Foro Militar General

Recientemente, la Fuerza Aérea de Sudáfrica celebró una ceremonia para dar de baja sus aviones de combate Atlas Cheetah, coincidiendo con la entrada en servicio del primero de los nuevos aviones de combate Saab Gripen.
Hace apenas una semana que dio de baja sus últimos Atlas Cheetah.Durante los dos próximos años este Gripen volará en apoyo de los trabajos de desarrollo de software y prueba de armas.Durante este año serán entregados dos biplazas más a la SAF, estando previsto que las entregas -26 aeronaves-se completen en 2012.

Fuente: El Tirador Solitario

PARIS - French officials are talking with General Atomics about buying the Reaper UAV, also known as the Predator B, as part of their search for a surveillance system to back up combat troops deployed in Afghanistan, sources familiar with the talks said.

A General Atomics executive told Defense News that France, as well as a number of European countries, are interested in the Predator B. (General Atomics) A General Atomics executive recently visited the Délégation Générale pour l'Armement procurement office, a defense official said Oct. 17. The French authorities would prefer to choose "a European system" but are exploring options with a number of suppliers, the official said. No decision has been taken yet.

A General Atomics executive said, "France, as well as a number of European countries, has an interest in Predator B. We decline to make a comment on this interest at this time."

The Aug. 18 ambush of a joint French-Afghan army patrol highlighted the need for situational awareness, a second defense executive said. French commanders relied on a U.S. Predator to provide "eyes" on the clash in the remote Uzbeen mountain valley.

"It's an opportunity for sharing data," the second executive said.

Sharing data over the same network is vital, as it expands coverage and helps yield a common situational awareness. If France were to acquire the Reaper, the French army would likely share the data network used by American and British forces which operate that aircraft and the Reaper, thus pooling sovereignty and increasing military cooperation within the allied coalition.

General Atomics is under pressure to deliver Predators and Reapers to U.S. forces but it might be possible for Washington to divert units to France, the first official said. Acquiring a new UAV has consequences, as the contractor plays a key role in supporting ground stations and the grid. The choice of supplier "embeds" the contractor with French forces, potentially strengthening relationships and making it easier for further sales of products and services.

"It's a question of trust," the second executive said.

The DGA has also studied acquiring Hermes 450 drones, owned by Thales UK and operated by British forces in Afghanistan under an "ISTAR by the hour" deal. Elbit of Israel builds the Hermes 450.

The French Army is sending out the Sperwer tactical UAV, known as the Système de Drone Tactique Interimaire, to boost intelligence-gathering capabilities. Other equipment include a third Caracal EC725 and two Gazelle Viviane helicopters, two 120 mortars and electronic listening gear

Greek navy prioritises maritime patrol aircraft contest
By Craig Hoyle

Acquiring a new fleet of maritime patrol aircraft is now the top procurement priority for the Greek navy, with the nation's six Lockheed P-3B Orions nearing the end of their operating lives.

A €250 million ($342 million) budget has previously been identified to cover the purchase of a replacement fleet of five aircraft. But with the navy's requirement now covering a multirole type capable of performing maritime patrol, search and rescue and surveillance tasks and also equipped for anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface warfare duties, industry sources say the deal's value could be set to increase.

Candidate systems now include special mission variants of the Alenia Aeronautica-promoted ATR 72, Beriev's Be-200 amphibian, EADS Casa's C-295 and Embraer's EMB-145 regional jet.

New Typhoons fly into RAF Coningsby
An Equipment and Logistics news article
21 Oct 08

The first of a new batch of second generation Typhoon combat aircraft arrived at RAF Coningsby today, where they were greeted by the new Defence Equipment and Support Minister Quentin Davies.

The two Tranche 2 aircraft are the first of 91 new Typhoon combat aircraft ordered four years ago. Delivered on time and to cost, they flew in from BAE Systems' Warton factory in Lancashire to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, where they will shortly be released for flight trials, and are expected to join front line UK-based air defence squadrons in January 2009.

Tranche 2 Typhoons have more powerful computers and a strengthened airframe to enable carriage of heavier weapons, which will enhance its capability in the ground-attack role. Following their arrival at RAF Coningsby, the aircraft will undergo final system checks and modifications before they are released for flight trials.

Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies said:

"Typhoon is delivering a world-class capability to the RAF and is the cornerstone of the UK's air defence capabilities. Today's arrival of the second Tranche is an important milestone delivering to the RAF an aircraft with more powerful computer systems and the ability to carry heavier weapons - the next generation of Typhoon.

"Typhoon directly employs some 16,000 aerospace and engineering staff in some of the UK's leading companies. Militarily and industrially this programme is successfully delivering the capabilities the country needs."

The production of Typhoon Tranche 2 will maintain 16,000 direct jobs within the UK's defence industry through its principal contractors BAE Systems on its sites in Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire and Rolls Royce in Bristol. Other key suppliers include Selex Galileo in Edinburgh.

The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, said:

"Maintaining the flow of these advanced aircraft to front line RAF squadrons is very important. Typhoon has now been operational in the air defence role for over a year and recently achieved its multi-role capability. I am confident that forthcoming exercises and deployments will provide further demonstration of its qualities."

The RAF expects to take delivery of six, rising to 20, Typhoon aircraft every year for the next seven years under the Typhoon Tranche 2 contract.

duke7 escribió:Ucrania e Irán acuerdan construir el avión comercial Antónov An-148

Kíev, 31 de octubre, RIA Novosti. Irán aprovechará sus unidades de producción para construir el avión comercial ucraniano de nueva generación An-148, anunció hoy el consorcio aeronáutico ruso-ucraniano "Antónov" citado por la agencia local UNIAN.

"Ucrania e Irán firmaron un memorándum según el cual la parte iraní se compromete a comprar y producir en cooperación con empresas ucranianas y rusas 50 aviones de pasajeros de nueva generación An-148", comunicó la agencia.

El documento fue firmado en la ciudad de Isfahan, antigua capital de Irán. Muy cerca se encuentra la planta "HESA", donde sería montada la producción del An-148 y donde se están construyendo los aviones An-140.

Bogdan-The-Kozak escribió:

duke7 escribió:Ucrania e Irán acuerdan construir el avión comercial Antónov An-148

Kíev, 31 de octubre, RIA Novosti. Irán aprovechará sus unidades de producción para construir el avión comercial ucraniano de nueva generación An-148, anunció hoy el consorcio aeronáutico ruso-ucraniano "Antónov" citado por la agencia local UNIAN.

"Ucrania e Irán firmaron un memorándum según el cual la parte iraní se compromete a comprar y producir en cooperación con empresas ucranianas y rusas 50 aviones de pasajeros de nueva generación An-148", comunicó la agencia.

El documento fue firmado en la ciudad de Isfahan, antigua capital de Irán. Muy cerca se encuentra la planta "HESA", donde sería montada la producción del An-148 y donde se están construyendo los aviones An-140.

Wiiii!!! Esta noticia la busqué durante toda la mañana!!!
Muchas gracias, sabia que se hiba a hablar sobre en An-148, pero no sabia la suerte de la charla

Saludos!

Iraq announces plan to expand the Air Force

By DJ ElliottNovember 6, 2008 10:58 AM

Iraq will purchase 516 military aircraft from the United States and France for its new Air Force, a senior Iraqi military official said this week. The planes and helicopters will provide Iraq with its first significant air combat and strike capability, and are expected to cost billions of dollars.

General Nasier Abadi, vice chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces, announced the initial orders on Nov. 2. The aircraft would be delivered to Iraq from 2011 to 2015. Iraq's current force has fewer than 100 aircraft. None of the aircraft currently in the Iraqi Air Force are strike planes or jets.

The first order is for 108 combat aircraft from the US and France, and is to be delivered in 2011. The aircraft on Iraq's shopping list provides insight into how Iraqis hope to configure their Air Force.

The Iraqi Security Forces are being upgraded in three stages. Each stage consists of five years. The first stage, in progress, began in 2006 and will last until 2011. Stage one is intended to build a basic force.

The second stage is designed to build the Air Force’s capabilities. This stage will last from 2011 to 2015. The arms purchases for the beginning of stage two have been and are being announced.

The third stage is to complete the training and improvements. Details of this stage are limited and this article will not address it. The focus of this article is on the announced arms purchases and what they indicate for stage two developments in the Iraqi Air Force.

The current focus of Iraqi Air Force development is building up support infrastructure and training personnel. The plan is to have 6,000 personnel and 10 air bases established to support the squadrons by 2011. However, it usually takes two years from the time an aircraft is ordered until it is delivered. This is why the Iraqi Air Force has started orders for Stage two.

During stage two, the Iraqi Air Force will receive 516 aircraft. The Iraqi Air Force has ordered 36 F16 fighters, 24 AT-6B trainers, 24 EC-635 Utility/Attack Helos, and 24 Bell-407 Armed Recon Helos, all to be delivered in 2011. The trainer aircraft are probably a one-time buy. The others are probably the first of five yearly deliveries, with the remaining extras being additional fighters. Twenty-four aircraft are standard for an Iraqi helicopter squadron and 18 aircraft appears to be the standard for the fighter squadrons.

Since 516 aircraft are being bought for delivery 2011-2015, and 108 are already ordered for delivery in 2011, this means the other 408 remain for the period 2012-2015, and the Iraqis will purchase 102 aircraft per year. There are 84 aircraft accounted for in the helicopter and fighter purchases, leaving 18 per year not accounted for. The standard number of aircraft in a fighter squadron is 18, which means that they are buying a training squadron for 2011 and then additional fighters for the remaining four years. Aircraft deliveries for 2011-2015 work out to the following mix of squadrons:

• 2011: 2 fighter, 1 trainer, 1 armed recon helo, and 1 attack helo Squadron.
• 2012: 3 fighter, 1 armed recon helo, and 1 utility/attack helo squadron.
• 2013: 3 fighter, 1 armed recon helo, and 1 utility/attack helo squadron.
• 2014: 3 fighter, 1 armed recon helo, and 1 utility/attack helo squadron.
• 2015: 3 fighter, 1 armed recon helo, and 1 utility/attack helo squadron.
• Total of 25 squadrons (14 fighter, 1 trainer, 5 armed recon helo, and 5 attack helo squadrons).

There are seven existing Iraqi squadrons: one helicopter training (12th), one transport (23rd), two reconnaissance (3rd and 70th), one helicopter transport (4th), one utility/search and rescue helicopter (2nd), and one special operations squadron (15th-in training). There are at least two, and up to six, additional squadrons planned before 2011, judging from aircraft already being delivered: one to three transport helo, one to two reconnaissance, and one more transport squadron. Some of the helicopter transports could be used for special operations.

• Current Squadrons: 7 (1 transport, 2 recon, 1 helo training, 1 helo transport, 1 utility/search and rescue, and 1 special operations squadron).
• Squadrons adding prior to 2011: 2-6 (1 transport, 1-2 recon, and 1-3 helo transport).
• Total projected Squadrons by end of 2015: 34-38 (14 fighter, 1 trainer, 2 transport, 3-4 recon, 1 helo training, 2-4 helo transport, 1 util/SAR, 1 SOS, 5 armed recon helo, and 5 attack helo squadrons).

The December 2007 9010 Quarterly Report to Congress' mention of a planned target end strength of 38 squadrons fits this projection. Of note, the Lasta-95 trainer purchase is not included in this as there are some question as to whether they will ever be delivered. The helicopter purchases indicate that an aviation brigade is planned to support each of the four planned Iraqi Army Corps.

While all these squadrons will not be fully trained at the end of 2015, this schedule indicates that most, if not all of the squadrons will have their aircraft by the end of 2015. This fits with the Minister of Defense's statement that they should be independent in 2018 to 2020. He was allowing for training time, slippage in training time, budget delays, and delays in deliveries. The Iraqi Air Force is developing, but it will not be ready until sometime during stage three (2016-2020) of the Iraqi Security Force development plan.

F-22: Success, Failure, or Both?

When the first of the U.S. Air Force’s F-22 Raptors was officially fielded in 2005, it was without question the world’s most advanced fighter, far surpassing any of its competitors. It was also, in many ways, an acquisitions failure.

This fighter jet had been conceived in the 1980s as a counter to two hypothetical Soviet aircraft that military analysts believed likely to be fielded by 2010. To meet the projected threat, the F-22 was designed as a “fifth generation” aircraft having stealth technology, supercruise capability, high maneuverability, and a state-of-the-art avionics suite. In other words, it was a fighter pilot’s dream machine. At a projected and highly optimistic cost of US $35 million per plane (or $74 million in today’s dollars), 750 of them were to be fielded by 1995.

“The F-22 demanded a step ahead in technology across multiple fronts that had not been done before,” says Ralph Heath, executive vice president of aeronautics for Lockheed Martin, the lead contractor on the F-22.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, the biggest threat to the F-22 was no longer those two as-yet-unfielded Soviet fighters but the Air Force’s own “fourth generation” F-15 fighter. Many analysts argued that the F-22 was no longer needed and that upgrading the F-15 was more than adequate. Others countered that the F‑22 was “twice as good” as the F‑15 and therefore worth pursuing.

To damp down the debate, then Deputy Secretary of Defense William Perry directed the Air Force in 1993 to ready a prototype F-22 for a “fly-off” against the F-15. If proven sufficiently better than its predecessor, the F-22 would go into production.



Throughout the F-22’s development, Lockheed experienced a number of technological problems, particularly with the plane’s avionics, its stealth capability, and its engine. “We had to refresh [technology] early in the production cycle, actually even before we concluded development, because of obsolescence of some of the electronic components,” Heath says. By the time the first F-22 went into service in 2005, its avionics systems had undergone at least three such refresh cycles. As development costs rose, the number of F-22s was repeatedly cut, to 648 in 1990, 442 in 1994, 339 in 1997, and 276 in 2003.

The fly-off was never held, but the F-22 did perform well enough in its operational tests to go into production—10 years behind schedule. Even so, the Pentagon further reduced the order to 183 planes in 2006 to save money. The cost of each F-22 (the total cost of its development and production divided by the number of aircraft procured) is now over $300 million. To help pay for its F‑22s, the Air Force has scaled back on upgrades to the F‑15 and other aircraft and also cut personnel. And it continues to argue that it needs at least 381 F-22s to meet its mission requirements.

Others are less enamored of the fighter. The late Edward Hirsch, a leading proponent of reforming the acquisitions process, considered the aircraft a failure, because in not meeting its cost and schedule objectives, it drained off funding from other worthwhile programs. “The warfighter expects to have a platform capable of supporting his mission and the mission of the Department of Defense,” Hirsch said in an interview shortly before his death last year. “If that program is so costly as to jeopardize all other platforms, you can’t consider it to be an outstanding success.”

Even Defense Secretary Robert Gates has questioned the plane’s necessity, pointing out that “the F-22 has not performed a single mission” in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

The F-22’s troubled procurement hasn’t stopped the Air Force from planning for a “sixth generation” aircraft to be built in the 2020s.

Ismael escribió:La revista de la Asociación Internacional de Ingenieros Eléctricos y Electrónicos ......

tayun escribió:

Ismael escribió:La revista de la Asociación Internacional de Ingenieros Eléctricos y Electrónicos ......

Madre mía, debe ser toda una experiencia asistir a una cena de la Asociación esta...., ¿de qué se supone que hablais?, porque un electrón no puede dar para tanto.