Pentagon acquisition executive John Young says the U.S. Air Force will spend $8 billion to upgrade 100 F-22 fighters, which he said would be “lesser models” without the modifications.br /br /The money, which will be used to create and install better software and make other unspecified modifications, is included in the 2010 defense spending blueprint that will be handed to the incoming Obama administration, Young told reporters during a Nov. 20 breakfast in Washington.br /br /p”The Air Force had planned and accepted to have a two-tiered structure where some of the earlier jets were not fully capable jets, not to the Block 35 configuration, which provides important capabilities. I think something like 100 jets would kind of be lesser models” under that plan, Young said. “One thing that’s in the [2010 budget plan] is to bring more of that fleet to common, high-end, capable configuration. The cost of that is $6.3 billion of [research and development].”/ppHe expressed concern about spending so much to upgrade the Air Force’s prized fighter because “this is [for] a platform we’ve already developed.”/ppHis comments came one day after he was grilled for more than two hours by lawmakers about the Bush administration’s decision to not follow Congress’ direction to spend $140 million of advance procurement money on parts for 20 more F-22s, which would help bring the fleet to 203 Raptors./ppYoung told lawmakers that senior Pentagon officials, who decided to only spend $50 million of the funds made available in the 2009 Pentagon spending measures, were trying to save money in advance of an Obama administration decision about the program’s future./ppThe Bush administration’s Pentagon team has bristled at buying more than 183 of the Lockheed Martin-made fighters; the Air Force has long said it needs 381. The Bush defense team opted earlier this year to take steps to keep Raptor production going long enough to allow the next administration to decide whether more are needed./ppYoung told the panel on Nov. 19 that if the new administration decides to keep the program going, it can order $90 million more in parts for 16 more planes without any extra cost to taxpayers./ppThe next morning, he cautioned reporters that before the next administration decides whether to buy more Raptors, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Air Force brass should seriously discuss issues like the needed upgrades to the 100 models that rolled off the production line first./pp”Those discussions need to be had before you talk about buying more jets,” he said. “That’s really a requirements and capability discussion that Air Force and OSD has to have.”/pdiv class=”subhead”Expensive To Fly/divpBut that’s not all the next Pentagon leaders will have to debate about the super-secret Raptor, he said. He said operational tests have showed the plane is “proving very expensive to operate.” /ppThose tests have shown what he called a negative trend, meaning the “maintenance man-hours per flying hour has increased through those tests. The last one was a substantial increase.”/ppYoung also expressed concerns about the plane’s mission-capable rates, saying recent marks in the “62 percent kind of range” are “troubling.” He also said data shows the plane “meets some but not all” of its key performance parameters.”/pp”We’re not seeing the mission-capable rates that we expected. And it’s complex to maintain,” Young told reporters. “I would highlight the maintenance on the plane is too high. They are struggling with some of the [low-observable features] and other issues.”/ppA spokeswoman for Raptor-maker Lockheed had not yet returned a call seeking comment at time of this posting./ppThe bottom line, according to Young: “There is clearly some work that needs to be done there to make that airplane capable and affordable to operate.”/p

An important step for the Eurofighter Typhoon, the main European industrial collaborative programme: Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company, has officially delivered to the Italian Air Force the first Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon produced in Italy.br /br /The aircraft – IS020 – taken in charge by Maj. Marco Bertoli, deputy-commander of the IX group of the 4th Wing of ItAF’s Grosseto base, is the first of a series of 47 enhanced-standard fighters which will be delivered to the Italian Air Force by 2013, as planned by the contract signed in 2004 by the Eurofighter consortium with the four-nation agency NETMA.br /br /The Eurofighter consortium, through its partner industries (Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, EADS CASA and EADS Deutschland), will produce and deliver, in the next 5 years, a total of 323 Tranche 2 Typhoons (including 72 aircraft for Saudi Arabia) to be added to the Tranche 1 Typhoons already delivered.br /br /The Typhoon is today the most advanced defence aircraft available on the market and Tranche 2 planes, as compared to the previous standard, offer the aircraft, in addition to some structural changes, an enhanced software capacity and a substantial growth capability to take in all future developments.br /br /“Delivery of the first Tranche 2 Eurofighter Typhoon – said Col. Carlo Uberti, Director of the Ufficio Tecnico Territoriale Aeromobili of the Direzione Generale Armamenti Aeronautici – represents for the Italian Air Force a further meaningful step forward since it allows it to use new operational capabilities placing it in the vanguard within NATO. The Typhoon permits to accomplish always at best and with the best results our Nation’s air defence tasks”.br /br /“This important result that rewards the efforts of Alenia, of the other Finmeccanica companies involved and of our consortium partners –said Giancarlo Anselmino, Senior Vice President, responsible for Alenia Aeronautica’s Defence Aircraft Business Unit – represents a fundamental milestone for the programme, being the reference platform to be used as basis for the current and future aircraft development, like Tranche 3, whose contract in under negotiation, and to pursue any possible export opportunity”.br /br /With 620 Typhoons under contract for the programme’s four partner nations (Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and Spain), plus the 15 ordered by Austria and the 72 for Saudi Arabia, the Eurofighter programme can be considered the best ever technological and industrial success in the new-generation defence aircraft area.br /br /The Eurofighter Typhoon is a fundamental programme for the Italian aeronautical industry, which participates directly with 19% share of the programme, and particularly for the Finmeccanica companies which, with their 36% industrial participation, play an important role in the definition, design, development of the new airplane, frontier of the European industry’s technology.br /br /The Eurofighter Typhoon represents for the European aerospace industry a technological and job boost able to offer great development opportunities to the partners, assuring capability, good cost/effectiveness and global competitiveness.br /br /Currently, over 100.000 persons in the four partner nations, of which 24.000 in Italy, are involved in the programme.br /br /Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica Company, is the largest Italian aeronautic player which operates world-wide in the commercial and military aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles and aerostructures. With its joint ventures ATR and SuperJet International, Alenia Aeronautica is the world leader in the regional turboprop market and a top player in the regional jet sector. In 2007, Alenia Aeronautica reported revenues of 2,306 million Euros, backlog for 8,248 million Euros and orders for 3,104 million. The total workforce is 13.301.

pA MiG-23 trainer fighter aircraft from the Hashimara airbase of Indian Air Force on Monday crashed near Alipurduar in north Bengal, but the two pilots bailed out to safety./ppThis is the seventh IAF aircraft crash this year and the third MiG to crash in the Dooars region of North Bengal./ppThe two pilots — Wing Commander Sisodia and Flight Lieutenant Karthik — were on a training sortie on the MiG-23 twin-seater jet when they took off from Hashimara in Jalpaiguri district at 1220 hours.br //ppWithin 15 minutes of take-off, the two pilots complained of trouble and the aircraft crashed at 1236 hours, IAF sources said here./pp”A MiG-23 trainer aircraft of IAF crashed near Air Force Station Hashimara on Monday. The aircraft had got airborne from Hashimara air base and was on a routine training-flying mission. The pilots ejected safely. The IAF has ordered a court of inquiry into the cause of the mishap,” an IAF official said in New Delhi/pspan class=”f12″pNo damage to civilian property or loss of lives was reported from the site of the crash, sources added./ppAlipurduar Additional Superintendent of Police Sabyasachi Mishra said the aircraft crashed at Nararthali area in his jurisdiction with the debris hitting a ‘kutcha’ house, setting it on fire./ppThe occupants of the house were working in the fields at the time. The debris of the fighter jet was scattered over a radius of 2 km. A search was on for the aircraft’s black box, Mishra added. /ppWith this mishap, the number of MiG crashes in 2008 rose to five. IAF has lost MiG-21s from Bhuj, Bagdogra and Chabua in Assam in the crashes on February 15, May 23 and November 12 respectively./ppIn the other crashes this year, a MiG-27 based in Hashimara was lost on January 31, ‘Hawk’ Advanced Jet trainer at Bidar on April 30 and a HPT ‘Kiran’ trainer aircraft on May 12 this year./ppThe Air Force has been facing problems with the Russian-designed MiG fighters./ppWith these aircraft flying with the IAF beyond their service life, the Air Headquarters has plans to replace them in about five years with 126 multi-role combat aircraft (MRCA) and the indigenously-built ‘Tejas’ Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), which is under development at HAL Bangalore.br /br /While the MRCA are likely to be inducted before 2013, the LCA induction is scheduled for 2011./ppWith ageing combat aircraft being phased out, the IAF’s fighter fleet strength has come down drastically to 32 squadrons against the sanctioned strength of 39.5 squadrons./ppIn 2006, the number of squadrons went down to an alarming 29 squadrons, but has since then improved with induction of British-made ‘Hawks’ and raising of new Russian-made Sukhoi squadrons. /p/span

a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SQ8P4_7F8aI/AAAAAAAAA1I/rwxCbzCqGqY/s1600-h/military11.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SQ8P4_7F8aI/AAAAAAAAA1I/rwxCbzCqGqY/s320/military11.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264443961325777314″ border=”0″ //aIn Google’s offices in Mountain View, California, it is as though the financial crisis never happened. Business is booming, so much so that Larry Page and Sergey Brin, its billionaire founders, have decided to treat themselves to a new status symbol. Sports cars are a dime a dozen in California, and fancy yachts seem only to attract dull guests such as EU trade commissioners. So they’ve bought themselves a fighter plane. p The 600mph Dornier Alpha jet, currently being converted from military to civilian use here in Seattle, will live at Nasa’s Ames research centre, conveniently located just minutes from Google’s campus. It’ll speed up those all-important business trips and provide a better adrenaline thrill than any Learjet. /pp For comfort, the Google twins have a couple of Boeings, a 757 and 767 – a refit of the latter attracted publicity when the interior designer was fired. The resulting rumpus gave a fascinating insight into Google-world. Included in the $10m (£6m) makeover was a pair of king-size beds, hammocks and a piano. /pp Currently the Google aircraft fleet, which also includes a couple of Gulfstream V jetsa onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SQ8PtjTnW-I/AAAAAAAAA1A/_cic0SjXeOM/s1600-h/Google_Alpha_jet.jpg”img style=”margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 205px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RRbP6fpJWAc/SQ8PtjTnW-I/AAAAAAAAA1A/_cic0SjXeOM/s320/Google_Alpha_jet.jpg” alt=”" id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264443764665441250″ border=”0″ //a, is worth more than $200m (£120m). That’s a bigger air force than that of Nepal or Albania. Google managed to secure runway rights from Nasa by promising to use the Alpha to carry out high-altitude atmospheric experiments for the space agency, in addition to paying a hefty $1.3m (£800,000) annual rent.br //pp While Google is flying high, clouds are gathering over the rest of Silicon Valley. /pp Nearly a quarter of businesses surveyed here this month are planning to shed jobs – 10% of their workforce on average. Already Hewlett-Packard, the company that kickstarted Silicon Valley in the 1960s, has announced nearly 25,000 redundancies.br //ppSource: a href=”http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article5054223.ece”TimeOnline/abr //p