US Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

Maikeru said:

What is most interesting to me is the basing of RSAF F15s on Guam. That might complicate PLA's thinking in a WestPac HIC.

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SlothmanAllen said:

I've been wondering recently who manufacturers the monitors that are used in modern US (or even Chinese) fighter aircraft? Like the F-15EX has a 10x19 inch display (with touch controls? multi-touch?), but what are the actual properties of this display? What type of display is it [LCD (IPS, TN, TFT), Micro-LED, OLED)? What are the refresh rates (I feel like this would be important for a fighter aircraft to have a very high refresh rate as this reduces input latency)? What resolution does it display at (4K, 1440p, 1080p)? What is the brightness in nits (this seems very important as the display has to be visible in all sorts of lighting conditions)?

Maybe someone can answer my questions here?

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Ironhide said:

GE Aerospace Demonstrates Hypersonic Dual-Mode Ramjet with Rotating Detonation Combustion​

Rotating Detonation Combustion (RDC) could power super-efficient hypersonic vehicles with longer range that exceed MACH 5, or >4,000 MPH

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This seems to be a huge deal, Is there any project that incorporates a full dual-mode ramjet or RDE, that can go hypersonic under development at AECC ?

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A Nov. 16 subscale demonstration at the GE Global Research Center here indicates this unique approach—-specifically, a TBCC system composed of a high-Mach variant of a Mach 2.5-class turbofan paired with a rotating detonation-dual-mode ramjet (RD-DMRJ)—can work, executives said during a media event to unveil the tests results and overall concept on Dec. 13.

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The next step is to demonstrate a full-scale DMRJ in a ground laboratory. A new dual mode sized for an F110-thrust-level TBCC architecture is almost ready for testing.

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The DMRJ is slated to be integrated with a full-scale rotation detonation combustor for another ground rig test by the end of 2024 or early 2025, Rettig added. Finally, a the RD-DMRJ is planned to be combined with a high-Mach turbine engine for a ground rig test of a hypersonic TBCC system by the end of 2025.

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By contrast, an F110-class, high-Mach turbofan in GE’s project could produce more than 17,000 lb. of thrust without an afterburner, which requires a DMRJ in the same size range. The most powerful scramjet demonstrated on the ground to date—an Aerojet Rocketdyne design funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)—achieved 13,000 lb. of thrust in a test announced in September 2019. An aircraft in that size category can serve a wide range of applications, including surveillance, bombing, transport and space launch missions.

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SlothmanAllen said:

Here is a really good article from Aviation Week that goes over the program status and future plans for the engine.

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CMP said:

Always love to see updates on what is happening at the cutting edge of jet engines. Unfortunately, I think this is the one area in which China is furthest behind. Much more so than in semiconductors and literally anything else. Always appreciate if an expert can correct me where I am wrong, but I interpret China's success with WS-15 to mean it has finally caught up to F119. Apologies for going slightly off-topic.

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gelgoog said:

This is used in the F-35:

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2560x1024 AMLCD. 128 dpi. 20x8".

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Temstar said:

Something bad happened with B-1B, first:

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Then:

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B-1B emergency landing at Kadena Air Base. Only local news Okinawa Times is reporting it, this news may be suppressed elsewhere.

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To be fair, state dept staff can't do much when their bosses demand that they can't compromise. Just look at the near-constant drills with South Korea LMAO. They achieve absolutely nothing other than giving Kim the spotlight which he uses for launching more missiles in a spectacularly public way. You'd think they would freeze the tensions since they are out of options (nothing to sanction, no chance at removing Kims without at least SK and Japan getting nuked) but no. They doubled down on shows of power.

I lost count of how many times they flew B-1 bombers as an answer to North Korean missile tests. The fleet is already a walking corpse with below 10% average readiness and ban from low-level flight. They are literally destroying it to answer North Korean missile tests. Then NK fires more missiles to benefit from the spotlight and then they fly even more bombers. I am not sure if this is an intimidation attempt, domestic politics show or virtue signaling but it is f*cking idiotic.

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The B-1, despite its potential usefulness, should have been retired long ago. Its terrain following capability and low-supersonic speed do not give it any extra survivability over the B-52, especially while using cruise missiles. But the worst part is the aircraft is suffering from severe unserviceability issues. The aircraft wasn't designed for a long and active service life with many take-offs and landings. In 2019 the fleet's readiness rate was 9%.

The aircraft has been on a special maintenance program called PDM for decades. Regardless of that, in 2018 a B-1 with callsign Hawk 91 had an engine fire. The crew didn't eject because some of the ejection seats didn't work and the ones with working seats didn't want to leave their comrades behind. They could hardly land the aircraft at Tinker airbase.

After this PDM was increased from 5000 hours to 14000 hours. They literally disassemble and re-assemble the aircraft every 5 years. 40% of the personnel in Tinker airbase work for maintaining the B-1s. Despite these, the aircraft is banned from low-level flight, one of its main points. Also, it is restricted from flying more than 300 hours per year. Still, none of these measures allow it to have a higher than 10% combat readiness rate.

In short, the B-1 is a walking corpse. It needs to be retired.

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