Military and Aviation News Thread (NO DISCUSSION)

[RvETito]

Russia is pulling out from Syria some fixed wing airpower but is adding to the rotary one - Mi-28 and Ka-52 are now in Hmeymim base.

srra3IKtEg8

 

Edited March 18, 2016 by =RvE=Tito

[Emu]

http://www.gizmag.com/trident-missile-3d-part/42370/

 

Trident ballistic missile flies with first 3D-printed part

[Yurgon]

FlyDubai B737 crashed in Rostov, all 62 dead

 

A Boeing 737-800 operated by FlyDubai crashed in Rostov on Don, southern Russia, at 03:43L (00:43Z) on March 19th, 2016, killing all 55 passengers and 7 crew.

 

The aircraft, flying from Dubai to Rostov, had aborted one approach because of bad weather, had then held for almost two hours until they tried again. The crew aborted this approach as well, but the aircraft impacted runway 22 moments later.

 

Reports so far talk about a wing striking the runway, but a surveillance video from a shop neighboring the airport shows the aircraft to impact at a very steep angle, instantly exploding and disintegrating.

 

The weather was very stormy, with winds at 27 knots/14 meters per second and gusts up to 42 knots/22 meters per second. Several other aircraft had already diverted to other airports that night.

 

The crashed aircraft held enough fuel for over 8 hours flight time and had been airborne roughly 6 hours at the time of the crash.

 

There's a very detailed report at Aviation Herald, including pictures of the crash site.

 

ATC audio recording prior to crash:

 

FlyDubai 981 Impact:

 

Both black boxes have been found but appear to be in bad shape. Authorities say it's unclear how much data can be extracted from them.

 

RIP :(

 

Update 2016-04-07: Aviation Herald posted an update from the Russian Ministry of Transport:

On final approach at about 220 meters/720 feet the crew went around again and climbed, at 900 meters/3000 feet the stabilizer moved nose down causing the aircraft to stop climbing at about 1000 meters/3330 feet and entering a descent. The aircraft impacted ground about 120 meters from the runway threshold.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Yurgon

[Emu]

http://www.nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-lethal-new-mig-35-start-flight-testing-summer-15554

 

Russia’s RSK-MiG has completed an initial batch of pre-production versions of the Mikoyan MiG-35 Fulcrum-F multirole fighter. The company is set to deliver the jets to the Russian defense ministry for flight-testing this summer.

[tflash]

Flyover to honour father of A-10:

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/22/politics/a-10-avery-kay-funeral-flyby/index.html

[Emu]

http://www.gizmag.com/british-army-40-mm-gun-sideways-loading/42405/

 

The British Army has taken delivery of its first completely new cannon system in 50 years – and it loads sideways. This loading system on the new 40mm Cased Telescoped Cannon System, which was handed over to the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Bourges, France by CTA International (CTAI), is claimed to provide more firepower while saving space.

 

According to BAE Systems, which is a 50/50 partner in CTAI along with Nexter Systems, the delivery is the first of 515 40mm cannons for the British Army's Warrior and Ajax armored fighting vehicles. The new system has been in development since the 1990s and has undergone extensive testing.

 

The key to the new 40 mm gun is its Cased Telescoped ammunition. Instead of using traditional bullet-shaped rounds with the projectile upfront and a cannister of propellant behind, Cased Telescoped ammunition consists of a straight tube with the projectile inside the tube completely surrounded by propellant and a plug in front that provides a gas-tight seal to drag the shell along. BAE says that this gives the shell four times the power of the previous 30 mm round.

[DUSTY]

This is a god damn emotional roller-coaster:

 

http://theaviationist.com/2016/03/24/us-air-force-retiring-a10-anyway/

[Fer_Fer]

This is a god damn emotional roller-coaster:

 

http://theaviationist.com/2016/03/24/us-air-force-retiring-a10-anyway/

 

perhaps a way to secure funding for a Hog successor?

[Heli]

 

The US Navy has extended production of AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) multi-mode seekers, built by Orbital ATK, by three years to fiscal year 2023 with an added requirement for 556 more units.

 

That’s according to the Pentagon’s latest selected acquisition report, which shows an increase in planned production quantities from the 2003 objective of 1,879 units to 2,435, not including the 40 test assets.

 

The missile modification was jointly developed by the USA and Italy to improve the effectiveness of legacy Raytheon AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) variants against fixed and relocatable enemy radar and communications sites, particularly those that would shut down to throw off incoming anti-radiation missiles.

 

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/us-navy-extends-orbital-atk-agm-88e-production-423546/

 

against communications sites, really?

[Emu]

Interesting.

 

http://defense-update.com/20160326_verba_defexpo.html

 

Pursuing the Indian requirement for a new very short range air defense weapon, the Russian arms exporter ‘Rosoboronexport’ debuts the latest Man Portable Air Defense System (MANPADS) 9K333 “Verba” at DEFEXPO-2016.

 

The missile uses a new tri-band optical seeker, along with modern avionics and improved warhead activated by an adaptive contact/proximity fuze.

[Heli]

 

[Phantom88]

[Pilotasso]

I saw probably the first of the Romanian F-16's with their final paint scheme today.

 

Its like this lancer:

 

 

Except it also had a dark stripe on top of the tail.

 

Called it. Here's finally the unveil. :)

 

[Yurgon]

Update regarding the crash of FlyDubai 981:

 

Aviation Herald posted an update from the Russian Ministry of Transport:

 

On final approach at about 220 meters/720 feet the crew went around again and climbed, at 900 meters/3000 feet the stabilizer moved nose down causing the aircraft to stop climbing at about 1000 meters/3330 feet and entering a descent. The aircraft impacted ground about 120 meters from the runway threshold.

[NineLine]

Q2aEPSBshzE

[Isegrim]

Finnish NH-90 and German CH-53GA in Finnland.

 

[Heli]

 

The premiere of manned flights with the world’s first certified multicopter, e-volo’s Volocopter VC200, marks the beginning of a new era in urban mobility. The Volocopter is a personal aerial vehicle that is so easy and safe to fly, literally anyone can command it. Due to its electric propulsion, it has no exhaust emissions and is impressively quiet. For the first time humans’ dream of personal flight as a daily routine becomes attainable. As such it not only offers more widespread use in conventional aircraft domains, but brings us another step closer to air taxi services and entire transportation systems in the third dimension.

 

The Volocopter VC200 received the ‘permit-to-fly’ as an ultralight aircraft from German aviation authorities in February 2016. In the context of the commenced test program, e-volo has started to conduct manned flights. The historic world premiere of a flight with a certified multicopter was made by e-volo managing director Alexander Zosel on March 30th, 2016 on an airfield in Southern Germany.

 

„The flight was totally awesome” Alexander Zosel said right after his landing. „The machine was absolutely reliable, there were no vibrations, it was tremendous. Anyway, the first flight was simply unbelievable. I got in, we did the pre-checks for what felt like maybe 20 seconds, and after that I’d already got the all-clear for flying. I didn’t wait long, I simply pushed the lever upward and the Volocopter simply sprung upward in a single bound. It was unbelievable, it hovered totally weightlessly, I mean it didn’t at all feel like there were crazy forces at work, it was all just totally light and the Volocopter immediately converted every movement I made with the joystick.

 

It is definitely a sublime feeling to lift off, fly the first few meters, and then actually take my hand off the joystick and think that, yeah, it’s really as if I’m standing on the ground, and then I look down and there are 20-25 meters beneath me. So it’s definitely unbelievable what we’ve achieved here. It’s seriously unbelievable!”

 

Thanks to its innovative flight control, the vertical take-off and landing aircraft (VTOL) is extremely easy to fly. The Volocopter is piloted one-handedly with a single joystick and significantly reduces the number one reason for accidents in conventional helicopters: human error. To demonstrate this feature, Zosel releases his hand from the joystick to applaud his team during the premiere flight, while the Volocopter automatically holds its position. A comprehensive redundancy concept compensates any failure by critical components including the loss of several motors. This was demonstrated exhaustively during the certification process. Furthermore, the Volocopter is quiet and due to its purely electric motors along with its quickly interchangeable battery system, it is also absolutely emission free.

 

Technology assistance was provided by German drone manufacturer „Ascending Technologies“, which has recently been acquired by US chip maker Intel Corporation.

„Intel congratulates e-volo on this accomplishment”, said Josh Walden senior vice president and general manager of the New Technology Group at Intel. “Technology developed by Ascending Technologies assists in the flight controls, motor electronics and key elements that extend multi-rotor UAV technology to this new type of aircraft. We look forward to aiding the development of more manned and unmanned vehicles in the future.”

 

Through the shareholding position of Ascending Technologies, Intel Capital has now become a direct shareholder in e-volo. Stephan Wolf from e-volo comments “Intel has invested strongly in the UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) space and now is a global leading player in the area. There will be great benefits from a cooperation on the Volocopter.”

E-volo’s next goal is to receive a type certification and to produce the Volocopter in large quantities. Thus, in the next 2 years, the well-established air sports market will be entered, similar to the introduction of the gyrocopter and the helicopter. In a further developmental step, air taxi services are expected to be established. Initially, they will be planned for predetermined routes as airport shuttles or at sensible traffic nodes such as bridges. Medium-term, brand new, increasingly autonomous mobility concepts can be offered with the Volocopter, in which individual as well as public transport can be partly shifted into the sky.

 

At the invitation of NASA, Florian Reuter from the e-volo management team presented the newest developments in the Volocopter to experts from air and space travel at the “On-Demand Mobility” workshop in Washington. The judicial framework, which would have to be adjusted internationally to allow individual flight in urban areas for everyone, was also discussed at the workshop. In advance, NASA had published a study addressing this topic, which highlighted the positive contribution such a system would have on the alleviation of the daily traffic congestion in the Silicon Valley region in California.

 

Start of the Manned Test Flight Program

 

The first flight of Alexander Zosel marks the beginning of the Volocopter test flight program, which will be conducted in three phases. In the first flight phase, flights at a speed of 25 km/h maximum at low altitude are planned. In the second testing phase, flight maneuvers at a speed of 50 km/h at medium altitude will be executed. Test flights within the third testing phase aim to validate the system at higher altitudes and in the full speed range of the VC200 up to 100 km/h.

 

Unmanned Test Flights as a Precursor for ‘Permit-to-fly’

 

In the run-up to receiving the ‘permit-to-fly’, the e-volo team had gathered experience in over 100 test flights. With the help of a professional remote control, the team was able to carry out stress tests on the entire system and its individual modules and components. For instance, they switched off among other things, propulsion motors, batteries, as well as flight controls during flight. Testers also fed wrong information from simulated ‘defective’ sensors into the flight control system. Moreover, they carried out unmanned flights in turbulent weather conditions.

 

Thus, even before the market introduction of the Volocopter, e-volo has proven impressively that these aircraft can already fly almost autonomously today. But until autonomous flights are allowed, the international regulations have to be further adapted, a process that has already been taken up by politicians and the respective authorities.

 

Technical Description of the Volocopter

 

The Volocopter is made of a light-weight, fiber composite material. In addition to cruise flights, it can also take-off and land vertically as well as hover in the air. The VC200 Volocopter runs on all-electric motors. The electric motors of its 18 rotors are powered by nine independent batteries. When in a floating state and with a 450 kg take-off weight, the VC200 requires about 50 kW, depending on the air pressure / temperature. Its redundancy concept ensures stability, even if parts of the system were to fail. This principle is used in all system components that are necessary for safe flights. The necessary thrust required to provide lift is achieved through several independently driven rotors, each with two fixed blades. Unlike a helicopter, the blade angle on the VC200 cannot be adjusted. The amount of thrust produced depends solely on the rotation speed of the rotors.

 

Appropriate combination of the torques produced by the speed differences of the individual rotors around the vertical axis (yaw) and perpendicular to it (pitch and roll), as well as alterations in the total thrust produced by all the rotors enable the Volocopter to maneuver in all three rotational degrees of freedom (pitch, roll, and yaw), whereas the fixed setup of the rotors allows for one translational movement (vertical, “up/down”). In combination with the position angle, the Volocopter is able to make indirect horizontal flight movements in addition (“forwards/backwards” and “rightwards/leftwards”) and thus controls all six rotational and translational degrees of freedom.

 

Although the Volocopter initially exhibits what would seem to be unstable flight characteristics due to its relatively high number of rotors that have a fixed blade angle, its multi-redundant flight control system ensures precise attitude control and positioning stability. It is actually much more stable than conventional aircraft. It adheres to the pilot’s specifications and compensates for external effects independently. This makes flying it much easier, and the pilot can control the Volocopter safely, even in adverse environmental conditions.

 

The flight control system comprises of several completely independent units. Each flight control unit contains a complete set of positioning sensors that consist of pressure gauges, gyroscopes, accelerometers, and magnetometers for all three spatial axes. Each of the flight control units is able to control the VC200 independently. The Volocopter is operated with one hand using a joystick. The pilot intuitively controls all flight axes through movements and rotations of the joystick. Climb and descent commands are given through an altitude control thumb lever. In order to land, the pilot only needs to press and hold the lever down until the Volocopter is on the ground. Once it nears the ground, the control system automatically slows down the Volocopter to ensure a gentle landing.

 

http://helihub.com/2016/04/08/electric-multicopter-the-volocopter-vc200-makes-first-manned-flight/

[Yurgon]

Solar Impulse ready for next leg: Hawaii to US West coast.

 

[ame=https://twitter.com/solarimpulse/status/720820226175209472]Also on Twitter[/ame].

[Emu]

http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2015-08-28

 

Friendly “Gremlins” Could Enable Cheaper, More Effective, Distributed Air Operations

Volleys of low-cost, air-retrievable, unmanned air systems promise distributed capabilities and enhanced mission effectiveness in contested environments

OUTREACH@DARPA.MIL

8/28/2015

 

 

 

 

For decades, U.S. military air operations have relied on increasingly capable multi-function manned aircraft to execute critical combat and non-combat missions. Adversaries’ abilities to detect and engage those aircraft from longer ranges have improved over time as well, however, driving up the costs for vehicle design, operation and replacement. An ability to send large numbers of small unmanned air systems (UAS) with coordinated, distributed capabilities could provide U.S. forces with improved operational flexibility at much lower cost than is possible with today’s expensive, all-in-one platforms—especially if those unmanned systems could be retrieved for reuse while airborne. So far, however, the technology to project volleys of low-cost, reusable systems over great distances and retrieve them in mid-air has remained out of reach.

[Yurgon]

Solar Impulse 2 is now airborne again, headed for Mountain View, California.

 

And the coolest thing: We can track it on Flightradar24.com ;)

[Heli]

Export ban AIM-120D was been canceled

 

 

The State Department has made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Australia for AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles and associated equipment, training, and support. The estimated cost is $1.22 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on April 21, 2016. The Government of Australia requested a possible sale of:

 

Up to 450 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AIM-120D)

Up to 34 AIM-120D Air Vehicles Instrumented (AAVI)

Up to 6 Instrumented Test Vehicles (ITVs)

Up to 10 spare AIM-120 Guidance Sections (GSs)

 

http://www.dsca.mil/major-arms-sales/australia-aim-120d-advanced-medium-range-air-air-missiles

[DUSTY]

F-35 Apparently excells at the CSAR OSC role.

 

https://warisboring.com/a-10s-and-f-35s-working-together-to-save-downed-pilots-9efc7f7dc576#.w1rxmo329

[Emu]

Next Generation Jammer Opens a New Era of Electronic Attack | Defense Update:

 

Although the NGJ will cover the same frequencies, it will better address current advanced and emerging threats alike, as well as the growing numbers of threats. Employing the latest digital, software-based and Active Electronically Scanned Array technologies, and Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, NGJ will be able to dwell much higher power levels, directed simultaneously against many threats in different directions. NGJ will have the necessary power and digital techniques to counter increasingly advanced and sophisticated adversary electronic warfare search, surveillance, and targeting-radars and communications systems.

 

 

 

[Emu]

LOCKHEED: DOD EYEING POSSIBLE EXTENDED-RANGE THAAD PROGRAM IN FY-17 - 2015

 

 

The Pentagon formally commissioned Lockheed Martin last fall to explore the feasibility of developing a new variant of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense interceptor capable of shooting down hypersonic weapons as well as destroying ballistic missiles at greater distances -- eyeing the launch of a new program as soon as fiscal year 2017, according to a Lockheed executive.

 

Last fall, the Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed a $2 million study contract to flesh out a design concept and shape requirements for a potential extended-range variant of THAAD, which would add a new two-stage booster system to the current THAAD interceptor, according to Doug Graham, Lockheed Martin vice president of advanced programs for strategic missile defense systems.

 

"We're working with them [MDA] to essentially define the concept to put us in a position to start development of the [THAAD-ER] program in the future," Graham told InsideDefense.com in an exclusive Jan. 7 interview.

 

"We're looking toward the start of a formal program in the FY-17 or FY-18 time frame," Graham said, adding that timing is a matter for MDA to determine and will be shaped in large part by the availability of funds for a new program.

 

Rick Lehner, an MDA spokesman, confirmed the $2 million project. "Lockheed Martin completed the study and delivered it to MDA for evaluation, which is now ongoing," Lehner said in a Jan. 8 statement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ Apparently 6 THAAD-ER's per launcher, vs 8 current THAAD missiles. Prior to this release by lockheed (August, 2015), it had been reported that they may have to reduce launcher load out to 5 interceptors per THAAD launcher.

 

Interesting incoming vehicle trajectory (below)...Should make the purpose of the upgrade quite clear.

 

 

[Emu]

Russia's Deadly S-500 Air-Defense System: Ready for War at 660,000 Feet | The National Interest Blog

 

 

The Russian military expects to receive the first examples of the new Almaz Antey S-500 air and missile defense systems in the near future. Meanwhile, tests are continuing on the advanced S-350 Vityaz system, which will eventually replace the existing S-300PS air defense batteries.

 

“We expect the first samples of the S-500 anti-aircraft missile system to be delivered soon,” Lt. Gen. Viktor Gumyonny, commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ air defense troops, told Rossiya-24 according to TASS.

 

The new weapon—which will form the upper tier of Russia’s layered integrated air defense system—is expected to be able to engage targets at altitudes of about 125 miles—or 660,000 feet. That means that S-500 will be able to engage targets such as incoming ballistic missiles in space at ranges as great as 400 miles. The first regiment of S-500 will be deployed to protect Moscow and central Russia.

 

The S-500 is expected to able to detect and simultaneously attack up to ten ballistic missile warheads flying at speeds of twenty-three thousand feet per second. It is also reportedly being designed to use hit-to-kill interceptors—a design with similarities to Lockheed Martin's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

 

Like all modern Russian air defense systems, the S-500 is expected to be highly mobile and will use a network of radars for targeting over vast distances. The missile system is expected to use the 91N6A(M) battle management radar, a modified 96L6-TsP acquisition radar, as well as the new 76T6 multimode engagement and 77T6 ABM engagement radars, according to Missile Threat—which is run by the George C. Marshall and Claremont Institutes.

 

Meanwhile, the Russian military is already testing the S-350 Vityaz mid-tier mobile air and missile defense system. The new weapon will replace the older S-300PS and complement systems like the Buk-M3, S-300VM4, S-400 and S-500.

 

“Tests of the S-350 Vityaz anti-aircraft missile system are currently ongoing,” Gumyonny said. “The first launches have been successful and the system has proved its characteristics and will be used on a large scale for the replacement of the S-300PS anti-aircraft missile system.”

 

The S-350 is built around a new advanced active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and a new mobile command vehicle. A normal battery would include command vehicle, two radars and eight launch vehicles. The S-350 uses the same active radar-guided hit-to-kill interceptors as the S-400—and can engage targets at ranges of 75 miles at altitudes of about 100,000ft. It can engage 16 targets simultaneously while a total of 32 missiles at any one time.

 

The Russians are expected to network the S-500s with their S-400, S-300VM4 and S-350 and other weapons as part of an overall integrated air-defense network. As one U.S. industry official noted, while the Russian military industrial sector suffered greatly in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, somehow Moscow managed to continue developing advanced air defense system without much degradation in capability. Indeed, some of these new weapons—like the S-500—are so capable that many U.S. defense official worry that even stealth warplanes like the F-22, F-35 and the B-2 might have problems overcoming them.

Edited May 4, 2016 by Emu