Hellfire Missile With Roughly Three Times More Range Tested By MQ-9
The new AGM-114R-4 could give the MQ-9 much needed additional standoff capabilities and could also greatly benefit a host of other platforms.
www.thedrive.com
US Air Force to start new experiments with Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone - Breaking Defense
Lt. Gen. Clint Hinote told Breaking Defense that the service is “getting ready to take delivery" of a drone prototype, now confirmed as Boeing's Ghost Bat.
STRATDELA Special Issue #2: The Raider
Ho-ho-ho, here comes the second STRATDELA Special Issue! This time we will dive into the story about a beast that will be demonstrated…
medium.com
5GAT Drone Ready for First Flight
After a multi-month delay due to COVID-19, the Fifth Generation Aerial Target will take its first flight later this month at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, following nearly flawless completion of
www.defense.gov
Lockheed, IBM’s Red Hat team up to speed AI development for Pentagon
The U.S. Department of Defense is increasingly interested in artificial intelligence and machine learning, both on and off the battlefield.
www.defensenews.com
GA-ASI Demonstrates Air-to-Air Laser Communications
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) successfully completed an air-to-air laser communication link between GA-ASI’s Laser Airborne Communication (LAC) terminals integrated onto two company-owned King Air aircraft.
www.ga-asi.com
Interesting site on the making of the Darkstar concept from Top Gun. Lots of cool artwork.
danielsimon.com
Daniel Simon ® | Top Gun: Maverick
danielsimon.com
This is what I've been saying for a few years now, ever since Galwan. The USAF has lost conventional deterrence against the Chinese.
www.airandspaceforces.com
What's interesting to note is they presumably need 13-25 squadrons in the Pacific. This is roughly what we want on the Chinese front too, at least 20 squadrons.
US Has Lost Conventional Overmatch, Needs Investment to Maintain Deterrence | Air & Space Forces Magazine
U.S. Air Force lacks the fighter squadrons and readiness to deter Chinese aggression, Air Combat Command leader says.
www.airandspaceforces.com
What's interesting to note is they presumably need 13-25 squadrons in the Pacific. This is roughly what we want on the Chinese front too, at least 20 squadrons.
Meh! USA wants to stop china from taking Taiwan.This is what I've been saying for a few years now, ever since Galwan. The USAF has lost conventional deterrence against the Chinese.
US Has Lost Conventional Overmatch, Needs Investment to Maintain Deterrence | Air & Space Forces Magazine
U.S. Air Force lacks the fighter squadrons and readiness to deter Chinese aggression, Air Combat Command leader says.
Where are we going to place 20 squadrons...??
ACC Chief: We want XYZ number of jets to prevent war.
Translation: We want XYZ number of jets to fight a war.
Saying the first one is how you get the money.
US wants to stop Russia from taking Ukraine as well. But that's the point. It's all about timing. If the Chinese mess with the US now, they are done. But if they bide their time, they still have a chance. While the USAF is tactically weaker closer to Chinese shores, the Chinese still cannot beat the USN.
Another thing about Taiwan is, just 'cause the US pushes Taiwan into a war doesn't mean Taiwan can't win. Their objectives are far easier to achieve than the Chinese. Also, it's a given that the kind of damage Taiwan alone can do to China's infrastructure will push China down an economic downward spiral they won't be able to get out of for decades, even if China wins the war.
For example, imagine what would happen if Taiwan takes out 50% of China's energy and transport infrastructure; electricity, bridges, stations, warehouses etc using American supplied weapons. A huge chunk of China will get pushed into poverty, they will reverse all their growth. Russia escaped this for a whole lot of reasons, especially the fact that Russia sells resources the world needs. But China is replaceable.
That's how we get to 45 squadrons. With 25 squadrons facing Pak initially and 20 facing China. Once Pak is done with, the assets transfer over to the Chinese front. We have infrastructure for 60+ squadrons and can easily double that in a year or two.
US Special Forces will showcase first ever live fire of airdropped cruise missiles off Northern Norway
The brand new Rapid Dragon is a highly potent weapon system that can launch a swarm of cruise missiles from a standard military transport plane. The United States, with NATO members, will for the first time exercise this strike capability inside the Arctic Circle over the Norwegian Sea, sometime...
thebarentsobserver.com
Named Rapid Dragon, the new weapon system is dropped from a military C-130J Super Hercules transport plane. The palletized weapon modul is first stabilized by a parachute before launching flying munitions, like cruise missiles. Screenshot from Lockheed Martin video
F-22 Raptors begin rotating into Okinawa to replace Kadena’s aging F-15 fleet
The first F-22A Raptors roared into Kadena Air Base on Friday, kicking off a two-year plan to replace the installation’s aging F-15 fighters with a superior rotational force.
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Lockheed Martin Says LMXT Still a Possibility for KC-Y Program
Lockheed Martin says it is still pitching its LMXT tanker to the Air Force amid a looming requirements announcement for the KC-Y tanker program. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has cast doubt on whether a KC-Y program would field a wholly new aircraft and has said the program may end up being an upgraded KC-46 Pegasus.However, the KC-46 and its manufacturer Boeing face growing disquiet over numerous delays and problems with the aircraft. The KC-Y is the so-called “bridge tanker” envisioned for production between the current KC-46A and a next-generation KC-Z family of aerial refueling systems.
While the company does not yet know what the requirements of the KC-Y will be, Lockheed Martin said the Air Force has expressed possible interest in a “KC-Y plus,” which the company says could be its LMXT.
“We see this airplane as already being in that KC-Y plus scenario—it is already embodying next-generation technologies,” Lockheed Martin’s LMXT director Larry Gallogly told reporters Oct. 25. “I would certainly say that that’s a potential outcome.”
The Air Force recently announced that necessary updates to the KC-46’s problematic Remote Vision System (RVS) will not be complete until 2025. Lockheed Martin says its offering, which is based on the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport—in service or on order by over a dozen countries—already has the many kinks worked out.
“This is kind of backwards for the U.S. government,” Gallogly said of the LMXT’s development process. “Normally, the U.S. government invests in a weapons system, and we go through all of these growing pains with their weapons system. We get that weapon system up to speed, and our friends and allies get to take advantage of all of that development that we’ve done on that … But our friends and allies have made all of that investment. Now we’re going to get to take advantage of that.”
Lockheed Martin highlighted the fact that the Airbus-designed refueling system for LMXT has undergone numerous improvements over the past decade. Like the KC-46’s RVS, the LMXT uses a screen-based system for operating the main refueling boom.
Lockheed Martin makes the case that the LMXT, a derivative of the commercial Airbus A330 wide-body jet, can also help the Air Force shift toward the Pacific, which it says presents a “tyranny of distance.” Aircraft will need more pit stops to refuel to cover the large area. The Air Force wants to develop the concept of agile combat employment, which means having dispersed operations. Lockheed Martin claims the larger LMXT would support that. With a 271,000-pound fuel capacity, the larger LMXT would carry about 60,000 more pounds of fuel than the KC-46, land at the airbases, and then could operate as a ground refueling station. It could also refuel KC-46s and free them up for other missions. Kendall has repeatedly reiterated his focus on improving the U.S.’s ability to counter China.
“This aircraft does that, I believe, more than any other of the assets that we have,” Gallogly said. “Gas is going to be king.”
As part of the Air Force’s push for flexibility, it plans to use KC-46 as a communications node. Lockheed Martin says the LMXT will have its own dedicated communications hub set up for joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) operations. It will also have a permanent aeromedical suite. This would limit time on the ground needed to configure a plane during which a lumbering tanker could be subject to attack. Airbus’s automatic air-to-air refueling system, which the LMXT would retain, could help reduce the number of crew, or at least their workload. Under Gen. Mike Minihan, Air Mobility Command is pushing for longer sorties with smaller crews.
“Our answer was we’ve designed the configuration so that in 90 percent of the situations, you won’t have to reconfigure this airplane ever,” Gallogly said. “It has all of that all of the time, so it makes it much, much more effective in a combat environment where that time on the ground is critical.”
Still, Lockheed Martin faces a challenging environment if it hopes to sell the LMXT to the U.S. government. The Air Force hopes to push up the timeline on the KC-Z program, which will feature a family of systems for aerial refueling, with some work on the program beginning as soon as 2023. However, if dissatisfaction with Boeing grows over KC-46 delays, Congress could compel the Air Force to have a competition for the KC-Y to prevent the service from relying on a sole source that is already plagued with issues. If not, Lockheed Martin says the LMXT would not die.
“If the competition doesn’t go forward [on the KC-Y], I’m not convinced that the next competition would be for a Z,” Gallogly said. “They may just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to have a competition for the next-generation tanker, and here’s what we want it to do.’ And then we’ll evaluate those requirements and see, does this airplane fit that criteria?”
Ultimately, Lockheed Martin and Boeing are awaiting decisions from the Air Force on what will happen with its future tanker programs.
“Only they know for sure,” Gallogly said.
Lockheed Martin Says LMXT Still a Possibility for KC-Y Program | Air & Space Forces Magazine
Lockheed Martin says it is still pitching its LMXT tanker to the Air Force amid a looming requirements announcement for the KC-Y tanker.
www.airandspaceforces.com
Air Force Orders 2 More New E-11A BACN Aircraft Systems, Making 5
The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to outfit two more E-11A Bombardier business jets with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system. The service already operates three such aircraft, which are used to improve tactical communications for joint and coalition forces.The work will be performed under a $3.6 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract awarded by the Air Force to Northrop Grumman in January 2021. The company will provide the BACN payload as well as integrate it with the aircraft. Bombardier Defense is providing aircraft under a separate $464.8 million contract awarded in June 2021.
The Air Force wants to transition all its BACN payloads onto Bombardier Global Express 6000/BD-700 aircraft. Some of the extant BACN fleet are EQ-4B Global Hawk autonomous uncrewed aircraft, also built by Northrop Grumman, which the Air Force wants to retire. Fiscal year 2021 budget plans called for one new E-11 BACN to be added to the fleet every year for six years; nine aircraft in total are budgeted.
The existing BACN aircraft have amassed some 200,000 operational hours as a “key command and control facilitator supporting airdrops, personnel recovery, convoy, humanitarian assistance and close air support operations,” Northrop Grumman said in a press release.
In Afghanistan, the aircraft were tapped to provide better communications between air and ground units in mountainous terrain, where signal quality was poor or frequently interrupted. The BACN aircraft have also been used as a “gateway” allowing F-35 and F-22 fighters—the data systems of which are not compatible—to share information; and as a beyond-line-of-sight communications relay. The BACN fleet is sometimes referred to by the sobriquet “wifi in the sky.”
“Our battle-tested family of gateway systems improves mission effectiveness and provides the secure and connective tissue between systems and sensors for joint warfighters across space, air, land and sea domains,” said Kevin Berkowitz, Northrop Grumman’s director of network solutions.
The January 2021 contract also provides for Northrop Grumman to develop new BACN capabilities and integrate them on the fleet. That contract also covers ground stations or controls; support gear; and operation of system integration labs.
The BACN payload is being modified for fourth- to fifth-generation fighters to share data via the gateway. It will have an upgraded GPS system to function in a higher-threat environment; Link 16; advanced navigation and performance improvements; and reliability enhancements. Other upgrades will be made to the aircraft’s self-protection and survivability suite.
Air Force Orders 2 More New E-11A BACN Aircraft Systems, Making 5 | Air & Space Forces Magazine
The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to outfit two more E-11A Bombardier jets with the BACN system.
www.airandspaceforces.com
Appropriations Bills Provide $194 Million for F-15 Upgrades - Avionics International
The F-15 upgrades include nearly $37M for the Honeywell Advanced Display Core Processor II, integrated by Boeing on the F-15E and F-15EX, and more than $28M for the MIDS-JTRS.
www.aviationtoday.com
Air Force Will Fire New "Sentinel" ICBM in 2024, Deploy by 2029 - Warrior Maven: Center for Military Modernization
What if the continental US were unexpectedly attacked by a massive salvo of incoming enemy nuclear missiles?
warriormaven.com