Military Aviation News and Discussion

Todjaeger

Potstirrer
Agreed - Argentina's armed forces are still seen by very many Argentineans as the main military threat to Argentina, with the justification that it used to be indisputably true. I don't know whether it's still true, but a history like that is hard to shake off.
Given Argentina's history of military coups, as well as how the junta governed from ~1976 until forced out of power in 1983 following the defeat in the Falklands War, it is quite understandable how the military and naval forces could have a problematic reputation.
 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #242
Boeing is going to test the CH-47F Chook with two GE Aviation T408 turboshaft engines, each producing 7,500shp, 2,500shp more than the current Chook F engine. The GE T408 is the same engine that is used on the CH-53K so is already certified for use at sea, with Boeing looking at suggesting to the USN & USMC, the neo Chook F as the replacement if the CH-53K program goes belly up. As a by product of this, it could be an option for others such as the RAF and ADF who fly Chooks off their LHD, etc.

Boeing to test CH-47F Chinook with two 7,500shp engines
 

Calculus

Well-Known Member
Boeing is going to test the CH-47F Chook with two GE Aviation T408 turboshaft engines, each producing 7,500shp, 2,500shp more than the current Chook F engine. The GE T408 is the same engine that is used on the CH-53K so is already certified for use at sea, with Boeing looking at suggesting to the USN & USMC, the neo Chook F as the replacement if the CH-53K program goes belly up. As a by product of this, it could be an option for others such as the RAF and ADF who fly Chooks off their LHD, etc.

Boeing to test CH-47F Chinook with two 7,500shp engines
I wonder what ever happened to the Honeywell T55-715 6000 shp engines that were supposed to be part of the F-model Block 2 upgrade? Don't get me wrong, 7500 is clearly better than 6000, but 6000 would have represented a 20% increase in power over the T55-714 (nothing to sneeze at), and would presumably have been less expensive given it is designed as an upgrade kit to the existing engine.

Development Nearly Done On New Honeywell T55 Engine

Army Aviation: 100 Years of the Chinook
 
Last edited:

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #245
June the 6th is the 75th anniversary of the Allied landings at Normandy. To commemorate this a group has formed Daks Over Normandy with the intention of:
On 5 June 2019 we will follow into the footsteps of the Greatest Generation! About 250 men and women will board the aircraft in the United Kingdom to, exactly like 75 years before, fly across the English Channel and to jump into the historic drop zones of Normandy. They will be wearing WWII style Allied uniforms and will jump military round parachutes. It will be an event which has no equal. History in the making. Again! Just like in 1944.
Daks Over Normandy | Daks over Normandy
The Aircraft that are confirmed | Daks over Normandy

Promo video.

Also Mikey McBryan of Ice Pilots fame, and a crew of volunteers are restoring a DC-3 near Montreal in order to have it flying on 6th June 2019 for the 75th anniversary of D Day. He has a Youtube series Plane Savers and it is worth the watch with new episodes posted each day. According to their timetable they have eight days to go. The link takes you to the playlist.
 

Redlands18

Well-Known Member
June the 6th is the 75th anniversary of the Allied landings at Normandy. To commemorate this a group has formed Daks Over Normandy with the intention of:
On 5 June 2019 we will follow into the footsteps of the Greatest Generation! About 250 men and women will board the aircraft in the United Kingdom to, exactly like 75 years before, fly across the English Channel and to jump into the historic drop zones of Normandy. They will be wearing WWII style Allied uniforms and will jump military round parachutes. It will be an event which has no equal. History in the making. Again! Just like in 1944.
Daks Over Normandy | Daks over Normandy
The Aircraft that are confirmed | Daks over Normandy

Promo video.

Also Mikey McBryan of Ice Pilots fame, and a crew of volunteers are restoring a DC-3 near Montreal in order to have it flying on 6th June 2019 for the 75th anniversary of D Day. He has a Youtube series Plane Savers and it is worth the watch with new episodes posted each day. According to their timetable they have eight days to go. The link takes you to the playlist.
I hope many of them are dropped 10kms off Target for realism.
Just Joking, I hope it all goes well and everyone lands safe and sound where they should be.
 

Millennium7

Member
Hi all.
Thank you for the hospitality.
I made a video about a relatively obscure Italian/Chinese connection that was influential in the development of the Chinese Air Force.
I hope you may be interested.


Mod Edit: Embedded link promoting a YouTube channel deleted.

-Preceptor
 
Last edited by a moderator:

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Not strictly military aviation but the presidential helicopter fleet sort of qualifies as it is a USMC operation. After the failed AH101 and now years of developing the S-92 alternative, LM now has an order for six VH-92s. After all the screwing around with Canada's CH-148 Cyclone, perhaps the new presidential helicopters will arrive sooner than the RCAF's did. I should point out much of Canada's grief was self-inflicted.

Sikorsky gets contract to build six presidential helicopters
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Certainly not a loss the German AF can afford! Perhaps they will get funding to replace them, maybe even finally get a couple with AESA radars. Germany is likely the only Typhoon member country to consider this now as the UK and Italy probably don't see much merit in this upgrade now that they are getting F-35s. Doubt Spain will upgrade either.
 

south

Well-Known Member
The “limited operational” fleet was due to not being Fully Mission Capable, rather than not being serviceable and safe for flight. It is likely that these aircraft were serviceable but not FMC.

The RAF are still pushing to put AESA into their Tranche 3.

Still a sad day for the Luftwaffe with one of the pilots unfortunately found deceased, highlighting the risk in Fast Jet aviation inherent to every flight.
 

milliGal

Member
I had the chance to to attend the Paris Airshow last weekend, and thought I'd share my thoughts in case anyone is interested in the opinions of an amateur. The crowds were huge and the lines were long so I only got to go on board a couple of aircraft (the C-2 and the NH90). Viewing the static displays up close was still a cool experience though, and some of the aerial displays were also very impressive. Being a kiwi I can't help but view the platforms in a NZ context so other nationalities will have to excuse the associated commentary.

The H160M: A great looking platform, and it was certainly larger than I expected for a "light" helicopter. It is only a mock-up at this stage but it is looking like a promising program, with airforce, army, and naval variants planned. I believe the army version is scheduled for introduction first in 2026, with the naval platform following two years later so this probably puts it out of the running for NZ's Seasprite replacement.

The A400M: Great aerial display, and a very popular platform with the shows attendees. I believe a new work program was agreed to take it through to its full contracted capabilities so hopefully its problems are behind it. I can't help but think this would have been a great asset to NZ, but we will have to wait until the strategic airlift replacement to see if we get something that can shift the NH90's around.

The C-2: Another nice looking platform, with very friendly Japanese defence force staff to guide the crowds through. Very spacious hold lateral and vertical dimensions, though lengthwise it was a lot shorter than I expected. My personal view is that the A400M is the more flexible platform in this category but with its turbofans the C-2 is more efficient at high altitudes and has greater range. It will be interesting to see how they go in securing export orders.

The NH90: I got a guided tour around one of these from a nice Italian chap from NHI. A very impressive platform with redundancy in pretty much everything (engine, flight controls, etc.) and tons of clever design features throughout (e.g. the winch operator has a little joystick to fine-tune the helicopters position when dropping the rope). The hold is quite spacious (though there's not a lot of head room) and they advertise it as being able to carry 20 troops. It would be a very tight fit in there with the centreline seats installed though so 12 is a more realistic number (i.e. just the side seats). The tail wing provides down-force rather than lift if anyone was wondering, and the aerial display was also quite impressive.

The Rafale: The Rafale's aerial display was probably the highlight of the show for me, and is worth looking up on youtube for those interested. It is clearly a very agile platform with an abundance of power at its disposal. I think the Typhoon the F-22 are probably the only platforms that can beat it in terms of raw agility.

The JF-17: It was cool to see Pakistan's new fighter on display, and its aerial display was also great to watch. I couldn't help compare it to the Rafale's display however, and it is clearly inferior to that platform in terms of power and agility (though some of this may be down to the experience level of the display pilot).

Attached are some photos from the show:

IMG_20190623_104106.jpg IMG_20190623_115858.jpg IMG_20190623_133746.jpg IMG_20190623_160625.jpg
 
Last edited:

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
Nice pictures milliGal. Was it as hot as the weather people have been saying? I think the Rafale is a great fighter and although a Euro solution for Canada's next fighter doesn't seem likely, it is a better choice IMO than the other two and even the SH except for the weapons inventory we would have to scrap or return to the US. Daussault decided to withdraw from our replacement program, can hardly blame them.
 

milliGal

Member
Nice pictures milliGal. Was it as hot as the weather people have been saying? I think the Rafale is a great fighter and although a Euro solution for Canada's next fighter doesn't seem likely, it is a better choice IMO than the other two and even the SH except for the weapons inventory we would have to scrap or return to the US. Daussault decided to withdraw from our replacement program, can hardly blame them.
The heat wave was not quite in full swing yet, but it was still uncomfortably hot with temperatures in the low 30's. I walked away with a bit of sunburn and that doesn't happen often for a kiwi in Europe.

The Rafale is definitely a great looking plane, and my respect for it has definitely gone up after seeing it in action. I also have a soft spot for the Typhoon though, and from what I understand its engine/airframe combination gives it even greater agility than Rafale. It will be interesting to see which way Canada goes with their next fighter procurement. It's hard to imagine the F-35 will not be in the mix, but I would not be surprised to see a split buy to allow the politicians to save a bit of face.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
This link discusses a possible Y-20 conversion for AAR missions. At one point a KC-17 concept was considered for the USAF. Too bad this wasn’t considered in view of the “Pacific Pivot” as this would have allowed some C-17 users to expand their fleets and allowed disappointed A-400 prospects to consider the C-17. A smaller tanker like the KC-46 or MRTT would still be needed.

Two Options for China to Turn Y-20 Strategic Cargo Plane into Aerial Tanker: Magazine
 

StobieWan

Super Moderator
Staff member
Efforts are ramping up for the UK’s Tempest FCAS program. Saab is expected to announce it is joining the program shortly. I wonder which program Italy will join, the UK or Euro program?

Number of people working on new Tempest jet 'set to double'
I'd put money on Tempest being the preferred partner - the dynamics of the Franco German program strike me as not very inviting - there are already work share niggles by all accounts and Germany has a tendency to want the lowest spec platform it can get, then spend millions adding in the stuff they took out later.
 

John Fedup

The Bunker Group
From Italy’s perspective I agree working with the UK and Sweden should provide more workshare and less hassle than dealing with two larger players and Spain which is also a significant player.
 

Millennium7

Member
Hi Everyone.
If anyone is interested, I made a quick history of the Sidewinder missile.
I hope you enjoy!


Mod Edit: Embedded link promoting a YouTube channel deleted.

-Preceptor
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top