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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

Citation :: RED HORSE Drop

Posted 5/23/2011

Airmen assigned to the 820th RED HORSE Squadron jump from a C-17 Globemaster III May 12, 2011, during a training exercise above Alamo, Nev. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth)

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Citation :: Northrop Grumman Receives Authorization From U.S. Air Force to Begin Work on Defense Weather Satellite System

Northrop Grumman Corporation has received authorization and funding to proceed on a Department of Defense weather satellite system projected for launch in 2018. The Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) will leverage the accomplishments and momentum of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program.

The company announced it received authorization from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., to transition work from the NPOESS contract and proceed under the DWSS program. DWSS will provide enhanced weather information critical to battlefield operations, and deliver it more quickly to the warfighter than current systems.

"For DWSS, we have defined an effective program plan that leverages the high level of maturity achieved on the spacecraft and sensors that are already in production, and we continually work closely with the Air Force to pursue efficiencies throughout the program," said Linnie Haynesworth, vice president and DWSS program director for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "Our team is prepared to immediately execute a successful and affordable program to bring this critical capability to the warfighter."

The DWSS is a critical successor to the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which has been delivering weather data for military use since the mid-1960s. Timely completion of DWSS is essential to maintain continuity with the current DMSP satellites and establish a backup in the event of a launch or satellite failure on orbit for the remaining two DMSP satellites. Time-sensitive weather data delivered promptly is critical to military operations planning and warfighter and weapons deployment.

The DWSS is required to provide reliable, high-fidelity, near real time information about weather and environmental conditions around the world to inform aviation, naval, and coastal marine operations and land assets. DWSS will also provide information needed to protect space-based assets from solar and other space weather conditions.

defpro

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 المسيرة-الخضراء2

un petit dessin vaut mieux qu'un long discours scratch

Citation :

U.S. Air Force Prepares for F-35A Training on F-35B, F-35C Story Number: NNS110525-09 5/25/2011 From F-35 Integrated Test Force Public Affairs PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (NNS) -- U.S. Air Force maintainers arrived here April 19 to get hands-on experience with the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. Seven airmen from the Air Force's 33rd Fighter Wing are at Naval Air Station Patuxent River for 75 days to gain first-hand experience maintaining the F-35B and F-35C variants, while those aircraft continue flight test and evaluation. They are the second group from the Wing to visit the F-35 test facility at Pax River. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to deliver the F-35A aircraft AF-8 to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida and the first joint training squadron later this year. "It is beneficial working around the F-35B and F35-C variants," said Master Sgt. Timothy Weaver, crew chief, and member of the 33rd Fighter Wing. "With this being a joint program, we learn a lot about how each branch handles maintenance. We are learning how the Marines operate, how the Navy operates, and sharing how we operate." The F-35C is distinct from the F-35A variant with its larger wing surfaces and reinforced landing gear for greater control in the demanding carrier take-off and landing environment. However, the three variants are similar enough that maintainers benefit from performing basic maintenance, such as refueling, launch and recovery and tire changing, all functions the Navy considers day-to-day maintenance, Weaver said. "The C and A variants have a lot of the same systems, but some of the parts are in different locations," said Weaver. He serves as the lead Air Force maintainer and production supervisor over the day-to-day activities on a flight line. He was also instrumental in the stand-up of the training wing at Eglin. Eager to know what to expect before AF-8 arrives at Eglin, the maintainers volunteered for this assignment. Tech. Sgt. Miguel Aguirre, armament specialist, and a quality assurance specialist, is here to gain knowledge of how the Lockheed Martin team performs maintenance. He will be responsible for overseeing the contractor-performed maintenance for AF-8 at Eglin. While there are no weapons being tested yet, Aguirre is the only armament specialist in the Air Force to work directly on the F-35. "We are the eyes and ears for the group," said Aguirre. And from what he has seen so far, "from a maintenance perspective, the JSF is user-friendly." "Procedures require that we start small," said Tech. Sgt. Lucas Delk, crew chief, who performs similar duties to the Navy's plane captain. "It is real exciting to see the F-35, and get hands-on experience." Delk noted minor differences between the Air Force and Navy's carrier variants, but said "the meat and the potatoes are the same." Weaver's team looks for any opportunity to get their hands dirty, and when they cannot, they are watching and gaining knowledge. "There is always work going on," he said. "Members of the 33rd Fighter Wing are not just here for training," Weaver added. "We help the test points advance." This Air Force crew will be followed by another group from Eglin this summer. The AF-8 test asset is currently in Fort Worth, Texas, undergoing airworthiness testing prior to transfer to Eglin. The F-35A conventional take-off and landing model is undergoing testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The 33rd is the Defense Department's first joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing for the three F-35 variants organized under Air Education and Training Command's 19th Air Force. It is an associate unit at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Its mission is to train Air Force, Marine, Navy and international partner operators and maintainers of the F-35. For more news from Naval Air Systems Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navair/.

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Citation :: USAF MOP integration success

The USAF is attributing the successful integration of its Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) onto its B-2 Spirit stealth bomber to its weapons load trainer, because it is ‘that close’ to the original aircraft.
The simulator enables the 509th Bomb Wing to practice loading the MOP without taking an aircraft out of service, and is ‘an identical match to the B-2’ in terms of the interior shape and size of the weapons bays.
‘The weapons load is that close to the B-2 that they can do anything as far as munitions-wise with the weapons load trainer that you can do on the actual aircraft,’ Capt Michael Crass of the 509th Bomb Wing told the Air Weapons Integration conference in London on 26 May.
‘You wouldn’t be able to tell if this is the airframe or the weapons load trainer.’
The system is a full-scale, easy weapon loading trainer, with two functional weapon bays, just like the B-2 itself, and it simulates the interior of the aircraft, producing a high-fidelity mock-up of the MOP.
The MOP is a GPS and precision-guided bomb designed to penetrate dirt, rock and reinforced concrete.
The 13,608kg weapon contains some 2,404 kg of conventional explosives inside a 6m long body of hardened steel.
Northrop Grumman, the USAF’s prime contractor for the B-2, boasts that the aircraft can: ‘Deliver 80 independently targeted 500lb [227kg] class bombs from its smart bomb rack assembly or up to 16 2,000lb [907kg] class weapons from its rotary launcher’.

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Citation :: SOURCE:Flight International
Cessna Caravan wins USAF counter-insurgency contract

Wichita-based Cessna has beat several foreign competitors for a contract to supply dozens of "light lift" aircraft as the US Air Force (USAF) arms itself and certain partner countries for irregular warfare.

The USAF awarded an $88.5 million contract on 26 May for six Cessna T-128T and 26 Cessna 208B Caravans to be delivered the Afghanistan air force.

Cessna, a Textron subsidiary, beat rival offers from New Zealand-based Pacific Aerospace P-750, which was teamed with DynCorp, and the EADS North America CASA C-212.

The award is part of a two-year-old initiative launched by USAF chief of staff Gen Norton Schwartz to equip both his own service and certain partner countries with aircraft suited to irregular warfare campaigns.

After donating the 32 total aircraft to the Afghanistan air force, the light lift contract includes an option to deliver 15 more aircraft to McGuire AFB, New Jersey, to start training an air advisory corps within the USAF.

The contract also includes options for buying another 24 Caravans in two lots, which may be passed on to other countries which have partnered with the USAF in battles against insurgents and terrorists.

The light lift contract award comes as the air force continues to evaluate bids for a turboprop-powered light strike fighter.

A Hawker Beechcraft/Lockheed Martin team has offered the AT-6B against an Embraer/Sierra Nevada team proposing the A-26 Super Tucano. Embraer is based in Brazil, but intends to install a second final assembly plant in Jacksonville, Florida.

The USAF source selection process does not usually consider whether the aircraft is sourced from another country, but political supporters of the Hawker/Lockheed team has raised concerns about buying combat aircraft from Brazil.

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un petit dessin vaut mieux qu'un long discours scratch

Citation :: Les USA vont détacher des F-16 en Pologne

http://info-aviation.com/?p=9359

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 4cdc5300-4889-4be3-9a10-1fb0c573da7d

"Les belles idées n'ont pas d'âge, elles ont seulement de l'avenir"

Citation :: F-22 Getting New Brain

It has proved so difficult and expensive to upgrade the F-22 Raptor, whose stealthy body contains sensors and electronic brains, that the U.S. Air Force may take the unprecedented step of threading what amounts to a second central nervous system into a fighter jet.

By introducing an open architecture to one of the world's most tightly knit proprietary systems, service officials hope to make it much cheaper and easier to insert new technology - even gear developed for the F-35 Lightning II - into the stealthy air-superiority fighter.
"This jet has a very highly integrated avionics system. Because of that tight coupling and that highly integrated nature, it makes it very difficult, and we are highly reliant upon [Raptor makers] Lockheed Martin and Boeing to do any kinds of modifications to the jet," said David Weber, deputy director of the F-22 System Program Office (SPO) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Weber said the open-architecture effort is meant to allow the Air Force to open upgrade work to competition.
Today, he said, "the architecture is proprietary to Lockheed Martin, and we're kinda stuck with Lockheed Martin when we want to integrate something new."
Weber said the work is at such an early stage that the F-22 SPO has no guess how much it might cost.
This year, service officials plan to study the options, in part by issuing a request for information inviting contractors to suggest demonstration projects to help flesh out the alternatives.
"All of them have different ideas about how to go about doing this," Weber said.
In October through December, the service will award contracts to allow contractors to demonstrate ideas in a lab or flying testbed, said Col. John Williams, who runs the F-22 SPO's modernization office.
The SPO officials said Boeing and Lockheed would be welcome to bid on the demonstration contracts.
Lockheed, which had earlier proposed to essentially port the hardware and software architecture of the F-35 Lightning II into the Raptor, might respond to the Air Force solicitation with a similar proposal, said Jeff Babione, Lockheed's Raptor program manager. But Babione said the company might propose a different solution, depending on the service's requirements.
The Air Force will ultimately select one contractor to install the new architecture on its Raptors - ideally, said Weber, all 185 that will be built, less two losses.
"From our perspective, the fleet size is so small compared to where we wanted to be, our objective would be to make this applicable to all aircraft," he said.
The SPO deputy director said it may be deemed too costly to install the new architecture on the 34 oldest Raptors, which are currently used for training. Those planes are also not slated to get the Increment 3.2 upgrade, the next major group of hardware and software upgrades for the Raptor fleet.
But Weber noted that the new architecture might also make it cost-effective to bring those oldest Raptors up to the 3.2 standard.
If all goes well, development work could begin in earnest around 2014 as part of the development of Increment 3.2C, which is slated to begin installation in 2019 or 2020, he said.Grafting On

As currently envisioned, the new network would be grafted onto the F-22's existing avionics, Weber said. The twin-engine jet's current network would continue to carry data between existing components, while upgraded ones would be linked by the new network. The data from both architectures would be translated and fused so that the jet continues to operate as a cohesive whole.
The installation of the new architecture might happen in one step, or it might proceed piece by piece, Williams said.
"Potentially, you could do it multiple times based on what you're trying to open up," he said. "You're opening up the [communication, navigation and identification]; maybe you're opening up the radar more, something like that. You may actually have multiple guys doing it, but it will be to a common standard."
As more systems are ported over to the new architecture, the older systems would wither away.
"Gradually, you'd have to start migrating some of the functions that we currently have in our core integrated processor away from the core integrated processor, so that everything doesn't flow through that piece," Williams said.
It may or may not be possible to migrate all of the Raptor's functionality.
"It depends on the degree we can open up the architecture," Weber said.
Lockheed's Babione said it might not be cost-effective to move everything to the new system.
The F-22 has received one upgrade - called Increment 2 - since it first arrived on Air Force flight lines in 2005. Those upgrades have added the capability to drop two 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions to the aircraft.
A planned upgrade, called Increment 3.1 and slated to begin this year, will add synthetic aperture radar mapping, the capability to carry eight Small Diameter Bombs, and other features.
In 2014, a software-only upgrade called Increment 3.2A will add electronic protection against jamming, better Link 16 receive capability and combat identification, and other improvements. In 2017, Increment 3.2B will add support for the plane's AIM-9X short-range and AIM-120D medium-range anti-air missiles, among many other upgrades.
In 2008, then-Pentagon acquisition chief John Young put the total cost of developing and installing Increment 3.1 and what became 3.2A and 3.2B at around $8 billion. The figure has likely gone up because the Air Force now plans to upgrade more F-22s.
Once the new architecture is installed, "if we want a new capability on the airplane, we can go out to industry with an RfI [request for information] and say, 'You all got good ideas; can you make it work with this architecture?'" Weber said.
The ultimate goal is to allow systems such as new radars to be "plug-and-play," as a printer might be to a desktop computer, he said.
This might allow the Raptor to use technology developed for the F-35 Lightning II without time-consuming and expensive integration work, Williams said. Ë

defensenews

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Citation :: L’armée américaine prévoit de doubler son nombre de drones

Dans un rapport pour le congrès (Aircraft Procurement Plan 2012-2041), l’US Air Force, Army, Navy et le Corps des Marines ont prévu leurs besoins pour les trente prochaines années. Seuls les drones semblent confortés.
En 2021 il est prévu une flotte d’environ 650 appareils contre « seulement » 340 aujourd’hui. Les Etats-Unis ont de nombreux projets de drones en cours : X-45C Phantom Ray de Boeing, X-47B de Northrop Grumman et Predator C Avenger de Global Dynamics en plus de ceux qui sont déjà opérationnels Globlal Hawk, Predator, Reaper…

http://www.aerocontact.com/actualite_aeronautique_spatiale/ac-l-armee-americaine-prevoit-de-doubler-son-nombre-de-drones~12107.html

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 4cdc5300-4889-4be3-9a10-1fb0c573da7d

"Les belles idées n'ont pas d'âge, elles ont seulement de l'avenir"

Citation :

Photo Release -- First Global Hawk Arrives at Its New Home in Grand Forks
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D., June 1, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and the U.S. Air Force commemorated the arrival of the first RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at Grand Forks Air Force Base. The aircraft landed on May 26 from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. The arrival of the Global Hawk also commemorates Grand Forks as the second main operating base in the United States after Beale. A photo accompanying this release is available at [url=http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=9770]http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=9770[/url] "Expanding the Global Hawk's mission of high altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in today's fight is essential," said Brig. Gen. Paul H. McGillicuddy, 9^th Reconnaissance Wing commander. "Having this platform at Grand Forks allows us the ability to fly more missions providing continuous support to combatant commanders around the world." Both Block 20 and 40 Global Hawks will be controlled from Grand Forks. The Block 40 Global Hawk will deploy from the Grand Forks main operating base to any location worldwide for both military and humanitarian applications. "We are proud to celebrate the arrival of the Global Hawk and establish Grand Forks as Global Hawk's second main operating base," said George Guerra, HALE Systems vice president, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "The addition of a second main operating base will further enable Global Hawk to provide 24/7 global coverage for both military and humanitarian efforts." Block 20 and 40 are alike in size, but differ in payload configurations. The Block 40 Global Hawks are equipped with the Northrop Grumman AN/ZPY-2 Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, built with teammate Raytheon Space and Missile Systems in El Segundo, Calif. The MP-RTIP is the first radar sensor to concurrently use synthetic aperture radar imaging, while tracking moving targets simultaneously over large areas. The RQ-4 Global Hawk flies up to 60,000 feet, above weather and commercial air traffic. Global Hawk flies for more than 32 hours per sortie at speeds approaching 340 knots. The MP-RTIP-equipped Block 40 Global Hawk can persistently see through most types of weather, day or night. As the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk meets the global need for persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk program is based at its Aerospace Systems' Unmanned Systems Development Center in San Diego. The company performs Global Hawk subassembly work at its Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss., and final assembly at its Antelope Valley Manufacturing Center in Palmdale, Calif. The principal Global Hawk industry team includes: Aurora Flight Sciences, Bridgeport, West Va. (V-tail assembly and other composite structures); L-3 Communications, Salt Lake City (communication system); Raytheon Company, Waltham, Mass. (ground station); Rolls-Royce Corporation, Indianapolis (engine); and Triumph Aerostructures, Dallas (wing). Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit

www.irconnect.com

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Citation :: Cessna Aircraft Awarded USAF Contract

Cessna Aircraft has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract by the 877th Aeronautical Systems Group to build aircraft for the US Air Force (USAF).
Under the $88.5m contract, the company will provide six Cessna 182T aircraft, 26 208B aircraft, six air-crew training devices, and interim contractor support for aircraft and training devices in Afghanistan.
The equipment to be provided will be part of the Afghanistan basic trainer / light lift family of systems.
12 Cessna 208B Caravans will be delivered to Shindand Air Base in Afghanistan, with the remainder going to Kabul Air Base.
Work on the 182 single-engine aircraft will be carried out at the company's Independence plant, and the 208B aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, US.

airforce-technology

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Citation :: SOURCE:Flight International
USAF powers up for long-awaited UH-1N replacement

When three nuclear protestors broke into the E-9 Minuteman launch site in rural North Dakota on 20 June 2006, alarm bells rang all over the US Air Force.

Terrorists may have tried harder to gain access to the missile silo. But these trespassers were dressed as clowns, and merely spray-painted slogans around the site. Finished with their work, they waited patiently inside the launch site with hands raised until a helicopter-borne USAF security force arrived to arrest them.

Within the air force, however, the incident underscored the need to replace an ageing, under-powered fleet of 62 Bell UH-1Ns charged with responding to such alarms across vast distances.

The USAF's unguarded, remote missile sites dotting the Great Plains have always been vulnerable to potentially catastrophic security breaches, and the trio of harmless clowns only seemed to mock that risk.

A more high-profile security lapse in 2007, when a Boeing B-52 inadvertently transported six nuclear-tipped missiles across the country, drove sweeping reforms of the USAF nuclear enterprise. But it has taken five more years and a controversy over acquisition strategy to address the UH-1N replacement issue.

On 27 May, the USAF finally launched a competitive bidding process for 93 helicopters, releasing a draft request for proposals under the common vertical lift support platform (CVLSP) programme.

Recognising the scale of the need if not the urgency, the USAF's draft requirements call for a very different kind of helicopter than the 4,700kg (10,400lb)-class UH-1N.

For the most challenging profile - responding to a security breach at a missile launch site - the aircraft with four crew members must transport a nine-member security force with all of their weapons and other equipment a minimum of 210km (115nm) and back, with multiple stops en route.

The five most likely helicopters competing for the CVLSP contract are at least 50% larger than the UH-1N, ranging from the 6,800kg AgustaWestland AW139 to the 22,700kg Boeing HH-47. Falling in between are the Bell UH-1Y, Sikorsky UH-60M and the Eurocopter EC725 offered by EADS North America.

The USAF's demands for increased performance may yet force some competitors to switch to an even larger aircraft.

"We don't see any requirement that we don't meet with a government off-the-shelf UH-60M aircraft," said Tim Healy, Sikorsky's director of air force business development. But he added: "It isn't a cakewalk, but we do meet all the requirements we see so far."

Until now, the USAF has released only the aircraft requirements, but not the acquisition strategy. Until it divulges how the requirements will be scored in an evaluation, most competitors are keeping their options open.

AgustaWestland, Boeing and EADS confirmed interest in competing for the contract, but declined to specify which aircraft could be proposed. AgustaWestland has the option of choosing between the AW139 and larger AW101, while EADS is balancing potential bids based on Eurocopter's EC725 Cougar or AS532 Puma.

Boeing's only option appears to be the HH-47 Chinook, unless it teams with Bell to offer the V-22 tiltrotor. However, the USAF has not expressed any interest in a high-speed aircraft, with its draft requirement documents calling for a minimum speed of 135kt (250km/h). While 30% faster than the UH-1N, this is less than half the top speed of the V-22.

In addition, Bell seems concentrated on offering the UH-1Y for the CVLSP contract, describing the far more powerful and updated version of the Huey airframe as the "best value" in the competition.

The competitors' strategies are likely to take shape after 10 June, when the USAF is expected to reveal the acquisition strategy for CVLSP during a closed-door "industry day" meeting.

The competitive strategy has already survived an attempt within the USAF to at least consider awarding a sole-source deal to the UH-60M. In late March, USAF acquisition officials rejected the sole-source option in favour of a competitive bidding process.

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un petit dessin vaut mieux qu'un long discours scratch

Citation :: Boeing Awarded Additional C-130 Modernization and Training Contracts by US Air Force

C-130 AMP low-rate initial production continues successfully

OKLAHOMA CITY, June 3, 2011 – Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that it has received a $61 million U.S. Air Force contract for two more C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kits and two Aircrew Training System devices as part of a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract that was awarded in 2010.
“We look forward to adding more aircraft to our line over the next two years,” said Tommy Jackson, C-130 AMP deputy program manager for the U.S. Air Force. “Our team at Warner Robins Air Force Base is modifying the cockpits of two C-130 aircraft that were inducted in late 2010 and expect to have them completed this year.”
Boeing is building two new C-130 AMP Aircrew Training System devices: a Weapon System Trainer and an Avionics Part Task Trainer. The training devices will be developed at supplier CAE USA’s Tampa, Fla., facility and delivered to the Arkansas Air National Guard C-130 AMP training center at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., in 2014.
This is the second Air Force contract in three months that approves the purchase of more AMP kits for the C-130 Hercules. In December, an Acquisition Decision Memorandum authorized the LRIP program to increase from 20 to 26 aircraft. A total of six AMP kits have been approved for purchase and the two at Warner Robins, Ga., are the first to be installed. The third C-130 scheduled for LRIP will be inducted in late 2011 and the fourth in early 2012.
“Low-rate initial production is moving forward as planned,” said Mahesh Reddy, C-130 AMP program director for Boeing. “We are on a deliberate path toward full rate production and a safer and more cost-effective solution for the warfighter.”
Source and photo: Boeing

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Citation :: Les drones tactiques RQ-7 seront bientôt armés

Le 11 mai, la société Arcturus a présenté le drone tactique T-20 dont les ailes peuvent emporter un missile Saber de 10 livres construit par MBDA.

Le corps des Marines va pouvoir commencer les tests sur ce nouveau drone pouvant emporter des charges utiles. Le T-20 développé par Arcturus pourrait ainsi compléter, voire remplacer, le RQ-7 Shadow d’AAI actuellement déployé au sein du corps des Marines. Une tendance suivie de près par les militaires…
Les mini-drones opèrent toujours sans armes et se limitent à fournir des données GPS de ciblage à des roquettes M30 MLRS, et à long terme pour des missiles ATACMS MLRS, ou des obus Excalibur de 155 mm.
La différence entre le RQ-7 Shadow de l’Armée de terre et ses homologues de l’USAF comme le MQ-1A Predator, ou le nouveau MQ-1C Sky Warrior, c’est que le Shadow est trop petit et trop léger pour être armé. Mais le développement des missiles ultra-compacts, et l’augmentation des missions en Afghanistan se produisant hors de portée de l’artillerie, a fait de l’armement du Shadow un objectif prioritaire.

Test du kit de guidage RCFC pour obus de mortier 81mm.

http://info-aviation.com/?p=9406

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 4cdc5300-4889-4be3-9a10-1fb0c573da7d

"Les belles idées n'ont pas d'âge, elles ont seulement de l'avenir"

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A 28th Bomb Wing B-1B Lancer flies past the crowd during the 2011 Dakota Thunder airshow at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., June 4, 2011. Nearly 40,000 people of all ages and walks of life converged here to watch the vast array of aerial demonstrations and view numerous static aircraft.

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An Airman assigned to the 28th Security Forces Squadron guards of a B-2 Spirit during the 2011 Dakota Thunder airshow at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., June 4, 2011. The B-2 is an intercontinental multi-role heavy bomber capable of high subsonic speeds.

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A B-2 Spirit flies past the crowd during the 2011 Dakota Thunder airshow at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., June 4, 2011. Nearly 40,000 people of all ages and walks of life converged here to watch the vast array of aerial demonstrations and view numerous static aircraft.

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Citation :: Boeing anticipates T-X delay, promotes new jet to replace T-38

Boeing executives expect the US Air Force to delay replacing the Northrop T-38C Talon by several years as the company continues to promote the costlier option of developing a new jet trainer.

On 7 June, Boeing Phantom Works president Darryl Davis opened discussion on the T-X programme, saying he "understands" budget pressures have already forced USAF officials to delay a T-38 replacement by several years.

But Boeing Military Aircraft president Chris Chadwick softened that message, saying he "can see [T-X] slipping to the right a year or two" as part of broader budget pressures.

Global Support Systems president Tony Parasida hedged his predictions, however. "Our expectation is that it will slide out," he said. But he declined to rule out other possibilities, adding: "I'm banking on all options."

Boeing's gloomy outlook for launching the T-X programme on schedule within the next two years came as a surprise to the USAF and at least one competitor. Since 2008, the Air Education and Training Command (AETC), which operates the T-38C fleet, has been committed to fielding the first operational T-X jet in fiscal year 2017.

"The air force has not, at this point, delayed T-X [initial operational capability]," AETC said when asked for a response. It said it is continuing with its budgeting process to have the IOC of T-X in FY2017.

BAE Systems is preparing to offer an off-the-shelf Hawk advanced jet training system and is unaware of any delay.

"We are talking to the customer regularly and we are obviously aware of budget pressures, but [there's] no suggestion of that sort of delay at this time," BAE said.

The competitive field also includes the Lockheed Martin/Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 Golden Eagle and the Alenia Aermacchi M-346, rebranded for the USAF bid as the T-100.

Boeing has kept its ideas for a clean-sheet design a closely guarded secret, but it is clear the company has been working on concepts for at least two years.

On 7 June, a group of journalists touring a Boeing simulation facility glimpsed a digital image of a new single-engined jet wearing the white-on-grey colours of AETC.

An icon on a control station screen for a T-X simulator showed a new concept for a two-seat jet with shallow V-tails similar to the Northrop YF-23 prototype. The simulation at the time presented a scenario based at Randolph AFB, Texas - the headquarters of the command acquiring the T-38 replacement.

The icon represented a notional aircraft's track on a simulator operator's control screen, emulating the movements commanded by the "pilot" flying the jet in a simulated cockpit.

Boeing officials denied that the image represented a concept for a clean-sheet T-X design, but did not explain how the image was created. No photographs were allowed inside the facility, and Boeing declined requests to release a picture of the aircraft concept.

The Air Education and Training Command may have to fly on its aged T-38C Talons

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Citation :: Wisconsin ANG pilot safe following aircraft accident

MADISON, Wisc. (AFN) -- A pilot from the Wisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing here is safe after ejecting from an F-16 Fighting Falcon over Adams County June 7 during a routine training flight.

The pilot has been recovered south of Chester, Wisc., and is being medically evaluated. The aircraft has been located in Chester. Emergency responders are on the scene to secure the aircraft.

An Air Force investigating team has been requested to determine the cause of the accident.

www.af.mi

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

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Citation :: SOURCE:Flight International
Boeing warns Joint STARS upgrades may cost $10-$15 billion

Boeing has escalated a campaign to persuade the US Air Force to replace the Northrop Grumman E-8C joint surveillance target attack radar system (Joint STARS), warning that actual costs to modernise the 707-based surveillance fleet may exceed official estimates by up to five times.

Boeing's analysis of the cost to upgrade the E-8C with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) sensor, new engines, wide-band communications, modern avionics and a self-protection system, ranges between $10-$15 billion, said Egan Greensteing, a Boeing senior manager for business development.

That number compares to a $2.9 billion estimate developed jointly by the USAF and Northrop, which includes a "radar technology refresh", a communication network upgrade, a self-defence suite and cheek radar arrays.

"Any other figure besides the ones I have previously discussed, I can't validate," Northrop said in a statement.

The cost debate could figure prominently as the USAF nears the end of a wide-ranging, 18-month study in September. That analysis of alternatives will define how the USAF invests in the ability to track moving objects on the ground from the air - the key function of the Joint STARS APY-7 radar.

Since the first of 17 Joint STARS aircraft became operational in January 1991, however, radar technology has dramatically changed.

The US Navy has invested heavily in programmes to convert a portion of its maritime patrol fleet into armed overland surveillance platforms to rival the USAF's Joint STARS programme.

A small number of Lockheed P-3C Orions have been deployed with an AESA-based Raytheon littoral surveillance radar system (LSRS). Meanwhile, the USN is developing a new version of that sensor - the Raytheon advanced airborne sensor (AAS) - for the Boeing P-8A Poseidon.

In February 2010, Boeing unveiled a proposal to develop an airborne ground surveillance (AGS) variant of the P-8A to replace the Joint STARS fleet.

Boeing estimates the full price to develop and deliver 17 P-8A AGS aircraft is $5.5 billion. Asked if the company is willing to commit to a fixed-price contract based on that figure, Greenstein replied it was too premature in the absence of details of the USAF requirements.

The P-8A would also carry a new, AESA-based sensor that would "leverage" the USN's investment in the AAS programme, Greenstein said.

Along with the P-8A's ability to carry weapons, the AESA radar proposal may set Boeing's proposal apart from the E-8C modernisation plan. It is possible the "radar technology refresh" described in Northrop's statement refers to upgrading the APY-7, rather than installing an AESA-based sensor.

Northrop officials have argued that it is unnecessary to arm the Joint STARS platform.

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Citation :: 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron

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A F-15E Strike Eagle from Bagram Air Field receives fuel from a KC-10 Extender, from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, during an air refueling mission supporting Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan, June 3.

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A F-15E Strike Eagle from Bagram Air Field rolls into a split S as it returns to mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom above Afghanistan, June 3.

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

que dieu benisse les mains qui ont crée cette forte structure,avec le fuel full+7 JDAM+2 Tanks+2 AAM,et ca fait une roll sans limitation

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 A10-na10

même son CFT il est US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 874160

Le F-16

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A F-16 Fighting Falcon, from the 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, receives fuel from a KC-10 Extender, from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, during an air refueling mission supporting Operation Enduring Freedom over Afghanistan, June 3.

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A KC-10 Extender from the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, hovers above another KC-10 during an air refueling mission over international waters, June 3.

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Citation :: SOURCE:Flight International
Raytheon's AIM-120D AMRAAM faces funding cut

A panel of US lawmakers has proposed a devastating funding cut for the Raytheon AIM-120D AMRAAM in order to clear a growing production backlog.

Raytheon's production line for the latest version of the medium-range air-to-air missile is more than 100 weapons behind schedule and operational testing has yet to begin.

As a result, the House appropriations committee's defence panel wants to eliminate funding in the AIM-120D production account, freeing up $435 million for 379 missiles to be spent elsewhere in the fiscal year 2012 defence budget.

Such a move, if approved by the Senate, would gut Raytheon's production line for one year. Since its AIM-120D and export AIM-120C7 missiles are produced on the same line, the price of the latter could rise as order quantities are reduced. That could leave foreign buyers with a larger bill or fewer missiles next year.

If Raytheon's production line catches up next year, the proposal also threatens to create a break in the line for AIM-120D missiles, which add a two-way data link and GPS-aided navigation. Production breaks generally create higher costs when funding resumes.

The proposed funding cut would wipe out Lot 26 in the annual AMRAAM production sequence.

The US Air Force is still negotiating terms with Raytheon for Lot 25 of production, which also includes AIM-120D missiles for the US Navy.

"The combination of the delayed FY2011 contract and the lag in production allows the requested FY2012 funding to be used for higher priorities," the appropriations panel's report said.

The Senate appropriations committee's defence panel is expected to consider the issue in July as part of the FY2012 defence budget.

Any differences between the Senate and the House versions of the defence spending bill must be resolved in conference before a joint package can be sent to the White House to be signed.

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Citation :: Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II Completes Control Test Vehicle Flight

Raytheon Company completed its first post-contract award control test vehicle flight of the Small Diameter Bomb II.

During the test, a U.S. Air Force F-15E released the SDB II in flight, and after safely separating from the aircraft, the weapon deployed its wings and performed a series of preprogrammed maneuvers. The mission met all test objectives.

"The SDB II is an air-launched, precision-strike standoff weapon that will enable the warfighter to defeat moving and fixed targets in adverse weather conditions," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems vice president of Air Warfare Systems. "With its tri-mode seeker and highly lethal warhead, SDB II will prove an ideal solution for the warfighter."

SDB II incorporates an improved seeker that features three modes of operation: millimeter-wave radar, uncooled imaging infrared and semiactive laser. The uncooled seeker reduces the total life-cycle cost of the weapon and improves reliability by reducing part count.

"This test demonstrates the high performance of the SDB II design and validates the aerodynamic performance mold used in our simulations," said Tom White, Raytheon's SDB II program director.

defpro

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Citation :: Raytheon to Produce Sensor System

Raytheon received a contract from the U.S. Air Force to produce the first airborne tactical hyperspectral sensor system. The company made the announcement Sunday at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

The Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System Hyperspectral, also known as ACES HY, is an infrared sensor system developed to identify targets based on their spectral characteristics, according to Raytheon.

In September 2010, Raytheon worked with the Air Force to successfully complete flight testing of ACES HY on a manned Twin Otter aircraft used as a surrogate for the MQ-1 Predator unmanned system.

As the prime systems integrator for ACES HY, Raytheon leads team members L3 Integrated Optical Systems and Space Computer Corporation in the effort. The ACES HY Program is managed by the U.S. Air Force Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

aviationtoday

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Signat16

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Ground crew members at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., make the final checks June 13, 2011, to the X-51A Waverider scramjet prior to its second test flight. Affixed to a B-52H Stratofortress, the Waverider was flown over the Pacific Ocean and launched.

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Ground crew members at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., make the final checks June 13, 2011, to the X-51A Waverider scramjet prior to its second test flight. Affixed to a B-52H Stratofortress, the Waverider was flown over the Pacific Ocean and launched.

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A B-52H Stratofortress taxis to the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., June 13, 2011, carrying the X-51A Waverider scramjet. It was the second test flight of the Waverider and upon completion provided significant hypersonic research data to program engineers.

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Citation :: Goodrich to Produce New Equipment for USAF C-130

Goodrich has successfully completed development of new carbon brake and boltless wheels for the US Air Force (USAF) fleet of C-130 transport aircraft.
The new C-130 boltless wheel and DURACARB carbon brake system is designed to maximise performance and reduce operating cost, providing longer life compared to steel braking systems.
The boltless aircraft wheels employ a lock-ring design, which reduce maintenance time and cost, in addition to reduced parts count, when compared to traditional bolted aircraft wheels.
The new equipment is currently being flight tested by USAF, while Goodrich's aircraft wheels and brakes business begins production to support deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2011.

airforce-technology

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US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

Le Prophéte (saw) a dit: Les Hommes Les meilleurs sont ceux qui sont les plus utiles aux autres US Air Force - USAF - Page 19 Star3

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