Stealth Saga #72

Iranian RQ-170 Copy:

The Iranian knock-offs of the RQ-170 have been involved in an air battle in Syria after a knock-off flew into Israel and then the Israelis retaliated.  An Israeli F-16 was shot down.

Shadow Star:

China's stealthy Shadow Star UCAV is expected to have a first flight in 2019.

Project Azm:

Pakistan is gearing up to attempt to manufacture a 5th gen fighter.  I'd bet there's heavy Chinese help and it looks a lot like the FC-31.

KFX:

Due to budget issues, Indonesia's participation in the KFX fighter might get rescoped.

UTC will provide the environmental unit for the KFX.

Tornado Replacement:

The F-35 has been (supposedly) very aggressively banned from being considered as the Tornado replacement.  

Su-57:

Two Su-57s appear to have been deployed to Syria (video above).  Not as yet officially confirmed though.  Some are stating this was a very dangerous move.  The Israelis confirmed two are at the airbase in Syria.

Supposedly another two Su-57 have arrived in Syria following the first two.  No second source, just some twitter based pix.  There is a little more info.

The Russians have started weapon integration tests.

Russia will buy no more than 60 Su-57s by 2027.

The Russians have not yet signed the contract for the next 12 Su-57s.  This postpones their delivery to at least 2019.  Also, the Su-57 with the new engines has not flown since December.  The UAC is now saying they DO have a contract for delivery of 19 Su-57s starting in 2019.

The FGFA variant of the Su-57 remains in contract limbo.

J-20:

China may be struggling to manufacture the J-20.  There may be issues at Chengdu in the manufacturing line.

China reiterated the J-20 is in combat service or, more properly, handed over to combat units.

H-20:

Has the H-20 bomber been delayed?  Is that why China is mass producing the H-6K still?

B-2:

As the B-21 bomber comes online, the B-2 will be retired.  The plans are now for the B-2 to be retired in 2032.  (B-1 by 2038, fwiw).  Are the USAF's new bomber plans a violation of the New START nuclear disarmament treaty?

This B-2 replica is how airmen practice arming the monster bomber.

Ten years ago, a B-2 crashed in Guam.

B-21:

Despite the budget woes, the B-21 remains on schedule. Supposedly.  There are also rumors of multiple prototypes in the air.  No verification on the claim though.

Next Generation Air Dominance/Penetrating Counter Air:

The budget request for the NGAD/PCA 6th generation fighter has risen to half a billion.  There is something definitely afoot.  Demonstrators, perhaps?  There are rumors.

USAF is investing heavily next gen tech to replace the F-15 and F-22.  How the USAF does this is up in the air.

E-8C Joint Stars Replacement:

The JSTARS replacement might be on stealthy aircraft.

F-22:

The US Air Force is fast tracking Rapid Raptor, a program to have four F-22s be deployable within 24 hours to anywhere in the world.

ADS-B transponders might be a security risk for the F-22.

F-35:

An F-35 round-up.

The F-35 is getting automatic ground collision avoidance software.

The F-35A's gun still struggles with accuracy.

LRIP 11 negotiations have restarted after over a year hiatus.

All three F-35 variants went through cold-weather testing at Eielsen AFB.

The USAF's 62nd Fighter Wing had its first B Course graduates.

The USAF has named the next bases to get the F-35.

An F-35 in Japan was spotted about to takeoff without its radar reflectors.

The USMC has been testing the F-35B landing on sloped pads.

The Japanese based USMC F-35Bs have made their debut at the Singapore air show.

USMC's 13th MEU with the Essex ARG are deploying with F-35Bs.

The US Navy has ordered the development of a new anti radiation missile that will fit inside the F-35's missile bay.

The US Navy will upgrade its networks to get the most out of the F-35C.

Trump's proposed 2019 budget has 9 F-35Cs, 20 F-35Bs and 48 F-35As.

Belgium has been cleared to buy up to 35 F-35s.

Belgium could still reject the F-35.

The British have their first F-35B graduates that have not flown other fighters first.

India has requested a classified briefing on the F-35A and is expressing interest in procuring 126.

No, Israel wanting to buy more F-15s is not a condemnation of the F-35.

Israel is getting more spare parts through a contract signed by the US Navy for its F-35s.

Lockheed is delivering a special variant of the Block 3F software for Israel's F-35Is.

Italy took delivery of the first F-35B assembled outside the US.

An Italian F-35B arrived at NAS Patuxent River.

Japan has deployed the F-35 to Misawa AFB, apparently AX-6.

Japan and South Korea want the F-35B for their assault ships.  Stratfor takes a gander at the idea.

Japan's Izumo may have been designed from the start to be a jeep carrier.

Japan is considering replacing its F-15Js with F-35Bs.

Japan is looking at an additional buy of 20 to 25 F-35As.

Norway has completed its tests of the braking chute.  Watch here.

Lockheed won a $7.5 million contract mod for the F-35.

Lockheed has denied offering India the F-35.

Lockheed favors future incremental software improvements.

META:

China will equal the West in military air power soon.

Stealth Saga #56

Cloud Shadow UCAV:

China has unveiled its Cloud Shadow UCAV.  This UCAV is a parallel to the General Atomics Avenger.

Chinese Stealth Bomber:

There is speculation on the bomber and the number of engines it will have.

FC-31/J-31:

Despite the appearance of the J-20 at the Zhuhai airshow, the FC-31/J-31 was largely absent other than a display model.  AVIC officials did not discuss the status of the FC-31 (or J-20) with journalists.

New details about the FC-31 have emerged: it seems a second, improved prototype is being constructed.


J-20:

The Chinese J-20 stealth fighter has debuted with a new camo pattern.

The inside of the J-20 weapons' bay has been seen.  Now we hae an idea of what the Chinese plan for their new fighter.

A pair of J-20 did a flyby at the Zhuhai airshow and gets profiled a lot.  The J-20 is known as the 'Mighty Dragon.'

China may be working on a larger version of the J-20.

Aviation Week wonders just how stealthy the J-20 is.

The J-20 unveil was meant as a  display of Beijing's firepower.

Some are questioning just how good the J-20 is since Beijing keeps ordering Russian 4th gen fighters.

PAK-DA:

Russia claims it will unveil the PAK-DA in 2018 and have its first flight in 2023.

PAK-FA:

The PAK-FA testing is done and will start being procured by the Russian Aerospace Forces.  However, the first batch is only 5.  The Russians have stated they will only be buying 20 to 25 per year.

The PAK-FA will be tested with its final engines in 2017, supposedly.

Russia is rolling out a 9th PAK-FA prototype for testing.

The PAK-FA derivaive for India, the FGFA, is back to the discussion table between the Russians and Indians.

Simorgh:

Iran's test site for its RQ-170 derivatives has been geolocated.

X-2/ATD-X/F-3:

Japan's military scientists and engineers are to start testing the X-2.

It is becoming crunch time to decide on the F-3 or not for Japan.

Mitsubishi & Lockheed have teamed for the F-3.

Combat Support Unmanned Aircraft:

Japan is seeking to create a program for drone/UCAVs to accompany its F-3 fighters much like the American 'Loyal Wingman' project.

Sixth Generation Fighter/Penetrating Counter Air:

Boeing released its latest concept for the PCA/6th gen fighter.

We have three different takes on what the sixth gen fighter will look like and what capabilities it will have.

The US Air Force Advisory Board will be reviewing the Penetrating CounterAir program.

Northrop was awarded a contract for a beam director for a laser weapon for fighters.

X-32:

WiB takes a look at the war pigeon, ahem, Boeing losing design to the F-35 in the JSF program.

B-21:

B-2 pilots have stated the B-21 ought to remain a manned aircraft.

Some of the details of the Boeing protest over the contract being awarded to Northrop have been revealed.

Northrop won the contract primarily on cost.

F-22:

32 F-22s were moved out of the path of Hurricane Matthew.  

Moscow claims it could shoot down F-22s in Syria.  Others are skeptical because the F-22 was designed with those systems in mind.

F-35:

A fix for the insulation problems on some of the F-35As is nigh.    In fact, two have been returned to service.  Norway's F-35s are returning to flight.

The F-35 software update is hopefully going to silence the ALIS critics.

BAe is getting a contract to develop a new software to automatically adapt to new radar threats and jam them for the F-35.

During a recent exercise, F-35 avionics caused a problem because radars were not within the threat parameters and they were dismissed.

The Pentagon just awarded $743 million to Lockheed in support of the Lot 9 procurement of the F-35.  The supplier deal suggests the LRIP 9 & 10 contracts are nigh.  The LRIP 9 contract was awarded: $6.1 billion for 57 F-35s: 42 F-35As, 13 F-35Bs and 2 F-35Cs.  However!  The contract as a unilateral award meaning the gov got tired of negotiating with Lockheed and just stated this is how much they are going to pay, take it or leave it.  Lockheed is not happy and might sue.  LRIP 10 is still not done being negotiated.

US DOD is starting up the global support network for the F-35.

The F-35 was a major profit driver for Lockheed.

The F-35 capable USS Wasp is being deployed to Japan in support of the F-35B squadron to be based there.

The USMC is looking at teaming unmanned platforms with the F-35B.

A F-35B had a fire in its weapon's bay.  An investigation has started.

Israel wants FOC for its F-35Is ASAP.

Norway is looking to buy 12 more F-35s in a block.

Turkey has placed a second order for F-35s pulling forward its first two aircraft to 2018 instead of 2021.

META:

Some are still unhappy with US aircraft.