Sunday, May 13, 2012
Monday, January 31, 2011
Israel 'needs F-35 to stay on top'
Israel is the front line unit against Iran and Syria. They continuously upgrade, modify and development weapon systems to meet the demands faced in this environment against enemies that are supplied by Russia. The article displays a dire need of Israel to acquire the F35 fighter, Gen5, to keep them on top of the fighter combat role. I never thought the F35 would be the main weapons system of any air force. It is being designed to take on the responsibilities of all aspects of ground to air combat. The Jack Leg of aircraft, can do everything, but master of nothing. This price tag is approaching that of the F22 fighter that Secretary of Defense Gates has stopped production on a while ago. I don't believe anyone will get their hands on this fighter--from Japan to Israel. But, with the F35, formerly known as the JSF (Joint Strike Fighter) being the new money maker of our aerospace industry, this new combat jet will be promoted at great cost.
I can see where the software codes and such will held close to the vest for the United States. This software is where the secret lies in the F35s stealth capabilities that does allow it to command an airspace better than most other countrie's jets. Russia, China and India are developing Gen5 fighter aircraft and will compete with the United States 5th generation aircraft somewhere in the world within the next ten years. Who do we trust enough to go against an enemy with our equipment?
....lakotahope
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MilTech
Israel 'needs F-35 to stay on top'
by Staff Writers Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) Jan 31, 2011 Israel seems determined to acquire a fleet of Lockheed Martin's costly F-35 stealth fighters despite the plethora of problems plaguing the development of the fifth-generation jet.
A new assessment of Israel's defense challenges indicates why: In the face of improving air defenses in Iran and Syria, Israel's main state adversaries in the Middle East, air superiority is vital in maintaining the Jewish state's qualitative military edge.
"Equipping the Israeli air force with the F-35 has strategic importance in terms of deterring the enemy from starting a war and in terms of maintaining Israel's qualitative advantage in the arena," the assessment observed.
The study, written by Gur Laish, an expert on the Israeli air force with the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, added that air superiority is essential for Israel if it is to be capable of striking "choice regions deep inside enemy territory."
Israel has threatened pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't halt its alleged drive to develop nuclear weapons. All the sites are deep inside Iranian territory.
As for Syria, Iran's ally and the most implacable of Israel's Arab foes, the Israeli air force's main targets in the vent of renewed hostilities would be missile batteries capable of pounding key military targets and cities in Israel.
The Israelis demonstrated the potency of their air power on the night of Sept. 6, 2007, when a squadron of Boeing F-15I aircraft destroyed a nuclear plant the North Koreans were building for Syria at Deir al-Zour near the border with Iraq, after first electronically blinding Syrian air defenses.
However, the decision announced by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak last August to buy the F-35 Lightning II has stirred debate, primarily over the cost and whether the jet will ensure Israel's air superiority over the next couple of decades.
Laish argues that Israel needs the F-35, the most advanced combat aircraft in the world, to strengthen the "element of deterrence, central in Israel's security concept" since it can deal with advanced air defenses and existing combat jets such as Russia's MiG-29 or the F-15s and Lockheed Martin F-16s in the inventories of Arab air forces.
The F-35's radar-evading capabilities, he went on, allows it to penetrate deep into enemy territory and attack heavily defended strategic targets.
Indeed, he observed, "the F-35 would be the central component of this capability."
Sometimes, he added, "Israel needs to be able to operate in enemy territory even in the absence of a wartime confrontation." Pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear installations would fall under that category.
Syria and Iran have been building up their air defense capabilities, largely with Russian-made systems, which have eroded Israel's unquestioned superiority in the air, Laish noted.
He maintained that Israel's F-15I and F-16I aircraft, the backbone of its strategic air power, are aging and even the most extensive upgrades won't put them on the level of the F-35.
"An examination of alternatives in the form of surface-to-surface missiles and advanced unmanned aerial vehicles demonstrates that despite their expected contribution they cannot serve as complete substitutes to fifth generation fighter jets," Laish concluded.
However, Yiftah S. Shapir, a colleague of Laish's at the INSS, is more critical.
In a separate assessment, he acknowledged that while the jet has "some unique capabilities that would make every combat pilot's mouth water" -- stealth and the most advanced electronic systems in the world -- it "also has some very important shortcomings."
These, he said, include U.S. refusal of Israeli demands to install their own weapons and electronic systems and access to the aircraft's software codes.
Cost remains a problem. "The original price tag "was estimated at some $50 million-$60 million apiece but delays and overruns … pushed up the price," Shapir noted.
"The final price per unit is still unknown but it is estimated at $130 million-$150 million."
Development delays mean the earliest Israel could expect F-35 deliveries to begin would be 2016 -- well past the date Iran is expected to be able to produce nuclear weapons.
But Shapir concluded that Israeli companies' participation in the F-35 project and maintaining the strategic relationship with Washington "rule out examining other options, such as purchasing European aircraft (or even Russia's fifth-generation combat aircraft)."
I can see where the software codes and such will held close to the vest for the United States. This software is where the secret lies in the F35s stealth capabilities that does allow it to command an airspace better than most other countrie's jets. Russia, China and India are developing Gen5 fighter aircraft and will compete with the United States 5th generation aircraft somewhere in the world within the next ten years. Who do we trust enough to go against an enemy with our equipment?
....lakotahope
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MilTech
Israel 'needs F-35 to stay on top'
 |
A new assessment of Israel's defense challenges indicates why: In the face of improving air defenses in Iran and Syria, Israel's main state adversaries in the Middle East, air superiority is vital in maintaining the Jewish state's qualitative military edge.
"Equipping the Israeli air force with the F-35 has strategic importance in terms of deterring the enemy from starting a war and in terms of maintaining Israel's qualitative advantage in the arena," the assessment observed.
The study, written by Gur Laish, an expert on the Israeli air force with the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, added that air superiority is essential for Israel if it is to be capable of striking "choice regions deep inside enemy territory."
Israel has threatened pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't halt its alleged drive to develop nuclear weapons. All the sites are deep inside Iranian territory.
As for Syria, Iran's ally and the most implacable of Israel's Arab foes, the Israeli air force's main targets in the vent of renewed hostilities would be missile batteries capable of pounding key military targets and cities in Israel.
The Israelis demonstrated the potency of their air power on the night of Sept. 6, 2007, when a squadron of Boeing F-15I aircraft destroyed a nuclear plant the North Koreans were building for Syria at Deir al-Zour near the border with Iraq, after first electronically blinding Syrian air defenses.
However, the decision announced by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak last August to buy the F-35 Lightning II has stirred debate, primarily over the cost and whether the jet will ensure Israel's air superiority over the next couple of decades.
Laish argues that Israel needs the F-35, the most advanced combat aircraft in the world, to strengthen the "element of deterrence, central in Israel's security concept" since it can deal with advanced air defenses and existing combat jets such as Russia's MiG-29 or the F-15s and Lockheed Martin F-16s in the inventories of Arab air forces.
The F-35's radar-evading capabilities, he went on, allows it to penetrate deep into enemy territory and attack heavily defended strategic targets.
Indeed, he observed, "the F-35 would be the central component of this capability."
Sometimes, he added, "Israel needs to be able to operate in enemy territory even in the absence of a wartime confrontation." Pre-emptive strikes against Iran's nuclear installations would fall under that category.
Syria and Iran have been building up their air defense capabilities, largely with Russian-made systems, which have eroded Israel's unquestioned superiority in the air, Laish noted.
He maintained that Israel's F-15I and F-16I aircraft, the backbone of its strategic air power, are aging and even the most extensive upgrades won't put them on the level of the F-35.
"An examination of alternatives in the form of surface-to-surface missiles and advanced unmanned aerial vehicles demonstrates that despite their expected contribution they cannot serve as complete substitutes to fifth generation fighter jets," Laish concluded.
However, Yiftah S. Shapir, a colleague of Laish's at the INSS, is more critical.
In a separate assessment, he acknowledged that while the jet has "some unique capabilities that would make every combat pilot's mouth water" -- stealth and the most advanced electronic systems in the world -- it "also has some very important shortcomings."
These, he said, include U.S. refusal of Israeli demands to install their own weapons and electronic systems and access to the aircraft's software codes.
Cost remains a problem. "The original price tag "was estimated at some $50 million-$60 million apiece but delays and overruns … pushed up the price," Shapir noted.
"The final price per unit is still unknown but it is estimated at $130 million-$150 million."
Development delays mean the earliest Israel could expect F-35 deliveries to begin would be 2016 -- well past the date Iran is expected to be able to produce nuclear weapons.
But Shapir concluded that Israeli companies' participation in the F-35 project and maintaining the strategic relationship with Washington "rule out examining other options, such as purchasing European aircraft (or even Russia's fifth-generation combat aircraft)."
Friday, January 28, 2011
India and Russia Combine to Develop Generation 5 Fighter
India is in a partnership with Russia to design and deploy a Gen 5 fighter. They will not be looking into purchasing any U.S.A. fighters like the F-22 or F35 JSF. In this deal they will split the intellectual property rights with Russia and will have total access to items like software codes. These codes are a thorn in the side of a few countries that are in a development partnership with the United States as America doesn't want to share this code with anyone. Hence, the partners will have to ship these aircraft back to the USA for some maintenance gigs. Too bad I reckon, but with Russia, China and now India developing a Gen 5 fighter, what is a adversary to do? Develop something better than a Gen 5.
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With own 5-Gen fighter project with Russia, India not keen on US jet
NEW DELHI: India has no plans as of now to either join the US-led joint strike fighter (JSF) programme or buy the F-35 `Lightning-II' fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) when it finally becomes operational.
"We cannot have two types of FGFA. We have already launched preliminary work for our FGFA after inking the $295 million preliminary design contract (PDC) with Russia last month,'' said a top defence ministry official on Friday.
This comes in the wake of comments made by a top Pentagon official, undersecretary of defence for acquisition, technology and logistics Ashton Carter, in Washington that the US was open to Indian participation in its JSF project.
Interestingly, the comments came during a function where an aggressive sales pitch was made for India to select either the American F/A-18 `Super Hornet' ( Boeing) or F-16 `Falcon' ( Lockheed Martin) over their European rivals in the ongoing IAF's medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) contest.
The other 4.5-generation fighters in the hotly-contested race to bag the $10.4 billion MMRCA project, under which 18 jets will be bought off-the-shelf and another 108 will be manufactured in India under transfer of technology, are Eurofighter Typhoon, Swedish Gripen (Saab), French Rafale (Dassault) and Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation).
The IAF force matrix for the coming years revolves around the 270 Sukhoi-30MKIs contracted from Russia for around $12 billion, the 126 MMRCA and 120 indigenous Tejas Light Combat Aircraft, apart from upgraded MiG-29s and Mirage-2000s.
In the decades ahead, the advanced stealth FGFA to be developed with Russia will be the mainstay of India's combat fleet. "Our FGFA will be cheaper than the F-35. Moreover, the intellectual property rights of the FGFA will equally and jointly vest on both India and Russia, with full access to the source code and the like,'' said another senior official.
With a potent mix of super-manoeuvrability and supersonic cruising ability, the "swing-role'' FGFA will of course not come cheap. The cost of designing, infrastructure build-up, prototype development and flight testing has been pegged at around $11 billion, with India and Russia chipping in with $5.5 billion each.
Over and above this, each of the 250-300 FGFA India hopes to begin inducting from 2020 onwards will cost around $100 million each. In all, India will spend upwards of $35 billion over the next two decades in its biggest-ever defence project till now.
The Indian FGFA will primarily be based on the single-seater Sukhoi T-50, the prototype of which is already flying in Russia, but will include a twin-seater version and a more powerful engine with greater thrust.
"Its complete design will be frozen by the end of the 18-month PDC. Six to seven of its prototypes should be flying by 2017. After that, there will be 2,500 hours of flight-testing over 25 months before the series production begins in 2019,'' he said.
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