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    CombatACE Facebook Winner - Week 4
    Erik
    By Erik,
      CombatACE Facebook Contest Winner Week 4 - Carlo Vecchi   The Randomizer selected #10 this week and on our Facebook list that is Carlo Vecchi. Congratulations!   Week 1 - Ivan Adamek Week 2 - Shaun Griffies Week 3 - Matthew Mckee   Carlo post on our Facebook page what your CA username is, then send us a PM here so we know you posted. Once we have that information we'll get your free download subscription added to your account. See you again next week for our latest winner. If you haven't added us to your Facebook likes we can't draw your name.

    WSJ: FAA Modifies Airspace Restrictions for New Boeing Jets
    FastCargo
    By FastCargo,
    WSJ: FAA Modifies Airspace Restrictions for New Boeing Jets   Photo by Joe Contreras   By Andy Pasztor and Peter Sanders Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL   Article   A week after issuing interim rules to protect aircraft from the wake turbulence generated by Boeing Co.'s (BA: 70.39 ,-0.97 ,-1.36%) latest jetliner models, federal regulators abruptly reversed course and said the restrictions were premature.   The FAA's surprise move on Tuesday left industry officials and safety experts uncertain about the potential hazards of flying closely behind the 787 Dreamliner and the larger 747-8, both of which are currently undergoing flight tests. The original rules mandated many aircraft maintain roughly double the typical distance when flying behind other widebody Boeing or rival Airbus aircraft.   The situation was further confused when an FAA spokeswoman said the interim rules--distributed to air traffic controllers nationwide--contained "some mistakes." The guidelines were signed on Sept. 27 by Nancy Kalinowski, an FAA vice president of system operations services in the air traffic organization.   But the spokeswoman, Laura Brown, also said the replacement standards, which could be announced shortly, may turn out to be similar or in some cases identical to those that were withdrawn.   Ms. Brown didn't provide details about the revised airspace separation guidelines.   Boeing officials on Monday said only they were in discussions with the FAA about the agency's initial restrictions placed on aircraft following the Dreamliner and the 747-8.   The interim rules, requiring aircraft to remain at least 10 miles behind the new Boeing jets during large portion of the descent towards the airport, would have remained in effect until October, 2011. By then Boeing expects to deliver a handful of 747-8's and possibly more than a dozen Dreamliners to airlines.   Such spacing and other restrictions--especially around busy hub airports--could frustrate airlines such as All Nippon Airways Co. (9202.TO), Japan Airlines Corp. and Cargolux Airlines International S.A. that are among the first slated to put the Boeing models into service.   Boeing 787s are scheduled to commence passenger service with ANA after the first quarter of 2011, and the first deliveries of 747-8 cargo planes also are expected to occur around the middle of next year.   Maintaining extra safety margins during late phases of approaches to congested airfield could reduce overall capacity and complicate the introduction of the new jets.   The FAA's notice said studies indicate that wakes generated by 747-8 and 787 models--essentially cones of spinning air spreading out from the tip of each wing--"may be more substantial than those" created by existing wide-body or jumbo jets such as the Boeing 747-400 or Airbus A340.   Nearly three years behind schedule, the 787's development has been beset by design issues, manufacturing problems and engine malfunctions. Development of the stretch 747 has been delayed by production and testing difficulties, including aerodynamic issues discovered during flight tests that could affect its wake characteristics.   Copyright © 2010 Dow Jones Newswires

    SpaceShipTwo Flies Free
    FastCargo
    By FastCargo,
    SpaceShipTwo Flies Free     SpaceShip Two Flies Free   SpaceShipTwo, the spacecraft that will take paying passengers to the edge of space, had its first manned free flight Sunday, dropping from the launch aircraft mothership Eve 45,000 feet above the Mojave Desert. Owner Virgin Galactic said the spacecraft, now named VSS Enterprise, glided to successful landing 11 minutes later at the Mojave Air and Space Port in the high desert of California. On board were pilot Pete Siebold and copilot Mike Alsbury. Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson was on hand in Mojave with his trademark enthusiasm in full force. "Now, the sky is no longer the limit and we will begin the process of pushing beyond to the final frontier of space itself over the next year," Branson said. All gushing aside, there were some substantial practical accomplishments achieved with the flight.   As the first commercial suborbital space venture, Virgin is being watched closely by government and the industry and safety is, of course, a primary consideration. All systems were checked, the reusable spacecraft's stall characteristics and general flight behavior were assessed and actual performance was checked against data projected by simulation. Siebold and Alsbury got in one practice approach at altitude before heading for the real thing. "The VSS Enterprise was a real joy to fly, especially when one considers the fact that the vehicle has been designed not only to be a Mach 3.5 spaceship capable of going into space but also one of the worlds highest altitude gliders," Siebold said.

    Elbit Systems U.S. Subsidiary Receives $68 Million ID/IQ Contract
    FastCargo
    By FastCargo,
    Elbit Systems U.S. Subsidiary Receives $68 Million ID/IQ Contract to Supply Head-Up Displays for U.S. Department of Defense   Elbit Systems Press Release   HAIFA, Israel, October 13, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --   Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ and TASE: ESLT) announced today that its wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Elbit Systems of America, LLC, was awarded a 5-year, $68 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the U.S. Army Contracting Command in Huntsville, Alabama to supply the U.S.Army, Navy, Marines Corps and Coast Guard with AN/AVS-7 Head-Up Display components including the latest Elbit Systems of America Flat Panel Day and Night Head-Up Display units.   Initial delivery orders totaling $23 million have been awarded under the ID/IQ contract. This is a follow-on contract to a $75M ID/IQ contract awarded in September 2005.   The new display units increase situational awareness and safety by allowing pilots to fly "head out of the cockpit" during day and night operations.   Commenting on the award, Elbit Systems of America President and CEO, Raanan Horowitz noted, "This follow-on order attests to our customer's satisfaction with our systems and performance track record. Elbit Systems of America is pleased to provide cutting-edge technology for the warfighter, delivering high quality Helmet Mounted Displays at accelerated pace and supporting critical missions and needs. The AN/AVS-7 has proven itself by providing situational awareness and added safety to Army aviators on all US Army helicopter platforms and we are proud we can provide now an upgrade to these systems."   via Elbit Systems

    Super Hornets will put RAAF back on the regional front foot
    Erik
    By Erik,
      The Australian -- By Cameron Stewart   The air force is about to reverse a decade of decline with a string of new aircraft.   The balance of power in Asia is changing faster than the new Gillard government would like.   China is flexing its muscles, making its near neighbours nervous with its ambitious naval expansion. The US has taken note and is quietly shoring up its alliances in the region, reassuring all that it will remain the pre-eminent power in the Pacific.   These big-picture trends are causing debate, but in Australia there is a more subtle military shift under way that will also help redefine the balance of power in our immediate region for years to come.   The Royal Australian Air Force is about to reverse a decade of decline in its strength relative to other regional air forces. Within two months, the second batch of Super Hornets will arrive from the Boeing plant in St Louis, creating the first operational squadron of the RAAF's new jet fighter.   At the end of this year, these initial 12 Super Hornets -- the first of 24 -- will take over from the grand old dame of warplanes, the F-111 strike bombers.   The mothballing of the F-111 and the arrival of the Super Hornets, along with the new Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and new air-to-air refuellers, marks a long-awaited turnaround in Australia's air power capabilities.   "In terms of hardware, the air force has begun a period of transition in which most of its front-line fleet will be replaced by 2020 or shortly thereafter," says Andrew Davies of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.   "The delivery of Wedgetail and the Super Hornet represents the arrest of a slow decline in the RAAF's long-held regional qualitative lead in air combat capability."   Chief of Air Force Mark Binskin admits this is a pivotal moment in the history of the RAAF.   "It's one of those generational changes," the air marshal tells Inquirer. "The F-111 has been around for a long time and is seen as the strategic strike weapon for Australia so I think there is a lot of emotion and it will be quite a time in December when the last F-111 flies . . . but it is time for a change.   "The Super Hornets coming in and the [advance capabilities] it will bring in combination with the upgraded [classic F/A 18] Hornets really does reset the relative combat power that we have."   While other countries in the region have been investing in advanced fighter jets such as Russian Sukhoi fighters, US F-15s and F-16s, Australia's fighter stocks have been in relative decline during the past decade.   Until recently, the RAAF's 70 F/A-18s have struggled to reach full operating capacity because of the need for progressive upgrades to keep them flying until their planned retirement date in 2018.   The 15-strong F-111 fleet has been largely ceremonial for the past decade; modern air defences have made it too risky to send the much loved "Pig" into a hot war without heavy aerial support. With their long range and their ability to fly low and blindingly fast, the F-111s were the pre-eminent strike bomber of their era, reaching their target before defence radars could spot them.   But since the 1980s the development of new radars, such as the F/A-18's pulse-Doppler APG-65 radar, made the F-111 vulnerable because they could pick out fast-moving, low-flying targets.   "More and more air forces were re-equipping with modern Western and Russian fighters and ground-based air defence systems built around such radars," defence expert Gregor Ferguson says. "Suddenly the F-111 wasn't invincible any more. There was nothing it could do that can't be done now by a different combination of aircraft and weapons which can also fill other roles and deliver wider operational benefits."   While the F-111 will be a sentimental loss, the arrival of the Super Hornet represents a sharp lift in actual combat capability.   Used by the US Navy, they are the first new RAAF front-line fighters since 1985.   A recent ASPI report on RAAF capability states: "Compared to the classic Hornets, they carry more powerful radar, electronic warfare and networking capabilities and can carry greater weapons load over a longer range. They also have a degree of low observability built in. The Super Hornets will give RAAF a capability on par with the US Navy."   Davies says the combination of the Super Hornets and the standard F/A-18s should ensure that Australia retains a capability edge in air power in the region ahead of the arrival of the F-35.   "The number and capability of Australia's air combat aircraft will overmatch the piecemeal and less well supported fleets of nearby nations [except Singapore]. As well, in any defence of Australia scenario, the RAAF should be able to establish local air superiority and conduct sea denial operations even against a major power."   Davies tells Inquirer: "What we will get with the Super Hornet is the ability to hit targets [that] have modern air defence systems.   "What we lose is a bit of range. We have to work harder to get a range anything like the F-111."   Twelve of the 24 Super Hornets will be configured so they can be potentially transformed into a specialised electronic warfare version of the Super Hornet known as the Growler.   "This is a dedicated electronic warfare aircraft and that is a significant capability that we have never had before," says Davies.   Because Super Hornets are already in use in the US Navy, they will arrive in Australia almost ready to fly.   Late last month, five Super Hornets and about 100 aircrew and maintenance personnel from No 1 Squadron at RAAF Amberley, Queensland, began the first live weapons trial in Australia, testing air-to-ground weapons firing at Woomera in the South Australian desert.   There are 11 Super Hornets in Australia and a new group of three planes is set to arrive in November. All 24 aircraft are expected here by the end of next year.   Their arrival coincides with the planned arrival by early next year of all six Wedgetail AWACs.   The Wedgetails are four years late and the program has been deeply troubled by technical hitches and cost overruns.   But when introduced into service next year the planes -- in theory -- should be able to scan the airspace above Australia's maritime approaches to detect an air or sea attack and direct planes and ships to defeat that threat.   "From a cruising altitude of 30,000 feet, the MESA radar mounted on the upper fuselage of the Wedgetail aircraft is designed to detect targets more than 400km away in all directions [including] hard-to-see targets such as cruise missiles," Ferguson says.   The Super Hornets are a bridging fighter to fill the gap between the retirement of the F-111s and the arrival from 2014 of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.   Former defence minister Brendan Nelson was widely criticised in 2007 when he announced the $6 billion Super Hornet purchase, but setbacks and delays in the F-35 project have justified the decision in hindsight.   Australia plans to buy 100 F-35s but the project has been bedevilled by technical problems, cost blowouts and schedule slippages. Its original delivery date to Australia of 2012 has blown out and the first squadron of F-35s is not expected to become operational until 2018.   Despite this, the Australian government has never wavered from its commitment to the new warplane and still argues that it is the best and most cost-effective solution for the RAAF's future front-line fleet.   The troubled project also received a rare bit of good news recently. Its flight testing program, which has been well behind schedule, has gained some momentum and the full-year goal of 394 flights is likely to be met.         The Australian

    DOD retiring famous military aircraft
    Erik
    By Erik,
      Yuma Sun -- By James Gilbert -- October 12, 2010   YUMA PROVING GROUND — Employees working at various test sites throughout Yuma Proving Ground will no longer hear the familiar sounds of either of the two O-2 Skymaster the installation has soaring high overhead.   Originally built in 1967, the legendary plane forged a reputation as a hardy and dependable aircraft for forward observation missions during the Vietnam War. Although the model is now more than 40 years old, they are the only two of this model in the military inventory that still carry out active-duty missions, used at YPG to support test mission.   As of Oct. 1, however, YPG's two Skymasters, the last two in the Department of Defense's inventory, were officially retired and bound for museums.   “They are getting old and difficult to maintain,” said civilian pilot Ralph Arnold, who has flown the planes the past six years. “It is sad. We probably just don't use them enough anymore to justify having them anymore.”   The plane, with Lt. Col. Steve Milton, commander of the Yuma Test Center, onboard, took to the skies above YPG for the last time Tuesday morning. Milton said it was unfortunate that his first-ever flight in the plane also happened to be its last.   “I'm glad to have the opportunity,” Milton said of his flight moments before taking off. “It's taking a seat in history.”   Milton said from a historical perspective, it is amazing to think about all the different types of missions the iconic planes have flown on over the years, where they have been and how many different branches of the military have owned them.   About 510 of the O-2 aircraft were built between 1967 and 1970. The aircraft is unique in its design in a couple of ways.   First, its propellers counter-rotate, balancing out the effects of the torque and the p-factor, or aerodynamics. It's “high-wing” design also proved useful for a clear observation of what was below and behind the aircraft.   The second feature of this aircraft that makes it stand out is the placement of its two engines. Instead of on its wings, its engines are mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage, which creates a “push-pull” effect.   During the Vietnam War, the aircraft was used as a forward spotter to observe where the artillery was hitting the ground and then call in the ground support jets to complete the missions. It had fixed hard points to deliver rockets, flares and other ordnance for self-defense and to designated targets for air strikes.   Arnold said both of the 0-2 Skymasters at YPG have 10,000 hours of flight time, which he estimates is equivalent to flying about 1.5 million air miles.   “It is a fun plane to fly,” Arnold said. “It also sounds really cool going down the runway.”   YPG got the planes from Arizona's Fort Huachuca in 1998 when the program in which they were flown was closed. Arnold said Huachuca was going to dispose of them, but YPG said they could use the planes.   Prior to going to Fort Huachuca, the planes were owned by the U.S. Navy, which got them from the Air National Guard, where they wound up following the war.   Arnold said one of the planes will remain at YPG as an exhibit for the installation's Heritage Center museum. The other plane has been offered to the Air Force's museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.   “They haven't said yet whether they want it,” Arnold said. “If they don't, (the plane) will be disposed of.”   Milton said the loss of the Skymasters does not mean YPG is losing the capability to support a test mission with a fixed-wing aircraft. In its place, he said, the installation is using a Cessna, which is faster and can carry more.   With 10 pilots who can fly both fixed-wing and rotor aircraft, the loss of the Skymaster means there is one less plane for the pilots to have to fly on a regular basis to maintain their rating.   “At any given time, the pilots will fly a fixed-wing aircraft in the morning and a rotor aircraft in the afternoon, or vice versa,” Milton said.   While the need for supporting test missions with a fixed-wing aircraft has decreased, Milton said, test missions that can be supported with rotor aircraft have actually increased.     Yuma Sun

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