H/T The DEW Line it’s 10:09 long.
Month: October 2009
Avent Upgrade “Feasable” for F-35 Engine
Essentially, they are looking at adaptive versatile engine technology (Advent) technology, which could change engine bypass ratio in flight.
Interestingly enough, this was a part of the architecture for GE F120 engine, which lost to the P&W F119 in the F-22 raptor, from which the F-35’s F136 engine was derived.
Son of FCS Infantry Combat Vehicle to Be Unveiled
And it looks a lot like the old FCS-ICV, coming in a bit heavier, 30+ tons, with a greater reliance on armor than the FCS, where the concept, as laughable as it now seems in the days of the IED, was that the network was the armor.
So the army has gone old school:
The major departure from the FCS vehicle design in the new vehicle effort will be “integral survivability,” said Mark Signorelli, BAE vice president for new combat vehicles. The FCS vehicles were supposed to rely on situational awareness provided by electronic sensors and speed to survive on the battlefield and were not heavily armored for close combat.
The Army now says networking and sensor technology can improve a vehicle’s survivability, but real survivability must be inherent in the vehicle, he said. In other words, the vehicle must be able to take and survive a hit. MRAP-like survivability doesn’t get you combat survivability, which means the ability to survive kinetic hits from auto– and larger cannon, Signorelli said. For that you need heavy armor.
As for weapons systems, to fit both a turret bustle, such as that on BAE’s Bradley fighting vehicle, and a squad into a vehicle, would require a very large vehicle. That may push industry into going with an unmanned turret, Signorelli said. The most likely weapon is an auto-cannon and coaxial machine gun, and probably anti-armor missiles.
It appears that the vehicle will, “be required to have the mobility of a Bradley, the sustainability of a Stryker and the lethality of a Bradley,” which makes one wonder, why not just upgrade the Bradley?
There are unmanned turrets that would allow a Bradley to carry a full 9 man squad by freeing up interior space, such as the CTA International 40mm telescoped round auto-cannon.
As to getting the sustainability to that of the Stryker, I’m not sure that this would be possible on a tracked vehicle, tracks require more maintenance than wheels, and at over 30 tons, I see mobility issues with a wheeled vehicle.
An all new vehicle might be cheaper and more fuel efficient than an upgraded Bradley, but it will undoubtedly also be more expensive than a new-build Bradley, and much more expensive than an refurbished Bradley.
It just does not make sense to develop a new vehicle.
Boeing Needs to Fix Its Fix on 787
Basically, it looks as if it will be delayed even further:
While the installation of the 787 wing fix continues, Boeing engineers have returned to the drawing board to redesign part of the reinforcement, FlightBlogger has learned.
As a result, company and industry sources say the 2009 first flight target could be in jeopardy as engineers work to redesign the fix for four remaining wing stringers.
(emphasis mine)
Ben Sandilands makes a number of trenchant observations, but I think that he misses the bigger picture, which is, as I stated in my last post, that Boeing has given itself a cost cut driven lobotomy.
They cut the engineers and technicians because the finance guys thought they could, but they couldn’t.
It’s like when Boeing got their engineers (SPEEA) to strike a few years back, and they were surprised when the FAA said that they would not allow the suits to certify construction and deliver the aircraft.
Delay for Boeing, Airbus Next Gen 100 Seaters
We now have reports that both Airbus and Boeing are looking at engine upgrades to the A320 and B-737 so as to delay the introduction of new models.
When you look at where things right now, with Boeing having outsourced its knowledge to the point that the 787 and 747-8, and Airbus still behind schedule on A380 deliveries and up to its hips in getting the A350 into development,* it is far from surprising that they putting off new development.
Airbus is in a better situation here, since the 737 has had clearance with its engines ever since it went to high bypass ratio turbofans with the -300, and because Boeing seems to be incapable of finding its ass with both hands.
Boeing went all outsource everything starting in the late 1990s, while Airbus didn’t, and as a result, they seem to be lacking basic skill-sets to actually get a plane into service.
Part of this is the difference between the two cultures: In America a skilled work force is seen as a cost, rather than an asset, as it is in Europe, and part of it is European politics, which makes it much more difficult for EADS to ship jobs from Hamburg or Toulouse.
*As well as the clusterf$#@ that is the A400M military transport, but that is technically a separate division, so it’s in the footnotes.
Neat Tech That Won’t Be Going Into Aviatiion
Dyson, the company that uses a centrifugal separator in its vacuum cleaner, has another piece of neat tech, a Bladeless fan that works on the Coanda effect.
It’s a really interesting concept, if you don’t mind spending $299.99 for a 10″ freaking table top fan.
In any case, Bill Sweetman notes that this technology might have application for a VTOL aircraft, though, as he notes this concept is very close to the ejector lift concept that has failed abysmally when it has been tried.
For quieting a fan, it might work, for generating lots of thrust for VTOL, I’d wait for more tests.
I Can Haz Jihad?
Honduran Talks Still Up In Air
2 days ago, Ousted Honduran President ManuelZelaya was saying that the talks had broken down, but now he is saying that an agreement is imminent.
I think that there has likely been some movement on the part of the forces behind the Coup who currently hold power, and that the denial of entry visas into the United States for current Honduran office holders was a part of this change of heart.
It would have been nice if the US had gotten tough on the coup from day 1 though.
Righteous Rant!!!
Hell, It Takes Even Eli Manning Six Years to Make a Hundred Million Dollars!
This is SO not safe for work. But it actually has a good summery of what really is going on iwht the economy. (10:14)
XKCD Animated!
Sort of
I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.
Never underestimate the power of a good story
This guy has a future as a spokesman for Hiram Monserrate.
It’s Bank Failure Friday!!!!
And here they are, ordered, and numbered for the year so far.
- Partners Bank, Naples, FL
- American United Bank, Lawrenceville, GA
- Hillcrest Bank Florida, Naples, Fl
- Flagship National Bank, Bradenton, FL
- Bank of Elmwood, Racine, WI
- Riverview Community Bank, Otsego, MN
- First DuPage Bank, Westmont, IL
7 banks this week….great googly moogly!
Ding Ding Ding!!!!!! We have broken the 100 mark for bank failures for this year!
Economics Update
Click for full size
Scary Picture of the Day:
Commercial Mortgage Back Security Amounts by Maturity Date
Or Maybe this is the Scary Picture, H/T Calculated Risk
Philadelphia Fed Index, State by State
Philadelphia Fed Index, Historical
As a Friday bonus, here is Barry Ritholtz, of The Big Picture schooling a blissfully ignorant ‘Phant Congressman on the Consumer Protection Agency:
Good news, everyone Existing home sales hit a two year high…Or maybe not…As Barry Ritholtz notes, there is an increase only when factoring seasonal adjustments, it fell otherwise, and those adjustments are problematic when under such circumstances.
Reinforcing Mr. Ritholtz’, and my, opinion of the state or real estate is the fact that Freddie Mac’s September delinquencies hit an all time high. (top graph)
More generally, we have the Philly Fed State Coincident Index continuing to show widespread weakness. (3rd and 4th graph down)
Also, we have the little employment tidbit that the
average unemployment period has hit 6 months, an all time high.
On the other side of the pond, UK GDP fell at twice the forecast rate, 0.4%, in the 3rd quarter.
Finally, both the dollar and the Pound Sterling rose against the Euro, and oil fell again, though it is still above $80/bbl.
Well, That Was Quick
I’m just sayin’.
Just Read Froomkin
FCC Votes to Approve Network Neutrality
The vote was unanimous, despite the fact that the phone and cable companies, <Sarcasm> who are so beloved by Americans,</Sarcasm> were lobbying against it:
US communications regulators voted unanimously to support an open Internet rule that would prevent telecom network operators from barring or blocking content based on the revenue it generated.
The proposed rule now goes to the public for comment until Jan.14, after which the Federal Communications Commissions will review the feedback and possibly seek more comment.
A final rule is not expected until the spring of next year.
Needless to say, one of the best barometers in the business, John Sidney McCain III, is trying to stop them.
Barack Obama, Objectively Pro Genital Mutilation Since 2009
Britain’s high court has ruled that all evidence of Binyam Mohamed by the CIA and its proxies will be reviewed in open court, despite the protestations of Foreign Secretary David Miliband to keep this matter hush hush.
As I noted earlier, one of the tortures was to have his genitals sliced with a scalpel and irritating liquids loured in the wounds.
This is what the British government, at the urging of the US government were trying to make “go away”.
Rather predictably, the Obama administration has condemned the decision by the court to reveal crimes against humanity:
Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: “We are not pleased”, adding that Washington kept such information confidential “to protect our own citizens”.
Anyone who did this, or allowed it to be done, is a criminal, and should be tried and imprisoned, not protected.
It should also be noted that the Obama administration has threatened to withhold intelligence from the British if the details of their torture get out.
I Love Alan Grayson*
In discussing Cheney’s comments on Afghanistan, Grayson says, “Well, my response is — and by the way, I have trouble listening to what he says sometimes, because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he’s talking, but my response is this: He’s just angry because the president doesn’t shoot old men in the face. But by the way, when he was done speaking, did he just then turn into a bat and fly away?”
I love this for two reasons:
- It’s wicked funny.
- This, like his “Republicans want you to die”, comment, completely marginalizes his opponents by showing who they truly are.
*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.
Heh.
So, it appears that the same day that Sarah Palin’s autobiography, Going Rogue, is coming out, a collection of essays criticizing her, Going Rouge, edited by two editors from The Nation magazine.
They have something in common. Sarah Palin has not penned a single word in either.
That Explains It, Conservatives Cannot Get It Up
Look at the graph. It appears that Obama’s election victory actually depressed testosterone levels in Republican men.
They tested hormone levels in spit throughout the evenint.
I always thought that there was an element of the fear of emasculation in the Republican response, but I am shocked that we actually have clinical data to support this.