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

Severely said:

Now USN is acknowledging rough dimensions, weight and range. If you buddy a few Rhinos and a Wedgetail in combination with some Ghost Bats the enemy should be in for a bit of a surprise. Only thing is their weight and size. Full loaded you would only have the centreline tank. I wish the USN had gone ahead with the conformal. Would also be keen to know if we are getting the centreline tank with IRST21. It appears to be bogged down with regard to development and also eats into fuel reserves.

https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/4580867/aim-424-lraam-malice/

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Severely said:

Now USN is acknowledging rough dimensions, weight and range. If you buddy a few Rhinos and a Wedgetail in combination with some Ghost Bats the enemy should be in for a bit of a surprise. Only thing is their weight and size. Full loaded you would only have the centreline tank. I wish the USN had gone ahead with the conformal. Would also be keen to know if we are getting the centreline tank with IRST21. It appears to be bogged down with regard to development and also eats into fuel reserves.

https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/4580867/aim-424-lraam-malice/

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hauritz said:

There is something I took away from this.

First of all it is a simple aircraft. It is the production facility and supply chains that are the more complex and ultimately just is important, arguably more important than the aircraft itself. This facility will be owned and controlled by Boeing which isn’t a good thing.

The US is also building CCAs but it is taking a different approach. To start with it is using multiple manufacturers. This guarantees competition which ultimately should give them more innovation, better quality and the best price. Meanwhile we have locked ourselves in with Boeing for the production life of this aircraft. Not sure this is a win for us.

Back in the day we used to have the Government Aircraft Factory. As the name suggests it was government owned and controlled. We built many aircraft types at that factory. It built Canberra bombers, Jindivik drones, Mirages, F-18s and so on. Ironically what was the GAF eventually ended up in the hands of Boeing and that same facility was probably largely responsible for the design and construction of the MQ-28.

Really the government should not of relinquished control of the GAF as it was clearly a strategic asset.

What the government should consider doing is setting up its own aviation manufacturing hub similar to the shipbuilding industry. This would free us up from dependency on one aircraft manufacturer. In this day and age a facility like this could easily bounce around between an array of different products that could either be built under licence or locally designed.

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• 1939: Formed as the Government Aircraft Factories under the Department of Aircraft Production in Melbourne.

• 1987: Replaced and corporatised into Aerospace Technologies of Australia (ASTA).

• 1995: Sold off by the Federal Government to Rockwell International for roughly $20 million after splitting off troubled units.

• 1996: Remaining maintenance and airport sectors, including Avalon Airport and ASTA Aircraft Services, were wound down or sold off, ending federal ownership.

• 2008: Nomad aircraft design rights and type certificates were transferred to Gippsland Aeronautics (GippsAero)

ThunderChunder said:

The US Navy has done it again. At its annual Tailhook symposium, it revealed the AIM-424 'Malice' Long Range Air to Air Missile which it says will go on all Navy fourth, fifth, and sixth generation fighters

AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM)

U.S. Navy File Photo - Four AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM) are loaded on an F/A-18E Super Hornet for a test event. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to...

www.dvidshub.net

U.S. Navy File Photo - Four AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missiles (LRAAM) are loaded on an F/A-18E Super Hornet for a test event. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to defeat advanced threats and defend the force.

AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM)

U.S. Navy File Photo - An AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) is mounted in the internal weapons bay of an F-35C with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) mounted on the weapon bay door. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation...

www.dvidshub.net

U..S. Navy File Photo - An AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile (LRAAM) is mounted in the internal weapons bay of an F-35C with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) mounted on the weapon bay door. The AIM-424 LRAAM is the Department of the Navy's next-generation, long-range air-to-air missile, built to give Marine and Naval aviators the capability they need to defeat advanced threats and defend the force.

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