Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates

[StingrayOZ]

I believe the F-35C is not as manouverable as the A series. Larger wings limit its turns to 7.5 G ( B is 7 G) while the A allows 9G?s.. I will have to find a source.

F-35 HMDS Pulls the Gs

To be honest 7.5G should be more than enough for this type of aircraft. I can see the F-35 with a front line force having to try a pull some crazy moves to get rid of a threat.

 

[hairyman]

I wonder what size flight deck a F35C would require?

 

[Sea Toby]

I wonder what size flight deck a F35C would require?

I have read the Invincible, Garibaldi, and Principe de Asturias flight decks are too short in length, a longer flight deck of Cavour and Juan Carlos I are needed. Don't know offhand the numbers, or whether its true.

The F-35C is being bought only by the US Navy that I am aware. The US Navy intends to use their catapults to launch them.

 

[gf0012-aust]

I wonder what size flight deck a F35C would require?

its not just a flight deck issue.

its about where the lifts are - they impact upon sortie and recovery rate
its about refitting the guts of the ship for approp bunkerage\
its about the numbers to launch the plane unassisted or assisted and what impact it has on the rest of the flight elements

again, we have NO people overseas learning/training on carrier ops for fixed wing combat. we do have people overseas learning/training for LHA rotor ops and about new expeditionary doctrine issues.

for the last time, we 'aint getting a FAA fixed wing component crewed by RAN or RAAF pilots.

 

[Ozzy Blizzard]

I believe the F-35C is not as manouverable as the A series. Larger wings limit its turns to 7.5 G ( B is 7 G) while the A allows 9G?s.. I will have to find a source.

F-35 HMDS Pulls the Gs

To be honest 7.5G should be more than enough for this type of aircraft. I can see the F-35 with a front line force having to try a pull some crazy moves to get rid of a threat.

I didn’t know that. Still you would have to see the instantaneous and sustained turn rates to know for sure, and we wont be seeing them any time soon. The wing loading should be better on the "C" model, and I would wager its nose pointing ability is superior, not that it really makes a difference.

 

[Vivendi]

Can anybody confirm this?


Budget fear puts off buy-up of F-35 jets | The Australian

THE RAAF's plan to acquire up to 100 F-35 joint strike fighters faces a further delay until next year as budget pressures continue to bear down on the Rudd government.

In a long-awaited decision, cabinet's national security committee was due to sign off on the $16 billion purchase before Christmas.

But defence budget pressures and Defence Department concerns about Australia becoming the lead foreign customer for the initial production models of the F-35 fighter are expected to force a postponement until the new year of a government green light for the acquisition.

The F-35 joint strike fighter is a "fifth-generation fighter" earmarked to replace the RAAF's F-111 bombers and the FA 18 fighters from later next decade in what will be Australia's largest defence buy.

Already, the planned acquisition has slipped by at least two years, with the air force not due to get its first operational squadron until 2018-19 at the earliest.

The initial squadron could be trimmed to as few as 14 aircraft as Defence planners struggle to find further savings in the $27bn defence budget.

The current plan is for four operational squadrons each consisting of 24 aircraft.

Further delays in the acquisition will mean the RAAF will extend the planned in-service life of its new FA 18 super hornet fighters well into the 2020s.

Good thing you ordered those Super Hornets...

 

[gf0012-aust]

Can anybody confirm this?


Good thing you ordered those Super Hornets...

seems rubbish to me.

we had a briefing today and it clearly shows 100 JSF.

on top of that there is another briefing next week where the project lead is giving a sep presentation

unfort I won't be attending as I'm tied up elsewhere

Its laughable that a journo trots out stuff like this when people within the system see far different material .

who would I believe? our briefings or a newspaper article?

cut and dried for me.

 

[battlensign]

seems rubbish to me.

we had a briefing today and it clearly shows 100 JSF.

on top of that there is another briefing next week where the project lead is giving a sep presentation

unfort I won't be attending as I'm tied up elsewhere

Its laughable that a journo trots out stuff like this when people within the system see far different material .

who would I believe? our briefings or a newspaper article?

cut and dried for me.

I have no doubt we will get close to 100 but I am concerned about the general trend of shifts 'to the right of the calendar' in acquisitions. The longer the delay for the four squadrons the longer the SUpers are in service and the less able we are to get them back to the yanks.

BTW When and where is this briefing? Any chance of getting in? I will be in Canberra Thurs and Fri for the KF Australia and America stuff anyway....

Brett.

 

[gf0012-aust]

I have no doubt we will get close to 100 but I am concerned about the general trend of shifts 'to the right of the calendar' in acquisitions. The longer the delay for the four squadrons the longer the SUpers are in service and the less able we are to get them back to the yanks.

The supers are going back irrespective of how long they're kept. There is NO intention to keep them.. 2025 latest

When and where is this briefing? Any chance of getting in? I will be in Canberra Thurs and Fri for the KF Australia and America stuff anyway....

Brett.

no. todays was credentialed staff - the other will also be a classified briefing and also restricted entry.

 

[Vivendi]

seems rubbish to me.

we had a briefing today and it clearly shows 100 JSF.

on top of that there is another briefing next week where the project lead is giving a sep presentation

Gf,

Of course I trust your briefings more than the journalists, that's why I ask

However what you say above does not really address what the journalist was claiming. If I read that article correctly it's not necessarily about reducing the numbers but delaying the orders.

 

[gf0012-aust]

Gf,

If I read that article correctly it's not necessarily about reducing the numbers but delaying the orders.

well, there's certainly a view that we may slip right, but thats more of an issue about what the project itself is doing rather than something thats being triggered by australian intent.

in fact, we're probably all slipping to the right - US services included.

 

[t68]

seems rubbish to me.

we had a briefing today and it clearly shows 100 JSF.

on top of that there is another briefing next week where the project lead is giving a sep presentation

unfort I won't be attending as I'm tied up elsewhere

Its laughable that a journo trots out stuff like this when people within the system see far different material .

who would I believe? our briefings or a newspaper article?

cut and dried for me.

It might be cut and dried for people such as yourself with inside info ,but for us mere mortal's on the outside we can only look to what is out there for genral infomation and make our own assement on it and look betwen the line's and ask on forum's like this and hope some one gives a snipet of correct info,without people like yourself having clm.

 

[gf0012-aust]

It might be cut and dried for people such as yourself with inside info ,but for us mere mortal's on the outside we can only look to what is out there for genral infomation and make our own assement on it and look betwen the line's and ask on forum's like this and hope some one gives a snipet of correct info,without people like yourself having clm.

Yeah well I like my job, so where I can give detail I will. If I can't then apols in advance.

I am however not prone to making comments unless there is some substance behind it. Unfort the nature of the internet is that we now have a generation of people who think that proof of life is demonstrated as soon as they see something on the internet and ipso facto it must be true.

can't do much about that philosophy except to shake my head and keep on walking.

definitely don't want or need a CLM

 

[Aussie Digger]

Can anybody confirm this?


Budget fear puts off buy-up of F-35 jets | The Australian



Good thing you ordered those Super Hornets...

On the very same day as that article was printed in The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story saying that Australia is to order a first batch of 12x F-35 aircraft by the end of November.

Choose which newspaper suits your POV best I guess...

 

[Sea Toby]

On the very same day as that article was printed in The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald ran a story saying that Australia is to order a first batch of 12x F-35 aircraft by the end of November.

Choose which newspaper suits your POV best I guess...

Today's journalism doesn't care much about the truth, as long as they have a credible source, they will run the story. Thus what one sees, hears, or reads has to be taken with a grain of salt until the government releases an official press release.

 

[PeterM]

Has anyone heard much about the RAAF getting the Heron UAV

IAI-Made Heron UAV To Be Operated By RAAF In Afghanistan

It seems the RAAF have leased some for a year with a further extention option. Reportedly they will be operational early in 2010 and will be deployed to Afghanistan.

They supposedly have 40hr+ endurance a 30,000ft+ ceiling, a 3000km+ range and a payload of 250kgs

IAI's Heron UAV will be used by Australia in 2010 under a new C$95m ($88.1m) lease aggrement for two years with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA). The operational service will begin in 2010 with one year extension period. The services offered will include maintenance and logistics to provide real-time, multisensor intelligence information directly to the ground station.

from http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/heron-uav/

I am not sure how many units the RAAF is leasing

Turkey signed a $150m contract to IAI in May 2005 to supply 30 Heron UAVs. IAI has also supplied 50 Heron medium-altitude low-endurance UAVs to the Indian Army, under a $220m contract. It seems these cost around $4mil each to buy. I don't think the RAAF are looking at leasing 20 or so aircraft. Perhaps the RAAF got the more recent/ advanced variants such as the Heron TP.

Does anyone have any more information?

 

[Aussie Digger]

Has anyone heard much about the RAAF getting the Heron UAV

IAI-Made Heron UAV To Be Operated By RAAF In Afghanistan

It seems the RAAF have leased some for a year with a further extention option. Reportedly they will be operational early in 2010 and will be deployed to Afghanistan.

They supposedly have 40hr+ endurance a 30,000ft+ ceiling, a 3000km+ range and a payload of 250kgs


from Heron UAV - Air Force Technology

I am not sure how many units the RAAF is leasing

Turkey signed a $150m contract to IAI in May 2005 to supply 30 Heron UAVs. IAI has also supplied 50 Heron medium-altitude low-endurance UAVs to the Indian Army, under a $220m contract. It seems these cost around $4mil each to buy. I don't think the RAAF are looking at leasing 20 or so aircraft. Perhaps the RAAF got the more recent/ advanced variants such as the Heron TP.

Does anyone have any more information?

Apparently we have 2 airframes for ISR duties in Afghanistan. That is all that has been released other than what you have included...

Apparently ADF has it's hands "too full" to introduce the AIR-7000 UAV solution, (at least that was former Defmin Fitzgibbon's publicly announced justification) but to introduce a new leased UAV capability, which didn't exist in any publicly-released DCP as a requirement at the time, is no trouble at all...

 

[Todjaeger]

Does anyone know if the RAAF upgrade to the AP-3C included the work done for the USN in the P-3C Update III Anti-surface Warfare Improvement Program (AIP)? That programme itself appears to have started in 1998 and included mission systems allowing greater detection and reporting of ground targets, as well as the ability to engage them via Maverick AGMs.

-Cheers

 

[StevoJH]

First 14 F-35A's approved. Second Order of 2012 to be considered in 2012.
Australian Government, Department of Defence - Senator the Hon John Faulkner Minister for Defence

(Link borrowed from JimWH after Abe Gubler posted the Press Release on T5C)

 

[PeterM]

First 14 F-35A's approved. Second Order of 2012 to be considered in 2012.
Australian Government, Department of Defence - Senator the Hon John Faulkner Minister for Defence

(Link borrowed from JimWH after Abe Gubler posted the Press Release on T5C)

Thanks for the heads up

There are very clear references to the CTOL F-35

What I find curious is that it doesn't specify whether they will be the USAF F-35A or the USN F-35C; both qualify as CTOL JSF.

Does anyone have any confirmed clarification?