Brazil is going to participate in the programme to develop an advanced combat plane, the PAK-FA T-50, that will be built by the Russian Sukhoi firm. The aircraft, invisible to radar, promises to equal or exceed in performance the F-22 Raptor fighter produced in the United States (the most expensive in the world at a unit cost of 225m dollars) and should make its first flight within two years at most.br /br /Construction of the new aircraft is only part of a wide-ranging memorandum of understanding negotiated in Moscow in February and signed yesterday by Minister of Strategic Affairs Mangabeira Unger and the secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Valentin Alekseevitch. The framework agreement marks the start of extensive cooperation between the two countries, including that on technologies considered sensitive. Called for in the space field is construction of a new launch vehicle for communication and remote sensing satellites. Use of he Alcantara Airspace Base by a new binational firm is also contemplated in the treaty.br /br /While discussing the PAK-FA, Mangabeira emphasized that it would be “a fifth-generation fighter.” Total cost is estimated at about 20bn dollars to be divided among Russia, Brazil, and India, which will also participate in the programme. The unit price, lower than that of fourth-generation European fighters, will be approximately 80m dollars.br /br /In addition to being invisible to radar, the fifth-generation combat planes will be capable of reaching supersonic speed using half the engine’s power, a capability that reduces fuel expense, increases range, and reduces enemy engagement time. Currently, only the Americans have aircraft with those characteristics – the F-22 Raptors – in operation. A cheaper model, the F-35 Lightning, which costs 135m dollars, is in the certification phase. Minister of Defence Nelson Jobim was able to watch a demonstration of that fighter during his visit to the United States, but the aircraft was ruled out because no technology transfer was offered with it.br /br /”We are interested not in buying finished goods but in partnerships that can strengthen the technological capability of both,” the minister said. Besides Russia, China and Japan are also working on fifth-generation aircraft, but the PAK-FA project, which began 10 years ago, is the one currently at the most advanced stage.br /br /Satellite Launch Vehiclebr /br /Russia is already cooperating with Brazil in the space field. A group of experts is in Sao Jose dos Campos acting as advisers on the Satellite Launch Vehicle (VLS) programme. The Russians are participating in the design of a new first stage, using liquid rather than solid fuel, for the rocket, which has accumulated a series of failures since the first launch attempt in 1997. Our country also has technology transfer programmes with Ukraine in connection with the production of rockets and with France, which intends to produce medium-size helicopters in Minas Gerais and submarines in Rio de Janeiro.br /br /Source: a href=”http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1346614/brazil_russia_sign_agreement_on_fighter_jets_space_launch_vehicles/”RedOrbit/a
Archive for April, 2008
Brazil, Russia Sign Agreement on Fighter Jets, Space Launch Vehicles
JF-17, Growing popularity with Asian-African countries
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SAT5MZQHN_I/AAAAAAAAAeg/aBD8lRWf76M/s1600-h/300px-JF-17_testing.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp2.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SAT5MZQHN_I/AAAAAAAAAeg/aBD8lRWf76M/s320/300px-JF-17_testing.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189546661969868786″ border=”0″ //aOne of the more obvious avenues is tied to the way the two countries continue working together to promote their arms industry. Earlier this year, at the Singapore Air Show, there was much interest in the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet jointly produced by Pakistan and China.br /br /According to the authoritative Jane’s Defence Weekly, up to 20 countries from the Asia-Africa region expressed an interest in purchasing the JF-17 aircraft, attracted not only by its high quality but also the very attractive price. Some analysts claim the JF-17′s price could be about one-thirds the price of a comparable aircraft produced by leading manufacturers of fighter planes in Europe and the United States.br /br /Source:br /a href=”http://watandost.blogspot.com/2008/04/pakistan-china-relations.html#links”Inside News About Pakistan and its Neighborhood: Pakistan – China Relations/a
F-22 Raptor as a anti-satellite Fighter
The F-22 Raptor is an adaptable high-technology military flying machine with capability to become an early 21st Century anti-satellite weapon launcher, according to a recent report indicating that a derivative of the Aim-120 AMRAAM missile is being modified for just such a new mission.br /br /A senior U.S. Air Force official confides that the capability is inherently that of a cheap, rapidly-deployed, air-launched weapon for shooting down satellites in low-Earth orbit if the service or Missile Defense Agency were to order its further refinement and development.br /br /“If you put the missile in an F-22 [Raptor] and launch it at Mach 2 and 60,000 ft. while in a zoom and at a 45-degree angle, you’ve got an ASAT capability against spacecraft in low-earth orbit,” says one USAF General.br /br /Air Force planners are said to be adamant that the missile be on forward deployed, manned fighters like the F-22 Raptor. Tactical air planners bring up the frustration in the 1991 Gulf War when pilots could see Scuds ascending but had no way to attack them.br /br /Source:br /a href=”http://spaceports.blogspot.com/2008/04/f-22-raptor-as-space-fighter.html”Spaceports: F-22 Raptor as Space Fighter?/a
New Helo Could Reach 250 Knots
Sikorsky aircraft is revving up for the first test flight of what could become the fastest helicopter ever fielded in battle: The recently unveiled 5.300-pound X2 demonstrator attack chopper, built to reach sustained speeds of 250 knots. “For a light tactical helicopter, the X2 could be arrayed with a gun, rockets or some more precise weapons like Hellfire. We are in early discussions with customers to see what their needs are,” said Jim Kagdis, program manger for advanced programs, Sikorsky Aircraft.p If the speed of 250 knots is achieved and sustained, the X2 helicopter will be almost 100 knots faster than the current Apache attack helicopter, which hits maximum speeds of 170 knots./pp The X2 is built with two overlapping lightweight composite rotorblades, the same 1,400 horsepower engine once built for the canceled Comanche helicopter, and a pusher prop providing thrust from the rear of the aircraft, Kagdis said./pp If built and deployed as intended, the 250 knot high-speed X2 helicopter would nearly double the current speed of the U.S.Army UH-60 Black Hawk, also made by Sikorsky, which flies at a maximum speed of 135 knots./ppArmy Aviation leaders are closely watching the X2, which is now going through ground runs in anticipation its first test flight later this year from a test site in Elmira, N.Y./pp “I like what they are attempting to do, but I want to see it go 250 knots. When I see it go 250 knots, I want it to be able to maintain the same agility that you have with conventional rotorcraft,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt, who directs the Army Aviation Task Force./pp X2 demonstrator was unveiled last month at a helicopter show in Houston, Texas./ppThe helicopter is designed to fly at unprecedented speeds for a helicopter while maintaining the characteristic maneuverability of lightweight tactical helicopters, Kagdis sad./pp “This is designed to operate like a helicopter. It has low-speed maneuverability and agility. It has helicopter attributes at low speed, but a smooth, consistent almost jet-quality like quality ride at the 250 knot speed,” said Kagdis./pp The X2 demonstrator is also built with so-called fly-by-wire technology, allowing the aircraft to fly automatically in the event that a pilot is injured, Kagdis said./pp “The X2 could be chosen for those missions that require speed. Maybe a light, tactical helicopter for a special ops community, that allows you to launch, go 250 knots into the area of operations and then operate like a helicopter. Then the speed will allow you to get out and go to your next mission,” said Kagdis./pp The added speed has generated some early interest from the military medical evacuation community, where getting to a casualty fast can often be the difference in a life-threatening injury./pp”The EMS operators were immediately able to say speed gives me the ability to get to the accident earlier and supply medical care and get them back to a facility,” said Kagdis./pp Even if the speed is achieved, it is unclear whether the services will ultimately bring the helicopter into their inventory./pp”Do you still have the same level of payload capability? Did my fuel consumption go up so I get one-third the distance? All those things will have to be balanced,” said Mundt./pSource: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3474579amp;c=AIRamp;s=TOP
US Air Force to China: Our geeks can beat up your geeks
In a recent interview in Foreign Policy, former US cybersecurity czar Richard Clark discussed the US military’s forthcoming Air Force Cyber Command and the nation’s overall security picture in the global, networked knowledge economy. Clark’s concern is not that we’ll have an earth-shaking, stupor-dispelling Internet version of 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, but that we won’t. Instead, Clark fears that a steady, silent bleed of public- and private-sector secrets will weaken the US military and economy.br /br /”What is happening every day is quite devastating, even though it doesn’t have a kinetic impact and there are no body bags,” Clark told Foreign Policy. “What’s happening every day is that all of our information is being stolen. So, we pay billions of dollars for research and development, both in the government and the private sector, for engineering, for pharmaceuticals, for bioengineering, genetic stuff—all sorts of proprietary, valuable information that is the result of spending a lot of money on Ramp;D—and all that information gets stolen for one one-thousandth of the cost that it took to develop it.”br /br /Clark blames most of the damage on attacks by the Chinese government, but he’s also concerned about the potential of non-governmental actors—mainly terrorists and organized crime—to wage cyber-warfare on a level that matches or exceeds that of governments like the US and China.br /br /In response to these threats, the US Air Force will soon launch its Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYBER), yet another explicit recognition that the US now sees our national and international communications infrastructure as a theater of war, and that the country is serious about developing the capacity to mount a credible offense in it. An Air Force general told ZDNET UK that this offense will include denial of service attacks, data loss and manipulation, and disruption of system integrity, among other capabilities.br /br /According to the command’s a href=”http://www.afcyber.af.mil/”web site/a, AFCYBER begins operations on October 1. Interestingly enough, the USAF has explicitly stipulated that the entire command be “virtual.”br /br /”We’ve asked [the command] to become virtual,” Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne told government officials in remarks that were reported in AFCYBER’s online news outlet. “In other words, we’ve said, we don’t want you to be a standard … command as you might see from the Napoleonic era. …We asked them to look [into commercial] companies [to] see how they operate and minimize the headquarters. … [Many of our units are] already located in the various states around the country, so our first inclination is to leave those in place.”
U.S. Air Force Buys 28 Predator UAVs
The U.S. Air Force awarded two new contracts Monday for 24 Predator MQ-1B unmanned aircraft and four Predator B Reaper MQ-9 unmanned aircraft worth about $78.7 million to General Atomics, according to an Air Force press release.br /br /Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has continually pressed the Air Force to increase its number of combat air patrols Predators fly over the Middle East in response to the need expressed by field commanders. Currently, the Air Force has about 125 Predators with hopes of growing that number to 300 by 2013 to meet the increased mission requirements.br /br /Last year, the service deployed the MQ-9 Reaper for the first time in September 2007 to Afghanistan.br /br /It executed its first air strike in the Deh Rawood region of Afghanistan a month later. The MQ-9 is larger than the MQ-1 and can carry 3,000 pounds of munitions, including the Hellfire missile and conventional laser guided bombs, while the MQ-1 is limited to 500 pounds.br /br /The contracts provided for the installation of Hellfire missile kits on the Predator MQ-1.
Red Flag
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/R_IoDm9B1PI/AAAAAAAAAdg/bGQS8dDy2q4/s1600-h/240px-Redflagalaska.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;” src=”http://bp3.blogger.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/R_IoDm9B1PI/AAAAAAAAAdg/bGQS8dDy2q4/s320/240px-Redflagalaska.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184250163518100722″ border=”0″ //aRED FLAG is an advanced aerial combat training exercise hosted at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and Eielson Air Force Base Alaska. Since 1975, air crew from the United States Air Force (USAF) and other U.S. military branches and allies take part in the exercises, each of which is six weeks in duration.br /br /The Red Flag exercises, conducted in four-to-six cycles a year by the 414th Combat Training Squadron of the 57th Wing, are very realistic aerial war games. The purpose is to train pilots from the U.S., NATO and other allied countries for real combat situations. This includes the use of “enemy” hardware and live ammunition for bombing exercises within the Nevada Test and Training Range.br /br /RED FLAG-Alaska participants are organized into “Red” defensive forces and “Blue” offensive forces. “White” forces represent the neutral controlling agency. The defensive force includes ground-control intercept and surface air defense forces to simulate threats posed by potentially hostile nations. These forces generally employ defensive counter-air tactics directed by ground-control intercept sites. Range threat emitters – electronic devices which send out signals simulating anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missile launches – provide valuable surface-to-air training and are operated by a civilian contractor as directed by 353d Combat Training Squadron technicians. The offensive force includes the full spectrum of U.S. and allied tactical and support units. Because the defensive and offensive forces meet in a simulated hostile, non-cooperative training environment, the job of controlling the mock war and ensuring safety falls to the White neutral force.br /br /On an average, more than 700 people and up to 60 aircraft deploy to Eielson, and an additional 500 people and 40 aircraft deploy to Elmendorf Air Force Base, for each RED FLAG-Alaska exercise. Most participating RED FLAG-Alaska units arrive a week prior to the actual exercise. During that time, aircrews may fly one or two range orientation flights, make physical and mental preparations, hone up on local flying restrictions, receive local safety and survival briefings, and work on developing orientation plans.br /br /During the two-week employment phase of the exercise, aircrews are subjected to every conceivable combat threat. Scenarios are shaped to meet each exercise’s specific training objectives. All units are involved in the development of exercise training objectives. At the height of the exercise, up to 70 jet fighters can be operating in the same airspace at one time. Typically, RED FLAG-Alaska conducts two combat missions each day.br /br /All RED FLAG-Alaska exercises take place over Alaskan and Western Canadian airspace. The entire airspace is made up of 17 permanent military operations areas and high altitude training areas, plus two restricted areas, for a total airspace of more than 67,000 square miles.br /br /Aircrews aren’t the only ones who benefit from the RED FLAG-Alaska experience. Exercises provide an operations training environment for participants such as unit-level intelligence experts, maintenance crews, and command and control elements.br /br /By providing generic scenarios using common worldwide threats and simulated combat conditions, RED FLAG-Alaska gives everyone an opportunity to make the tough calls combat often requires.br /br /h2span class=”mw-headline”Countries that have taken part in Red Flag:/span/h2United Statesbr /United Kingdombr /Denmarkbr /Norwaybr /Indiabr /South Koreabr /Israelbr /Italybr /Egyptbr /Germanybr /Japanbr /Canadabr /Australiabr /New Zealandbr /Singaporebr /Swedenbr /Turkeybr /Saudi Arabiabr /Venezuela (1992 amp; 1996)br /France (August 2008)br /Brazil (August 2008)br /Spainbr /Netherlandsbr /Russia (Expected participation)
