Medical helicopter crash-lands outside Comanche County hospital - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

LAWTON, Okla. (AP) —A medical helicopter with four people on board has crash landed outside a hospital in Comanche County.

Lawton police say the helicopter lost power around 6 a.m. Thursday while landing at Comanche County Memorial Hospital. Hospital officials say the helicopter’s pilot managed to safely land it along a nearby roadway.

The helicopter was operated by Mesa, Arizona-based Survival Flight, which began operating at the Comanche County hospital this week. A Survival Flight spokesman, Vice President Andy Arthurs, says none of the four crew members on board the helicopter was injured.

Arthurs says officials have no indication what caused the crash landing. He says investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene Thursday afternoon.

Arthurs says officials believe the helicopter can be repaired.

#Helicopter #Crash #Aviation #MediVac #Okla #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #Just_Fly

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GRAPHIC VIDEO: Pilot nearly decapitated during race take off - Charles D'Alberto

Thom Richard was preparing to take off in the Gold Formula One event at the National Championship Air Race in Nevada on Sunday when his engine started sputtering.

The Swedish-born pilot immediately turned his engine off. He opened the canopy of his plane, Hot Stuff, as he signalled to ground crews that he couldn’t fly.

However, it appears this message wasn’t delivered to three planes waiting to take off behind him.
He hoped the third plane would manage to fly over him. Instead, it hit him with a violent and loud impact at almost 100 km/h.

“Three things immediately came to mind. Make yourself as small as possible to avoid further injury until things stop moving,” Richard said.

#Aviation #Stunt #Crash #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #Just_Fly

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Greek Military Helicopter Crash Lands in Sea During Training - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

Greek authorities say two crew members were rescued after their helicopter suffered an engine failure and fell into the sea near the coast in northern Greece during a training exercise.

Military authorities said the Apache attack helicopter splashed down Tuesday close to the shoreline east of the northern city of Thessaloniki.

The crew members were apparently not injured but were transported to a military hospital in Thessaloniki as a precaution.

#Apache #Helicopter #Crash #Greece #Aviation #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #Just_Fly

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Helicopter pilot brilliance? or TOTAL insanity? - Charles D'Alberto

This has to be both the scariest and most brilliant piloting i have EVER seen... This guy is NUTS!!!

How did the organizers of the event even allow this to happen, with all those people in the stands? A power or engine failure would of been catastrophic...Watch the video, and you be the judge!

#R44 #Pilot #Helicopter #Rodeo #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #StuntFlying #Just_Fly

The F-35 just proved it can take Russian or Chinese airspace without firing a shot - Charles D'Alberto

Two F-35B aircraft fly in formation over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. | Lockheed Martin photo

An F-35B just carried out a remarkable test where its sensors spotted an airborne target, sent the data to an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense site, and had the land-based outpost fire a missile to defeat the target — thereby destroying an airborne adversary without firing a single shot of its own.

This development simultaneously vindicates two of the US military’s most important developments: The F-35 and the Naval Integrated Fire Control Counterair Network (NIFC-CA).

Essentially, the NIFC-CA revolutionizes naval targeting systems by combining data from a huge variety of sensors to generate targeting data that could be used to defeat incoming threats.

So now with this development, an F-35 can pass targeting data to the world’s most advanced missile defense system, an Aegis site, that would fire its own missile, likely a SM-6, to take out threats in the air, on land, or at sea.

This means that an F-35 can stealthily enter heavily contested enemy air space, detect threats, and have them destroyed by a missile fired from a remote site, like an Aegis land site or destroyer, without firing a shot and risking giving up its position.

The SM-6, the munition of choicefor Aegis destroyers, is a 22-foot long supersonic missile that can seek out, maneuver, and destroy airborne targets like enemy jets or incoming cruise or ballistic missiles.

The SM-6’s massive size prohibits it from being equipped to fighter jets, but now, thanks to the integration of the F-35 with the NIFC-CA, it doesn’t have to.

The SM-6, as effective and versatile as it is, can shoot further than the Aegis sites can see. The F-35, as an ultra connective and stealthy jet, acts as an elevated, highly mobile sensor that extends the effective range of the missile.

This joint capability helps assuage fears over the F-35’s limited capacity to carry ordnance. The jet’s stealth design means that all weapons have to be stored internally, and this strongly limits the plane’s overall ordnance capacity.

This limiting factor has drawn criticism from pundits more fond of traditional jet fighting approaches. However, it seems the F-35’s connectivity has rendered this point a non-issue.


Demonstration shows capability to extend the battlefront using Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA). | Lockheed Martin photo

Overall, the F-35 and NIFC-CA integration changes the game when it comes to the supposed anti-access/area denial bubbles created by Russia and China’s advanced air defenses and missiles.

“One of the key defining attributes of a 5th Generation fighter is the force multiplier effect it brings to joint operations through its foremost sensor fusion and external communications capabilities,” said Orlando Carvalho, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said in a statement.

“NIFC-CA is a game changer for the US Navy that extends the engagement range we can detect, analyze and intercept targets,” said Dale Bennett, another Lockheed Martin vice president in the statement.

“The F-35 and Aegis Weapon System demonstration brings us another step closer to realizing the true potential and power of the worldwide network of these complex systems to protect and support warfighters, the home front and US allies.”

#F35 #FighterJets #Military #Aviation #Charles_Dalberto #PerlaGroup

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Plane skids down runway, tears off landing gear - Charles D'Alberto

Trigana Air Service plane lies on the tarmac after skidding for just under a mile.

It was a bit of a rough landing.

An Indonesian cargo plane slammed into the runway and skidded for just under a mile (1 kilometer,) tearing off its landing gear, while attempting to land on Tuesday morning.

The Trigana Air Service plane was touching down at Wamena airport in West Papua, Indonesia, at about 7.30am when things started to go wrong.

Plane lands at 0:20 seconds

Pilot Matt Dearden, who has been flying in Indonesia for seven years, told CNN that the plane was in low cloud when he attempted to land early on Tuesday.

“They touched down very hard in a nose high attitude which instantly collapsed both main gear. The left gear was ripped from the airframe as it skidded along the runway,” he said.

“It came to a rest a long way from the impact point and skidded just off the right side of the runway, scattering debris as it went.”

The torn off landing gear from Trigana PK-YSY.

No lives were lost in the crash, marketing director for Pertamina Ahmad Bambang told online news portal detik.com. The pilot, co-pilot and technician were able to escape.

On his Twitter account, Bambang said the state-owned energy company had hired the plane to deliver fuel supplies to Jayapura and Wamena — two small towns in Papua.

“We are sorry for fuel supply disruptions,” he said, adding they were looking for more ways to deliver the goods.

Fire crews attend to a Trigana Air Services flight which violently skidded off the runway.

Dearden said there had been no injuries but it would take a while to remove the plane’s wreck from the runway.

“Sadly this happens far too often out here,” he said. “There was an almost identical crash here in Wamena almost exactly a year ago.”

Wamena airport is surrounded by high mountains and often has cloud at unusually low levels, Dearden added. “There is no instrument landing equipment here either so all landings are hand flown visually,” he said.

Trigana Air Service didn’t immediately respond for a request for comment.

#Jet #Crash #Runway #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group #Aviation #Cargo

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Austrian stunt pilot Hannes Arch dies in helicopter crash - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

BERLIN –  Energy drinks brand Red Bull says Austrian stunt pilot Hannes Arch, a member of the company’s extreme sports team, has died in a helicopter crash in the Alps.

The 48-year-old was flying back from a mountain hut in the Grossglockner area of Carinthia, in eastern Austria, when his helicopter struck a cliff late Thursday. A passenger was seriously injured.
Red Bull said Arch had been a member of its extreme sports team for over 25 years.

In a statement Friday, the company said that in his younger days Arch “was ranked as one of the world’s leading mountaineers and climbers, and was one of the first aerobatic paragliders.”

#RedBull #Helicopter #Crash #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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USMC Will "Absolutely" Put Laser Guns on Its F-35s - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

The Marines believe one day, a laser-armed F-35 will see the light of day. Image source: Lockheed Martin.

It’s been nearly two years since we first caught wind of a new project, sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (DARPA), to put laser guns on warplanes. Two years since “the Pentagon’s mad scientists department” announced they had hired Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) to develop a means to “counteract the effects of turbulence caused by the protrusion of a turret from an aircraft’s fuselage,” and permit a fighter jet to fire a laser weapon with precision.


Two years later, the U.S. military has still not given up on its dream.

Last year, we updated you on the military’s decision to begin installation of laser guns on Lockheed Martin AC-130 gunships by 2020.

The theory then was that a 200 kilowatt laser canon wouldn’t take up much more room than a standard issue M102 howitzer — which the AC-130 is already equipped with. And the Allison engines on the AC-130 put out plenty of juice that could power a high-energy laser. And so, with just a little rejiggering, the Air Force thought it should be possible to switch out the howitzer, and replace it with a laser cannon.

If that works out well, then the Air Force would see about shrinking the laser down in size, and perhaps putting it aboard a smaller warplane. And now we learn that the Marine Corps is on board with this plan as well.

As website PopularMilitary.com. revealed last week, the Marine Corps has plans to install laser weapons on F-35 fighter jets — indeed, that it is “absolutely” committed to doing so.

As with the Air Force, the Marines’ initial intention is to mount laser weapons aboard large planes such as the KC-130 (an armed version of Lockheed’s C-130 Hercules, similar to the Air Force’s AC-130). But “as soon as we could miniaturize them,” says USMC Lt. Gen. Robert Walsh, the Corps would plan to begin installing lasers aboard F-35s, Cobra attack helicopters, and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft as well.

The reason: Economics.

Projectile-based weapons — be they guns, missiles, or cannons — imply by necessity ordnance to fire from them. That ordnance must be transported to the battlefront (which costs money), loaded aboard a plane (which costs space), and then carried in flight (which costs fuel … which in turn costs both money and space). In contrast, a laser is powered by the airplane’s own engines, and its own fuel load. While that fuel certainly costs money, it’s so efficient at creating destructive energy that even today, laser weapons are estimated to cost only about “a dollar-a-shot. ” to operate.

And that’s a whole lot cheaper than a missile.

So first the Air Force, and now the Marines — that’s two-thirds of the operators of Lockheed’s F-35 that are now on record and on board with the idea of arming warplanes with laser guns. (And we already know that the Navy has its own fondness for lasers. ). But who will be building these weapons for the military, and which companies should you be looking to invest in to profit from the transition from projectile weapons to lasers?

Lockheed Martin is the most obvious candidate. Not only is it working on laser weapons for DARPA, it also builds the plane most people are saying will be the first platform to carry them — the world-famous C-130 Hercules — as well as the F-35 stealth fighter that the Marines hope will be the vehicle that laser guns eventually end up on.

However, you also need to keep an eye on Boeing (NYSE: BA), which ran the Pentagon’s last large-scale airborne laser project., and on Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) as well. Both Raytheon and Northrop partnered with Boeing on the Airborne Laser project before its cancellation in 2009. And then there’s Kratos Defense (NASDAQ: KTOS), a small company that’s been making a lot of news in the drone space. lately — and also coordinated the Navy’s effort to put a laser cannon on one of its warships.

Basically, it’s hard to name a company in the defense industry today that isnot actively researching laser weapons. But the place to start your research is still Lockheed Martin. With a hand in both the development of the laser gun itself, and the platform(s) it will be mounted on, Lockheed is the single company burning this candle at both ends — in a good way.

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#Military #Lasers #Weapons #FighterJets #F35 #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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#NeverForget The Day the World Changed Forever #911

#NeverForget The Day the World Changed Forever #911

Chinese Army Equips All Ground Troops With Advanced WZ-10 Attack Helicopters - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

An updated version of China’s WZ-10 combat helicopters will soon be assigned to all ground force aviation units, according to the China Daily.

In service since 2012, the WZ-10 is designed for anti-tank warfare. It can be outfitted with cannons and machine guns, as well as guided missiles. Upgraded versions of the WZ-10, however, have also been equipped for air-to-air combat.

These state-of-the-art choppers will now be given to every aviation unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army.

“Several WZ-10s have been delivered to an aviation brigade of the PLA’s 13th Group Army under the Western Theater Command, meaning that all of the army’s aviation units now have the aircraft,” IHS Jane’s reports.

Combined with the Chinese military’s WZ-9 and WZ-19, the PLA Army now has a strong combat helicopter force, according to Wu Peixin, an aviation specialist in Beijing. “The Army now needs more medium-lift, multipurpose helicopters such as the US Army’s Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk,” he added. “This helicopter is capable of performing both combat operations and transport tasks.”

Current estimates suggest that the PLA Army has 1,000 helicopters in its fleet. Gao Zhuo, a military observer in Shanghai, said the government would like to see that number to increase to 3,000.

China has also been testing its J-20 stealth fighter, which will soon participate in patrols in the Pacific.

“There are a lot of specifics to operating technical equipment at high altitude,” military expert Vasiliy Kashin told Sputnik.

“A lot of systems may not work properly in conditions of thin air and low temperature. Above all, this concerns equipment used for the technical maintenance of military equipment – the military equipment itself is usually better adapted to extreme conditions.”

As part of its growing military prowess, China has already built two J-20s, with six more known to be in development. Beijing may have as many as 36 stealth fighters by early 2018.

#China #Military #Helicopters #WZ10 #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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These helicopter pilots prove filming a rally is as hard as driving in one - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

Keeping up with WRC cars is a challenge, even for choppers

We tend to take aerial rally footage for granted, but anyone who has been to a WRC event knows the sound of rally cars flying by is often accompanied by the sound of rotor blades.

One of the best (and only) ways to film a rally is by helicopter, even though drones are now budging into this territory; thing is, drones aren’t able to keep up with rally cars for miles at a time while doing triple-digit speeds (at least not yet). Until then, rallies will rely on the insane aerial acrobatics of helicopter pilots, who often strafe the terrain just a few yards off the ground to get good coverage.

Here’s a clip of two helicopters flying at mildly obscene angles at the World Rally Championship LOTOS 71st Rally in Poland.

(What the FAA thinks of this is moot — it’s not U.S. airspace — but spectators usually have to sign a waiver. At least in the States.)

#Helicopters #Rally #Pilots #Aviation #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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US to fly 'radiation sniffer' jet off Korean Peninsula - Charles D'Alberto

The US Air Force is expected to fly its “radiation sniffer” jet off the Korean Peninsula to take air samples to determine if a nuclear event occurred in North Korea.

The Air Force WC-135 jet, dubbed the “Constant Phoenix,” will look for distinctive elements a nuclear test of any type would emit into the air. The collected samples can be analyzed to determine exactly what occurred.

Japan’s Air Self Defense Force also said it was sending four jets to collect airborne dust for radiation samples.

The US Air Force’s four-engine Boeing jets are equipped with external devices that collect radioactive material from the atmosphere on filter paper. The planes also have “a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres,” according to an Air Force fact sheet.

The Air Force has two of the WC-135 jets that operate out of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

The United States also has ground stations in the area that will also be taking samples.

The Constant Phoenix program originated with Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1947. The then-Army Air Forces, which would later become the Air Force, used WB-29s, variants of the B-29 bomber model, to try to detect evidence of Soviet nuclear tests, according to the Air Force.

The WB-29s were replaced by WB-50s beginning in 1950, with the current WB-135s coming on line in 1965.

The radiation-sniffing planes have been used to monitor compliance with nuclear weapons treaties, and also monitored effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in the Soviet Union, the Air Force says.

#USA #Military #NthKorea #Nuclear #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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Russian fighter jet makes 'unsafe' intercept of US aircraft - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

Washington A Russian fighter jet made an “unsafe close-range intercept” of a US aircraft over the Black Sea Wednesday, coming within 10 feet of the American plane.

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis said the potentially dangerous incident, involving a Russian SU-27 jet and a US Navy P-8A Poseidon plane, lasted 19 minutes.

A US official told CNN’s Barbara Starr that the Russian plane came within 10 feet of the P-8 at one point. Davis added that the US plane was conducting routine operations in international airspace at the time.

“These actions have the potential to unnecessarily escalate tensions, and could result in a miscalculation or accident,” Davis said in a statement.

The US has long protested Russian intercepts of its aircraft; there have been several this year.

On two separate occasions in April, Russian SU-27 fighters performed “barrel rolls” over American KC-135 planes flying above the Baltic Sea.

Russian officials have defended the actions of their pilots in the past, but have yet to comment on the most recent incident.

Tensions have been ratcheted up in the Black Sea recently as Russia began five days of military exercises Monday involving 12,500 personnel and its Black Sea fleet based in Crimea, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 an event that has subjected Russia to international sanctions.

The Russian Defense Ministry posted a video Thursday on its Facebook page showing Russian fighter crews based in Crimea conducting an intercept drill.

The latest incident also comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov are due to meet Thursday to discuss the ongoing conflict in Syria.

#Russia #USA #Military #SpyPlane #SU27 #KC135 #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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F35: The Centerpiece of 21st Century Global Security - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

Since the first F-35 Lightning II rolled out of the Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth, Texas in 2006, the program’s reach has exponentially expanded around the globe.

Of the original nine partner countries –  Australia, Canada, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States – six have received their first jets and eight have pilots and maintainers in training. In addition, two of the three foreign military sale (FMS) customers, who are Israel, Japan and the Republic of Korea, will receive their first jets in 2016.

Suppliers in all nine of the program’s partner countries are producing F-35 components for all aircraft, not just those for their country. And in addition to the Fort Worth plant, there are two Final

Assembly and Check Out (FACO) facilities outside the United States: one in Cameri, Italy, where the first jet was delivered in December 2015; and another in Nagoya, Japan, where the first jet is currently being manufactured.

#F35 #Fighterjets #Military #Aviation #Australia #Canada #Denmark #Italy #Netherlands #Norway #Turkey #UK #USA #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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3 killed in Palm Bay, Florida helicopter crash - Charles D'Alberto

Charles D’Alberto

PALM BAY, Fla. – Three people were killed Tuesday in a helicopter crash in Palm Bay near Osmosis Drive, police said.

Brevard County Fire Rescue hazmat personnel were at the scene near Bayside High School, along with the Palm Bay Fire Department.

 

According to a Federal Aviation Administration official, “A Sikorsky S-61N helicopter crashed approximately 10 miles southwest of the Melbourne International Airport at 1:55 p.m. today. The flight departed from Melbourne International. Contact local authorities for information on passengers. The FAA will investigate.”

Police said the older model, military-style helicopter was on the ground and fully engulfed in flames when rescuers arrived.

The blaze was contained within 10 minutes, but all that was left was a pile of twisted metal.
The helicopter operated out of the Melbourne Airport and crashed about 10 miles southwest of the airport shortly before 2 p.m.

Witnesses reported seeing it flying low before it went down.

“They actually go out and do maneuvers out there all the time, and sometimes, they do night ones. It’s not unusual,” said nearby resident, who was not identified.

National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA will investigate what caused the crash.
The helicopter is owned by a subsidiary of Illinois-based AAR Corp.

The company’s spokesperson said in a statement, “AAR Airlift Group’s overriding concern at this time i for those on board the aircraft and their families.”

Palm Bay police have identified the people on board, but have not released their names.

#helicopters #Aviation #Crash #Florida #PalmBay #Charles_Dalberto #Perla_Group

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Testers at Edwards meet with Auto F16 GCAS survivor - Charles D'Alberto

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) — Test pilots and engineers from the 416th Flight Test Squadron had the chance to meet with one of the squadron’s success stories Aug. 25.

The group met with an allied nation pilot trainee who survived gravity induced loss of consciousness in an F-16 Fighting Falcon after the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System activated, executing a ground-avoidance maneuver, just as the system was designed to do. The 416th FLTS tested and proved the F-16’s Auto GCAS.

The pilot, whose call sign is Ocho, and his instructor pilot came to Edwards Air Force Base at NASA’s request. Both pilots are assigned to the Arizona Air National Guard’s 152nd Fighter Squadron in Tucson, Arizona. The squadron has an international F-16 training program.

The meeting took place in the C-Dot Auditorium — named for Maj. Aaron “C-Dot” George, a 416th FLTS pilot killed in a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) incident with photographer Judson Brohmer in 2001.

“They could have been saved by an (Auto) GCAS fly-up, but the jet they were flying didn’t have the system,” said Lt. Col. Chris Keithley, the 416th FLTS commander. “Fast forward almost 15 years, and (an allied nation pilot) got a fly-up during air-to-air training in Arizona. He’s not alone. To date, this technology has saved four pilots’ lives in training and combat. This means their families didn’t lose a husband, father, son or brother. It also means they’re able to serve their country another day. It’s a huge win and I can’t overstate how meaningful it is.”

The pilots were flying in two separate F-16s in the skies over the Southwest on May 5, when the trainee began a basic fighter maneuver.

“I started to roll and started to pull and I’m following (the instructor pilot) with my eyes,” Ocho said. “The next thing I remember is just waking up and hearing ‘recover.’ It happened so fast. Usually, (when experienced at pulling Gs), most people get tunnel vision that gradually comes in. That’s what I always get, but that day I didn’t get anything.”

The first thing Ocho heard when he regained consciousness was his instructor pilot, Maj. Luke O’Sullivan, saying “recover” several times. Once he opened his eyes, Ocho said he was confused for one second and then saw the ground coming very fast.

“I was already at the controls, but it had seemed I had not moved at all. When I woke up, I thought, ‘What just happened? What’s going to happen?’ Everything just came to me at the same time. I immediately started to pull up.”

Ocho’s F-16 Auto GCAS had already activated and the plane performed a roll-to-upright maneuver after sensing something was wrong.

Auto GCAS is designed to prevent CFIT mishaps by executing an automatic recovery maneuver when terrain impact is imminent. The system predicts those conditions by means of a continuous comparison between a trajectory prediction and a terrain profile that is generated from onboard terrain elevation data. At the instant the predicted trajectory touches the terrain profile, the automatic recovery is executed by the Auto GCAS autopilot. The automatic recovery consists of an abrupt roll-to-upright and a nominal 5-G pull until terrain clearance is assured.

After nearly three decades of development by the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, Lockheed Martin and the Air Force Research Laboratory, operational Auto GCAS systems began being installed throughout the Air Force F-16 fleet in 2013, following flight tests at the 416th FLTS.

“It’s definitely a valuable system,” O’Sullivan said after witnessing Auto GCAS in action firsthand. “It does what it’s supposed to and it works.”

Both O’Sullivan and Ocho said pilots in their squadron are briefed on what Auto GCAS does. Still, they found a visit with some of the system’s developers to be an eye-opening experience.

“Walking out to the jet on a daily basis, I know a lot about the stick and throttle aspect of it, but … I didn’t really think about all the different lines of code in the software and all the work that goes into testing to make sure it’s a viable system that’s not going to interfere with what we’re trying to do out there,” O’Sullivan said.

Today, the 416th FLTS continues to work on two Auto GCAS-related programs, which are the Automatic Integrated Collision Avoidance System and the Hybrid Flight Control Computer (HFLCC).

Auto ICAS is the integration of Auto GCAS and the Automatic Air Collision Avoidance System (Auto ACAS), and it essentially makes Auto ACAS ground-aware while still providing protection against aerial collisions. HFLCC introduces digital cards into the analog flight control computer of older F-16s, allowing them to run digital applications like Auto GCAS. The team also tests fixes to Auto GCAS issues that have been found in the field.

“For the 416th (FLTS), the visit by the two pilots hammered home in a profound way how meaningful our work is,” Keithley said. “Often times, flight testers aren’t able to see the results of their work. Fortunately, last Thursday we got to see that up close and personal.”

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are also looking at developing similar systems with the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II.


MD 530F Cayuse Warrior EMEP Testing – Charles D’Alberto

#Military #FighterJets #F16 #Aviation #Charles_dalberto #Perla_Group

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MD 530F Cayuse Warrior EMEP Testing - Charles D'Alberto

MD Helicopters conducts comprehensive testing and performance validation of the Enhanced Mission Equipment Package (EMEP) for its MD 530F Cayuse Warrior Light Scout Attack Helicopter. Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, AZ.

#Military #Helicopters #MD530F #Aviation #Charles_dalberto #Perla_Group

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Sikorsky BLACK HAWK Helicopter - Charles D'Alberto

The BLACK HAWK multirole helicopter serves with the U.S. military and the armed forces of 26 other countries worldwide as a tough, reliable utility helicopter.

During the last 35 years, this remarkable aircraft has fought its way in and out of countless combat zones to deliver and extract troops, save lives as a MEDEVAC or casualty evacuation platform, provide critical supplies to troops, deliver emergency supplies during natural disasters, and perform as an aerial firefighter and border patroller.

Now the modern variant of this utility aircraft is taking on a new mission set — as an Armed Helicopter to provide fire suppression when supporting ground troops, as well as armed escort. With digital avionics, powerful GE engines, high strength airframe structures and composite wide chord rotor blades, today’s BLACK HAWK platform has better survivability and situational awareness, and can fly higher and carry more than its predecessors ever did.

More than 3,000 BLACK HAWK aircraft of all types are in service worldwide today. The U.S. Army is the largest operator with 2,300 UH-60 designated aircraft. The same aircraft sold internationally direct from Sikorsky acquires the S-70 designation.

EXPANDING MISSION EFFECTIVENESS FOR YOUR BLACK HAWK HELICOPTER


As a Lockheed Martin company, Sikorsky can now offer international customers via direct commercial sale a BLACK HAWK helicopter integrated with guns, rockets and missiles.

Armed solutions are scalable – from crew served door guns to a fully integrated weapons system controlled from the cockpit by either pilot. Configurations tailored to customer preferences allow the aircraft to provide fire suppression, support ground troop, become an armed escort, or perform armed assault missions.

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#Charles_dalberto #Helicopters #Military #Perla_Group #Black_Hawk

Russia’s 'Night Hunter' Helicopter Gunship to Become Immune to Enemy Fire - Charles D'Alberto

The latest, upgraded, version of Russia’s Mi-28N “Night Hunter” helicopter gunship will be virtually invulnerable to enemy fire, Zvezda TV reported.

Even though it looks much like its predecessor, the Mi-28NM boasts the latest and most innovative materials available and is armed with the most advanced active defense systems money can buy.

The “Night Hunter” is also equipped with circular-view radar previously installed on export models
only. However, according to the makers of the “Night Hunter”, the NO25E radar offers a notable improvement over even the export-oriented unit.

Another thing making the souped-up Mi-28NM so special is its unique laser system designed to deflect all existing heat-seeking missiles. The moment the system “learns” about the helicopter being illuminated by enemy radar, it creates an invisible “fire cloud”

near the rotorcraft effectively deflecting incoming missiles which, failing to engage their imaginary target, self-destruct.

Improved rotor blades will add 10 percent to the helicopters’ maximum speed of 340 kilometers per hour.

Posted By Charles D'Alberto

 

www.charlesdalberto.com

www.perlagrp.com

Air Force investing $12B in F-15s - Charles D'Alberto

A $12 billion makeover is underway for the US Air Force’s 1980’s-era F-15 fighter, a step towards upgrading an air fleet that one military official recently called the “smallest, oldest and least ready” in history.

The F-15 has long been hailed as the most successful dog-fighting aircraft in US history, boasting an undefeated air-to-air combat record with more than 100 aerial combat victories, according to Boeing, the plane’s primary contractor and developer.

The Air Force initially planned to replace the entire F-15 fleet with the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, but production of the stealthy aircraft was halted in 2009 and only 188 of the 749 F-22s purchased by the Pentagon were ever produced.

With rival nations like China and Russia quickly closing the technology gap that has allowed the US to rule the skies for decades and fewer F-22s than expected at its disposal, the Air Force has decided to invest in a major facelift for the battle-tested F-15 to help fill the void by extending its lifespan through 2040.

The upgrade will cover 435 F-15s, boosting them with new radar technology, updated mission computer systems, modern communication tools, advanced infrared search and track capabilities and electronic warfare defenses so the F-15s can work in concert with more advanced aircraft, the Air Force told CNN.

Many of the upgraded F-15’s will also be modified to carry 16 missiles, rather than the standard eight, giving those aircraft greater lethality, said Boeing spokesman Randy Jackson.

“Our potential adversaries are keenly aware of the importance of air superiority to our nation’s way of war,” Air Force spokesman Maj. Robert Leese told CNN. “This is why they continue to seek ways to contest our advantage in the air through the development and proliferation of new weapon systems.”

“To maintain this advantage, the Air Force must not only develop new systems of our own, but continue to upgrade the capabilities of our legacy systems like the F-15,” he said.

While the current initiative to update the F-15 with new technology dates back to 2002 with the development of its advanced radar system, the Air Force says the process has been a gradual one, with work on the modern radio and infrared targeting programs beginning just this year.

“The process to upgrade these planes is currently being evaluated and capabilities are being

developed and tested,” Boeing spokesman Randy Jackson told CNN.

While the F-15 will still lack the stealth capability of the F-22, upgrades in radar technology, infrared search and track, and electronic warfare capabilities will significantly improve its ability to detect, target, and engage enemy aircraft at a tactical advantage, according to the Air Force.

And the new high-tech mission computer and upgraded radio communication tools will not only allow the F-15 to better complement and communicate with its F-22 partner on the battlefield, but are also designed to support future technology as it is developed.

“The fourth generation F-15 has an unmatched record of success in the air-to-air role, and provides the critical additional capacity needed to augment and supplement the F-22 force in support of today’s air superiority mission sets,” Maj. Leese told CNN.

“As the Air Force continues to review our future force structure over the coming year, balancing operational effectiveness with current budget limitations, we expect the F-15 to play a critical role in the defense of our nation for the foreseeable future,” he said.

The various upgrades will finish installing between 2024 and 2030, according to the Air Force.

Posted By Charles D'Alberto

 

www.charlesdalberto.com

www.perlagrp.com