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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 10, 2013 7:04:06 GMT -5
Leaked Pentagon Report: The F-35 Won't Stand A Chance In Aerial Combat. businessinsider.com David Cenciotti, The Aviationist | Mar. 7, 2013, 7:41 PM www.businessinsider.com/the-f-35-would-be-defeated-aerial-combat-2013-3According to an article published by the Washington Times, the F-35A, the Conventional Take Off and Landing version of the Joint Strike Fighter, would be defeated in aerial combat because of its current shortcomings. Mentioning a leaked Pentagon report made available by POGO, the article explains that “out-of-cockpit visibility in the F-35A is less than other Air Force fighter aircraft,” thus limiting a pilot’s ability to see aerial threats surrounding him. The problem is in the large head rest that impedes rear visibility and the ability of the pilot to check the aircraft’s 6 o’clock for incoming aerial or surface threats. Another shortcoming is the aircraft adveniristic helmet mounted display system (HMDS Gen. II), that has not yet solved focal problems, blurry and double vision in the display and misalignment of the virtual horizon display with the actual horizon. The HMDS Gen. II integrates FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red) and DAS (Distributed Aperture System) imaging, and night vision (without somehow uncomfortable NVGs – Night Vision Goggles) into a single helmet in which essential flight and weapon aiming information are project onto a virtual HUD (Head Up Display) on the visor. A few weeks ago in a Flight Global piece by Dave Majumdar, Bill Flynn, the Lockheed test pilot responsible for flight envelope expansion activities for the F-35 had claimed that all three variants of the Joint Strike Fighter will have better kinematic performance than any fourth-generation fighter plane with combat payload, including the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Such claims were strongly disputed by a Eurofighter Typhoon industry test pilot, who tried to debunk all Flynn’s “theories” about the alleged superior F-35 performance. Considering the above mentioned F-35′s flaws (and all the shortcomings highlighted by the report…), the kinematic performance of the (recently, once again, grounded) stealth fighter, is the least of its problems. Aviation journalist David Axe has published an insightful piece about Lockheed Martin’s marketing efforts to keep up “the much-delayed, over-budget” F-35 Joint Strike Fighter reputation. -------- How The F-35 Turned Into Such A Disaster Pics n info, www.businessinsider.com/problems-with-the-f-35-2013-1 |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 17, 2013 14:29:20 GMT -5
Insight: Expensive F-35 fighter at risk of budget "death spiral"
By Andrea Shalal-Esa
WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:53pm EDT
(Reuters) - It's called the "death spiral," and America's newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone into service.
The term - recently invoked by top brass involved in the F-35 program - refers to a budgeting Catch-22 that plagues the defense industry. To keep the cost per airplane low, you need to build and sell a lot of planes. But in tough economic times, governments cut orders to save money. That pushes up the cost per plane, leading to more cancellations, pushing up the cost, leading to more cancellations. And so on.
The U.S. military is in the process of making tough decisions due to mandatory budget cuts from sequestration which went into effect March 1 and could lop off $46 billion of Pentagon spending this fiscal year.
Earlier this year, Pentagon budgeteers crunched the numbers on Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 in an exercise that spoke volumes about the troubles facing the world's most expensive weapons system and the Navy's uncertain commitment to it.
Postponing orders for about 40 of the 260 Navy models of the plane, which will take off from and land on aircraft carriers, would save money in the short-term, according to several defense officials familiar with the analysis, which has not been made public.
But it would also add from $1 billion to $4 billion to the eventual price of the F-35 program, already at a record-setting $396 billion.
Seven years behind schedule and 70 percent over early cost estimates, the stealthy F-35 "Lightning II" appears to have overcome myriad early technical problems only to face a daunting new question: is it affordable in an era of shrinking defense budgets?
According to a congressional watchdog agency, the average price per plane has already almost doubled from $69 million to as much as $137 million since the F-35 program began in 2001. Any further price rise could scare off potential buyers -including vital foreign customers.
"It's a house of cards," said one senior defense official who is familiar with the F-35 program, but was not authorized to speak publicly. "We have finally started improving performance on the program and efficiency in testing, and bang, we get this budget challenge."
Steve O'Bryan, one of Lockheed's top F-35 executives, says the company has already cut F-35 production costs by 50 percent, and is making progress on flight tests and software development.
"While there are still challenges and room for improvement, the program is heading in the right direction and we see no insurmountable obstacles to delivering the F-35 and its unprecedented 5th generation capability to our three U.S. service and international customers," he said.
BULLET PROOF?
Built by Lockheed and designed to be the next-generation fighter jet for decades to come for the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marines, as well as key U.S. allies in Asia and Europe, the F-35 appears bullet-proofed against cancellation.
There are no other new fighter jets in the pipeline; the U.S. military's fleet of warplanes is aging; and 10 allies including Britain, Japan and Israel are deeply invested.
Manufacturing - and jobs - spread across 46 states ensure a vital layer of political protection as well.
With 10 million lines of software code onboard, and another 10 million lines in its logistics and ground systems, the F-35 is a flying computer with radars and other sensors that can see enemy threats 200 miles away in any direction.
In what was meant to be a money-saving move, U.S. officials designed the F-35 as one basic fighter (with three variants) to replace a dozen warplanes flown by the U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as U.S. allies worldwide.
The U.S. armed forces currently plan to buy 2,443 F-35s in total, comprising 1,763 A-models for the Air Force, 420 B- and C-models for the Marines, and 260 C-models for the Navy. Foreign orders are now slated to total 721.
The Marine Corps, under pressure to replace its aging fleet of Harrier AV-8B "jump jets", Boeing Co F/A-18 Hornets, and EA-6B Prowlers, is scheduled to be the first U.S. military service to use the jet, by late 2015.
Given the tight schedule and huge cost of keeping its aging current fleet flying, top Marine Corps officials are vigilant about the program and the budgetary risks it faces.
"Any delay in fielding the F-35 brings added risk to the Marine Corps' ability to execute our mission as the nation's crisis response force and it affects our ability to augment U.S. Navy carrier air wings," Lieutenant General Robert Schmidle, Deputy Commandant of Aviation, said in a statement to Reuters.
Schmidle and other planners at the Pentagon are desperate to avert the "death spiral" that gutted the Air Force's plan to buy 750 F-22 Raptor stealth fighters down to just 187 jets.
Behind closed doors, some U.S. officials fret that sequestration budget cuts could trigger a similar dynamic on the F-35, which has already seen 410 orders pushed back beyond 2017.
Depending on how the cuts are implemented, the purchase of up to nine F-35s could be deferred in fiscal 2013 alone, Navy and Air Force officials have said. That might not seem like much out of more than 3,100 destined for U.S. and foreign clients.
But initial calculations show that while cutting nine jets would save about $1.3 billion, it would also raise the cost of the remaining aircraft by nearly $800 million, said one defense official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The Pentagon budget analysis, which Reuters is reporting for the first time, found that postponing the 40 Navy C-model jets would raise the cost of the Navy version by about $4.5 million per plane, and add between $1.5 million to $2.6 million to the per-plane cost of the Air Force and Marine Corps versions, according to several defense officials familiar with the study.
"Cutting tails to pay bills is inefficient. Whether it's nine planes in one year, or 40 across the (future years defense plan), you're going to pay later," said one of the officials. This official and others cautioned that the studies were hypothetical for now.
Air Force Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan, the often blunt F-35 program chief, invoked the dreaded "death spiral" this week as he pounded on the need to cut costs and keep foreign orders - which will account for half of all F-35s produced through 2017 - on track.
"The one thing that our partners care most about is how much this airplane is going to cost," he said. "If ... we want to sell the 600-plus airplanes to our partners and a couple hundred more projected to our (foreign military) customers, we better be darned sure we keep reducing the price on this airplane."
Even a two-year delay in Turkey's initial order of two jets had added $1 million to the cost of each of the remaining planes in the original order year, Bogdan told a defense conference.
No one knows exactly how much of a price tag will be too much to bear for countries like Australia and Canada, whose F-35 orders are already on shaky ground. "The tipping point will be different for each country," said one U.S. official.
In Australia, defense contractors involved in building the new jets are worried that $5.5 billion in expected orders will be in jeopardy if Canberra cuts its plans to buy 100 jets by 30 to 50 jets, as many experts expect.
Lockheed remains optimistic that international orders will hold up and even grow. South Korea is expected to choose the F-35 as the winner of a 60-jet competition to be decided this summer, and U.S. officials this week said Singapore may order more than a dozen F-35s in coming weeks.
Other allies, like Japan, see no going back on the fighter.
A senior official at Japan's Defense Ministry said it was keeping a close eye on cost and schedule risks, but there were no plans to change Tokyo's order for 42 planes: "If we don't buy until all the glitches are eliminated, it would be too late."
NAVY IS WARY
The Air Force is considering a slightly less capable version of the plane for its initial use, but the Navy is reconsidering the size of its order.
Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert this week ruled out scrapping the Navy's entire F-35C order, but said the Navy was thinking about how many jets it really needs.
Greenert last year ordered a study on equipping each aircraft carrier air wing with just one squadron of F-35s instead of two, according to defense analyst Loren Thompson. The Navy is also developing several unmanned planes, although military officials insist they will never completely replace manned fighters on carriers.
Bogdan said cutting the Navy's order too far would have serious consequences. "There is actually a 'do not go below' type of calculation, which says, if you get below the minimum production quantity on one of these variants, the price starts shooting up tremendously," he told the conference.
The Pentagon's Cost Analysis and Program Evaluation office recently forecast that the F-35's cost would rise by 9 percent if Washington only bought 1,500 jets and foreign partners stuck to their orders, according to a Government Accountability Office study, first reported by Reuters. The cost would surge 19 percent if Washington bought 1,500 jets and the partners none.
"If you cut any of these aircraft, the cost of each remaining one goes up," consultant Thompson said. "At some point soon, you're at risk of undermining the whole business case for the F-35 as an affordable new fighter."
The F-35's worsening fiscal challenges come just as advocates, and some independent analysts, say the often-troubled fighter development project is getting back on track after years of setbacks - which included two engine-related groundings this year - and expensive retrofits.
The F-35 "is now moving in the right direction after a long, expensive and arduous learning process," the GAO study concluded, although it said long-term affordability remained a big concern.
Top Pentagon officials are vowing to shelter the F-35 from the latest budget crisis, if they can.
"We'll try to protect the F-35," the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer, Frank Kendall, said this week. "There's no question about its priority.
(Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo and John O'Callaghan in Singapore; Editing By Warren Strobel, Claudia Parsons and Leslie Gevirtz)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 28, 2013 6:48:43 GMT -5
Very good documentary, suck it yankees!
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Reach for the Skies.
JourneymanVOD
Mar 28, 2013
It's been billed as the smartest jet fighter on the planet, designed to strike enemies in the air and on the ground without being detected by radar. But after a decade of intensive development, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is over budget, a long way behind schedule and described by one expert as "big, fat and draggy". So is this plane a super fighter or a massive waste of money?
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 10, 2013 11:06:48 GMT -5
US Air Force Grounds Combat Aircraft Due to Budget Cuts.
02:36 10/04/2013
WASHINGTON, April 9 (RIA Novosti) – The US Air Force has begun curtailing operations of about one-third of the active-duty combat aircraft following recent budget cuts, the Air Combat Command (ACC) said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The stand down is the result of cuts to Air Combat Command's operations and maintenance account, which must be implemented in part by flying approximately 45,000 fewer training hours between now and October 1,” the statement said.
The move affects aircraft assigned to fighter, bomber, aggressor and airborne warning and control squadrons stationed in the United States, Europe and the Pacific.
"Units will stand down on a rotating basis so our limited resources can be focused on fulfilling critical missions," said Gen. Mike Hostage, the ACC commander.
The Air Force's budget for the fiscal year ending in October has been reduced by $591 million as part of the series of deficit reduction measures that took effect on March 1 after the US politicians failed to agree an alternative to sweeping federal budget cuts totaling $85 billion this year.
"The current situation means we're accepting the risk that combat airpower may not be ready to respond immediately to new contingencies as they occur," Gen. Hostage warned.
According to the statement, on average aircrews lose currency to fly combat missions within 90 to 120 days of not flying and it generally takes 60 to 90 days to conduct the training needed to return aircrews to mission-ready status.
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 11, 2013 5:12:47 GMT -5
Iran unveils ‘Epic’ new drone. RT.com May 10, 2013 00:51 Much has been said already of the vast US military drone program, but Iran has just unveiled the latest of its own autonomous aircraft in a bid to highlight recent advances in the drive to build its own drone fleet. Designated as the Hemaseh in Farsi, meaning 'epic' in English, Iran’s latest reconnaissance-combat drone was unveiled on Thursday during a ceremony attended by Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi. Brightly painted in the colors of Iran’s national flag and sporting what looked to be two dummy missiles under its wings, the domestically built drone is said to possess stealth capabilities that would allow it to evade enemy radar. “This drone has been built by defense industry experts and is simultaneously capable of surveillance, reconnaissance and missile and rocket attacks,” Vahidi said during the unveiling. “This aircraft with its stealth quality can avoid detection by the enemy,” he added. In an earlier report produced by Iran’s official Fars News Agency (FNA) the country claims to be building “tens of different types” of unmanned aerial vehicles, and touts this latest model as the country’s most advanced. According to the FNA, 30 of a total of 40 types of drone models are already in the production phase. On February 2, Iran also unveiled to much fanfare another domestically produced aircraft, that time a manned “stealth” jet named Qaher 313, at a ceremony presided over by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Analysts within the US were generally suspicious of the unusual-looking aircraft, suspecting that it was a mock-up model rather than a flight-worthy prototype. In recent years Iran has unveiled several drone models, such as the long-range Karrar in August 2010, and more recently the Shahed 129 model publicly disclosed in September 2012. The Shahed 129 has been described as similar in appearance to Israel’s own Hermes 450 UAV, and according to Iran is capable of carrying out combat and reconnaissance missions for up to 24 hours. Shahed also represented the country’s second weapons-capable drone after Karrar. To what extent Iran has developed its own technology and applied it to its domestic drone program is unclear. In December of 2011, the country was evidently able to bring down a US Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel drone 420 kilometers from its Afghanistan border, and subsequently declared it intended to reverse engineer the stealth aircraft. American officials speculated at the time that an internal technical issue could have brought down the craft. In February, Iran released video footage allegedly decoded from the downed RQ-170, and images of the drone in Iranian possession seemed to indicate the craft had sustained only minimal damage. US analysts have expressed doubts that Iran could have reverse engineered key components, such as the drone’s stealth coating, though they worried that the technology would be shared with other countries, such as China. Iran announced the unveiling of four drone types during an April military parade, designated as Azem 2, Mohajer B, Hazem 3 and the allegedly radar-evading Sarir. The country has consistently demonstrated a desire to develop a robust domestic drone program. Iran has repeatedly been named in Israeli reports of drones launched from Lebanon, the latest of which was intercepted by the Israeli air force in late April near the coastal city of Haifa.  A picture released by Iranian news agency ISNA shows the new Iranian made drone "Epic" during a ceremony in Tehran on May 9, 2013.(AFP Photo / Hemmat Khahi) |
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 13, 2013 11:50:45 GMT -5
First Chinese stealth drone 'ready' for test flight. RT.com May 11, 2013 09:11 The Chinese military is making preparations for the inaugural flight test of its newly designed unmanned combat vehicle, bringing the Asian powerhouse into the stealth technology race, Chinese media report. China’s first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), known as the Lijian ('sharp sword'), is designed jointly by the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group and Shenyang Aviation Corporation. The project was launched in 2009 and the drone's first ground test was conducted on December 13 last year. The Lijian, which makes China the third country to possess stealth drone capabilities, is now ready for flight testing, China Aviation News reported on Friday. The Chinese UAV is designed for use by the PLA Air Force and Navy Air Force for combat missions, China Aviation News reported. It may also be used for tracking and reconnaissance along China’s lengthy and occasionally contentious border. Beijing’s ambitious efforts at developing its drone capabilities have not escaped the attention of Taiwan, which has quarreled with Beijing in the past over questions of sovereignty and national identity. “Taiwan should be concerned about China’s development of large numbers of sophisticated military UAVs,” Ian Easton, a research fellow at the Project 2049 Institute, told the Taipei Times. China’s stealth drone is third such unmanned combat vehicle in existence, after the X-47 designed by the United States, and the nEUROn, a collaborative effort of various EU companies. The nEUROn was launched in 2005 following an order by the French Defense Procurement Agency. The program is a collaborative effort between French, Italian, Swedish, Spanish, Greek and Swiss defense companies. The US Pentagon’s X-47 stealth drone, designed by Northrop Grumman, began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the US Navy's UCAS-D (Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration) program. The X-47 is still undergoing flight testing. The unveiling of the prototype places the People’s Republic of China ahead of several nations in the development of stealth drone technology. India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Sweden and Russia also have their own stealth UAV programs.  The "Yi Long" drone by China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) (AFP Photo) |
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 19, 2013 3:45:36 GMT -5
Nice way to respect the ww2 dead, Soulless Americans. Just another proof that America is dying, they respect nothing and they will loose the battle for the world. ---------------- Japan Assault Fleet Arrives at Pearl Harbor…Just For Practice. nation.time.com By Kirk Spitzer May 17, 2013 TOKYO – Warships from Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force have making stops at the American naval base at Pearl Harbor for more than two decades. But it’s going to seem strange, indeed, when Japanese ground troops clamor aboard this weekend. Three of the newest and largest ships in the JMSDF arrived at Pearl Harbor on Thursday. Several-hundred ground troops from Japan’s Western Army Infantry Regiment will link up with the ships after flying in from bases in Kyushu. The flotilla will continue on to southern California, where the troops will take part in several weeks of amphibious warfare training with U.S. Marines. Altogether, it represents one of the most ambitious military exercises of Japan’s post-war era. Japanese troops have trained with Marines for several years, but have never operated from their own warships. The JMSDF, though highly capable, does not have any ships specifically designed to carry ground forces or to launch or support troops ashore. Years of debate over whether to develop amphibious warfare capability ended in 2010 when China began to aggressively press ownership claims on Japan’s remote Senkaku Islands, which China calls Diaoyu. Japan has several thousand small and potentially vulnerable islands and rocky outcroppings that stretch some 700 miles southwest from Japan’s home islands. One of the goals of the exercise, called Dawn Blitz 2013, is learn how to berth large numbers of ground troops and store weapons, ammunition, equipment and supplies aboard ship for extended periods of time.  US Navy Specialist 1st Class Amanda Dunford Japan Maritime Self Defense Force warships JS Atago, foreground, and JS Shimokita, at Pearl Harbor naval base, Hawaii. The superstructure of a third Japanese warship, the helicopter carrier JS Hyuga, can be seen at right. On the deck of Shimokita are ground vehicles and helicopters – shrink-wrapped to protect against salt air -- that will take part in major amphibious warfare training in southern California. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Aug 9, 2013 21:04:19 GMT -5
Japan unveils largest warship since World War II. August 06, 2013 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS YOKOHAMA--Japan unveiled on Aug. 6 its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier. The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense--particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions--and to bolster the nation’s ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Though the ship--dubbed “Izumo”-- has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China. The tensions over the islands, along with China’s heavy spending on defense and military modernization, have heightened calls in Japan for beefed-up naval and air forces. China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after purchasing from Russia, and is reportedly moving forward with the construction of another that is domestically built. Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands. Though technically a destroyer, some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best equipped and best trained naval forces in the Pacific but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role. Japan says it has no plans to use the ship in that manner. The Izumo does not have catapults for launching fighters, nor does it have a “ski-jump” ramp on its flight deck for fixed-wing aircraft launches.  Japan's new warship "Izumo" is launched in Yokohama's Isogo Ward on Aug. 6. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Oct 28, 2013 18:33:33 GMT -5
First Video: China unveils nuclear submarine fleet. RT Oct 28, 2013 www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFRaNt91owIThe first nuclear submarine fleet from PLA North China Sea Fleet carried out a military drill as shown by footage released lately. The drill was aimed at testing the maneuver capability of the fleet in deep-sea navigation, long-distance operation, submarine communication and coordination with other battleships. Other than nuclear-powered submarines, a wide range of destroyers, frigates, depot ships and military helicopters were also engaged in the drill, according to military officers in the drill. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Oct 29, 2013 17:31:32 GMT -5
US Troops Turn to Liposuction to Pass Fat Test.  SAN DIEGO, October 29 (Julie Watson, Associated Press) — Troops often call plastic surgeon Adam Tattelbaum in a panic. They need liposuction — fast. Some military personnel are turning to the surgical procedure to remove excess fat from their waists in a desperate attempt to pass the Pentagon's body fat test, which relies on measurements of the neck and waist and can determine their future prospects in the military. "They come in panicked about being kicked out or getting a demerit that will hurt their chances at a promotion," the Rockville, Maryland, surgeon said. Service members complain that the Defense Department's method of estimating body fat weeds out not just flabby physiques but bulkier, muscular builds. Fitness experts agree and have joined the calls for the military's fitness standards to be revamped. They say the Pentagon's weight tables are outdated and do not reflect that Americans are now bigger, though not necessarily less healthy. Defense officials say the test ensures troops are ready for the rigors of combat. The military does not condone surgically altering one's body to pass the test, but liposuction is not banned. The Pentagon insists that only a small fraction of service members who exceed body fat limits perform well on fitness tests. "We want everybody to succeed," said Bill Moore, director of the Navy's Physical Readiness Program. "This isn't an organization that trains them and says, 'Hey, get the heck out.'" The Defense Department's "tape test" uses neck and waist measurements rather than the body mass index, a system based on an individual's height and weight that is widely used in the civilian world. Those who fail are ordered to spend months in a vigorous exercise and nutrition program, which Marines have nicknamed the "pork chop platoon" or "doughnut brigade." Even if they later pass, failing the test once can halt promotions for years, service members say. Failing three times can be grounds for getting kicked out. The number of Army soldiers booted for being overweight has jumped tenfold in the past five years from 168 in 2008 to 1,815. In the Marine Corps, the figure nearly doubled from 102 in 2010 to 186 in 2011 but dropped to 132 last year. The Air Force and the Navy said they do not track discharges tied to the tape test. Still, service members say they are under intense scrutiny as the military trims its ranks because of budget cuts and the winding down of the Afghanistan war. Dr. Michael Pasquale of Aloha Plastic Surgery in Honolulu said his military clientele has jumped by more than 30 percent since 2011, with about a half-dozen service members coming in every month. "They have to worry about their careers," the former soldier said. "With the military downsizing, it's putting more pressure on these guys." Military insurance covers liposuction only if it is deemed medically necessary, not if it is considered cosmetic, which would be the nature of any procedure used to pass the test. The cost of liposuction can exceed $6,000. Some service members go on crash diets or use weights to beef up their necks so they're in proportion with a larger waist. Pasquale said liposuction works for those with the wrong genetics. "I've actually had commanders recommend it to their troops," Pasquale said. "They'll deny that if you ask them. But they know some people are in really good shape and unfortunately are just built wrong." |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Nov 22, 2013 17:47:55 GMT -5
China’s first stealth combat drone takes maiden flight - reports.
RT.com
November 22, 2013 01:40
The first Chinese stealth unmanned combat drone conducted a successful maiden flight Thursday, according to accounts by Chinese media and photos taken from a popular Chinese military website.
Lijian, or “sharp sword” in English, aced its first test flight in southwest China, making the People’s Republic of China the fourth nation to successfully fly a stealth unmanned aerial vehicle.
The test flight lasted nearly 20 minutes, according to accounts on cjdby.net, a Chinese military forum, and later picked up by the People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency and the South China Morning Post.
Several photos show the delta-wing, single-engine drone in flight early Thursday afternoon.
Lijian was made for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and Navy Air Force for combat, tracking and reconnaissance, said Xu Guangyu, a former PLA major general who is now a senior researcher at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.
"The drone, which is capable of flying undetected at high altitudes while providing high-resolution video and other intelligence, will let maritime departments keep abreast of developments in the East and South China seas and will help Beijing make accurate decisions when dealing with territorial disputes with its neighbors,” Xu said, according to South China Morning Post.
Wang Ya’nan, deputy editor-in-chief at Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told China Daily, Lijian is ideal for use at sea.
"I think the size and technological capability of the Sharp Sword make it a suitable choice for the navy if it is to select an unmanned combat platform for its aircraft carrier."
One Chinese anti-terrorism expert said Lijian won’t be used for domestic, anti-terrorism spying.
"China's anti-terrorism activities take place at home, so conventional methods of surveillance are sufficient," said Li Wei, of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations. "The cost of deploying a (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) is too high and not necessary.”
Lijian was designed jointly by the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group and Shenyang Aviation Corporation, both of China’s top aircraft manufacturer, Aviation Industry Corp of China. The project was launched in 2009, and the drone's first ground test was conducted on December 13, 2012.
The information office at Aviation Industry Corp of China would not confirm Thursday’s flight, according to China Daily.
The drone has been compared to the Northrop Grumman-made X-47 series used by the US Navy which recently conducted successful aircraft carrier operations, and the nEUROn, made by various European companies but led by the French company Dassault Aviation.
Medium’s David Axe, a longtime military and conflict reporter, said Lijian is closer to the Russian MiG Skat drone.
South China Morning Post said Lijian is China’s “third home-grown stealth aircraft in three years, and follows the advanced J-20 and J-31 stealth fighter jets.”
Axe notes China is trying to catch up to America’s unmanned drone fleet, beyond just those with stealth capabilities.
“Before Sharp Sword, China unveiled a prop-driven armed drone similar to the US Predator, plus a jet-powered long-range spy UAV akin to the American Global Hawk,” Axe wrote. “Chinese navy warships have launched small drones not unlike the US Scan Eagle.”
Long-distance photos of a Lijian prototype started appearing in May on various military forums, as Chinese media reports the drone had completed ground-taxiing tests around that time.
The most recent Pentagon report on the Chinese military, published in May, alluded to Lijian.
“The acquisition and development of longer-range Unmanned Aerial Vehicles…and Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles, will increase China’s ability to conduct long-range reconnaissance and strike operations.”
The Pentagon recognizes “solid-state electronics and micro processors [and] guidance and control systems” as technologies China finds simpler to buy or steal rather than developing on its own, Axe noted.
China joins the US, the UK and France in successfully flying a stealth combat drone. India, Iran, Israel, Italy, Sweden and Russia also have their own stealth UAV programs.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 8, 2014 12:46:49 GMT -5
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 14, 2014 14:14:25 GMT -5
The Air Force Totally Lied to You About the Fiery Fate of Its Stealth Bomber.
Swift cover-up as $2-billion warplane goes up in flames
medium.com/war-is-boring
David Axe in War is Boring
On Feb. 26, 2010, a U.S. Air Force B-2 stealth bomber forward-deployed to America’s giant Pacific air base in Guam was getting ready for a training flight when one of its four jet engines burst into flames.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze and the crew escaped unharmed. A Guam newspaper phoned Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman, who reassured the paper that the fire was “minor.”
But that was a lie—the depth of which is still becoming apparent, four years later. The cover-up is one of a long chain of obfuscations by the U.S. military in the wake of serious and even fatal accidents involving its most high-tech and expensive warplanes.
Far from being minor, the fire underneath the radar-evading B-2’s skin caused serious damage that rendered it unable to fly—a big deal, considering that the Air Force possesses only 20 of the giant bombers. The B-2s, normally based in Missouri, are the only long-range American warplanes able to slip past heavy enemy defenses.
Northrop Grumman built 21 B-2s for the Air Force between the 1980s and early 2000s at a total cost of more than $40 billion. A small number of the bat-wing bombers rotate through Guam in order to put them within quick flying time of America’s Pacific rivals, including China. But the Pacific ops are risky: in 2008, a B-2 crashed in Guam, reducing the stealth bomber fleet to just 20 planes.
Losing another B-2 in Guam not two years later obviously had the potential to be hugely embarrassing for the flying branch. For more than a year after Hoffman dismissed the latest accident as “minor,” no one outside of the Air Force had any idea that the B-2, named Spirit of Washington, had nearly been destroyed and was, in fact, stuck in Guam.
The Air Force did not list the fire in its official tally of B-2 mishaps, but a presentation by a pair of military researchers in October 2010 did acknowledge the incident … and stressed the unexpected difficulties that airmen faced trying to smother a blaze underneath the bomber’s special radar-absorbing skin.
The first major indication that Hoffman, and indeed the entire Air Force, had been less than truthful about the B-2’s condition came in August 2011, when the flying branch released a feel-good official story describing efforts to get Spirit of Washington back into flying shape so that the bomber could return to the mainland United States for permanent repairs.
The official story ret-conned the bomber fire to “horrific” and described the “Herculean” task of shipping new parts to Guam in order to patch up the crippled airplane, get it back into the air and shepherd it across the vast Pacific to Northrop Grumman’s secretive stealth warplane factory in Palmdale, California. “The task list was long and included rebuilding some structural components,” the Air Force admitted.
Reporters were incensed.
Spirit of Washington spent the next two years in Palmdale being rebuilt by Northrop Grumman in the same facility that produces top-secret stealth drones. Another official story in December 2013 detailed the huge extent of the repair work. “A percentage of the parts could be re-manufactured, but other parts could only be obtained from Air Force spare parts depots.”
On Dec. 16 last year, the restored Spirit of Washington took off on its first training sortie since the 2010 fire. Four days later, the Air Force deigned to announce the bomber’s return to duty—and the increase in the operational B-2 fleet from 19 airframes to 20.
The cover-up is consistent with the Pentagon’s handling of incidents involving its most sophisticated warplanes, which besides the B-2 also include the F-22 stealth fighter and the V-22 tiltrotor. The complex V-22 takes off and lands like a helicopter but cruises like an airplane thanks to its rotating engine nacelles.
For years, F-22 pilots complained of oxygen deprivation apparently resulting from inadequate equipment in the high- and fast-flying plane, which costs up to $300 million apiece. In 2010, Capt. Jeff Haney died after crashing his F-22 in Alaska. The evidence strongly indicated that Haney had blacked out, but that did not stop the Air Force from blaming the accident on pilot error.
Likewise, the Air Force and Marines’ finicky V-22s—purchased for $100 million a pop—crash and burn at a rate much higher than the official statistics admit. When a V-22 went down in Afghanistan in 2010, killing four people, the Air Force blamed the crew despite evidence that the tiltrotor’s engines had failed in mid-flight.
And when lead accident investigator Brig. Gen Donald Harvel protested, the flying branch brass mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit and silence him.
The Pentagon seems to want Americans believe that its high-tech warplanes rarely malfunction. The reality is that crashes and fires are shockingly common, expensive and deadly.Likewise, the Air Force and Marines’ finicky V-22s—purchased for $100 million a pop—crash and burn at a rate much higher than the official statistics admit. When a V-22 went down in Afghanistan in 2010, killing four people, the Air Force blamed the crew despite evidence that the tiltrotor’s engines had failed in mid-flight.
And when lead accident investigator Brig. Gen Donald Harvel protested, the flying branch brass mounted a coordinated campaign to discredit and silence him.
The Pentagon seems to want Americans believe that its high-tech warplanes rarely malfunction. The reality is that crashes and fires are shockingly common, expensive and deadly.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 14, 2014 14:17:00 GMT -5
Missile defense buster: China tests new hypersonic glide vehicle. RT.com January 14, 2014 04:07 China has successfully tested its first hypersonic missile delivery vehicle capable of penetrating US missile defense system and delivering nuclear warheads with record breaking speeds, Pentagon officials have confirmed. The new hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), dubbed the WU-14 was allegedly spotted flying at record-breaking speeds during a flight test over China on January 9, an anonymous Pentagon official told the Washington Free Beacon. The new weapon delivery system is reportedly designed to be launched as the final stage of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile, which would approach its target at a velocity of up to 10 times the speed of sound. Hypersonic speed range lies between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or 3,840 to 7,680 miles per hour. A Pentagon spokesman confirmed the Chinese test launch but declined to provide details. “We routinely monitor foreign defense activities and we are aware of this test,” Lt. Col. Jeffrey Pool, a Marine Corps spokesman, told the Washington Free Beacon. “However, we don’t comment on our intelligence or assessments of foreign weapon systems,” Pool said in a statement. “We encourage greater transparency regarding their defense investments and objectives to avoid miscalculation,” he added. Hypersonic vehicles, which are also being designed by the US, India and Russia, are developed for precise targeting, rapid delivery of weapons, and are being tested to outmaneuver hostile missiles and space defenses. “A boost glide missile theoretically would be intended to counter existing mid-course missile defenses,” Mark Stokes, a former US Air Force officer told the Washington Free Beacon. Strokes explained that China is developing two hypersonic flight vehicle programs – one believed to be of a post-boost vehicle designed to be deployed from a missile that pursues its target from near space, or some 62 miles from earth. Basing his hypothesis on emerging reports from China, Stokes believes that hypersonic glide vehicles could reach Mach 12 speeds of up to 9,127 miles per hour, potentially compromising a US missile defense. “The beauty of the HGV is that it can perform hypersonic precision strikes while maintaining a relatively low altitude and flat trajectory, making it far less vulnerable to missile defenses,” Rick Fisher, an analyst at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told the Washington Free Beacon. “With the integration of strategic analysis and planning into technical research, China’s pursuit of hypersonic and high-precision weaponry promises to be faster and more focused than that associated with its previous [anti-satellite] and [ballistic missile defense] related research and programs,” Lora Saalman, a specialist on Chinese strategic systems with the Carnegie Endowment Saalman said in an email to the publication. “This recent test is a manifestation of this trend.” The Chinese are “actively seeking global military power to challenge the United States, and it is not yet in any mood to talk, or engage in arms control, about it,” Fisher said. In May, the Pentagon’s assessment of Chinese capabilities suggested that China built the world’s largest shockwave hypersonic wind tunnel capable of generating test flying conditions of up to Mach 9 speeds. Two Chinese technical papers from December 2012 and April 2013 revealed that the country is developing precision guidance systems designed to be directed via satellite. The second Chinese paper concluded that hypersonic weapons pose “a new aerospace threat.” Current American hypersonic research is being conducted through the FALCON program in association with the Pentagon and Air Force. The US is in the process of perfecting Lockheed HTV-2, an unmanned, missile-launched aircraft capable of gaining speeds of up to Mach 20, or 13,000 miles per hour. The US Air Force is also testing the X-37B Space Plane, which has been orbiting earth since December 2012. At the same time Boeing is working on the X-51 WaveRider, a jet-fueled, air-breathing hypersonic rocket developed for the Air Force to be used for hypersonic attack and reconnaissance missions. Russia too has confirmed the development of similar ultrasonic technology. The Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center said in its annual report that Russia is building “a new class of hypersonic vehicle” that would “allow Russian strategic missiles to penetrate missile defense systems.” “We are experiencing a revolution in military science,” Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin said last June, after the 4th test of an advanced road-mobile ICBM, a “missile defense killer” called the RS-26 Rubezh (‘frontier’). “Neither current nor future American missile defense systems will be able to prevent that missile from hitting a target dead on.” Moscow is also developing the S-500 air and space defense system, with interceptors capable of shooting down hypersonic missiles.  Artist's rendition of the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 by DARPA, image from darpa.mil -------------- China confirms new hypersonic glide vehicle test-flight. RT.com January 15, 2014 21:45 China confirmed conducting a test flight of a new hypersonic missile delivery vehicle capable of delivering nuclear warheads with record breaking speeds. The move is purely scientific and not targeted at any country, said the Defense Ministry. "Our planned scientific research tests conducted in our territory are normal," said the Beijing Defense Ministry as cited by Reuters on Wednesday. "These tests are not targeted at any country and at any specific goals." The ministry’s statement confirmed a report by the Washington Free Beacon on Monday. The newspaper cited US Pentagon officials saying that a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) was detected flying at ten times the speed of sound over China on January 9. (link) The officials added that the ultra-high speed missile vehicle is aimed at "delivering warheads through US missile defenses." The HGV dubbed the WU-14 was reportedly designed to be launched as the final stage of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile. Its hypersonic speed range reportedly lies between Mach 5 and Mach 10, or 3,840 to 7,680 miles per hour. US Congress voiced concerns on Tuesday fearing the country is falling behind in the international hypersonic arms race. “While round after round of defense cuts have knocked America’s technological advantage on its back, the Chinese and other competitor nations push towards military parity with the United States; in some cases, as in this one, they appear to be leaping ahead of us,” Chairman Rep. Howard P. “Buck“ McKeon (R., Calif.) and Reps. Randy Forbes (R., Va.) and Mike Rogers (R., Ala.) said in a statement as cited by Washington Free Beacon. The newspaper also said the test made China the second country after the US to have successfully tested a hypersonic delivery vehicle able to carry nuclear warheads at a speed above Mach 10. Hypersonic vehicles, designed by the US, Russia and India, are developed for precise targeting and rapid delivery of weapons. They are intended to counter hostile missile and space defenses. Annual increases in China’s military spending have allowed Beijing to boost the quality and performance of domestic weapons and military hardware. According to Chinese technical reports from December 2012 and April 2013 the country is developing precision guidance systems designed to be directed via satellite. Russia too has confirmed the development of “a new class of hypersonic vehicle” that would “allow Russian strategic missiles to penetrate missile defense systems,” according to the Air Force National Air and Space Intelligence Center. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 18, 2014 6:17:24 GMT -5
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