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TerraN_EmpirE said:

If you are under that you are probably a little to excited to start counting how many shots you are taking.
Again rate of fire in this is a bit of a fictional reality. Yes you can hold that more consistently with a mechanical loader but what are the chances of ever needing to shoot that fast?
One two rounds okay with modern ammo and fire control you can even drop them both on target in the space of a second or two.

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Jura said:

Naval Aviation Facing Unexpected Budget Shortfall; Options to Slow Spending Being Considered

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I think I've repeatedly heard this type of stories before:

the Pentagon trying to 'put pressure' on the Senate/House/WH at the time of spending negotiations,

so I doubt any of the Senate/House/WH would listen to this type of stories LOL

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The U.S. Navy has disclosed a new feature added to a secretive radar designed for the

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fleet that allows the sensor a full field of view unobstructed by the aircraft’s engines.

The

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Advanced Airborne Sensor (AAS) integrates a radar with ground moving target indication and synthetic aperture radar modes to the P-8A’s passel of onboard sensors, serving a function similar to the APY-7 radar on the Air Force’s E-8C J-Stars. The AAS replaces the Raytheon APS-149 Littoral Surveillance Radar System installed on the P-3C.

The Navy has released few details about the performance and fielding schedule for the AAS on the P-8A fleet.

Nearly all of the information about the program has been disclosed by the release of “sources sought” notices for the AAS or related items.

Naval Air Systems Command released such a sources-sought notice on July 12 for companies that could provide a trainer for a part called the forward deployment mechanism (FDM) on the special mission pod deployment mechanism (SMPDM) for the P-8A.

The notice describes the SMPDM as a hydraulically activated system that allows the AAS to extend several inches below its mounting point on the belly of the P-8A fuselage. The extension allows the AAS to descend beneath the obstruction caused by the nacelles of the

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high-bypass turbofan engines mounted on both wings of the P-8A. The SMPDM also retracts the radar pod after the mission is completed to its stowed position on the belly of the aircraft.

Such a capability is useful in an era of military derivatives of commercial aircraft powered by high-bypass turbofans with large-diameter fans. The E-8C, by contrast, is derived from the

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707, which uses smaller turbofans for propulsion and may not pose as much of an obstruction to a belly-mounted sensor.

The Navy released the notice to identify sources that could provide functional hardware trainers for the FDM, a linkage system with springs and hydraulic actuators that causes the SMPDM to extend and retract.

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The Pentagon says it will cost $500 million to $600 million to find new suppliers for

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parts currently produced by Turkey as that country is ousted from the stealth fighter program.

Following a statement from the White House that Turkey will no longer be involved in the F-35 program because of its recent purchase of

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, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord and Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy David Trachtenberg told reporters during a briefing Wednesday that the U.S. will spend that much "in non-recurring engineering in order to shift the supply chain" as Turkey "unwinds" from the program by March 2020.

Turkey had "$1 billion in commitments" to the program "as we sit here today," Lord said during the briefing.

The cost disclosure follows U.S. efforts to begin removing Turkey from the program.

Lord said that all of Turkey's instructors, pilots, maintainers and personnel who have access to the Joint Program Office are required to leave the United States by July 31. She first outlined those stipulations June 7.

"Our partnership regrets that we have arrived at this moment," Trachtenberg said, adding that the U.S. had "repeatedly" stressed to Turkey that it cannot operate both the F-35 and the S-400.

"The U.S. has full confidence in the F-35 and supply chain," Lord said. She added that the U.S. and its allies are aligned in the decision to remove Turkey from the program in light of the S-400 delivery.

"Unfortunately, Turkey's decision to purchase Russian S-400 air defense systems renders its continued involvement with the F-35 impossible," the White House said in a statement earlier Wednesday. "The F-35 cannot co-exist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities."

The announcement came after President Donald Trump remarked Tuesday that Turkey's S-400 purchase created "a very tough situation" for the U.S.

According to the White House statement, the "military-to-military relationship is strong, and we will continue to cooperate with Turkey extensively, mindful of constraints due to the presence of the S-400 system in Turkey."

Lord and Trachtenberg reaffirmed the White House's stance, and said upcoming exercises with Turkey in Georgia, Germany and Ukraine remain on schedule.

"We will continue to work with all our NATO allies on ways of making sure the alliance and security is preserved and protected to the maximum extent possible," Trachtenberg said.

"As the president said, the U.S. still values its strategic partnership with Turkey," Lord added.

Turkey's decision to buy the S-400, known to Moscow as the "F-35 killer," has been in the works for years. In 2017, Turkey

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with Russia to purchase the S-400. It came after relations between Turkey and Russia had slowly begun to ease: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016 formally apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the shootdown of a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber aircraft over Turkish airspace in 2015.

Lord said Pentagon officials had been aware of Turkey's intentions and raised concerns over the vulnerabilities posed should Turkey operate the F-35 and S-400 simultaneously. She explained during the June 7 briefing that prolonged proximity between the F-35

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the SAM to "understand the profile" of the jet.

Lockheed Martin Corp., the stealth jet's manufacturer, said it is working closely with the U.S. government.

"This is a government-to-government matter and, as always, we are following official U.S. government guidance as it relates to [the] delivery of the F-35 to Turkey and the export of goods from the Turkish supply chain," the defense company said in a statement following the briefing.

"Lockheed Martin has been partnering closely with the U.S. government and our supply chain to minimize impact to the F-35 program. Over the last several months, we've been working to establish alternative sources of supply in the United States to quickly accommodate Turkey's current contributions to the program," according to the statement. "These actions will limit any future production or sustainment impact, and we remain on track to meet our commitment of delivering 131 F-35s this year. As F-35s in the fleet deliver exceptional capability and costs continue to come down, we see increasing global demand for the F-35 that will grow the total program of record."

The U.S. will look to American parts suppliers for the time being as Turkey slowly exits the program, officials have said.

Lord last month said the ouster could be reversed should Turkey comply with the U.S.' requests.

However, Lord and Trachtenberg could not definitively say Wednesday whether that offer would stand should Turkey divest its S-400 equipment in the near future.

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