Alenia Aermacchi introduces the new MC-27J, multi-mission version of the Spartan

7/9/2012
Alenia Aermacchi is pleased to introduce a new version of the C-27J battlefield airlifter, the MC-27J. The MC-27J is a multi-mission, armed, Roll On/Roll Off (RO/RO) derivative of the C-27J Spartan. Alenia Aermacchi and ATK will jointly produce and market this new offering.

The new MC-27J is an adaptable, agile, and affordable solution for various airborne multi-mission requirements that today are performed by a wide variety of aircraft, including special operations versions of the C-130. The MC-27J is not just a gunship, but a battlefield tested platform equipped with proven sensors, communications, and weapons suite able to execute a wide range of customer-driven missions.

The MC-27J is designed to support air forces and Special Forces in performing several key operations, including: anti-terrorism missions, the evacuation of military personnel and civil populations from crisis areas, fighting asymmetrical threats and for all standard operations of the Special Forces. The MC-27J provides Special Forces a platform with quick transfer speed; long operational range and ample cargo capacity (console for the systems’ operators, troops and vehicles). The MC-27J is capable of taking off from and landing on short and/or unprepared strips while acting as an autonomous command and control centre integrated with the ground command network. The MC-27J will also provide Intelligence Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) capability as well as the ability to deploy paratroopers. Furthermore, the MC-27J’s target designation and on-board weapons systems provide outstanding support for ground operations.

ATK's gunship capability is provided from a newly developed palletized weapons system, which is self-contained, modular, scalable and provides RO/RO flexibility. This palletized system integrates sensors, communications and weapons into a responsive and reconfigurable mission package. Specific features for the MC-27J system include enhanced electro-optical/infrared targeting sensors, a trainable 30mm cannon, precision guided munitions, advanced communications and a networked mission management and fire control system.

The MC-27J provides outstanding offensive capability utilizing a palletized weapon system specifically designed for the ATK 30mm GAU-23 cannon and other precision guided weapon systems, resulting in a highly effective system that minimizes collateral damages. The palletized system is designed for easy embarkation and disembarkation via the aircraft’s rear ramp; permitting flexibility in the use of the unaltered aircraft. The primary configuration requires minimal integration on the aircraft’s frame to significantly reduce acquisition costs and development times, while retaining the C-27J’s robust airlift capabilities.

At the core of the MC-27J is the C-27J Spartan, the best selling battlefield airlifter, offering payload, persistence and out-of-area capabilities coupled with high performance; high maneuverability and the capability to operate on short, unpaved strips. The Spartan is currently the world’s best seller in the tactical airlifter’s category with 89 airplanes ordered by 9 countries all over the world including Italy, United States and recently, Australia.
The MC-27J offer commonality of equipments and systems with larger multi-mission platforms but at much lower operational costs and with the operational flexibility of being able to operate form shorter runways also in hot and high conditions, and as modern and reliable solution for those air forces interested in integrating their forces with a skilled airplane in a very delicate role but at the same time very flexible in its use.

Exclusive: U.S., Lockheed reach deal on Israeli F-35s
(Reuters) - The Pentagon has reached an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp on a $450 million program to enhance electronic warfare equipment on the F-35 fighter jet, and integrate Israeli-unique systems beginning in 2016, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

F-22 Fighter Loses $79 Billion Advantage in Dogfights: Report
The United States has spent nearly $80 billion to develop the most advanced stealth fighter jet in history, the F-22 Raptor, but the Air Force recently found out firsthand that while the planes own the skies at modern long-range air combat, it is "evenly matched" with cheaper, foreign jets when it comes to old-school dogfighting.

The F-22 made its debut at the international Red Flag Alaska training exercise this June where the planes "cleared the skies of simulated enemy forces and provided security for Australian, German, Japanese, Polish and [NATO] aircraft," according to an after-action public report by the Air Force. The F-22 took part in the exercise while under strict flying restrictions imposed by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in light of mysterious, potentially deadly oxygen problems with the planes - problems that the Pentagon believes it has since solved.


The Air Force said the planes flew 80 missions during the event "with a very high mission success rate." However, a new report from Combat Aircraft Monthly revealed that in a handful of missions designed to test the F-22 in a very specific situation - close-range, one-on-one combat - the jet appeared to lose its pricey advantages over a friendly rival, the Eurofighter Typhoon, flown in this case by German airmen.

"We expected to perform less with the Eurofighter but we didn't," German air officer Marc Grune said, according to Combat Aircraft Monthly. "We were evenly matched. They didn't expect us to turn so aggressively."

Two other German officers, Col. Andreas Pfeiffer and Maj. Marco Gumbrecht, noted in the same report that the F-22's capabilities are "overwhelming" when it comes to modern, long-range combat as the stealth fighter is designed to engage multiple enemies well-beyond the pilot's natural field of vision - mostly while the F-22 is still out of the other plane's range. Grumbrecht said that even if his planes did everything right, they weren't able to get within 20 miles of the next-generation jets before being targeted.

"But as soon as you get to the merge…" Pfeiffer said, referring to the point at which fighters engage in close-up dog fighting, "in that area, at least, the Typhoon doesn't necessarily have to fear the F-22 in all aspects… In the dogfight the Eurofighter is at least as capable as the F-22, with advantages in some aspects."


In response to the report, a spokesperson for the Air Force, Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, told ABC News that one-on-one combat is only one way to evaluate an aircraft's capabilities and said it's not "necessarily the most relevant to every scenario."

"The F-22 is conceived and employed as part of an integrated force that provides offensive capabilities that make close engagements far less likely while retaining the ability to handle close engagements in tandem with other fighters," he said.

Air Force Gen. John Jumper, one of the few airmen to have flown both aircraft, said in 2005 that it is difficult to compare the F-22 and the Eurofighter.

"They are different kinds of airplanes to start with," he said, according to an Air Force Print News report. "It's like asking us to compare a NASCAR car with a Formula 1 car. They are both exciting in different ways, but they are designed for different levels of performance."

The F-22 "can maneuver with the best of them if it has to, but what you want to be able to do is get into contested airspace no matter where it is," Jumper said, referring to the F-22's stealth and supercruise capabilities that are meant to allow the plane to sneak in to hostile territory undetected - an ability the non-stealth Eurofighter lacks.

As for where that contested airspace may be, the Air Force hasn't said. But in April 2011 an executive for Lockheed Martin, the primary manufacturer of the F-22, told ABC News that the plane could "absolutely" find a home in quick strike missions against countries like Iran or North Korea. Over the weekend, the Air Force deployed a squadron of F-22s to Kadena Air Base in southern Japan just over 800 miles south of the North Korean border - a move that comes three months after an undisclosed number of the stealth jets were deployed to an allied base in the United Arab Emirates, some 200 miles from the Iranian mainland.

The F-22 is the single most expensive fighter jet in history at a total acquisition cost of an estimated $79 billion for 187 planes, meaning each plane costs approximately $420 million. Estimates for the Eurofighter Typhoon - the premier fighter for several allied countries including the U.K., Germany and Italy - put that plane at just under $200 million each, according to an April 2011 report by England's Public Accounts Committee.

"[Red Flag was] a mission to get to know each other, the first contact by German Eurofighters in the continental U.S.," Grune said of mock-fighting the F-22s. "We are not planning on facing each other in combat. We want to work together but it was a starter for us to work together. They were impressed, as we were impressed by them."

Das ist eine Requisite aus Zero Dark Thirty
Filmtrailer, man beachte 0:30 und 0:38.

Frankreich hat heute bekannt gegeben, 14 Airbus MRTT kaufen zu wollen. (Link)

Die Maschinen sollen offenbar (ich und mein Französisch) ab 2013 zulaufen, aber nicht auf einmal sondern per Stück bei Abnahme bezahlt werden.

Was wieder die Frage aufwirft, warum wir in Deu-- ach lassen wir das.

6 MRTT bei einem durchschnittlichen Klarstand von 50% bedeutet die Verfügbarkeit von 3 Maschinen.
Selbst wenn die Armee de l'Air ähnlich abschneiden sollte, haben die Franzosen dann immerhin 7 Maschinen zur Verfügung.

Es sind nur 4, oder? Wiki:Flugbereitschaft

Woher kommt denn dieser erschreckend niedrige Klarstand bei den Deutschen MRTT?

Die Dänen stehen kurz vor einer Vorauswahl zweier Muster, die jetzt im November getroffen werden soll. Die endgültige Entscheidung soll Mitte 2012 fallen.
Aktuell sind als Kandidaten noch Lynx Wildcat, Seahawk und (auch wenn zuvor nicht genannt) AS565 Panther dabei.

Der Irak baut langsam seine Luftfahrtindustrie wieder auf. Aktuell arbeitet man an einem selbst entwickelten Leichthubschrauber "Diyala 1", der unter anderem zur Grenzsicherung eingesetzt werden und dabei deutlich weniger als europäische oder amerikanische Muster kosten soll.

Mr Salman's helicopter differs from the Apache in other ways, too — for starters, it only has two blades at the moment, instead of the regular four.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-22...l#ixzz2E1mXYxHp
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Ja, das ist der auffälligste Unterschied...

Na gut, eine ScanEagle ist ja mehr ein Modellflugzeug mit Kamera...

Darum ging's mir auch nicht. Ich meinte, der Verlust wiegt für die USA nicht so schwer wie letztes Mal.

Das F-35 Programm ist das teuerste Rüstungsprojekt aller Zeiten. Entsprechend teuer ist die Anschaffung und der Betrieb der F-35. Bei so teueren Jets ist es schwer auf ordentliche Stückzahlen zu kommen.

Kanada hat wohl auch noch nicht so viel Geld im F-35 drin hängen, um da noch raus zu kommen.

Ironisch wenn man bedenkt dass JSF ursprünglich als low-cost Alternative zur F22 vorgesehen war.

Irgendwie verstehe ich das alles nicht.

Das F-35 Programm ist das teuerste Rüstungsprojekt aller Zeiten.

Aller Zeiten, wenn ich diese Phrase schon höre, kommt mir die Kotze hoch.

/OT

ist denn inzwischen irgendwo "offiziell" geklärt ob das teil echt war bzw ob es wirklich abgefangen wurde?!

Iran Tells U.S. To ‘Recount’ Drones
Stands by claim that it captured U.S. ScanEagle

TEHRAN — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are telling the United States to “recount” the drones in its fleet as they insist that — despite U.S. denials — they captured a small U.S. unmanned spy plane over [Persian] Gulf waters, Iranian media said Dec. 5.

“Its capture is not an issue the Americans can easily refute,” Guards spokesman Brig. Gen. Ramezan Sharif was quoted as saying. “I advise the American commanders to recount their drones accurately,” he said.
...
“We have extracted data off the drone... it shows what the Americans were looking for,” Sharif said. “The drone was gathering intelligence on military (objectives) as well as the energy sector, particularly oil transitions at terminals,” he said without further elaboration. He said “more information would be released if necessary.”

Sharif also insisted “the Americans will sooner or later confirm that their drone has been captured.”

Spitfires im Einmachglas
In Burma wurden anscheinend mehrer konservierte Spitfire aus dem zweiten Weltkrieg gefunden. Leider keine Bilder da noch nicht ausgegraben. Trotzdem sehr interessant. Hoffentlich brauchen die nicht zu lange