Month: November 2008

Passive Air to Air Attacks

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Well, here is an interesting nugget buried in an an otherwise run of the mill article on how an upgrade to an AESA radar will boost the Rafale’s export sales prospect

Meanwhile, the Rafale’s ability to shoot down an enemy aircraft using only passive detection was demonstrated for the first time in October, says Chaltiel. Two aircraft flew ‘several miles apart’, the first using electronic support measures to monitor the target and communicate its track via Link 16 datalink to the second Rafale.

The second aircraft also passively tracked the target using its infrared search and track system and was able to achieve a lock-on by sending ‘a few pulses’ from its laser rangefinder. The enemy aircraft was then ‘shot down’ using an MBDA ‘Mica-type’ air-to-air missile with an active seeker that became effective at a range of around 18km (10nm), says Chaltiel.

Youtube Vids of Talk on Su-30MKI at Red Flag

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It was a talk given by a Colonel Fornof, the Director of the Requirements and Testing office at Nellis AFB and an F-15 pilot.

There is nothing here that is particularly sensitive, though it is very interesting.

The bullet points, or at least the ones that surprised me:

  • The pilots in the Su-30MKI’s did not use thrust vectoring well, so when they used it, they got hosed.
  • The French showed up, after having changed aircraft, from the Mirage 2000 to the Rafale, and were there for the electronic signals. They were sucking up radar data from that IAF, and did not tend to engage much.
  • The Indians had real concerns with foreign object damage with their aircraft, which surprises me, as the USSR designed its aircraft for austere basing, though it might have been because the engines had to go back to Russia if there was any damage…Something that the Indians might want to discuss with the manufacturer.
  • That for both the Su-30MKI and the F-22, if they go into post stall maneuvering with thrust vectoring, it provides an opportunity, which seems to give an answer about thinks like the Cobra maneuver: They are flight show BS, at least most of the time.
  • That the IAF’s upgraded MiG-21s are formidable aircraft, not bad for a roughly 50 year old design.
  • His admission that he does not think that the F-22 carries enough missiles

Links here, here, here, and here, and the videos are below.


Part 1


Part 2


A compare/contrast airshow demonstrations Su-30 vs F-22

Russia Makes Offer on Euro Missile Defense

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They won’t place missiles in Kaliningrad if the US terminates its ABM installation in Poland and the Czech Republic.

It’s not surprising that the Russians consider this a direct threat.

It’s also not surprising that they consider the expansion of NATO a direct threat.

Their worst case scenario is, “What would have happened if Georgia had been a NATO member?”

There are people in positions of power, or one election away from a position of power, in many of the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations who would be inclined to be just as crazy as Georgian President Saakaskvili, only when they launch an assault on an unarmed populace that is inclined toward the Russians.

M14 Pr0n

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Well, it looks like the M-14 battle rifle is having a bit of a renaissance.

It appears that various US Army and Marines are looking at a “designated marksmen,” a sort of sniper-lite, and they are looking at an M14 as their weapon.

Basically, they are looking at using match grade barrels, a new gas piston system, a fiberglass inline stock, and provisions for a scope.

I’ve not had any personal experience with the M1/M14, though I once talked to an old soldier who hated it, he thought that the M1 was a better weapon, soldiers always hate the new weapon, but I just don’t think that the numbers work all that well.

An M16 weighs about 7 pounds +1 pound per 30 round clip, and the M14 weighs around 11 pounds with a 20 round clip, so weight clearly swings in favor of the M16.

Furthermore, the idea of retaining full auto on a match grade barrel is counter-productive. Once you go full auto the first time, it’s no longer match grade.

Marines are already achieving head shots with scopes with M16s at relatively long range, so I’m not sure how much an advantage one gets with this system.

I think the additional burden in terms of weight, and different ammunition, may not be worth it, and that taking an M16, or other 5.56mm rifle with a scope may be a better solution in most cases, see the United States Army Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, a modified M16, by way of example.

Russians Look at Anglo-French CFV Purchase

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It should come as no surprise that the current Russian STOBAR carrier has not proved itself to be a world beater.

Even so, reports that the Russian Navy is in discussions with Thales about purchasing the Anglo-French CVF aircraft carrier is a bit of a surprise:

The idea being floated is that all indications are Russia would like to build 6 aircraft carriers similar to the 60-70 thousand ton CVF design being developed for the British and French Navies. Ilya Kramnik’s idea is to build the lead ship in France with foreign assistance, including some experience for Russian shipbuilders, then do follow on serial construction of the rest of the class in Russia.

There are a number of thorny issues that make this difficult, among them the likelihood that any US technology on the ships would not be cleared for export.

I think that its more likely that, if there were a joint venture with other countries, it would be Russia-China, and certainly the new shipyard planned at Cahngxing, will be used for the construction and service of larger ships, and the model of the facility, shows an aircraft carrier in a drydock.

Airshow China Missile Pr0n

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It looks like advances in Chinese guided missile technology were prominently on display at Airshow China. (paid subscription required)

The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (Casic) showed off new missles, including new versions of its C704 cruise missiles with IIR and TV guidance, both intended for air launch, and the smaller C705 (look at the wheels and display easels on both pictures for scale).

I think that it has a 9 or 10 inch body diamerter, as vs the 12-14 inch for the C704.


C704


C705

Not Enough Bullets: AIG, the Gift That Keeps on Giving Edition

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AIG is paying $503 million in deferred compensation to its top employees, because it needs to, “keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant.”

Let’s see, the company in bankrupt. It’s sucked up hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal government, and it still needs more.

Could someone please explain to me how getting a company this deep in a hole makes senior management “valuable”?

Damn, That Was Fast

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US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has begun purchases of the Boeing Hummingbird helicopter UAV. They expect to take delivery of at least 10 units this month.

Considering the fact that it was still in test and demonstration earlier this year, this is a blindingly fast fielding, at least by US military standards, which implies that there is some sort of immediate application:

US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has begun purchasing a new unmanned helicopter, Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird, which can be used for resupply and surveillance missions and will soon be equipped with a new radar that can identify enemy targets hiding beneath dense tree cover.

Note that the bar under the fuselage is not a wing, it’s the foliage penetrating radar.

First A380 Super Jumbo With Standard Production Wiring Flies

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As many of you are aware, the Airbus A380 has a number of setbacks and delays on the way to production, primarily having to do with problems with wiring.

Basically, the wiring guys and the structures guys had problems interfacing with each other, and so EADS had to implement a new production standard, “Wave 2”, for the ramp up to full production.

What they have been shipping has had much more in the way of touch labor than they would have liked, and so has been much slower and more expensive.

Well, Airbus has now flown its first A380 constructed using their “Wave 2” production standard, which clears the way for full rate production.

(the picture is of a Wave-1 aircraft)

Complete Pwna63*

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As has been noted in various places Bush and His Evil Minions&trade have been aggressively creating new regulations in the run-up to the inauguration, in order to saddle Obama with the fallout from their insane ideology for months or years.

Well, it looks like they goofed:

“Fortunately, [the White House] made a mistake,” said a top Senate Democratic aide.

Last May, White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten instructed federal agency heads to make sure any new regulations were finalized by Nov. 1. The memo didn’t spell it out, but the thinking behind the directive was obvious. As Myron Ebell of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute put it: “We’re not going to make the same mistakes the Clinton administration did.”

President Bill Clinton finalized regulations within 60 days of the 2001 inauguration, meaning Bush could come in and easily reverse them.

It could take Obama years to undo climate rules finalized more than 60 days before he takes office — the advantage the White House sought by getting them done by Nov. 1. But that strategy doesn’t account for the Congressional Review Act of 1996.

The law contains a clause determining that any regulation finalized within 60 legislative days of congressional adjournment is considered to have been legally finalized on the 15th legislative day of the new Congress, likely sometime in February. Congress then has 60 days to review it and reverse it with a joint resolution that can’t be filibustered in the Senate.

In other words, any regulation finalized in the last half-year of the Bush administration could be wiped out with a simple party-line vote in the Democrat-controlled Congress.

(emphasis mine)

*Ownage.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: The Don Siegelman Case

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Well, it now appears that in addition to the fact that Leura G. Canary, the U.S. Attorney in Montgomery, was having regular contacts with the prosecutors, despite having “recused” herself from the prosecution, it now appears that prosecutors had ex-parte communications with the jurors:

Next month in Atlanta, a federal court will hear the high-profile appeal of former Alabama governor Don E. Siegelman, whose conviction on corruption charges in 2006 became one of the most publicly debated cases to emerge from eight years of controversy at the Bush Justice Department. Now new documents highlight alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney and other prosecutors in the case, including what appears to be extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury.

(emphasis mine)

It does not get any more unethical and illegal in a case than this. There were contacts, which are generally unethical, and they went unreported to the judge and the defense, which is illegal.

We need to to reform our drug laws in order to make space for Bush and His Evil Minions&trade, because they all need to go to prison, and not a country club prison, but, to quote Office Space, a, “Pound me in the Ass.” prison.

Well, This Sucks

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American Research Group has a survey on 2008 Holiday Shopping, and it has the predicting a 50% drop in sales vs 2007.

Year Average Spending Percent Change
2008 $431 – 50%
2007 $859 – 5%
2006 $907 – 4%
2005 $942 – 6%
2004 $1,004 + 3%
2003 $976 – 6%
2002 $1,037 -1%
2001 $1,052 + 9%
2000 $968 + 3%
1999 $939 + 1%
1998 $928 + 34%

Considering the fact that 70% of the US economy is consumer driven, this is mind boggling.