Aviation Blog - Ian Allan Publishing

Air Tractor customer

Jamie Hunter — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:30:00 +0000

Air Tractor has launched production of the AT-802U light strike and surveillance aircraft, having received an order from an undisclosed foreign customer. The converted crop-duster made its international debut in Paris last year and is optimized for counter-insurgency missions with a mix of precision and standard weapons. The AT-802U has nine hardpoints and is able to carry 0.5in GAU-19 Gatling guns, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, Direct Attack Guided Rockets (DAGR), Mk82 bombs and unguided rockets. It also carries a Wescam MX-15Di electro-optical sensor.

Battle of Britain

Jamie Hunter — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:49:37 +0000

Today marks the 70th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s memorable speech about the Battle of Britain. Paying tribute to the brave fighter pilots that defended England. The weather may have played havoc with the planned flypasts but let us all take a moment out to remember The Few.

USAF needs more fighters

Jamie Hunter — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:47:54 +0000

A new US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has revealed how the USAF is planning to cope with a fighter aircraft shortfall that could reach 200 aircraft by 2025. The report is the first official evidence of the situation facing the USAF and is likely to be taken very seriously by senior officials. The report outlines four options that face the USAF: extending the service life of around 300 F-16s; increasing F-35 procurement rates to above 80 aircraft per year; procuring new ‘legacy’ aircraft such as the F-15 or F-16 or a combination of these options.
Any suggestion of buying new ‘legacy’ platforms has always been rejected by USAF leadership, and upgrading F-16s will only push out their life expectancy to 8,000 flight hours. A major upgrade would also have a massive impact on operational availability and any money spent on existing platforms is potentially money being taken away from the F-35 — the USAF’s future fighter of choice.

On tour with Boeing

Jamie Hunter — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:22:33 +0000

Last week was a hectic dash around the US for briefings on Boeing defence projects. All the updates will appear in the net issue of Combat Aircraft (Sept). Farnborough show is just around the corner – we have some great exclusives coming up!

New Super Hornet multi-year

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:14:46 +0000

The US Navy is proceeding with a new multi-year Super Hornet procurement deal with Boeing. As expected, the deal will offer ‘substantial savings’ for 124 F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft running from FY2010-13. The total program of record will now stand at 515 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and 114 EA-18G Growlers, with the latest batch now offering a 10 per cent cost reduction thanks to the multi-year deal, which is valued at about $5.3 billion in total. The deal has driven down Super Hornet unit cost to around $50 million. The multi-year contract enables Boeing to offer a more stable funding source and buy long-lead materials in bulk to afford improved cost reductions.
Having initially failed to impress US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Boeing was able to offer improvements on the cost reductions, with a possible fifth year run on the deal perhaps adding an incentive. The additional year would allow the US Navy to vary the number of jets procured each year and would better afford the chance to plug gaps that arise if F-35C Joint Strike Fighter availability slips.
The 10 per cent saving was understood to be a minimum requirement for the multi-year procurement regulations. Although the four-year deal caps the number of fighters at 124, it does allow the US Navy some flexibility with the number F/A-18E/F or EA-18G models it includes in the total. The US Navy’s fiscal 2011 budget request includes $1.9 billion for 22 F/A-18E/Fs and $1.1 billion for 12 EA-18Gs. In fiscal 2012, the service plans to buy one Super Hornet and 24 more Growlers, with 25 more Super Hornets following in fiscal 2013. Its FY2010 appropriation provided funding for 18 F/A-18E/Fs and 22 EA-18Gs.
It will be interesting to see if more Super Hornets will be added to this procurement. However, this is unlikely if the Navy still stands firmly behind F-35C. Money spent on more Super Hornets is money taken away from F-35C.

F-35 money withheld

Jamie Hunter — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:52:38 +0000

So US defense secretary Robert Gates decided to withold a Lockheed Martin $614m performance-related pay check because F-35 testing is failing to meet targets. Gen Heinz, the military program head, has been booted out, and the whole project could be on the brink of triggering a Nunn-McCurdy review because of cost overruns. Wow! That is just about as bad a news story as the F-35 test program could have dreaded at it entered 2010. So, the system design and development (SDD) phase is in disarray and JSF is losing friends in high places. Even the US Navy is voicing concerns over the sheer cost of F-35 – is it becoming unaffordable even for the US Navy!!!???
So Lockheed Martin has had a shake up as well? No. The manufacturer has got to start delivering on its promises for F-35? It tells everyone that everything about F-35 is great and that it will all be fine. The jury is out. Things are going to have to change in the test program – that’s for sure. Three F-35Bs are now at Pax River and the first full vertical landing could be coming soon. It’s progress, but the test program has a mountain to climb. It’s going to be 12 hour days for these guys for quite some time ahead. Manufacturing issues has meant that of the 12 SDD aircraft slated to be in the air by the end of 2009 – just four are currently flying.
No one ever said that developing a new fighter was easy. It’s reassuring to see that the US powers that be are not being lulled into a 24/7 good news story – that could easily turn into a nightmare!

PAK FA flies!

Jamie Hunter — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:38:15 +0000

Wow! It’s always a memorable moment when we see a new fighter aircraft for the first time. PAK FA’s appearance to the world yesterday is clearly very significant.
OK, chances are that it might not achieve much more than the MiG 1.42, but if, just if, it gets backing from an international customer it could progress into a significant fighter. Russia has taken years over the Su-34, and only a handful are in service (4 at last count). It’s a good bet that PAK FA development would be shortlived if it had to rely on home orders, but if India or another customer was prepared to get heavily involved there could be an interesting time ahead for the fighter. This is very probably Russia’s last chance saloon to stay in the fighter business – so will PAK FA be able to progress?
It looks very much like a mix of YF-22, with an F-35 cockpit (compromised by a big metal frame!!), 1.42 fins, plus a lot of metal in its construction (not a lot of evidence of composites judging by the images), and it’s unlikely that its avionics are too dissimilar to an Su-35.
But if I was a senior USAF fighter commander I’d be screaming at those holding the purse strings: ’see, I told you we didn’t order enough F-22s!’
Much more to come on PAK FA in the next issue of the magazine.
Have a good weekend everyone!
Jamie

Sentinel revealed

Jamie Hunter — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:13:52 +0000

We are delighted to be running our world-exclusive new images of the USAF’s RQ-170 Sentinel stealthy UAV in our February issue. The shots came to us from one of our well-trusted sources and they are the best photos of this clandestine aircraft, dubbed ‘the best of Kandahar’ following its initial sightings at the Afghan operating base.
The new photos reveal some interesting facts. The outer wing design of the Sentinel appears very similar to that of the F-117A. It also features main wheels that look like those from the F-15 – the same wheels were used on the F-117. It also features retractable blade radar reflectors – the same as the F-117. So one can’t help but look at the overall design and stealthy characteristics of the Sentinel and conclude that it may not be quite as new as we initially thought. It may even be F-117 era!!

You can draw your own conclusions, but this is a fascinating story – and one which has surely yet to yield most of its secrets.
Enjoy the magazine!
Jamie

New Fightertown!

Jamie Hunter — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:52:27 +0000

OK, so here’s were most fighter pilots and enthusiasts would like to be this week…
Al Dhafra air base in the UAE. A fighter weapons meet at Al Dhafra has been nicely timed with the Dubai air show – and deployed here are no less than six F-22 Raptors, six RAF Eurofighter Typhoons, six French AF Rafales and six Pakistan AF F7s!
The bad news is that unless you are an invited military guest or participant, your chances of getting anywhere near Al Dhafra are zero!

New look coming next issue

Jamie Hunter — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:58:44 +0000

Good morning everyone,

Our December issue has just hit the shops here in the UK and Europe, and it has finished printing in the US and will be on sale here from December 1st. I am afraid it still takes a while to get to all the stores around the US! But we are working to speed things up a little.
The December issue is the last magazine with the current ‘Combat Aircraft’ logo – as of the Jan 2010 issue we re-launch with an exciting new look. New logo, updated news pages and some new regular features.
We are also inviting feedback from our readers, so stay tuned on how to do this.
In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the latest issue.
Cheers!
Jamie