Every big pockets want a part of the cake... whatever the result.
US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.
- Thread starter tphuang
- Start date
Question. Does Leidos even have any experience in building modern aircraft?
They have no experience in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, launch vehicles, or engines.
So why the f*** were they given the contract for a hypersonic recon-strike fighter?
Is this one of those significantly overpromise and underdeliver/not deliver at all and delay thingies?
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
Not accurate. Leidos has multiple subsidiaries whom have. Gibbs and Cox and Dynetics are of particular interest in this regard. Gibbs and Cox are the Naval architects whom have designed half the USN. Dynetics is heavily involved with NASA and DARPA
Leidos is an applied sciences company they do R&D. They are the latest iteration of what was part of SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation). Via their subsidiary they have deep roots and involvement with the DOD. Dynetics was involved with Areojet Rocketdynes’s F1 and AR1 rockets. They are also the team behind Gremlins. Even farther back they worked on FASTSAT. They were systems integrator on the MOAB. To get this program they assembled a team of R&D labs. Calspan, Draper and Kratos Defence and security solutions. Those three like Leidos are all IT firms for good reason. The objective isn’t an actual hardware product but a systems model that could then be developed into a real world product.
The days of building prototype after prototype in reality are over today much of the Development cycle of modern aviation is done on computer with simulations to accelerate development. This is why the B21 came out so fast. Almost all the work was done on a digital design which once it passed the simulation was then used to build the real deal.
The B21 came out fast because it was incremental instead of transformative. As simple as that.
As for Dynetics, they were working on reverse engineering the Apollo Era F1 engine, but last I heard that went nowhere.
They certainly did not design or make the original engine that's for sure.
As for Dynetics, they were working on reverse engineering the Apollo Era F1 engine, but last I heard that went nowhere.
They certainly did not design or make the original engine that's for sure.
Man, if only China can have her own indigenous and complete ecosystem for this as well...
Leidos from my understanding is an IT provider. You can't be serious about IT = aerospace engineering. Just because you know how to simulate something doesn't mean you understand it or can do something with it. Otherwise why do we have any field of study outside computer science?
TerraN_EmpirE
Tyrant King
It’s not that simple and you should know that.
Although at the surface level the B21 is similar to the B2 even having a wing body inspired by the earlier B2 concepts. Military stealth aviation has matured significantly since the 1980s. As I am no doubt you are aware in the 1990s an F117 was shot down by a Buk missile. How that happened isn’t a mystery or some Soviet secret weapon. It was a combination of ineptitude and ingenuity combined with The pilot of the F117 being Blind deaf and dumb to close range radar threats by the F117 lacking any Electronic warfare capabilities. F22 and F35 were designed with that in mind the complex “transformative” technologies they sport was designed to combine a VLO airframe with a system to allow them to act as fighters and also include passive electric warfare capabilities. IE if a Buk tried to lock on to F22 the pilot would know and react. Something the F117 pilot couldn’t do as he lacked even a basic defense system.
B2 was designed in that era where it lacked such systems. It’s designed originally was closer to B21 but was altered as the USAF was concerned that the Russians might be able to detect it. Design changes were made enlarging the craft and giving it the saw tooth tails to allow it in a pinch to fly at very low altitude this prolonged the process and increased the cost.
B21 isn’t likely to face the same issues as it was designed to include the same type of defences as the F35 would have. This would likely have driven up the cost but that “Sixth generation Aircraft” comes in. Much like the T7A red tail the design was accelerated via digital simulation before any metal was cut. It’s Combat systems were designed into the platform before the prototype was started.
If we look at past programs. The F35 started out as the X35 to go from F to X required decades of work as the X35 was basically empty to fill it all the mission systems had to be developed either from F22 or from scratch.
We look at F22 same story. The YF22 is a dramatically different aircraft from the production model.
J20’s first prototype is a night and day vs the product.
Su57 is still in that prototyping phase. And the bulk of the existing units aren’t capable of combat leaves a few units that could be counted on a single hand that are “combatants” even then not enough to do anything more than a single mission.
Leidos may not be a Lockheed Martin but the fact is the age of IT has come and the way that Skunkworks operated in the 1970s is obsolete. The Sixth Generation of aircraft are likely to be more and more computer based and critically computer designed. That’s what Roper’s Digital Century series really meant. No iron prototypes but design by computer where in you might build a couple iron birds but by that point almost all the data on the design has been simulated. Leidos and Dynetics are at the center of that. Leidos really Dynetics got this contract because they have a history of producing high quality digital products for such projects. The USAF lab contracted not for an Iron bird but digital design.
Leidos isn’t just an IT provider. They like much of the Government contractors have their fingers in a lot of pies.
Gibbs and Cox are Naval architects designed the Burke class and Freedom class. They have farther subsidiaries who even make Yachts.
Dynetics does work with NASA and not just in IT, Hardware too. Dynetics was a team in the Human landing system for Artemis. Dynetics is the side with most of the responsibility in Mayhem.
Health care in medical technology, cancer research, medical billing, Health finance services, health records and management, supplies and facilities.
calling Leidos an IT company is missing a huge chunk of their income. It’s like calling Samsung a phone maker. Yes they do that but they do so much else. They are an Engineering Company. They don’t as yet manufacture large aircraft and no manned aircraft yet. For that they seem to partner with other firms.
I think the F117 was shot down by an S-125 clone actually. A much older system than the Buk. But IIRC there is a decimetric radar for it.
The Buk can also optionally use optical tracking to hit targets. Several versions have a thermal sensor with a laser rangefinder.
The Buk can also optionally use optical tracking to hit targets. Several versions have a thermal sensor with a laser rangefinder.