They will be using a variant of the ANS-42 Ifra-Red Search and Track system originally deployed on the F-14D (replacing the TCS used on earlier models) and subsequently installed on the front half of an F-18 drop tank (probably because the under-wing environment was too vibration prone).
It seems like a sound move, though with the USAF shoving F-15s and F-16s out the door as quickly as possible so as not to compete with the F-35 JSF, I’m a bit dubious.
RuAF General Alexander Zelin is saying that Russia is looking at developing the S-500 air defense system, and that it should have significantly improved capabilities over the S-400 (NATO designation SA-21 Growler) currently in deployment with Russian forces.
Not much in the way of specifics beyond it having a 600km (!) range, which implies that it has the kinematics to perform anti-IRBM duties too.
I’m not sure if this is going anywhere, but at the very least, it’s going to have to make the health and malpractice insurers split their resources.
There is no reason at all for an anti-trust exemption. In fact, much of the current problem is that there are local monopolies in insurance coverage over much of the nation.
Official Press release below:
Conyers, Johnson, DeGette Introduce Legislation to End Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurers
For Immediate Release September 17, 2009
Contact:
Jonathan Godfrey (Conyers)
Andy Phelan (Johnson)
Kristofer Eisenla (DeGette)House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, Representative Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Energy and Commerce Committee Vice-Chair Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) today introduced the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act, legislation to end the broad antitrust exemption enjoyed by health insurance companies.
Both the House and Senate today have introduced identical language to reduce insurance prices for consumers. This legislation would extend antitrust enforcement over health insurers and medical malpractice insurance issuers, which currently enjoy broad antitrust immunity under the McCarran-Ferguson Act. This immunity can serve as a shield for activities that might otherwise violate federal law.
“This legislation would specifically prohibit price fixing, bid rigging, and market allocation in the health insurance industry,” said Conyers. “These pernicious practices are detrimental to competition and result in higher prices for consumers. Conduct that is unlawful throughout the country should not be allowed for insurance companies under antitrust exemption. The House Judiciary Committee held extensive hearings on the effects of the insurance industry’s antitrust exemption throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. It became clear then that policyholders and the economy in general would benefit from eliminating this exemption.
“The legislation we introduced today is intended to root out unlawful activity in an industry grown complacent by decades of protection from antitrust oversight. In doing so, we aim to make health insurance more affordable to more Americans. I want to thank my friend Senator Leahy for his leadership on the bill and for working with the House on this joint introduction.”
“The average American family already pays an extra $1,100 in premiums every year for a broken system that supports 46 million uninsured Americans,” said Johnson. “The Enforcement Act is long overdue. I am concerned that the shield this industry enjoys have resulted in market consolidation and higher premiums for the people of my district. As millions of Americans continue to go uninsured, we cannot continue to support the insurance companies by providing them with legal cover for anticompetitive actions.”
“As health insurance premiums continue to go through the roof, now is the time to ensure that health insurance companies are not engaging in anti-competitive behavior that make it more difficult for Americans to get health coverage,” said DeGette. “Families across our nation are feeling the pinch in their budgets from having to keep up with rising insurance rates. This bill takes an important step towards making sure our health insurance industry is competitive and is providing consumers with affordable health insurance. Simply put, the bottom lines of the big insurance companies should not be put above the American public’s ability to gain access to health care.”
###
One of the things that is truly depressing about defense procurement is that we see evidence that it does not have to be that bad, case in point, the MC-12W Liberty, a derivative of the mid size turboprop civil transport Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350.
The aircraft is purchases for $7 million, and the mods and equipment cost another $10 million for modifications, for video , sigint, and other surveillance and communications gear, which should prove particularly useful in places like Afghanistan.
The need is real, the requirements were not inflated, and the system is entering service in less than a year.
But this should be the rule, and not the exception, as it is today.
He was climbing in the Himalayas, and died in his sleep in his tent.
He was 71.
As an aside, I’d like to be climbing the Himalayas when I am 71.
David Paterson has announced that he will run for reelection in 2010 on Meet the Press.
Andrew Cuomo needs to do the same, because Paterson will lose the general, and so New York will be stuck with Gerrymandered districts that disproportionately represent Republicans for the next 10 years.
Seriously, Paterson is polling below 30%, and not only could Rudy Giuliani beat him, so could Eliot Spitzer, even if he got a blow-job on TV.
I loathed his politics, but he thought a lot better than any of the conservative who have been on the New York Times OP/ED page for the past few years, as well as having a lot more journalistic integrity, and I always enjoyed his writing on language.
It looks like the UK JSFs will be unable to carry 4 AIM-132 ASRAAMS internally, as opposed to the original 4, so a loadout of 4 will require external pylons, but the stealthy pylons which had been previously promised have not been funded.
The ASRAAM is significant, because it has lock after launch and much better kinematics (though inferior very short range agility) than the AIM-9X, allowing a modicum of BVR capability.
Is it just me, or is the entire JSF program beginning to sound a lot like what some are facetiously calling the “iFascism” that emanates from Steve Jobs and Apple Computer:
One thing that fascinates me is the way that Apple continues to maintain a cool/benevolent/almost counter-culture reputation, while actually being an incredibly aggressive, ruthless, arguably monopolistic company (the way they are cornering the music and phone businesses, and the way they so carefully guard applications on the iphone). Compare this to Microsoft, which has a more fascist ambiance around it.
Obviously, the consequences of an intensely closed platform in a PC and media player are of less consequence than for a front line fighter, but Apple has already has filed for a patent to automatically deactivate your devices if you use them in a non-approved manner, and the US Air Force, and Lockheed-Martin seem to have a similar goal with the JSF: making it extremely difficult for non-US weapons to be used, and I do think that there is a remote off switch in there.
If I were looking at buying a fighter, I would therefore be very concerned about the degree of control that the Pentagon, and perhaps LM would have over the operation of the aircraft.
Brazil has officially extended the final bid deadline until October 2, and there are now reports that the Rafale was not the first choice of the Brazilian Air Force, with the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) favoring the F/A-18 E/F, and the “engineers” favoring the Gripen.
I would assume that the FAB refers to the guys who fly, and that the “engineers” are the maintainers.
The latter is far from surprising. As the Gripen is less than ½ the size of its competitors, with ½ the number of engines, the simple laws of physics say that its per flight hour costs, and logistical tail, will be significantly less than either its French or American competitors.
The austere field capabilities of the Swedish jet may have influenced this too.
My guess is that the Rafale was “selected” on the basis of French technical offsets, which are at a level that the Swedes are unable to provide, and the United States is unwilling to provide, but these are considerations that is unlikely to bear much weight with a military service.
This News is not really a surprise.
The ships are very expensive, and making 2 different models is expensive.
My guess would be that the trimaran LCS-2 is toast. It’s more expensive, and Aluminum rather than steel, like the monohull LCS-1, which raises durability issues, even if it might be a bit more stingy with a gallon of gas, and has a much wider and more stable flight deck.
They are both designed to perform multiple roles with modular mission packages (surface warfare, mine warfare, special ops insertion, etc.) that can swapped out as the situation demands, which is, I think, a losing proposition anyway.
The modules create compromises which means that both ships are under-armed for their size.
The Israelis have rejected the ship, at one point, Lockheed-Martin proposed a modified ship without the mission modules to get the bang for the buck that the Israelis wanted, and the Israelis rejected that, and are not looking at other designs, most notably the MEKO A-100, which are smaller, lighter, and cheaper, for their needs, which among other things, do not require the relatively long range, or extremely high speeds (40kts +) of the LCS.
For Some Reason, I Imagine Her Singing Wagner OperaAlways include the picture of the blond Swedish hottie in uniform whenever you can.
In this case, it appears that the Swedish Conscription Council (Värnplikstrådet) is complaining that the brassieres offered to women conscripts are not up to the rigors of combat (also here):
The poor quality of the standard-issue sports bras prompted a group by female soldiers at the LV 6 military base in Halmstad to voice their displeasure to representatives from the Council recently.
The women complained that the bras’ fasteners have a tendency to come undone when the women performed rigorous exercise, forcing the female soldiers to take off all of their equipment in order to refasten the brassieres.
In addition, the bras aren’t flame resistant and, once lit, can melt onto conscripts’ skin, the Göteborgs-Posten (GP) newspaper reports.
I would think that this is something where little research would be necessary, since it must have been addressed in armies with high numbers of women serving (the number is only about 5% in Sweden).
Just email the Israelis, and you will have an answer in about an hour.
My bad. These aren’t TIE Fighters, these are Thai fighters, specifically the SAAB Gripens that are to be delivered to Thailand.
The SAAB has a contract to deliver at least 6 of the diminutive fighters to Thailand, and the first of these aircraft has been assembled, and has taken flight.
My bad…No Star Wars here.
Here, have some video fighter jet pr0n by way of apology for misleading you.
In the words of Emily Latella, “never mind”.
Well, we have an update on the death of Bill Sparkman, the US Census worker who was found dead at a cemetery in Daniel Boone National Forest.
He was naked except for his socks, gagged, and bound hand and foot with duct tape, and had the word “Fed” written on his chest in pen, but authorities are, “Still trying to determine if Sparkman died of foul play.”
Seriously, I understand how they might not know the motive, it could be a paranoid meth lab operator, or perhaps something to Glenn Beck’s 912 whack job anti-government paranoia, but when a man is found naked except for his socks, gagged, and bound hand and foot with duct tape, it’s foul play.
This is not some friend and confidant of Jerry Fallwell being found in his closet in wearing two rubber SCUBA suits, rubber underwear, diving gloves and slippers, “numerous straps and cords” restraining him, a leather belt, and a dildo in the anus covered with a condom.
This is a man who was clearly killed by someone else. Of course it’s foul play, and given the area, there is a non-zero possibility that the drug trade, particularly meth, might have something to do with this.
The question is who did this, and why, not whether there was foul play involved.
When you have cancer, beg for charity, quoth Eric Cantor.
The thing is, that Eric Cantor knows how Medicaid works, when he says “apply for Medicaid,” what he’s really saying, as Yobie Benjamin notes, is, “Sell or auction all your belongings. After you reach a certain poverty threshold, apply for Medicaid, the federal medical insurance for the very poor. If that’s not enough apply for indigent services.”
That’s what his language about “indigency” in the long version means.
Short vid
Full event, exchange starts at about 59:05, and runs for about 7 minutes.
This man is a shanda before the Goyim.
I’m thinking about finding a way to convince him to become a Christian, because I really don’t want to share a synagogue, much a religion with him.
And in a stunning display of stupidity, the Pentagon is letting the USAF run the competition, which considering their record the past two times, is a lot like giving Jack the Ripper the straight razor concession at the prostitutes convention.
Boeing has wised up, and had decided to titch the “Frankentanker”, (paid subscription required) which had the “767-200 airframe; over-wing exits from the 767-300; floors, doors and structurally enhanced wings from the 767-300F; and a cockpit, tail section (with a more capable auxiliary power unit) and flaps from the 767-400ER,” which is a good thing.
Interestingly enough, they are also making noises about using the 777, but that aircraft appears to be rather too large for the requirements as I understand them unless they take the sawzall to it, and shorten the fuselage by a lot.
The most significant change here is that the specifications are much more explicit, because the challenge was driven by the wiggle room the last time around. (see graph pr0n, and click for full size)
The Army is looking at acquiring replacements for its M113 APC and Bradley IFV beginning in the next decade.
It’s clear that the M113 needs to be replaced, but the Bradley could continue serving but for one small problem: The Bradley has never carried enough troops, it carries 6 as opposed to the typically 9 which army doctrine calls for in a fire team.
That being said, if you replaced the current crewed Bradley turret with remotely operated turret, like the CTI 40mm Tele-Operated/Manned Turret, (top) a 40mm turret with case telescoped rounds, (bottom) you would eliminate the space inside the hull for the gunner and the commander would sit up front next to the driver, you would have about 3x the firepower, and 50% more crew carrying capacity.
Well, the Senate Appropriations Committee cut funding for the F136 alternate engine for the JSF, though the committee chair, Daniel Inouye (D-HI) has made it clear that he wants it back when the conference report comes out.
In any case, it’s clear that the White House’s opposition to continuing work on an alternate engine is soft, as the discussions between the Pentagon and GE/Rolls on a firm fixed price for the engine, are continuing, and GE is promising a, “formal unsolicited Fixed Price offer,” in the next week or so.
I’m not sure if the DoD is seriously looking at proposals, of if they are just trying to browbeat Pratt & Whitney though.
I give you the Spike missile, the version from the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) at China Lake, not the rather more expensive ATGM produced by the Israeli company Rafael.
This Spike is a small (25″), light weight (2.5 kg) and very inexpensive (about 5000 lbs) that can be effective out to about 3200 m against relatively lightly armored targets. (The warhead weighs 1 pound)
It’s not fast, being decidedly subsonic, and it leaves launch tube at around 100 mpg, which means no backblast.
What makes this missile different is that it was designed using technology to meet a cost goal, so the seeker is, basically a camcorder bolted to the front of a rocket motor, and it can launch at low speed because it relies on COTS processor for flight controls, which do not require high initial speed.
It locks on the target image, and so is fire and forget, a capability that has been in the US arsenal since the 1970s with the Maverick missile.
Another advantage of this system is that it can easily be carried by a UAV when targeting things like insurgents, with a much lower cost, and a much higher number of rounds on existing UAVs that carry Hellfires, or it could be mounted on much smaller UAVs.
It just goes to show that technology can be used to create a reasonably effective weapon at a very reasonable price.
Some PDF with more details are here and here.
So, it looks like al Queida’s best friends are looking at buying an additional 72 F-15 Eagles, and the word is that they are very interested in the modified reduced signature (stealth is way to strong a word here) F-15 SE.
If they do, it will likely be instead of purchasing the F-35 Lightning II, and a quick perusal of the Wiki shows that nothing is moving there yet.
What the F-15 SE brings to the table for the Saudis is greater speed and payload at the expense of having a larger radar cross section.