March 2012 Archives

The Norwegian defence ministry is making a hard push to drive through its planned NKr60 billion ($10.5 billion) purchase of 52 Lockheed Martin F-35As, including four training examples.

The proposed buy forms the centrepiece of Oslo's new defence White Paper, which sets out its priorities for the period 2013 to 2016. While others (read Australia, Canada, Japan and not least the US Air Force) have voiced concern over price and schedule pressures facing the Joint Strike Fighter, Norway says the aircraft still "represents the best capability for the best value possible".

Why does Norway want the F-35 so badly? To answer that question, its defence ministry has posted the below video. You can find English language subtitles by clicking on the button marked "CC".

 

 

In a nutshell, plans to fly on its upgraded Lockheed F-16s (currently 47 As and 10 Bs delivered as far back as 1980, as recorded by Flightglobal's HeliCAS database) have been extended enough times now, with the last jets due to leave service in 2023. Back in the day, that milestone was pegged for no later than 2018.

Norwegian industry also has a keen interest in the F-35 programme. Kongsberg already manufactures parts for the aircraft, and by 2018 will have completed its development work on a Joint Strike Missile anti-ship weapon designed for internal carriage by the stealthy type. That's a capability that the Royal Norwegian Air Force wants, but that could also prove attractive to other JSF customers.

Lockheed Martin has released images showing the first night-time inflight refuelling sortie involving an F-35, with the milestone having been achieved on 22 March using conventional take-off and landing aircraft AF-4.

 

Flown from Edwards AFB in California by US Air Force test pilot Lt Col Peter Vitt, the Lightning II is shown alongside the Boeing KC-135 tanker and also as seen by its boom operator.

 

In all, AF-4 remained airborne for over 3h, Lockheed says. Subsequent work will also be conducted to check the F-35's ability to receive fuel from the USAF's McDonnell Douglas KC-10 tanker fleet.

UPDATE: Darker images from the same sortie can be viewed by visiting Lockheed's flickr page

Airbus Military's second A400M "Grizzly" development aircraft made a splash in Santiago on 23 March, when it touched down to make the design's first appearance at Chile's FIDAE show.

Just in case the twin water cannon salute (Airbus Military images, below) didn't provide enough of an entrance for aircraft MSN2, its arrival from performing high altitude testing in neighbouring Bolivia also marked the 1,000th flight of the European type.

 

The aircraft on static display at FIDAE from 26-28 March has just completed initial test flights out of Cochabamba airfield, which lies at an altitude of 8,360ft (2,550m). Following its debut appearance at a Latin American show Airbus Military says it will fly on to visit Lima in Peru, before returning to Bolivia for more high-altitude work; this time operating from above 13,000ft in La Paz.

Airbus Military experimental test pilot Ignacio "Nacho" Lombo performed the first landing of an A400M in Santiago.

 

Notably, Lombo also flew an A380 airliner into the FIDAE show for the first time in 2008. Both types will be on display during this year's event.

For any aspiring attack helicopter pilots out there, view this YouTube footage as an example of how not to do it.

The video purports to be of an accident in eastern Afghanistan which was declared by NATO's International Security Assistance Force on 6 February. If so, then its comment of the time - that "initial reports indicate there was no enemy activity in the area" - was never in doubt.

It's testament to the Boeing AH-64 Apache's robust design, also maybe to the presence of snow on the ground but most of all to pure sheer luck, that no-one died in the incident. The less said about the decision making and piloting skills of the US Army crew at the controls the better.

The US Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has changed the name of its new Lockheed Martin MC-130J from "Combat Shadow II" to "Commando II", commander Lt Gen Eric Fiel has announced.

"This name best reflects the multi-mission role of the aircraft and the units that will fly them," he said during a 9 March ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

To replace AFSOC's remaining MC-130E/P tankers, the Commando II fleet will perform missions including providing in-flight refuelling for special operations helicopters and tiltrotors and the covert insertion and extraction of personnel.

 

Alternative names for the type (Lockheed Martin image above) also considered included "Combat Arrow" and "Combat Knife", the USAF revealed.

AFSOC says its final choice of name also harks back to the legacy of the Curtiss C-46A Commando, first flown in 1940. A glance at that type's Wikipedia entry cites nicknames including the "Curtiss Calamity", "Flying Coffin", "Plumber's Nightmare" and "Whale", so let's hope there's no read-through with the new type.

A month ago, Flightglobal published an article updating the status of the British Army's Watchkeeper unmanned air system programme. Summarised in one sentence, our report said delayed operational field trials were set to start [these are now under way, according to an industry source] and that the first equipment would be deployed for use in Afghanistan later this year.

Not so, according to a parliamentary answer given by UK minister for defence equipment and support Peter Luff on 20 March.

"Watchkeeper will be the first unmanned air system to secure all the necessary airworthiness certification to fly in both a civil and a military environment and this process is taking longer than anticipated," he said. "Work continues and, until this is complete, it would be speculative to provide a forecast as to when Watchkeeper will achieve release to service or its in-service date."

 

The largest UAS programme currently under contract in Europe, Watchkeeper (Rex Features picture above) is the result of a collaboration between Thales UK and Elbit Systems, and has led to a major redevelopment of the latter's Hermes 450 airframe: the same system which is now providing an interim service in support of the British Army in Afghanistan. The WK450-based system was initially expected to enter use in February 2011.

What's strange about Luff's statement is that Watchkeeper was last year threatened with but then spared from inclusion on the UK Ministry of Defence's "Projects of Concern" list, after "demonstrating satisfactory progress".

If that really was the case, it's a shame that a much-needed enhancement to the army's ability to fly intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in Afghanistan is being held up by airspace integration issues in the UK.

The UK Royal Navy helicopter assault ship HMS Illustrious sailed into Portsmouth harbour for repairs yesterday, after the service cut short her planned participation in NATO's Exercise "Cold Response".

"Lusty" had been expected to host a 10-day programme of flying activities in support of the Royal Marines' 42 Commando using an embarked flight of eight Commando Helicopter Force aircraft: four Westland Sea King HC4s, three Lynx AH7s and one Lynx HMA8.

The vessel's involvement had already been restricted by heavy snowfall, which led to a suspension of flying operations. Then an overzealous tug boat bashed into her starboard side in Norway's Harstad harbour, leaving two holes in the hull above the waterline (Pictures from Rex Features).

 

 

Involving around 16,000 military personnel from 14 nations, the "Cold Response" manoeuvres are being run from 12 to 21 March. Participants include forces from Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA.

A Royal Norwegian Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130J tactical transport also involved in the exercise crashed into a Swedish mountain on 15 March, killing all five people onboard.

We last saw Raptor 4195 on 13 December after it rolled off Lockheed Martin's assembly line in Marietta, Georgia. The last of 195 F-22s ordered by the US Air Force then moved to finishings and pre-flight checks. Finally, as Flightglobal's Dave Majumdar exclusively reported yesterday, the still-naked 4195 bird passed the first flight milestone. Lockheed  released the first photo of the last first flight (er, if you follow...) earlier today. The US Air Force will take delivery of the aircraft on 2 May, Majumdar reported.

(Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

Canadian industry is eyeing the nation's long-term need to train its military pilots, and thinking outside the box as part of the process - particularly with the Lockheed Martin F-35 in mind. Like Chinese out of the box (read on).

Two long-term partnered training systems are already in place: the NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) deal with Bombardier (contracted to run until 2020) and the Contracted Flying Training & Support deal with Allied Wings (out to 2027).

What's missing is a multi-year agreement on meeting Ottawa's Contracted Airborne Training Services (CATS) requirements. A rolling interim deal with the Top Aces company was recently extended and will now run through June 2013, using privately-flown Alpha Jets and Challenger business jets.

Lining up a more permanent CATS deal is now on the industry agenda, with possible candidate airframes having been revealed by an Allied Wings official at IQPC's Military Flight Training conference in London today.

It was no surprise to see the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 and Korea Aerospace Industries T-50 on one of the official's slides when talking about options to acquire an aircraft that could be made to handle like an F-35 for adversary-type activities. Inclusion of the non-fly-by-wire BAE Systems Hawk 128/T2 seems a polite nod to a valued NFTC equipment supplier.

 

Noting that other candidates could also be considered, our briefer also included a shot of Hongdu's developmental L-15 (above). A dark horse it may be, but with CATIC having already been spoken to for general data, it's clearly not a joke suggestion.

Russia's Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) -- think NASA's Langley Research Centre -- is working on a new supersonic business jet. (See here for Russian-language news release issued earlier today.)

Sukhoi and Tupolev of course have been working on this idea for decades, of course, but this one will be a little different. It's supposed to fly quietly enough that it can operate over populated areas, unlike the supersonic Concorde, for instance. That's all very interesting in a Bond-villain-plot-vehicle-way, but that's not why we're posting on this blog.

We'd really just like to know why TsAGI decided to paint the concept aircraft in drab olive green, the colour of World War II-era camouflage. Maybe the "green" marketing meme has made its way into Russian design offices. Of course, associating the environmental green with anything that flies supersonic is a bit of a stretch.

Russia's Tupolev is working on a next-generation bomber ... just saying. 

Boeing is close to flying the liquid hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye unmanned aircraft system, as Flightglobal's UAV and Space editor Zach Rosenberg reported yesterday.

Boeing did not release any new images of the high-altitude spy aircraft prototype, but that's ok. Thanks to Google Earth, we don't need it.

It used to be that only aircraft like as the Phantom Eye and military satellites could play the overhead reconnaissance game.

Those days are over. Now we can spy on the spymasters.

Google's GeoEye satellite service snapped the Phantom Eye on a ramp on the edge of the dry lakebed at Edwards AFB in December.

 

The late Captain Jeffrey Haney's widow is suing several F-22 contractors involved in making or integrating the stealth fighter's life support systems. Haney died in November 2010 when his F-22 crashed in Alaska.

Flightglobal US military reporter Dave Majumdar has posted a full article on the lawsuit, including Lockheed Martin's statement that respectfully disagrees with the allegations brought by Haney's widow.

Here is Anna Haney's lawsuit.

F22 Lawsuit

Lockheed Martin has brought its F-35 promotion team and simulator to London town, which gave me the chance to "fly" the aircraft in its B and C variants and talk about the Lightning II with one of its senior programme officials.

I last got to try out the F-35 using this device at Lockheed's Fort Worth site in Texas in late 2010, and my first impression remains that with sufficient guidance this is a really easy aircraft to fly in basic operation.

 

With the UK currently favouring the F-35C, I started my simulator ride on the carrier deck, flying a quick circuit before lining up behind the ship for an arrested landing. Once talked through re the correct speed and angle of attack for the approach, the aircraft caught the wire with no problem at the first attempt (yes, the hook already works fine in the virtual world).

But with the UK also widely reported as possibly to reverse its late 2010 variant switch and go back to the short take-off and vertical landing F-35B, I also took the chance to get a refresher in flying that too.

Here's a quick sprint through the process. Press the button marked "Hook/STOVL" to the left of the main cockpit displays and push the throttle forward to deflect the nozzles to 90˚ for vertical lift, and then pull on the stick to climb. It really is that simple, as the aircraft's software will do the rest in correctly setting the doors, flaps, power settings and so on.

Compared with my previous attempt at hovering a British Aerospace Sea Harrier using a Qinetiq simulator, this is a world ahead in terms of man/machine interface and pilot assistance.

Once aloft, letting go of the stick sees the jet hold its altitude. Pushing the throttle forward picks up some speed before another press of the STOVL button transitions the B for conventional flight.

Okay, my landing wasn't textbook, by approaching the ship deck from a 90˚ angle and with a forward speed of about 20kt, but it did allow me to experiment with the button on the throttle which allows the pilot to adjust the controlled approach speed in 1kt (quick push) or 10kt (long press) increments. Use of the F-35's distributed aperture system also means there'd be no excuse for missing the deck.

It's easy to bash the Joint Strike Fighter for its cost and schedule difficulties, but love it or loathe it, the F-35 is a pretty remarkable piece of technology.

As I reported on Flightglobal earlier today, you can expect some noise from the UK before the end of March on whether it could reverse its decision to transition from the STOVL B to the carrier variant C. With the cost of converting its in-construction Queen Elizabeth-class vessels (or even only one of them) a complete unknown and the F-35B now out of probation it's not a totally crazy idea.

South Korea's Kunsan air base on 2 March played host to a remarkable "Elephant Walk" demonstration with Lockheed Martin F-16s from the Republic of Korea Air Force and the US Air Force.

I'm not sure how many aircraft took part in total, but reckon there are about 48 on show in the US Air Force image. Let us know if you can count more accurately!

Having recently been involved in a bitter dogfight to secure India's medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal, it's nice to see the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon flying side by side.

A joint exercise involving the French air force's 1/7 Provence squadron and personnel from the UK Royal Air Force's 3 Sqn wrapped up at Saint-Dizier air base on 5 March, having started three days earlier. The British aircraft were visiting from their home at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, accompanied by two pilots and 12 maintainers.

 

The French air force says the activity was intended to support familiarisation between the services. Work of this kind had been due to occur last year, before France and the UK committed both types to supporting the NATO-led operation to protect civilians in Libya. The single-seat Typhoon pictured above still carries the markings beneath its cockpit to depict the weapons it dropped during the conflict (French air force photo taken by A Jeuland).

Rafales are scheduled to make a similar visit to Coningsby within the coming months, while the two services expect to launch an exchange programme between pilots on the respective types late this year.

Meanwhile, the Indian defence ministry has entered into final negotiations for the 126-aircraft MMRCA deal with the Dassault-led Rafale International team.

Airbus Military has confirmed that one of its A400M "Grizzly" test aircraft will be heading to Chile to participate in the FIDAE air show from late this month.

Taking the A400M to Latin America at this time has less to do with immediate sales prospects than finding a suitable location to conduct high-altitude operational trials. These will be conducted at Cochabamba and La Paz in Bolivia using Grizzly 2, Airbus says. The aircraft will be in Chile from 26-28 March, with an A380 also in attendance.

 

Confirmation that the A400M will be at FIDAE as a static attraction came on 8 March; the same day that Airbus parent company EADS briefly updated the programme's status during its annual results presentation.

"Flight testing on the A400M continues at maximum capacity with five test aircraft aiming for a timely achievement of first customer delivery," says EADS, referring to a target previously set for by the end of March 2013 with the French air force.

Earlier this decade Chile was looking at buying up to three A400Ms, but more recently has shifted its interest to possible industrial collaboration on Embraer's promising KC-390 transport/tanker. Sufficient workshare could lure Santiago in ordering up to six of the type: a subject we're sure to hear more about during FIDAE, which starts on 27 March.

Two pilots from the Czech Republic air force have taken part in the service's first ever air-to-air refuelling exercise, operating Saab Gripen fighters behind the Swedish air force's Lockheed Martin KC-130H tanker.

Performed recently over central Sweden, the manoeuvres involved two aircraft from Caslav air base, piloted by Maj Jaroslav Tomaňa and Capt Petr Dřevecký. Both had received special training at the Swedish air force's Ronneby air base before conducting the activity.

 

"The first Czech Gripen air-to-air refuelling campaign took less than a week. Initial sorties were made in a two-seat Gripen, with a Swedish instructor," says Saab. "During the rest of the week the missions were flown in single-seat Gripen." Dry and wet contacts were made during the exercise (Saab released image taken by Milan Nikodym).

Seeing pictures of the campaign reminded me of comments made by a senior Swedish air force official at last year's Paris air show. While giving an operational overview about the Gripen's debut appearance as a tactical reconnaissance aircraft during the NATO-led operation "Unified Protector" over Libya, he explained how the service's lone 1969-era KC-130H and one qualified crew had also been made available to the alliance at short notice.

His colleagues greeted news of the surprise commitment by saying words to the effect of "are you crazy?" The aircraft went on to provide valuable support to Gripens operating from Sigonella, Sicily during the early stage of the multinational campaign.

The possibility of Scotland voting for independence has thrown up some intriguing topics for discussion recently. Key among these is the question of what would happen with any re-allocation of defence equipment currently located north of the border.

Royal Air Force bases at Leuchars and Lossiemouth play respective host to squadrons equipped with Eurofighter Typhoon fighters and Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft, although the controversial cancellation of the service's BAE Systems Nimrod MRA4 brought an end to maritime patrol operations from Kinloss.

 

Answering a parliamentary question from SNP (Scottish National Party) MP Angus Robertson on 5 March, defence minister Nick Harvey detailed the order of battle now in position in Scotland.

In all, 80 military fixed-wing aircraft and five helicopters (principally search and rescue-roled Westland Sea Kings) are based in Scotland, along with 11 of the Royal Navy's surface ships and five submarines.

With the SNP committed to a staunchly anti-nuclear weapons policy, there would be little argument about the Trident missile-armed submarines heading back to the "auld enemy", beyond the dire impact that this would have on local employment around Faslane.

But what about combat aircraft?

Clearly this isn't the same position as the chaos caused during the collapse of the Soviet Union, when part of Russia's Tupolev Tu-160 strategic bomber fleet and large numbers of Mikoyan and Sukhoi fighters ended up in Ukrainian hands.

Scotland's population level, which totals a little over 5 million people, is comparable to that of Slovakia, and roughly half that of the Czech Republic. Two decades on after those nations split, their air forces now have combat fleets of 12 MiG-29 and 12 Saab Gripen C fighters, respectively, with tasked with performing air policing duties.

Could an independent Scotland make do with a single unit of Typhoons? That's what it has today after all, in the guise of Leuchars-based 6 Sqn, now delivering quick reaction alert cover for the northern UK. If so, perhaps a deal could be done to help the RAF transition to an all Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 fleet by Edinburgh accepting aircraft optimised for air defence applications only?

Losing many squadrons of combat aircraft and seeing the next-generation Lockheed Martin F-35C arrive at English bases only would represent a massive upheaval for the Scottish economy. But if independence is the way to go, would its liberated population really be willing to dig any deeper for an all-new "Tartan Army"?

Semantics I suppose, but it's not technically accurate to say that the UK no longer has an aircraft carrier at its disposal.

Now referred to as a "helicopter assault ship" (a tag forced on the Royal Navy following the retirement of the UK's last Harrier strike aircraft in 2010), HMS Illustrious is currently playing host to two Apache AH1s from the Army Air Corps' (AAC) 656 Sqn (Crown Copyright image below).

 

The value of using the Apache from a maritime platform was highlighted during last year's NATO-led operation over Libya, when AAC crews operating from the amphibious support ship HMS Ocean destroyed more than 100 targets using 99 Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and over 4,000 30mm cannon rounds.

Involving three "AH" crews, the current activity is intended "to refresh their knowledge of operating the aircraft at sea", according to the Ministry of Defence. This means that a valuable skill will not be allowed to fade while the army's main focus remains on supporting operations in Afghanistan.

It's a coincidence only, but at a time when tensions are running high between the UK and Argentina over the territorial rights of the Falkland Islands, the MoD notes that "HMS Illustrious is currently at a few days' notice to sail anywhere in the world should the British Government require her services."

In reality, the vessel's next task will be to sail in the other direction and inside the Arctic Circle to support an eight-week cold weather training programme to culminate with its participation in the Norwegian-led NATO Exercise "Cold Response". No Apaches this time, but Commando Helicopter Force Lynx and Sea King helicopters will be onboard.

Current plans call for the Royal Navy to decommission HMS Illustrious - aka "Lusty" - in 2014. The service will not introduce its first replacement Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier until at least 2020.

Maverick is becoming an F-35 test pilot.

It's true.

Tom Burbage, the Lockheed Martin F-35 programme manager, showed up at a National Aeronautics Association luncheon today and dropped a bombshell of a Hollywood scoop. Sure, there was talk about schedules and budgets, partners and politics, software blocks and carrier hooks. But we'll get to that later.

The big news from Burbage's speech involves Top Gun 2, the long-not-quite-awaited-but-certainly-delayed sequel of the 1986 fighter jock classic.

Tom Cruise, of course, confirmed back in December that the sequel is coming, but nobody -- not even IMDB (we checked) -- knows the full story. 

But Burbage does. Lockheed's Fort Worth, Texas, factory and flight test center will host production crew in the "next month or so" to start filming, Burbage told the NAA luncheon crowd.

Burbage also confirmed that Cruise will not just make a cameo; he will be the star, and he is playing the role of a Lockheed F-35 test pilot!

Potential plot twists fill our heads.

There will be no need to resurrect Goose, as the F-35 is a single-seater. With the Libyan air force in smouldering ruins, there will also be no need to stage another improbable yet inspiring combat scenario. Indeed, as a test pilot, it's not clear how the movie's writers can weave Maverick into a combat situation.

Maybe we've been covering the industry too long, but our perfect plot for Top Gun 2 has no combat sequences at all. Instead, it goes like this:

Maverick is a test pilot struggling to keep the flight test programme on schedule, even though his better judgment is sometimes compromised by a lifelong, paralyzing fear of vertical landings. Maverick almost throws in the towel after his favourite knee board/test card holder is destroyed in an unfortunate lift fan malfunction. Meanwhile, the programme's enemies, led by the snearing Bill "Iceman" Sweetman and Karlo "Slider" Kopp, take advantage of Maverick's absence to nearly bury the programme in a wave of seemingly overwhelming blog attacks. That's when Maverick's love interest -- a Texas congresswoman strategically placed on the AirLand subcommittee --  intervenes. She gives Maverick her father's last knee board (er, her father was also a test pilot ... just go with it) and literally pushes him back into the cockpit. Maverick straps on the knee board, takes the Block 3 software build out for a spin, hits every test point and -- for the finale -- lands vertically right on top of Aviation Week's building in downtown Washington DC. And that's when Kenny Loggins starts singing.