USAF News and Discussion

[Meriv90]

Really can’t shoe horn B21 into the right class. It would need to be more than just supersonic but also super cruise.
Although I can see potential for subsystems exchange between the three. The problem is the three have dramatically different missions in mind.
Well most people think they are all doing the same jobs realistically well they overlap they all have different needs to address.

NGAD PCA is high altitude long range. It’s likely to be pulling a super cruise at Mach 1.7 at over 60,000 feet that’s something Raptor is said to be able to do. But we also want it to have its fuel and burn it too. That’s why there was a lot of talk of a variable cycle engine. An engine that can sip fuel line an airliner well crossing the Pacific and fire breathing well supersonic at Mach 2.1.

GCAP is much more oriented to European defense needs so shorter range and much more multirole. GCAP is much more a Eurofighter fifth gen. The only partner who may want some more PCA capabilities in GCAP would be Japan who sits at the heart of the First and second island chains with multiple geopolitical, Historical issues vs China. As such I just don’t see a GCAP exchange happening unless the U.S. basically redesigned it.

FCAS if either of these projects had potential to exchange with the U.S. it would be FCAS but not to the USAF.
The USN.
FCAS is more likely to be closer to F/A-XX because the French Navy wants that Carrier capability vs GCAP. The only other Navy on earth that uses (currently*) cats is the USN. Though it’s highly unlikely that the USN would buy French.

I might add that probably the true scope of GCAP and FCAS is an industry rationalization and thus a competition to see who survives RR/BAE/Leonardo vs Safran/Airbus/Indra etc... etc...

If we had a common European defense, and lets say field 4-5 CVN then we could had had the french program for the navy and the "continental" program for the AF. But we dont have a common defense, not even close, thus we dont have economies of scale, that forces us to see who survives this technological round.

Thus partnering with the NGAD from both projects would be a no because it would create again a F-35 that is mainly a foreign product and thus an industrial security threat. Same with GCAP/FCAS ending in a single project because would mean postponing the rationalization of the industry and we are already due to some cuts.

I see it more like a race to make the least amount of errors, stay in budget, survive the political turmoils, than like an american programm of designing a two step ahead technological wonder that will ecplipse the competition.

 

[swerve]

I doubt either the HS129 or IL-2 would have lasted any longer than the Stuka did over Britain in 1940. Ground attack aircraft whether dive bombing, level bombing or close to the ground need air superiority to be established first or in the case of the IL-2 (36,000 built) simply overwhelm enemy AD by sheer weight of numbers.

The Il-2 was operating in an environment where air opposition was spread rather thin, there was no integrated air defence command, & AFAIK a lack of air defence radar. There was a good chance of not being intercepted on any given mission.

That didn't apply over SE England in 1940, where the best AD network in the world up to that point was operating, with 100% coverage of the area of operations, & very, very much more fighters in comparison to the area defended. Even tip & run attacks on coastal targets were high risk.

 

[Masquerader]

The KC-10 Extender tanker variant of the DC-10 trijet airliner has been retired from service after 43 years.

Air Force’s Very Last KC-10 Tanker Bids Adieu at Travis

The last KC-10 refueling tanker in the Air Force inventory flew its last flight after a farewell ceremony at Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

www.airandspaceforces.com

U.S. Air Force Retires Final KC-10A Extender in Ceremony at Travis AFB, California

The final KC-10A flies to the boneyard after a 44-year career while the USAF and lawmakers continue to debate the replacement tanker. On Sept. 26, 2024,

theaviationist.com

US Air Force Retires Final KC-10 Extender Tanker After 43 Years Of Service

After being deactivated a year ago, the final KC-10 Extender has been sent to the boneyard in Arizona.

simpleflying.com

 

[swerve]

The former RNLAF KDC-10s were retired in 2019, but Omega Air bought them, & last I heard was using them to refuel USAF aircraft.

 

[FormerDirtDart]

First of the two USAF prototyping E-7As airframes has become more than just a procurement document.
Long way to go, but it's a start

Boeing receives 737 fuselage for first US Air Force E-7A Wedgetail

The 737 fuselage made by Spirit AeroSystems was delivered to Boeing's factory in Renton, Washington on 22 January, where it will be assembled into the first prototype of the US Air Force's E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control jet.

www.flightglobal.com

(I'm just going to ignore all the recent problems with Spirit AeroSystems 737 delivered products and remain positive)

 

[Sandhi Yudha]

Luckily the pilot could eject on time. It happened in Alaska.

 

[MARKMILES77]

Wow!
Report from the US Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) very interesting.
Surprised how glowing the assessment of the F15-EXs air to air capability is, even against fifth generation aircraft, despite all the claims it is not viable against low observable opponents and the F-35 is the only game in town.
Not to mention its excellent reliability which has not been an F-35 Strong point.
Could give a huge boost to this programme and possibly lead to extra future orders, maybe at the expense of F-35s?

Boeing could sure do with some good news, especially in its military programmes.

The War Zone
“Against the level of threat tested, the F-15EX is operationally effective in all its air superiority roles, including defensive and offensive counter-air against surrogate fifth-generation adversary aircraft, as well as basic air-to-ground capability against the tested threats,” the report notes. The reference to the F-15EX’s effectiveness against fifth-generation threats is especially notable. While it’s unclear exactly what kinds of threats are being referred to, a fifth-generation fighter will typically have a low-observable design, advanced ‘sensor fused’ avionics, and generally high performance, among other attributes. Prior to the F-35, the fifth-generation rubric often included extreme agility and supercruise, but definitions for generations of fighters are highly subjective and change with the times. You can read more about this reality here.
Critics of the F-15EX have, in the past, suggested that the aircraft would not be able to compete on level terms with fifth-generation types, since it’s after all a heavily upgraded fourth-generation design, the first prototype of which flew in 1972. Regardless, the report seems to put such concerns aside, at least in the air-to-air arena, and based on the currently available test data.


Furthermore, “The F-15EX was able to detect and track all threats at advantageous ranges, use onboard and off-board systems to identify them, and deliver weapons while surviving,” the report continues.


While it has clearly excelled in simulated air-to-air combat, the F-15EX also wins plaudits from the Pentagon on account of meeting “all its reliability, availability, and maintainability requirements,” and achieving “nearly all objectives although maintenance technical orders were still immature.” This is a huge achievement as the reliability of modern fighters has become nearly as big of a concern as their basic capabilities, with fifth-generation types struggling in this regard.

F-15EX Nails Pentagon Test Campaign, Survivability Concerns Remain

The F-15EX has so far impressed in simulated combat, even against fifth-generation threats, although new enemy long-range missiles could prove a challenge. The F-15EX has so far impressed in simulated combat, even against fifth-generation threats, although new enemy long-range missiles could...

www.twz.com

The original report is available from the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) here:

https://www.dote.osd.mil/annualreport/

 

[John Fedup]

Wow!
Report from the US Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) very interesting.
Surprised how glowing the assessment of the F15-EXs air to air capability is, even against fifth generation aircraft, despite all the claims it is not viable against low observable opponents and the F-35 is the only game in town.
Not to mention its excellent reliability which has not been an F-35 Strong point.
Could give a huge boost to this programme and possibly lead to extra future orders, maybe at the expense of F-35s?

Boeing could sure do with some good news, especially in its military programmes.

F-15EX Nails Pentagon Test Campaign, Survivability Concerns Remain

The F-15EX has so far impressed in simulated combat, even against fifth-generation threats, although new enemy long-range missiles could prove a challenge. The F-15EX has so far impressed in simulated combat, even against fifth-generation threats, although new enemy long-range missiles could...

www.twz.com

The original report is available from the Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) here:

https://www.dote.osd.mil/annualreport/

It has its place if an airforce can afford two fast jet options. Range and weapons load versus stealth (and other unique F-35 capabilities), the latter options win for most nations looking to upgrade their fast jets.

 

[MARKMILES77]

It has its place if an airforce can afford two fast jet options. Range and weapons load versus stealth (and other unique F-35 capabilities), the latter options win for most nations looking to upgrade their fast jets.

Reading the same report regarding the F-35 provides a stark contrast.
Software problems continue to cripple the programme.
TR-3 equipped aircraft have had combat capabilities removed, that TR-2 Aircraft already had, in order to give the TR-3 Aircraft some basic level of functionality.

To stabilize the performance
on the new TR-3 hardware, the
program developed a truncated
version of software by disabling
combat capabilities that had
already been fielded on the TR-2
aircraft. In July 2024, a year after
the planned delivery, the JPO,
Services, and Lockheed Martin
reached an agreement to allow
the Services to start accepting
TR-3 aircraft with the truncated
software lacking these TR-2
capabilities.

Full Mission Capability (FMC) rates are terrible and in the case of the F-35A declining.
F-35A has gone from 50% in 2020 to 35% in 2024.
F-35B has remained stable around 15% since 2016.
F-35C has gone from around 5% in 2020 to less than 25% in 2024.

 

[MARKMILES77]

Mean Flight Hours Between Critical Failures (MFHBCF) is around 10 hours for all variants. Unchanged in a Decade for the F-35A but slightly improved for the B and C.
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