US Air Force: Discussion and News

Fascinating time lapse video showing the production process making a F-18. No doubt they have checked it out over at Sukhoi.

https://www.facebook.com/boeingstore/videos/136212369772998/

Werewolf wrote:We won't see such things in next 100 years. We are at a point where science has come to a hault of progress we have to much troubles to deal with dogmatic laws put down on us that you will not see such a progress of Star Wars or whatever in near to 2 centuries into future.

We still have Russia, Germany and their brethen as the stronghold of science and technology, so worry not.

Setting the Standard for 3-D Printed Rocket Engines


Aerojet Rocketdyne received a $6 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to define the standards that will be used to qualify additively manufactured components for use in liquid-fueled rocket engine applications.

The award is part of the U.S. Air Force Booster Propulsion Technology Maturation Broad Agency Announcement, which is part of a comprehensive Air Force plan to transition off the Russian-made RD-180 engines currently used on the Atlas V launch vehicle.

Aerojet Rocketdyne will draw upon its extensive experience with additive manufacturing, often referred to as 3-D printing, to establish the standards to qualify 3-D printed rocket engine components for flight.

“New liquid rocket engine designs—like the AR1 engine we are building to replace the Russian-made RD-180—are increasingly taking advantage of 3-D printing technology because it reduces the amount of time and money required to build these complex components,” said Julie Van Kleeck, vice president of Advanced Space & Launch Programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “It is imperative that engine manufacturers understand the qualification methodology for this revolutionary technology because of the criticality of the assets they help launch into space.”

The use of additive manufacturing technology reduces the cost to produce components, shortens build times and provides flexibility to engineers to design components that were once impossible to build using traditional manufacturing techniques. This program will define the rigorous engineering and inspection processes to be followed when producing and testing 3-D printed components to assure that they meet the stringent requirements of aerospace systems.

Aerojet Rocketdyne has a long history of developing new materials and manufacturing processes that support complex engine designs. In 2014, the company successfully hot-fire tested an engine made entirely with additive manufacturing that had a thrust of 5,000 pounds, and in 2015 the company used additive manufacturing to replicate the injector of the gas generator used on the Apollo-era F-1 rocket engine to demonstrate that a proven design can be built at a competitive cost without sacrificing performance.

“We are taking our seven decades of experience in building rocket engines, which represents more than 2,100 successful launches, and combining that with our in-depth knowledge of additive manufacturing to assist the Air Force in defining qualification requirements for this technology,” said Dr. Jay Littles, director of Advanced Launch Vehicle Propulsion at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “In fact, Fast Company magazine named Aerojet Rocketdyne No. 1 in its ranking of ‘The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Space,’ because of the company’s advances in additive manufacturing.”

“Incorporating additive manufacturing and the new qualification processes into our AR1 design will be essential to having an American engine for the Atlas V and proposed Vulcan launch vehicles ready by 2019,” added Van Kleeck.


Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets.

Two industry heavyweights of electronic warfare have been chosen to equip special-mission Lockheed Martin AC-130J and MC-130Js with next-generation radio frequency countermeasures (RFCM) systems that can “detect, disrupt and defeat” anti-aircraft weapons, radars and other threats that use electromagnetic signals.

BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman received contracts from the Pentagon in November to develop RFCM systems for the MC-130J Commando II multimission tanker-transport, and America’s newest gunship, the 105mm cannon-equipped AC-130J Ghostrider.

Those contracts are worth $22 million and $33 million respectively, but their total value is closer to $400 million each, if all eight follow-on contract options are exercised in the coming years. The first phase of project wraps up in November 2016, according to the government contract announcement.

This week, BAE trumpeted its selection, saying C-130Js equipped with its integrated RFCM system could “detect, identify, locate, deny, degrade, disrupt and defeat threats in the battlespace and beyond a pilot’s line of sight”. The system's exact range and specifications are closely guarded, but it is essentially an electronic warfare system designed to protect large transports like the C-130J from fixed and relocatable enemy air defenses.

Much more at the link https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/bae-and-northrop-developing-self-protection-suite-fo-420492/

Boeing to Help U.S. Air Force Keep T-38 Trainers Flying Through 2026

Boeing which has maintained and supported the U.S. Air Force T-38 Talon trainer fleet for 16 years, will do that for another ten years through a new contract worth up to $855 million.

The company will work on avionics, cockpit displays, control panels, and communications systems for 456 of the aircraft as well as upgrading 37 aircrew training devices.

“We are playing a vital role in preparing pilots to make the transition to modern fighter aircraft,” said Kurt Schroeder, T-38 program manager. ”Working with our Air Force customers, Boeing is keeping the T-38 mission ready for the next decade.”

Originally manufactured by Northrop, the T-38 is the primary training jet for the Air Force and NATO nations. It first flew in 1959.

The Air Force plans to replace the T-38 with the new T-X pilot training system. Boeing is teamed with Saab in competing for T-X. They will offer an all-new, purpose-built system that includes the aircraft and associated ground-based training and support systems.

U.S. Air Force to acquire more Griffin missiles

The U.S. Air Force has contracted Raytheon to provide Griffin A and B Block II/III missiles and support.

Under the contract, valued at $85.5 million, Raytheon is to provide test and support equipment along with engineering support in addition to the missiles. Work on the contract will be performed at Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by January 2017.

Raytheon's Griffin missiles are capable of being launched from both air and sea platforms. The missile is available in four variants, including the Griffin A aft-eject missile and Griffin B forward-firing missile, which the Air Force will procure under the new contract.

The first variant, Griffin A, is launched from a common launch tube, and is deployable from aircraft platforms including the C-130 Hercules. The forward-firing Griffin B is launched from a composite launch tube from rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. The U.S. Navy has armed the Griffin B on Cyclone-class Patrol Coastal ships.

Well, if a covert Russian objective is, by its activities and developments, to force the US to spend more on armaments and put more pressure on the US military decision and funding processes, it is certainly working

The spread of the Daesh militant group and the build-up of Russia’s influence in the global arena have prompted the US Air Force to revise its plans to retire the A-10 Thunderbolt air support jet.

When the USAF decided to sunset the A-10 the global threat environment looked different, he explained. The retirement plan was introduced in the fiscal year 2015 budget request, worked out before the rise of Daesh. The nature of the budget cycle forces the Air Force to plan its force structure two years ahead of time, he added. Often, the assumptions planned in the budget request change, and the USAF must be agile enough to adjust to new requests. "What happens is that life gets in the way of the perfect plan," Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told Defense News. "So when we made the decision on retiring the A-10, we made those decisions prior to ISIL [Daesh], we were not in Iraq, we were coming out of Afghanistan to a large extent, we didn’t have a resurgent Russia."

Delaying the A-10 retirement plan is a key policy shift that the Pentagon will reportedly lay out next month in its fiscal 2017 budget request, according to a press report.

Top officials had already said that the Air Force could shelve the A-10 retirement for a few years to meet commander’s demand for the close-in attack jet. The Warthog is still believed to be one of the most powerful warplanes in the US Air Force and beloved by troops for its Gatling gun. There is no replacement for the aircraft yet.

According to Air Combat Command chief Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, the service needs more close-air support planes to protect troops on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, and for possible missions in Libya and Yemen.

The Air Force will face a tough challenge in the coming years to maintain vigilance but at the same time meet budget demands, Goldfein noted.
The US will have to invest over $1 billion to keep the aircraft flying until 2028.

Earlier, The National Interest reported that Washington could delay the A-10 retirement plan as it poses a threat to national security. The reported decision to postpone the plan comes after years of debate between Congress and Air Force policymakers. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee and an A-10 advocate, welcomed the reports that Washington will delay the retirement plan. "With growing global chaos and turmoil on the rise, we simply cannot afford to prematurely retire the best close-air support weapon in our arsenal without fielding a proper replacement," he said in a statement.

The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat two-engine close-air support jet. It was designed for destroying tanks, armored vehicles and various ground targets. The jet entered service with the US Air Force in 1976, and its production was ended in 1984. Armed with a massive 30-mm rotary gun, the Warthog is one of the most effective and powerful attack aircraft in the USAF. The Air Force has long planned the retirement of the A-10, especially in the light of growing expenses for the F-35 program.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/us/20160122/1033547249/a-10-retirement-plan.html#ixzz3xyOaEkmJ

U.S. Air Dominance Rests On A Handful of World Class Test and Training Facilities

The United States today is the world’s dominant air power. It achieved this position of advantage, in part, by developing and acquiring many of the world’s best military aircraft, weapons, sensors and communications systems. In part, too, this is a product of extremely rigorous and realistic training, the development of superior operational concepts and the ability to conduct large-scale and complex exercises.

The development of modern aircraft and air-delivered weapons requires an enormous amount of experimentation and testing at very specialized places. The same is true when it comes to training pilots and aircrews, developing combat tactics and operational concepts, and conducting large-scale exercises. These activities require large amounts of land and overhead airspace free from intrusion. They also require a great deal of technical support, instrumentation, safety systems and high-end communications.

The United States maintains a unique array of ranges, bases and test facilities devoted to the development and maintenance of the world’s best military air capabilities. Largely because they require so much land and airspace, the majority of these facilities are located on federal lands in the Southwest United States. In the words of former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, “in the southwestern US all four services have training, test and evaluation ranges that provide a land, airspace, sea area, and offshore supersonic operating domain that could accommodate a major portion of our joint test and evaluation needs.”

One of the most notable of these facilities is California’s China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center. It is one of only three Navy open air test ranges and that service’s premier land range and weapons development laboratory. Situated in the Western Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles, China Lake encompasses more than 1 million acres, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. [Its] more than $3 billion worth of infrastructure and installations include two of the world’s best fully-instrumented ranges, airfields, dozens of high-tech laboratories, mission planning and support centers, fabrication facilities, hangers and offices. At China Lake, the Navy works on advanced capabilities and concepts in such areas as airborne electronic attack, directed energy, materials, explosives and propellants, munitions guidance systems, the suppression of enemy air defenses, robotics, software and even countering improvised explosive devices.

China Lake is close to other important Southwest defense area assets, notably Edwards Air Force Base and the Army’s Fort Irwin. Edwards is a center of excellence for research and development of flight and for the testing and evaluation of aerospace systems. It hosts the Air Force Test Center, the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center. Fort Irwin is home to the National Training Center, the Army’s best and largest training center where brigade combat teams are prepared for deployment overseas and where foreign concepts of operations, tactics and military systems are tested against our own.

These three entities jointly-administer the R-2508 Special Use Airspace Complex. This complex contains Edwards, China Lake and Fort Irwin along with a large amount of intervening land. The R-2508 Complex includes bombing ranges, supersonic corridors, low altitude high speed maneuvering areas, radar intercept zones, and refueling areas. All of these need lots of airspace and several require open lands distant from people and buildings.

As threats to U.S. national security mount and the demands for new platforms and weapons grow, so too does the importance of China Lake, the R-2508 Complex and the entire set of training and test facilities in the Southwest United States.

Unfortunately, a number of these facilities are under stress due to encroachment from civilian and commercial activities, federal land management regulations and a lack of adequate resources for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. In addition, the Navy only has a 25-year lease on China Lake from the Bureau of Land Management which can make it difficult to do long-range planning. Efforts to expand the area covered by China Lake to better match the R-2508 Complex and to make permanent the Navy’s ownership of China Lake have so far been rebuffed.

Without the array of facilities, laboratories, ranges and training bases located in the Southwest United States, the U.S. military will not be able to maintain its dominance of the air domain over the next several decades. There needs to be agreement among stakeholders on the importance of maintaining and even expanding these facilities in order to insure future U.S. national security.

The United States today is the world’s dominant air power. It achieved this position of advantage, in part, by developing and acquiring many of the world’s best military aircraft, weapons, sensors and communications systems. In part, too, this is a product of extremely rigorous and realistic training, the development of superior operational concepts and the ability to conduct large-scale and complex exercises.

The harsh truth is that F-15 is the mightiest fighter of the West and it was defeated by Su-30 in a military exercise.

End of story.

higurashihougi wrote:

The United States today is the world’s dominant air power. It achieved this position of advantage, in part, by developing and acquiring many of the world’s best military aircraft, weapons, sensors and communications systems. In part, too, this is a product of extremely rigorous and realistic training, the development of superior operational concepts and the ability to conduct large-scale and complex exercises.

The harsh truth is that F-15 is the mightiest fighter of the West and it was defeated by Su-30 in a military exercise.

End of story.

Better do not tell them that truth is very hard kicker.

Later version F-15s, F-16s and F-18s are very capable fighters. Modernized F-14 would make a deadly machine too hadn't they retired it.

Ground-based Midcourse Defense System Conducts Successful Flight Test

16-NEWS-0002
January 28, 2016

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency, in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing, the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, and U.S. Northern Command, today conducted a non-intercept flight test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) element of the nation's Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). A long-range ground-based interceptor was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., successfully evaluating performance of alternate divert thrusters for the system's Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle.

During the test, a target representing an intermediate-range ballistic missile was air-launched from a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft over the broad ocean area west of Hawaii. An Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2 (AN/TPY-2) radar in Forward Based Mode, located at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, detected the target and relayed target track information to the Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communication system. The Sea-Based X-band radar, positioned in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii, also acquired and tracked the target. The GMD system received track data and developed a fire control solution to engage the target. The test also included a demonstration of technology to discriminate countermeasures carried by the target missile.

A three-stage Ground-Based Interceptor was launched from Vandenberg AFB, performed fly-out, and released a Capability Enhancement-II Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle. The kill vehicle performed scripted maneuvers to demonstrate performance of alternate divert thrusters. Upon entering terminal phase, the kill vehicle initiated a planned burn sequence to evaluate the alternate divert thrusters until fuel was exhausted, intentionally precluding an intercept.

Program officials will evaluate system performance based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test. Engineering data from this test will be used to increase confidence for future GMD intercept missions. This test is designated Ground-based Midcourse Defense Controlled Test Vehicle-02+.

The GMD element of the integrated BMDS provides Combatant Commanders the capability to engage and destroy limited intermediate- and long-range ballistic missile threats in space to protect the United States.

Additional information about all elements of the Ballistic Missile Defense System can be found here.

MDA Media Contact:

Rick Lehner, 571-231-8212, richard.lehner@mda.mil

Raytheon kill vehicle succeeds in developmental flight test

Mission validates thruster redesign for enhanced ballistic missile defense

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) successfully completed a data-gathering mission during a Missile Defense Agency flight test. The mission's objective was to observe in-flight performance of redesigned components and gain valuable information on evolving threat classes.

EKVs are designed to destroy incoming ballistic threats while they are still in space. As part of the MDA test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, a ballistic missile target was launched and purposely not intercepted to demonstrate for maximum maneuvering and data collection.

The successful mission proved the effectiveness of a recent redesign of the EKV thrusters, which provides the control necessary for lethal impact with incoming threats while safely outside of the Earth's atmosphere. The testing was supported by Raytheon's sea-based X-band radar (SBX) and AN/TPY-2 radar – both play critical roles in supporting the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system.

'This was a remarkable data-collection opportunity,' said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, president of Raytheon Missile Systems. 'These are among our industry's most complex systems. Testing is critically important to ensuring the advancement of reliable kill vehicles for the protection of the U.S. homeland.'

Raytheon is simultaneously managing four kill vehicle programs – the EKV, Standard Missile-3 kinetic vehicle, Redesigned Kill Vehicle, and Multi-Object Kill Vehicle. The Raytheon kill vehicle family has a combined record of more than 30 successful space intercepts.

About the EKV
Backed by decades of kill vehicle technology expertise, the Raytheon-made EKV is designed to destroy incoming ballistic missile threats by directly colliding with them, a concept often described as 'hit to kill.'

- The EKV has an advanced, multi-color sensor used to detect and discriminate incoming warheads from other objects.
- The EKV has its own propulsion, communications link, discrimination algorithms, guidance and control system and computers to support target selection and intercept.
- The EKV is deployed and operational today.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2015 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 94 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, capabilities in C5I (command, control, communications, computing, cyber and intelligence), sensing, effects and mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. Visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @Raytheon.

Media Contact
Amanda Schildt
+1.571.305.3915
rmspr@raytheon.com

United Launch Alliance launches GPS IIF-12 satellite for U.S. Air Force




United Launch Alliance launched the 12th and final satellite of the U.S. Air Force's GPS IIF-block, completing its first mission of 2016.

The satellite was launched using an Atlas V rocket as part of an effort to increase the Global Positioning System's accuracy and reach for both military and civilian users. The satellite is designed to enhance signal strength and navigational assistance for U.S. military operators.

"Congratulations to the ULA, Boeing and Air Force teams on the successful launch of GPS IIF-12," ULA Customs Services vice president Laura Maginnis said in a statement. "This system provides incredible capabilities to our women and men in uniform while enabling so many technologies that impact all of our daily lives."

The new satellite joining the Block IIF cluster uses updated avionics software and ground systems aiming to improve reliability and decrease costs.

The U.S. Air Force is currently operating 31 GPS satellites, and has plans to launch a new block of GPS III satellites. The next-generation satellites are designed to replace those already in orbit that have surpassed their operational design life. Lockheed Martin has been contracted to manufacture the GPS IIIA block.

"Lockheed Martin has firmed up its offering for the eagerly-awaited USAF T-X trainer competition. It will offer the T-50A for the Advanced Pilot Training (APT) competition. The T-50 Golden Eagle was developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI). Lockheed Martin also announced that, if chosen for the contract, its Greenville Operations facility in Greenville, South Carolina, would be the preferred Final Assembly and Checkout (FACO) site for the T-50A. 'The T-50A is production ready now. It is the only offering that meets all of the APT requirements and can deliver those capabilities on schedule,' said Rob Weiss, executive vice president and general manager, Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs (Skunk Works). 'We carefully studied a clean-sheet option for the [Advanced Pilot Training] competition and determined that it posed excessive risk to the APT cost and schedule requirements.'



The company also says that its accompanying T-50A Ground-Based Training System (GBTS) features innovative technologies that deliver an immersive, synchronized ground-based training platform. The agile T-50A GBTS applies lessons-learned from decades of training with leading-edge technologies to deliver a cost-effective advanced pilot training solution. Lockheed Martin could be the only company to offer an off the shelf solution for T-X. Boeing/Saab and Northrop Grumman are expected to offer clean sheet designs. Details of Alenia Aermacchi's plans with the popular M-346 Master are still awaited."

Source: http://www.combataircraft.net/view_article.asp?ID=9435&pubID=49&t=0&s=0&p=1&i=10

Pave Hawk replacement finally beckons for US Air Force

USAF ditches Black Hawk revival in search for Huey replacement.Ten years ago, the US Air Force was charging full speed towards the procurement of 141 Boeing HH-47s to replace the Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk for the personnel recovery mission. That combat search-and-rescue (CSAR-X) Chinook derivative would have entered service with 10 combat-coded examples in 2012. But fast-forward to today and the air force has zero Chinooks and 97 battle-worn, analogue-cockpit Pave Hawks that entered service in 1982 under the Reagan administration.

Air Force paying too much for C-17 engine maintenance

The Air Force is paying for engine maintenance for the C-17 Globemaster III without any idea if it’s getting a fair price, a new watchdog report said.

“Air Force officials awarded the…base contract without obtaining sufficient data to determine whether the Air Force purchased the F117 engine sustainment services provided by Pratt & Whitney at fair and reasonable prices,” said the investigation by the Pentagon’s Office of the Inspector General.

The exact amount the Air Force paid for the sole-source contract between fiscal 2012 and 2014 is redacted, but the IG’s report says that it’s in the billions.

The F117 engine is a military version of the Pratt & Whitney PW2000 engine used to power Boeing 757 aircraft. The Air Force currently has 1,200 of the engines for 222 C-17s, the IG said. Each plane flies on four of the engines.

Investigators said the Air Force didn’t do its due diligence before handing the defense contractor money for the Globemaster III Integrated Sustainment Program (GISP).

“Pratt & Whitney declined to provide critical cost and pricing information that the Air Force needed to determine fair and reasonable prices,” the IG’s report said. “Without sufficient supporting information, the Air Force relied on a questionable analysis of Pratt & Whitney’s proposed F117 engine sustainment prices and declared the GISP contract prices fair and reasonable.”

What sort of “questionable analysis” the Air Force did is redacted in the report, but the IG said this isn’t a new problem.

“For over 10 years, the Air Force has been ineffective at obtaining insight into its F117 engine sustainment requirements and prices,” the report said.

In a letter dated Nov. 2015, then-acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisitions, Richard Lombardi, responded to the report, but what actions he said he would take are redacted.

The IG’s office responded that his statements “did not address the specifics of the recommendation,” and that the Air Force still needed to establish a “performance and cost baseline for the F117 engine sustainment.”

The original contract was structured to encourage Pratt & Whitney to cut down on maintenance hours and expenses, but investigators said Air Force contracting officials never re-evaluated the agreement to see if the cost could be reduced.

Sole-source contracting comes with a risk that “the contractor could overcharge the government in the absence of competition,” the IG said. In that case, collecting cost data from the contractor, evaluating it, and comparing it to other companies becomes even more important, investigators said.

But he defense contractor still has not provided a complete accounting of the costs of engine maintenance, the IG said.

In an earlier audit, investigators “requested data related to sustainment services…however, Pratt & Whitney did not provide requested cost data” due to concerns that the Air Force would use it in pending contract negotiations.

Inspectors ended up subpoenaing the company for the information, and said in the report that they “have received multiple installments of portions of the requested F117 engine sustainment information.” The IG said they’ll publish another report once they’ve finished analyzing all the cost data.

In a statement emailed to Air Force Times Pratt & Whitney said it has "spent many months and significant resources cooperating with the DOD IG’s recent audits," including providing 52,000 pages containing "detailed cost data, and highly proprietary partner and supplier agreements to prove our customers have received fair and reasonable prices for F117 maintenance." Pratt & Whitney says it also "essentially designed a new accounting system to provide the IG data in the requested format, including a level of granularity unheard of in commercial aviation."

Air Force Times has also reached out to the Air Force Contracting office, and the Inspector General, and will update this report as more information becomes available.

The C-17 Globemaster III is a cargo and personnel transport that can carry 102 troops or 170,900 lbs. of cargo, according to Air Force fact sheets. It first entered service in 1993.

The F117 listed in the report is the designation of the engine produced by Pratt & Whitney, and should not be confused with the F-117 Nighthawk, the Air Force’s first dedicated stealth fighter that was retired in 2008.

USAF working on new defensive missile for fighters

US industry could be competing within three years to develop a new self-defence missile for fighters aimed at countering the latest generation of Russian- and Chinese-made air-to-air weapons, says a top Lockheed Martin executive.

For several years, the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and several contractors, including Lockheed, Raytheon and Boeing, have been researching concepts and subsystems that could be used in a new kind of air-to-air weapon.

In Lockheed’s concept, this miniature self-defence munition (MDSM) – about half the size of a 3.7m (12ft)-long Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM – would boast a limited capability to shoot down opposing aircraft in short-range engagements, says Frank St. John, vice-president of tactical missile and combat manoeuvre systems, speaking on 15 March at Lockheed’s annual Media Day.

But the main purpose of the weapon, also known as the small advanced capabilities missile (SACM) would be to intercept and destroy incoming enemy missiles, such as the long-range, Chinese-made PL-12 and Russian-made Vympel RVV-BD.

“I know that MSDM and SACM and all of those things are responses to those threats in some way as a self defence capability for our aircraft,” St. John says.

St. John estimates the air force could be ready to launch a competition in 18 to 30 months for the new weapon, which, if funded, would add to the internal-carriage arsenal of the F-22 and F-35.

Lockheed’s concept is based on a hit-to-kill weapon that destroys a target with kinetic power alone. Powered by a small rocket motor, it would leverage technology developed for the upgraded PAC-3 missile segment enhancement (MSE) Patriot missile. Lockheed is continuing to study radar and imaging-based sensors for terminal guidance, St. John says.

Interesting current USAF 'attack' aircraft figure at end, my highlight. Also put in UCAV thread

Speaking at a congressional hearing on army and air force unmanned aircraft programmes, US Air Combat Command chief Gen Herbert Carlisle says many General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Block 1 crashes have been directly linked to starter-generator failures, resulting in an Electrical Safety Improvement Programme (ESIP) that installs a direct-drive, brushless alternator that keeps the aircraft flying for another 10h.

“Since last April, we have recovered 17 MQ-9s using this direct drive, brushless alternator,” says Carlisle.

The air force has lost dozens of MQ-9s over the years, at a cost of between $20 million and $25 million per aircraft, according to Pentagon documents. Significantly more MQ-1s have been lost in combat and the type will be phased out by 2018.

A Washington Post report quoted by one US lawmaker identified 10 MQ-9 and 10 MQ-1 crashes in 2015, when operations were stepping up against terrorist networks in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and across Africa.

....................................

In February, there were 134 MQ-1Bs and 176 MQ-9As in the inventory, according to Air Force data.

Carlisle says more than 77% of MQ-1 and MQ-9 “cockpits” – meaning the ground control stations – are engaged in combat around the globe. The remaining 23% are dedicated to training and testing.

For some time, the Air Force has faced a pilot shortfall, remaining 199 airmen short of its full pilot manning requirement. ACC has been authorised to grow its MQ-1/9 pilot staff from 981 today to 1180.

ACC, which is charged with training and equipping combat air forces, is also 511 fighter and attack aircraft pilots short of its need.

“If you include the entire fighter shortfall, that’s a pretty large number,” says Carlisle. The air force maintains 284 A-10s, 963 F-16s, 429 F-15s, 183 F-22s and a growing number of F-35s.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-still-doesnt-know-why-its-block-1-mq-9s-fail-423253/

US spy plane cost $86m but 'never used'

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) spent $86m (£60m) on a spy plane to be flown in Afghanistan, but it was never used, a government report says.

The plane, to help fight the Afghan drug trade, cost a tenth of that sum and millions more went on upgrades.But to this day, it remains in storage in the US state of Delaware, a report by the Inspector General's Office of the US Justice Department says.

It adds that the plane is unlikely to ever fly in Afghanistan.The programme for which the plane was bought ended in 2015.

The ATR 42-500 plane was to be used in an anti-drug programme led by the DEA and the Pentagon, but costs to modify and house the aircraft quickly escalated.

Some $67.9m in funds from the US Department of Defence were spent on the plane and on a purpose-built hangar in Kabul, four times more than the original estimated cost.

The report says aviation officials with the DEA "did not take into account, when purchasing the ATR 500, the time and cost it would incur to establish an infrastructure of pilots, mechanics, trainers and spare parts required to operate the aircraft".

It adds that even though the plane was bought more than seven years ago, it "remains inoperable, resting on jacks, and has never actually flown in Afghanistan".

A DEA official told investigators the plane, once ready, would fly in the Caribbean and Latin America, but the report notes "that was not, of course, the purpose of the funding".

Goats 'may have been eaten'

The revelations come two months after a US government watchdog accused a Pentagon agency of wasting millions on "ill-conceived" reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.

Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction John Sopko noted one programme that spent $6m to import rare blond Italian goats to help the Afghan cashmere industry.

Oversight was so ineffective, Mr Spoko said, he could not be sure that the goats were not eaten.

Last year, Mr Sopko said some $43m was spent on building a vehicle refuelling station in Afghanistan, 140 times the cost of an equivalent station in Pakistan. He said fraud and corruption may have increased the cost.