US Air Force - USAF

Rappel du premier message :

l´USAF plane de retirer +300 jets,dont:

-137 F-15
-177 F-16
-9 A-10s

11 ans avant leur date,pour epargner 3,4B$ et accelerer ainsi les F-22/35

mais ca doit dabord passer le congress et le futur president doit signer!

Citation :

US Air Force eyes fighter cuts to boost modernization
Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:51pm EDT



WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is seeking to retire early more than 300 fighter aircraft next year to save $3.4 billion in the hope of funding advanced Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fighters and other modernization efforts, a published report said on Wednesday, citing internal Pentagon documents.

The plan would retire 137 F-15 and 177 F-16 fighters plus nine A-10 close air support attack aircraft as much as 11 years before the end of their scheduled useful lives, InsideDefense.com, an online news service, reported.

"Without accelerating these retirements, we are left with a larger, less-capable force unable to penetrate anti-access environments," the Air Force was quoted as telling John Young, the Pentagon's top arms buyer, in defense of a fiscal 2010 spending plan it submitted in August.

"Anti-access" is Pentagon jargon for spots defended by advanced surface-to-air missiles and state-of-the-art fighters such as those used or planned by Russia and China.

A key Air Force concern is what it calls a potential fighter gap until Lockheed's radar-evading F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is produced in large numbers.

An Air Force spokesman said it would be inappropriate to discuss an internal working document that will continue to change until it is incorporated into the next president's fiscal 2010 budget submission.

The document was quoted as saying an Air Force analysis showed a "smaller but modernized fighter force, when coupled with a robust bomber fleet, can effectively bridge the gap until the F-35 can be produced in required numbers (ramping to 110) and the F-22 can be modified to a common configuration."

Air Force officials have said they plan to increase F-35 production over the next five years to address the fighter gap, InsideDefense.com said.

Two F-35s have entered flight test, two are in ground test and 17 are in various stages of assembly, including the first two production-model jets scheduled for delivery to the U.S. Air Force in 2010, Lockheed said last month.

The president of the Air Force Association, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Dunn, said it remained to be seen if Congress would let the Air Force get rid of so many aircraft so early and if Pentagon leaders would grab the savings to fund competing priorities within other armed services.

"There will have to be a lot of dialogue inside the Pentagon between the Air Force and the office of the secretary of defense, probably the secretary himself, before a decision is made," Dunn, a former president of the Pentagon's National Defense University, said in a telephone interview.

Old warplanes typically involve high maintenance costs and may require big outlays for structural upgrades. Still, lawmakers often have blocked Air Force attempts to retire aging warplanes early, partly to preserve jobs -- in their voting districts -- at bases from which they are flown.

In the fiscal 2010 budget request being readied at the Pentagon for the next president, the Defense Department is seeking ways to continue production of Lockheed Martin's F-22, the top U.S. dog fighter, while boosting F-35 output to capture economies of scale quickly, Pentagon officials have said.

The final say on whether to go on building the F-22 is being left to the next president, who is to be elected Nov. 4 and take office Jan. 20 -- only weeks before the administration's budget request normally is sent to Congress.

The proposed early retirements represent accelerations of seven years in the case of the F-15, six years for the F-16 and 11 years for the A-10, according to the document cited by InsideDefense.com.

The savings would fuel a push to modernize the Air Force's bombers, late-date fighters and go toward a new "nuclear-specific" B-52 bomber rotational squadron and Northrop Grumman Corp'a (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial system expansion, the document was quoted as saying. (Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Carol Bishopric, Gary Hill)

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1531730620081015?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Nouveau radar pour le Spirit en production.

Citation :

New Radar for B-2 Bomber Enters Full Rate Production










Northrop Grumman Begins Full Rate Production of New Radar for B-2 Bomber
PALMDALE, Calif., Oct. 21, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The nation's fleet of B-2 stealth bombers will all receive a new Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC)-developed radar system following the U.S. Air Force's decision to authorize full-rate production of the units by the company's Radar Modernization Program (RMP).

The decision, made Oct. 16 by the assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition (acting), allows Northrop Grumman to begin fabrication of the balance of radar units needed to outfit the entire fleet. Those units will be produced as the final installment of the $468 million RMP contract awarded to the company by the Air Force in Dec. 2008.

Northrop Grumman is the Air Force's prime contractor for the B-2, the flagship of the nation's long range arsenal, and one of the most survivable aircraft in the world.

"Putting this new radar on America's flight line helps ensure that the B-2 fleet is ready day or night to protect the nation's interests worldwide," said Dave Mazur, vice president and B-2 program manager for Northrop Grumman. "The new radar also makes it easier for our modernization team to add additional mission capabilities to the jet in the future."

Northrop Grumman is currently producing radar units authorized under the RMP low rate initial production program, added Mazur. The company is also installing radar units in operational B-2s as part of the RMP system development and demonstration phase.

The B-2 radar modernization program replaces the aircraft's original radar system with one that incorporates technology improvements that have occurred since the B-2 was originally designed in the early 1980s.

Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif. developed the new radar hardware under contract to Northrop Grumman. The units include a new advanced electronically scanned array antenna, a power supply and a modified receiver/exciter.

The B-2 is the only U.S. aircraft that combines stealth, long range, large payload and precision weapons in a single platform. In concert with the Air Force's air superiority fleet, which provides airspace control, and the Air Force's tanker fleet, which enables global mobility, the B-2 helps ensure an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world. It can fly more than 6,000 nautical miles unrefueled and more than 10,000 nautical miles with just one aerial refueling, giving it the ability to reach any point on the globe within hours.

The 20-aircraft fleet of B-2s is operated by the 509th Bomb Wing from its headquarters at Whiteman AFB, Mo.

Source: Deagel

Citation :

F-16 drops fuel tanks, 500-pound bomb at Hill AFB

Emergency » Tin work shed is blown apart and electricity is knocked out throughout base.
[url=mailto://mlaplante@sltrib.com?subject=Salt Lake Tribune: F-16 drops fuel tanks, 500-pound bomb at Hill AFB]
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune[/url]
Updated: 10/23/2009 06:32:34 AM MD





A thundering boom startled thousands of people at Hill Air Force Base and beyond its gates Thursday as a fighter pilot dropped munitions and two external fuel tanks onto an uninhabited area of the sprawling military facility in response to an in-flight emergency.
A bomb destroyed a small, tin work shed near an area where ordnance is stored on the base's west side. It also damaged a nearby transformer and power lines, causing a basewide power outage. But base officials say no one was injured in the 3:50 p.m. incident, and the pilot landed safely. None of the stored ordnance, which is kept in underground bunkers, was damaged or destroyed.

Col. Scott Zobrist, commanding officer of the 388th Fighter Wing, said the pilot of

the aircraft, an F-16 Falcon fighter jet, was alerted to an emergency situation during takeoff and, following safety procedures, jettisoned the fuel tanks and munitions before making a final pass to land the $25 million, single-engine fighter.

At a hastily arranged news conference two hours after the incident, Zobrist called the aviator "a highly experienced pilot who has practiced these kinds of things hundreds if not thousands of times."
Precision was key as the pilot dropped a 500-pound bomb and other munitions less than 2,500 feet to the east of Interstate 15. By Thursday evening, Hill officials said all the munitions and fuel tanks had been accounted for in a remote, uninhabited area of the base. Power was restored to the base by the evening and base gates had resumed normal operations, Hill officials stated.
The freeway was closed or slowed for hours as public safety officials from Hill and its surrounding communities attempted to account for the explosives.
Abandoning explosive armaments and fuel tanks is rare but part of the standard operating procedure for several potential emergencies, including onboard fires, engine burn-outs and landing gear malfunctions. Hill officials did not specify the nature of Thursday's emergency nor explain why the pilot was unable to make it to a less densely populated area.
That was the case in December, when another F-16 from Hill dropped its fuel tanks into the Great Salt Lake, about three miles north of Antelope Island, after the jet's sensors indicated a potential fire. A similar incident occurred last week when a Vermont Air National Guard F-16 jettisoned two fuel tanks into Lake Champlain after declaring an in-flight emergency.
Hill worker Drew Brown, who works on the base's west side not far from the explosion site, said he heard a loud "thud," which was immediately followed by the power outage. "At first, I thought maybe a truck had hit the building," he said. "You could definitely feel it."
Jessica Zepeda, who works near the base, said she heard the explosion and saw a dark gray plume of smoke rising from the west side of the base.
"My first thought was, 'Where are my mother and my brother?' because they work on that side of the base," said Zepeda. "Nothing good could come of that kind of smoke."
Zepeda said she soon made contact with her family members, who asked her to find out about the incident and report back to them because they were without power on base and didn't know what was going on. Hill's public affairs representatives scrawled out news releases with paper and pen because they were unable to power up their computers.
Tribune reporter Jason Bergreen contributed to this report.

Northrop fait des pressions sur l'USAF afin de gagner le contrat d'équiper l'USAF des nouvelles avions ravitailleur, un contrat de plus de 35MM$

Citation :

Northrop pressures USAF on KC-X criteria
By Stephen Trimble


Northrop Grumman is publicly pressuring the US Air Force to make wholesale changes to a set of proposed rules for selecting the winner of the $35 billion KC-X tanker contract competition.

Northrop faults the USAF's draft request for proposals issued on 24 September for three major changes to the selection criteria compared with the original competition, which the company won before Boeing successfully protested.

The USAF had prized a multi-role "game-changer", but now wants to buy a tanker closely modelled on the existing KC-135R; second, the fixed-price strategy fails to address the impact of potential delays and cost overruns; finally, a "best value" approach that trades price and performance is dispensed for a method that is "tantamount to a price shoot-out", says Mitchell Waldman, a Northrop vice-president of business development.

What impact the changes will have on Northrop's competitive position is difficult to say. The USAF requires both contractors to meet all of 373 mandatory requirements, with each receiving equal weight. Northrop complains this process makes the requirement for providing the lavatory's potable water no less important in the final evaluation than fuel capacity.

The minimum requirements are based on the existing KC-135R, another annoyance for Northrop. "If you were able to build a new KC-135 today," says Waldman, "technically, it would win the competition." USAF officials have noted that they are also asking for the tanker to receive fuel, which will make the KC-X tanker superior to the KC-135R.

In theory, a bidder could win the contract by simply proposing the lowest price. The USAF has identified 95 bonus requirements above the 373 minimum thresholds, but these are only considered if the two teams submit bids with the same evaluated price.

Even then, the USAF will pay only 1% of the contract's total value for more performance than the KC-135R already provides.

Northrop's side is clearly concerned about the USAF's new emphasis on price. Its KC-45, formerly KC-30, is a modified Airbus A330-200. The competitor, Boeing, can choose between the KC-767 or the KC-777, with the former a smaller and potentially less costly option to the KC-45.

Moreover, KC-45's key advantages over the KC-767 - greater fuel offload and range - could be negated by the new evaluation criteria.

Northrop, however, refuses to say if it will boycott the competition if the USAF declines to adjust the evaluation criteria. Asked if the KC-45 team believes winning the contract is possible under the current rules, Northrop vice-president Bill Welser dodged a direct reply. "We can design an aircraft that meets the requirement," he says.

For its part, Boeing is continuing to discuss the draft RFP with USAF officials privately. "Our preference is to allow the process to play out rather than work the requirements through the media," it says.

Source :: FlightGlobal

Citation :

SCANG unit wins international F-16 competition

November 4, 2009 (by MSgt. Richard B. Hodges) - The South Carolina Air National Guard's 169th Fighter Wing was named the overall winner of Falcon Air Meet 2009, a three-nation F-16 Fighting Falcon competition, held here through to November 3rd.


HRH Prince Feisal Bin Al Hussein presents a Falcon Air Meet 2009 award on November 3rd, 2009, to Col. Mike Hudson, commander of the SCANG's 169th OG based at McEntire JNGB. The unit represented the United States in the three-nation F-16 competition at Mwaffaq Salti AB.
The South Carolina team, which represented the U. S. Air Force's Central Command and the U.S., won three of the four main events as well as the Top Overall Maintenance Award and the Top Overall Competition Award. Other nations competing in the annual event were Jordan and Belgium.

"I could not be prouder of what the South Carolina Air National Guard accomplished here at this year's Falcon Air Meet," said Col. Michael Hudson, commander of the 169th Operations Group based at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, S.C.

This is the first time since the Falcon Air Meet began in 2006 that an Air National Guard team has been selected to represent the United States at the competition.

"Everyone worked very hard for a long time to prepare for this competition and the results show that they accomplished what they came to do," Colonel Hudson said. "We want to thank the Jordanians for their gracious hospitality. It was very helpful to train with and engage in friendly competition with our friends from Jordan and Belgium. We hope to return soon to Jordan for a future Falcon Air Meet."

The mission of the Falcon Air Meet is to train through friendly competition with the air forces of the U.S., Middle East nations and other F-16 users from around the world.

The meet was inspired by Prince Feisal Bin Al Hussein and first organized in 2006. A main goal of the competition is the improvement of the relationship of Jordan with its partners and the promotion of stability in the region.

"I want to thank everyone, both deployed and supporting back at home station, for their hard work and dedication in preparation for our competition in this year's Falcon Air Meet," said Col. Scott Williams, commander of the 169 Fighter Wing. "We all learned about each other's capability to support one another and fight side-by-side as coalition partners. We not only competed to bring out the best in each other, but we also shared maintenance and operations practices and gained a renewed understanding of our key allies."

Members of the Colorado Air National Guard served as "White Force" judges for the meet as they have done in all previous years. Colorado ANG officials were instrumental in the formation of the first Falcon Air Meet in 2006. They were asked to participate as judges for the event, because of their state partnership with Jordan, a partnership formally established in 2004.

The six award categories announced at the closing ceremonies of the Falcon Air Meet 2009 were:

-- Large Force Employment (Air-to-Ground Competition): A two-part competition in which a flight of F-16s were tasked to drop inert Mark-82 500-pound bombs on a target at a precise time. Later, the jets uploaded live Mark-82 bombs and engaged a ground target. The judging parameters were airspeed, dive angle-of-attack, release altitude, accuracy (aim point) and time-on-target. Each F-16 carried two bombs. This event was won by the South Carolina ANG team, which scored 190 points of a possible 200.

-- Scramble Launch and Intercept Competition: This event required pilots and crew chiefs to work together to safely launch an alert aircraft in the fastest time possible and then for the pilot to conduct an intercept mission. In this close competition, only 10 points separated the first place South Carolina team and the second place Royal Jordanian Air Force team.

-- Formation Arrival Award: This event required a four-ship flight of F-16s to arrive over a designated target in a symmetrical formation. It was won by the Royal Jordanian Air Force with a perfect score of 100 points. The RJAF pilots showed "good formation and action," and their arrival time over the target was precisely to the second. The South Carolina team was second with a score of 95.

-- Weapons Load Competition: Two air-to-air missiles were uploaded to an F-16 with the greatest speed, safety and reliability. This event also was won by South Carolina.

-- Top Overall Maintenance Award: This event, which was based on the overall results of the Scramble, Weapons Load and Sortie Generation, was won by the South Carolina team.

-- Top Overall Competition Award: As a result of having won four of the five competition categories, the South Carolina team was awarded the top overall award and named winner of the 2009 Falcon Air Meet. The awards were presented by His Royal Highness Prince Feisel Bin Al Hussein.

Courtesy of South Carolina National Guard

http://www.f-16.net/news_article3894.html

HRH Prince Feisal Bin Al Hussein presents a Falcon Air Meet 2009 award on November 3rd, 2009, to Col. Mike Hudson, commander of the SCANG's 169th OG based at McEntire JNGB. The unit represented the United States in the three-nation F-16 competition at Mwaffaq Salti AB. [USAF photo by TSgt. Caycee Cook]

Citation :

A B-52H Stratofortress soars through the sky during the rapid launch portion of Exercise Prairie Vigilance at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Nov. 5, 2009. The exercise is a combined-wing nuclear operational readiness exercise that demonstrates safe, secure, reliable nuclear weapons standards. A sequence of seven B-52s successfully launched confirming the wing's agile ability to respond when called upon. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jesse Lopez)

President Barack Obama gives a speech to a crowd of military personnel and civilians gathered Nov. 12, 2009, at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. The president was at the base to meet with servicemembers and offer remarks to the local community. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Laura Turner

Senior Master Sgt. Ray Lewis maneuvers the boom to refuel a Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 Eagle over the Hawaiian Islands Nov. 7, 2009. The refueling was part of an Employer Support Flight at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to help employers better understand what their employees do as Air Force Reservists. Sergeant Lewis is a KC-135 Stratotanker boom operator from McConnell AFB, Kan. (Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Daniel Nathaniel

Citation :

US Air Force to buy Playstion 3
The cluster of PlayStation 3 consoles is already being used for research into high-def video processing and systems with brain-like properties.
The U.S. Air Force is looking to buy 2,200 Sony PlayStation 3 game consoles to built out a research supercomputer, according to an document posted on the federal government's procurement Web site.
The PlayStation 3s will be used at the Air Force Research Laboratory's information directorate in Rome, N.Y., where they will be added to an existing cluster of 336 PlayStation 3s being used to conduct supercomputing research.

The Air Force will use the system to "to determine the best fit for implementation of various applications," including commercial and internally developed software specific to the PS3's Cell Broadband Engine processor architecture. The research will help the Air Force decide where Cell Broadband Engine processor-derived hardware and software could be used in military systems.
The Air Force has used the cluster to test a method of processing multiple radar images into higher resolution composite images (known as synthetic aperture radar image formation), high-def video processing, and "neuromorphic computing," or building computers with brain-like properties.

The PlayStation 3's eight-processor Cell powers other supercomputers, including the world's second-fastest, IBM's RoadRunner, at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In June, the Department of Defense awarded $2 million for this research under its High Performance Computing Modernization Program, the DOD's arm for supercomputing research, development, test, and evaluation. That follows an initial investment of $118,000 on the original cluster.

Before it won the research award in 2008, the information directorate's advanced computing architectures team considered alternative configurations and the possibility of a hybrid system, but found multicore Xeon servers slower and more expensive than PS3s, and GPGPUs to be slower in some important types of calculations.

The Air Force Research Laboratory's information directorate spends about $700 million annually on R&D, in areas such as collaboration, networking, cybersecurity, and computer modeling.

Information week

Citation :

EXCLUSIVE: Raytheon adapts AIM-9X for air-to-ground mission
By Stephen Trimble

Raytheon has adapted the heat-seeking AIM-9X to strike moving targets on the ground or in the water, adding another new capability for the formerly air-to-air-only missile.

The modification allows the same AIM-9X to strike both air and ground targets. Jeff White, Raytheon's business development manager for AIM-9X, declines to describe the modification in detail, but says it involves only software changes. The AIM-9X infrared seeker, proximity fuse and blast/fragmentation warhead remain unchanged.

During a 23 September Gulf of Mexico test, a US Air Force F-15C fired the air-to-surface AIM-9X and hit a speeding "cigar boat", a type commonly used by drug smugglers. "The missile went right through the boat," says White.

The F-15C test follows a previous shot by an F-16 at a similar target, which also scored a hit on the boat, he adds.

The project to develop the air-to-surface mode for the AIM-9X began with a request from the USAF in March 2007. Although the AIM-9X is primarily an air-to-air missile used in short-range engagements, USAF officials saw a need to make it multi-purpose.

"Maybe you're flying an F-15 that only has air-to-air weapons," says White. "The F-15C only carries air-to-air weapons. Well, now the pilot has an air-to-ground weapon."

The same concept also applies to fighters that can carry a mix of air and ground munitions. For example, if a Boeing F/A-18 is asked to strike a ground target after dropping all its bombs, the pilot could still use the AIM-9X, says White.

Raytheon has greatly expanded the missile's capability since introducing the AIM-9X Block 1 missile in 2003. The company is completing developmental testing on Block 2, which adds a smaller fuse that allows room to insert a one-way datalink for lock-on after launch capability.

The latter upgrade also enables Raytheon to convert the AIM-9X into a surface-to-air missile, launched from a high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV). Raytheon is discussing the concept with US government agencies, says White.

Meanwhile, a submarine-launched variant of the AIM-9X is being prepared for the US Navy. Raytheon has demonstrated underwater launch of a Sidewinder-shaped missile, and is in talks with the USN to launch a programme of record in 2012.

The goal of the Littoral Warfare Weapon would be to equip submarines with a missile to strike helicopters equipped with dipping sonars and torpedoes. "If submarines get caught in the shallows, they need some defence," says White.

Flight International

Citation :

USA/Tankers - Gates espère que Northrop restera en course


WASHINGTON, 2 décembre (Reuters) - Le secrétaire américain à la Défense Robert Gates a dit mercredi espérer que Northrop Grumman resterait en course pour l'attribution du contrat portant sur le renouvellement de la flotte américaine d'avions ravitailleurs, en réaction au renoncement du groupe aéronautique qui se plaint des conditions de l'appel d'offres.

Selon Northrop, qui est allié pour la circonstance avec Airbus, filiale d'EADS , les termes de ce dernier sont nettement en faveur de son adversaire Boeing .

"Nous estimons que les deux principaux concurrents sont hautement qualifiés et nous aimerions qu'ils restent dans le processus", a dit Robert Gates devant les sénateurs de la commission des Forces armées.

Personne chez Northrop n'était disponible pour commenter ces propos.

Northrop Grumman a fait savoir mardi qu'il ne participerait plus à l'appel d'offres d'avions ravitailleurs pour l'US Air Force, en l'absence de toute modification sensible de certaines de ses modalités qui, pense-t-il, favorisent indûment son concurrent Boeing .

Le Pentagone a fait savoir qu'il déplorait la décision de Northrop et de son associé EADS mais a ajouté qu'il ne changerait rien au cahier des charges qui puisse donner un avantage quelconque à l'un ou l'autre des compétiteurs.

(Susan Cornwell, version française Nicolas Delame)

http://www.aerocontact.com/actualite_aeronautique_spatiale/ac-usa-tankers---gates-espere-que-northrop-restera-en-course~09204.html

Citation :

L'US Air Force dévoile son drone secret : c'est un RQ-170 Sentinel !



La photo d'un drone secret, publiée mardi sur ce blog, a fait le tour du monde des passionnés d'aviation. Le magazine américain Aviation Week a fini par obtenir hier soir cette information auprès de l'US Air Force : ce drone est un RQ 170 Sentinel de Lockheed-Martin qui opère à partir de Kandahar, dans le sud de l'Afghanistan.
L'USAF reconnait "développer un drone furtif pour fournir des capacités de reconnaissance et de surveillance aux forces déployées". Le RQ-170 est mis en oeuvre par le 30ème escadron de reconnaissance de Tonopah Test Range, dans le Nevada. Ce programme est ce que les spécialistes appellent un Skunk Work, l'un des programmes secrets de la firme Lockheed. Cet engin avait été observé, de loin et dans de mauvaises conditions, en 2007.
La designation RQ signifie Reconnaissance (R) et Drone (Q). La Sentinel ne semble donc pas être armé (indicatif M) comme le sont les Predator ou Reaper. Son envergure serait d'une vingtaine de mètres.
Ses formes en font, comme le reconnait l'USAF, un engin furtif. Quel intérêt d'utiliser un appareil discret au dessus de l'Afghanistan ? A priori aucun, dans la mesure où les insurgés ne possèdent aucun système de détection radar et de capacités d'interception d'appareils volant à haute altitude. Il est donc probable qu'il soit destiné à d'autres théâtres d'opérations à partir de Kandahar. Regardez une carte : les pays intéressants ne manquent pas dans la région

source:http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/defense/2009/12/lus-air-force-d%C3%A9voile-son-drone-secret-cest-un-rq-170-sentinel-.html

Citation :

L'armée américaine va tester des drones pour le ravitaillement


WASHINGTON - L'armée américaine a fait l'acquisition de drones afin de s'en servir pour le ravitaillement des troupes déployées en Afghanistan, a indiqué mercredi un général de l'US Air force, sans préciser quand ces avions sans pilote seront testés.

"On en a acheté quelques-uns afin de voir comment ça marche", a dit à des journalistes le général Duncan McNabb, qui dirige le commandement des transports des armées américaines. Le recours à des drones répond au casse-tête posé par le ravitaillement des troupes disséminées dans ce pays très montagneux et disposant de peu d'infrastructures de transport.

Ces appareils pourraient permettre d'acheminer des colis de petite taille, contenant par exemple du matériel médical, mais aussi de récupérer les récepteurs GPS abandonnés au sol lors du largage de provisions, a précisé le général.

Et vu l'augmentation des coûts de largage, l'utilisation de drones pourrait rendre "vraiment bon marché le ravitaillement aérien", a-t-il dit, sans indiquer quand les premières missions seront lancées.

Ces dernières années, l'armée et les services de renseignement américains ont fait de plus en plus appel à ces appareils sans pilote, à des fins de surveillance, mais aussi de combat, en particulier en Irak, au Pakistan et en Afghanistan

source:http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/fr_fr/noticias/internacional/2009/11/50/armee-americaine-tester-des-drones-pour-ravitaillement,d6a1aabb-840b-4fec-bb9f-97b6f32fe5ee.html

Citation :

EADS builds case for A400M sale to USAF

EADS North America chief executive Sean O'Keefe today revealed three factors he believes could sway the US Air Force within five years to buy the Airbus A400M transport.

The A400M, which achieved first flight this morning, could fill an anticipated airlift gap created by a wave of Lockheed Martin C-5A retirements, Boeing C-17 programme termination and Lockheed C-130J size and performance limitations, O'Keefe told reporters during a breakfast event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

EADS anticipates that the A400M would be the USAF's only option to address the gap, which could occur slightly before the middle of the next decade, he said.

EADS analysts identified the three factors based on an internal assessment. The company has not shared its findings with the USAF, nor discussed plans with service officials for an A400M acquisition, O'Keefe said.

The EADS assessment conflicts with USAF plans to continue buying C-130Js and flying all 59 C-5As, although the latter were removed from the reliability enhancement and re-engining programme (RERP) last year to save money.

The USAF has attempted to shut down the C-17 production line every year since 2007, but Congress has added funds to buy 33 more airlifters beyond the USAF's stated requirement. Congress is currently debating conflicting proposals to add between three and 10 more C-17s in the Fiscal 2010 budget.

"That doesn't fill the [airlift] gap at all even if Congress buys a few more," O'Keefe says.

The A400M's future, however, is itself uncertain. Airbus has asked its customers to agree on new contract terms to absorb cost overruns reportedly greater than 5 billion Euros.

The A400M programme is scheduled to complete the flight test phase and enter service in 2012.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...e-to-usaf.html

Citation :

USAF To Develop New Bomber


By JOHN T. BENNETT
Published: 11 Dec 2009 17:29



U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Dec. 11 the 2011 Pentagon spending request is likely to include funding for development of a new Air Force bomber, Reuters reported.

The long-talked-about program has been in limbo since Gates froze it in April amid several dozen major weapons program cuts. Gates wanted the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review to look at the need for a new long-range bomber fleet.Related Topics

"We are probably going to proceed with a long-range strike initiative coming out of the Quadrennial Defense Review and various other reviews going on," Gates told troops in Kirkuk, Iraq. "We're looking at a family of capabilities, both manned and unmanned."
He said funding likely would start at $1 billion, and then ramp up in subsequent years.

Defensenews

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F-16 makes emergency landing at Fiumicino AP


December 16, 2009 (by F. Dariz)
- An F-16 belonging to USAF 31st FW based at Aviano, Italy, made an emergency landing today at 00.30h at Rome's Fiumicino Airport due to a unknown technical problem.

Two F-16s which took off from the U.S. military base in Aviano, were flying over the Italian capital when one of the two jets suffered a major engine loss.
An immediate request for an emergency landing was sent to the control tower of the Roman airport and was granted.
Both planes landed at around 00.30h on runway 3 of the airport are parked at the Cargo City freight terminal awaiting a US military technicians from Aviano to arrive with spare parts.

source:http://www.f-16.net/news_article3933.html

Citation :

Les drones américains piratés pour 26 dollars




Vingt-six dollars :
c'est le coût d'un programme grand public utilisé par les insurgés
irakiens pour pirater les flux de données des drones Predator utilisés
par l'armée américaine – des avions sans pilote coûtant 4,5 millions de
dollars pièce – révèle le Wall Street Journal.

Les insurgés profitent d'une vulnérabilité dans la conception de
l'appareil pour capter le flux d'images transmises par les caméras du
robot, à l'aide d'un logiciel disponible dans le commerce. La
manipulation ne permet pas de prendre le contrôle de l'appareil ou de
l'endommager, mais savoir ce que voient les drones américains permet
aux insurgés de se préparer à l'éventualité d'une attaque ou de
connaître les régions dans lesquelles les Américains concentrent leurs
efforts.
Ce piratage est également rendu possible par le fait que l'armée
américaine ne crypte pas les données transmises par les drones, une
pratique surprenante au regard de la nature confidentielle des
informations transmises. L'US Army affirme rechercher activement une
manière de crypter ces communications. Les services de renseignement
américains pensent que la technique d'espionnage de leurs avions sans
pilote a été transmise aux mouvements chiites irakiens par l'Iran, ce
que Téhéran dément.

"DOMMAGES COLLATÉRAUX"
Les Etats-Unis ont de plus en plus recours aux drones, qui
présentent de nombreux avantages, en Irak comme en Afghanistan. Pour
l'armée américaine, ces robots permettent de limiter les pertes
humaines, mais aussi de procéder à des incursions dans des territoires
où il serait diplomatiquement ou militairement compliqué d'intervenir.
Les drones américains procèdent ainsi régulièrement à des "frappes
ciblées" contre les talibans depuis l'Afghanistan sur le territoire
pakistanais, ce qu'Islamabad tolère.
Mais cette arme ne fait pas l'unanimité, y compris au sein de
l'armée. Certains militaires craignent que les Etats-Unis deviennent
trop dépendants de cette technologie. Les organisations humanitaires
estiment quant à elles que les drones, qui peuvent procéder à des tirs
de missiles, sont responsables de nombreux "dommages collatéraux" et de
morts de civils qui pourraient être évitées.
Les drones sont le principal secteur d'investissement de l'armée
américaine, avec 36 % du budget de l'US Air force. L'armée a lourdement
investi dans une nouvelle génération de machines, les Reaper, plus
performants mais presque trois fois plus chers que les Predator.

http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/12/17/les-drones-americains-pirates-pour-26-dollars_1282340_651865.html

Citation :

USAF starts search for UH-1N replacement
By Stephen Trimble


The US Air Force has announced that it wants to start replacing 62 Vietnam-era UH-1Ns with up to 93 new helicopters after 2015.

A "sources sought" notice issued on 17 December for the potentially multi-billion dollar common vertical lift support programme (CVLSP) reveals both the quantity and the USAF's desired attributes for the new helicopter fleet.

The USAF wants to replace its UH-1Ns with a helicopter that can lift 1,449kg (3,194lb), including four crew members, nine passengers and mission equipment, the notice says. It should also be able to fly up to 3h without refuelling at speeds up to 135ktas (251km/h).

Survivability is a key area that USAF wants to upgrade with the new helicopter. Industry sources were asked to describe how their aircraft could survive if struck by bullets as large as the 7.62mm, which is fired by the AK-47.

The CVLSP helicopter also should be armed, with the ability to suppress an "eight-man enemy element in the open out to 800m during daylight with 3sec of detection time", the notice says.

The USAF also makes it clear that the CVLSP contract is expected to be awarded to an off-the-shelf helicopter, meaning it must already be in service with either government or private owners.

The US military has had a chequered history with helicopter development programmes over the past decade.

The US Army has successfully fielded the unarmed EADS North America UH-72A Lakota as a light utility helicopter. But cost overruns and schedule delays forced the military to abort three programmes. Since 2004, the army terminated contracts for the RAH-66 Comanche and ARH-70 Arapaho. The US Navy also terminated a contract to redesign the EH101 as a presidential helicopter called the VH-71.

Meanwhile, the USAF was forced to cancel plans to buy a combat search and rescue (CSAR) helicopter after the original award was overturned and two follow-up attempts were declared invalid.

The CSAR and CVLSP programmes were originally part of the same contract, but the USAF separated them in 2005.

According to USAF budget justification documents released in February 2008, the CVLSP fleet is envisioned to provide escort for nuclear convoys, respond in any weather to emergencies across the far-flung launch silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles and transport passengers in the Washington DC area. The aircraft also could support NASA and homeland security missions.

The requirements in the acquisition notice call for an aircraft that is only marginally larger than the UH-1N. For example, the unarmed UH-72 could satisfy the lift, speed and endurance requirements, but lacks armoured protection and weapon systems. EADS has teamed up with Lockheed Martin to demonstrate an armed variant called the AS635. Both the UH-72 and AS635 are derived from the Eurocopter EC145 helicopter.

Other helicopters in the same class include the AgustaWestland AW129 multi-role combat helicopter and the Bell Helicopter 412EP.

FlightGlobal

US AIR FORCE MEMORIAL

[/img]

Admirer le vol de trois generation de bombardier

comme on en a discutté en 2009,18 F16 de SP seront retirés,ils les preparent mentalement a la separation..
le seul probleme,c´est qu´ils sont tous block 50..

Citation :

USAFE commander discusses fighter retirements

January 11, 2010 (by SrA Kali L. Gradishar) - The USAFs in Europe commander emphasized the important role each airman fulfills in supporting the mission both at home station and in the deployed environment during his visit Jan. 8, to Spangdahlem AB, Germany.

Gen. Roger A. Brady discussed a proposal to retire legacy fighters to fund a smaller and more capable force, as well as redistribute people for higher priority missions. The affects would impact Spangdahlem AB aircraft and personnel should the plan be approved by Congress.

"The (Combat Air Forces) restructuring plan is driven by a need for us to free up funds to develop more capability largely in the CAF itself, which has to do with new weapons, missiles and small diameter bombs," General Brady said.

"What it amounts to is basically a squadron of F-16 Fighting Falcons out of Spangdahlem. So rather than having two squadrons of 21 primary assigned aircraft units, you will have one 24-PAA squadron in addition to the A-10 Thunderbolt II squadron," General Brady said.

The plan would include a possible reduction in Spangdahlem AB manpower authorizations by approximately 450, and 18 F-16s would be removed. Under the proposed plan, the Air Force could see a cost savings of about $355 million in fiscal 2010. Air Force officials would then be able to invest most of those funds in advanced capability modifications to remaining fighters and bombers.

"(Col. Tip Wight, the 52nd Fighter Wing commander) and other leaders here are working to make the move as smooth as possible," General Brady said.

The USAFE commander also discussed the significance of Spangdahlem AB and the continuation of its mission in the Eifel region, as well as the importance of the 52nd FW mission and its geographically-separated units.

"There is a lot going on at Spangdahlem, which includes the 52nd FW and the Air Mobility Command missions the base supports," he said. "Spangdahlem will continue to be important, both as a location for fighter aircraft as well as for mobility, but as we continue to look at where we have mission capability throughout Europe, Spangdahlem will be an important part of that plan. "We have some capability here that we don't have other places. (Base members) have repeatedly and continually demonstrated incredible combat capability down range. They are also extraordinarily important when they are home for partner building here, for assurance to the alliance, the reassurance of our allies and the U.S. commitment to NATO.

"You've got the full range of fighter activity, you've got support to an important mobility hub, you've got partnering with our allies, and Spangdahlem has taken part in the air policing mission in the Baltics," he said. "(Spangdahlem) continues to be an important part of all the major things we undertake here in USAFE."

"Every Airman has a skill that is critical to what the team does," the general said. "We have very smart Airmen who want to fix things and make things better. It's what Airmen do. We will continue to be the most respected air and space force on the planet."

Courtesy of 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

http://www.f-16.net/news_article3962.html


Three-ship USAF F-16C/D formation from Spangdahlem AB, Germany - armed with Sidewinders and Mavericks. The closest F-16 is a D-model serial #91-0464 of the 22nd FS.


USAF F-16C's with the flagship of the 52nd FW flies the skies over central Europe. Spangdahlem AB consists of two F-16 squadrons, the 22nd and 23rd FS also seen here on February 17th, 2000.

Yakuza a écrit:

comme on en a discutté en 2009,18 F16 de SP seront retirés,ils les preparent mentalement a la separation..
le seul probleme,c´est qu´ils sont tous block 50..

En quoi est ce un Probléme ?

additional GE-129 shop,maintenance atelier etc...je parle de nous bien sure

Yak. parle des rumeurs sur l'achat de F-16 de seconde main ( ex-USAF)

les block 52 acheté par le maroc ont des moteur F100-PW-229

les block 50 retiré ont des moteur F110-GE-129

donc pas de parc de moteur homogène !

Quand est ce qu'ils ont été livré à l'USAF ?

un refirbish si vente il y a ?

Yakuza a écrit:

additional GE-129 shop,maintenance atelier etc...je parle de nous bien sure

Sauf si l'on considère que le GE-129 représente une opportunité d'upgrade interessante, car il est upgradable en -132 avec 142 Kn de poussée... il existe un Kit d'upgrade permettant le passage du -129 au -132 et l'obtention de plus de poussée et plus de fiabilité...

C'est un scénario parmi d'autre...