according to Defensenews.com. Maybe it's just a thinly veiled warning for Boeing to get its act together.

However, after USAF Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told Congress that he would not use the KC-46 in war, unless left with no other choice, maybe they regret having given in to Boeing's pressure. I'm all for buying domestically produced materiel, but the KC-46 is an epic clusterfuck.

 

[Fish&Chips]

A B-52H Stratofortress is “cart started” at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, April 28, 2021. Updated with modern technology, the B-52 is capable of delivering the full complement of Joint developed weapons and will continue that combat capability for decades to come.

Who knows. One day we might get to see a 100-years-old airframe in active service.

 

[muck]

Who knows. One day we might get to see a 100-years-old airframe in active service.

The US Navy recently inducted a 77-year-old C-47 Skytrain into service as a range telemetry aircraft at Naval Air Sation Patuxtent River. Since it was only recently refurbished and equipped with new turboprop engines, the aircraft can still look forward to a lengthy career.

 

[Chazman]

Who knows. One day we might get to see a 100-years-old airframe in active service.

Very possible. The B-52 is expected to stay in service until AT LEAST 2040-2050. The ones still in service now are the newest ones, built late '50's to very early '60's.

 

[Chazman]

The US Navy recently inducted a 77-year-old C-47 Skytrain into service as a range telemetry aircraft at Naval Air Sation Patuxtent River. Since it was only recently refurbished and equipped with new turboprop engines, the aircraft can still look forward to a lengthy career.

No kidding! That's interesting. Are there any pics?

 

[muck]

Link

 

[muck]

USAF:
The total program cost of reengining the B-52H fleet of 76 airplanes will be about $11 billion, a 9 percent jump over a previous estimate because of more up-to-date data, Acting Air Force Secretary John P. Roth told lawmakers June 17.

Roth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that recent press reports of a 50 percent increase are incorrect. This new number reflects information obtained from virtual prototyping of the system, along with “a reassessment of the requirement” and the inherent complexity of integrating a modern, commercial engine onto the “aging platform that the B-52 is,” he said.

The cost increase also takes into account the “realities of buying from the current industrial base,” Roth said.

The Air Force was not immediately able to provide precise numbers, or whether the 9 percent is a base year or then-year cost.

Roth also said the B-52 Commercial Re-Engining Program is one of USAF’s “Pathfinder” programs for using new congressional authorities to conduct “mid-tier” acquisitions, meaning the programs skip time-consuming steps that add little or no value. Using this approach will shave “about three years” off the B-52 CERP, he said. However, he said the approach requires “rigorous metrics” to determine if the approach is working and the willingness to change course if it’s not.

The CERP is also employing a paperless, digital, side-by-side comparison to evaluate various engine candidates for the program. A request for proposals on the CERP is expected to be released this summer.

The B-52 program was initially estimated to cost about $10 billion, but Air Force Global Strike Command and Air Force Materiel Command have said the program will likely “pay for itself” through an expected 30 percent gain in fuel efficiency and sharply reduced maintenance requirements. The engines likely will never be removed from their wings because the aircraft are expected to retire before the engines need an overhaul.

AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said last week the CERP could produce a disproportionate reduction in the need for tanker support of the B-52, as much as a 50 percent drop “depending on the scenario.”
View attachment 315740
A B-52H Stratofortress is “cart started” at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, April 28, 2021. Updated with modern technology, the B-52 is capable of delivering the full complement of Joint developed weapons and will continue that combat capability for decades to come. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Max Miller.

https://www.airforcemag.com/b-52-engining-cost-up-fresh-data-industrial-realities/

Juxtaposing the longevity of the B-52 with the experiences they said they made during the CER programme is quite amusing. In a nutshell: When the Air Force examined the option of outfitting the bomber with fewer engines housed in newly-produced nacelles, they learnt that they would have to manufacture an entirely new wing as well.

That option was quickly ruled out after they'd studied the original blueprints and realised they way too vague. Boeing's non-computerised factory line of the olden days churned out parts with measuring inaccuracies of up to 1/8 inches (3 millimetres). Today, no operator would even accept delivery of an aircraft manufactured with such a large margin of error.

Yet still, there he is: the big ugly fat fellow, sturdier and more reliable than all the aircraft meant to replace it. A marvel of engineering, really.

 

[Chazman]

Link

That is awesome!

 

[santana]

US warplanes fly first combat missions off foreign aircraft carrier since World War II​

United States Marine Corps fighter jets aboard a British aircraft carrier flew combat missions over the Middle East this week -- the first time US warplanes have gone into combat from a foreign warship since World War II, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.
The missions against ISIS also marked the first combat for Britain's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest ship the Royal Navy has ever put to sea, and the first combat action for a British aircraft carrier in a decade.
Capt. James Blackmore, commander of the air wing aboard the Queen Elizabeth, said the last time US planes flew combat missions from a foreign aircraft carrier was in 1943, when American planes deployed from Britain's HMS Victorious in the South Pacific.


The US F-35B jets flying against ISIS were joined by similar British warplanes in support of the UK's Operation Shader and US military's Operation Inherent Resolve.

US warplanes fly first combat missions off foreign aircraft carrier since World War II | CNN

United States Marine Corps fighter jets aboard a British aircraft carrier flew combat missions over the Middle East this week – the first time US warplanes have gone into combat from a foreign warship since World War II, the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

edition.cnn.com

 

[BCNTM]

Air Force's THOR Microwave Weapon Instantly Ends Enemy Drone Attack in New Video

The service published a video showing how its THOR directed-energy system uses powerful microwaves to take out incoming drones at long range.

www.military.com

Kinda messes up Iran's idea of a drone swarm.......... $10m a throw but can be transported by air if needed

 

[morris]

Raytheon wins $2B contract for new nuclear cruise missile

Raytheon Technologies will move the Long Range Standoff Missile into the next phase of development.

www.defensenews.com

Raytheon Technologies will get up to $2 billion to develop the U.S. Air Force’s Long Range Standoff Weapon system, a new nuclear-capable, air-launched cruise missile that will be carried by B-52 and B-21 bombers.
The service on July 1 awarded Raytheon a cost-plus-fixed-fee deal for the engineering and manufacturing development stage of the LRSO program, with contract options that max out at about $2 billion.

During the program’s EMD stage, Raytheon will continue maturing its LRSO design and prepare for full-rate production of the weapon in 2027, the contract announcement stated.