Adios Global Hawk, U-2 Will Stick Around

 

From DefenseTech

Wow, so it looks like we’re seeing the first of the upcoming budget cuts for the Air Force trickle out. The AP is reporting that the Air Force is cancelling the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude spy drone opting instead to keep the legendary U-2 Dragon Lady in service (for now, anyway)! Yup, the 50-year old [...]

Adios Global Hawk, U-2 Will Stick Around
John Reed
Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:56:35 GMT

What Happened in the KC-X Tanker Saga

I have blogged before about the long drawn-out saga of KC-X, the USAF program [sic] to replace the ageing fleet of KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers (see USAF selects Boeing for KC-X contract and Aussies Steal a March on the USAF ). 

Now the evergreen and delightful Popular Mechanics provides a chronology of the tortured process U.S. Air Force Tanker - Boeing Governent Contract - Popular Mechanics

Well worth reading to find out how not to do it, how Boeing eventually won and how one person can be a national hero or a right pain in the butt depending on where you stand.

Rivet Joint morphs into Air Seeker

 

At last the coalition seem to have taken a sensible procurement decision to forgo “Made in Britain” kit and acquire three US RC-135 W Rivet Joint aircraft for the joint electronic intelligence role.  These will replace the ageing Nimrod R1s.

This will provide four advantages over the Nimrod:

• The RC-135 airframe is mature robust and virtually indestructible having been developed from the evergreen KC-135 tanker which is still in front line USAF service.
• The RAF will now have full interoperability with the US, unlike the Nimrod
• There will be three of them rather than only two Nimrods
• They're available now

Lets hope that the Government and its recently appointed new head of MoD procurement will will take lots more sensible defence procurement decisions rather than buying only British kit (because it keeps British jobs) like the previous and utterly incompetent government.

Aussies Steal a March on the USAF

While the USAF,Office of Procurement and vested aerospace interests continue to squabble over the specification and contract for the KC-X, the replacement tanker for the venerable KC-135, the RAAF is set to take delivery of its first A330MRTT tanker/transport, based on the Airbus A330, in the next few weeks. This aircraft is also on order for the RAF and will probably become the standard Western “full fat” tanker in the years to come.
The importance of the KC-X programme for the US’s global reach cannot be overestimated and is possibly the single most important USAF programme for a generation.  So it is perplexing that the Yanks can’t get their act together.  I am a great admirer of US kit and ways of doing things but sometimes they border on the pathetic.

CV-22 crash not caused by mechanical failure

 Flight International is carrying a report that the recent crash of a USAF Special Operations Command CV-22 Osprey was not due to mechanical failure after having already had enemy action eliminated from the possible causes.

 Source: CV-22 crash not caused by mechanical failure: "The BellBoeing CV-22 crash in Afghanistan on 8 April was not caused by

The revolutionary CV-22 is a very important aircraft for the US and its long development has been punctuated by a number of crashes due to both mechanical failure (its twin tilting rotor system is fiendishly complicated and has taken a long time to perfect) and pilot error (it is rumoured that the conversion from normal helicopters to the CV-22 is difficult).

Could it be as the result of the dreaded "brown out" that so bedevils rotary wing operations in Afghanistan?

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