Sunday Funnies

Video Credit: RingTales

It's The Weekend! 7/30/11

From the soldiers point of view.

From the pilot's point of view.

JDAM In Afghanistan

Video Credit: YouTube

France To Buy Israeli UAVs

     The Jerusalem Post reports that France is going to buy the IAI Heron to fill it's UAV needs, and thereby ending a 44 year old arms embargo.

     Back in the late 1950s France helped Israel start it's nuclear weapons program by helping them build the Dimona reactor in the Negev desert, during that period, France also sold Israel a large number of Mirage fighters, and bombers. However, on the eve of the Six-Day War in mid-1967, then french president Charles de Gaulle declared an arms embargo against Israel, which temporarily stopped the delivery of several missile boats under construction, and an order for 50 Mirage 5 fighters (later the missile boats were smuggled out, and Israel purchased the design for the Mirage 5 and built them in Israel under the name Nesher).  Since then France has not purchased or sold any weapons from Israel, but a few months ago gave 100 HOT anti-tank missiles to Lebanon.

     Moving on, France apparently picked the Heron over the MQ-9 Reaper, which is a improved version of the infamous MQ-1 Predator. The IAI Heron TP is supposed to replace the older EADS Harfang which is a variant of the original IAI Heron. The Heron has a mission endurance of 36 hours, an unknown range, and a mission payload of 1,000kg (2,205lbs). The Heron is rumored to be able to reach Iran, but that is unconfirmed.

     With the French arms embargo finally lifted, it will be interesting to see if Israel begins to purchase weapons from the French again. 

  

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force

The J-20 May Not Be For Attacking Carriers

     Stephen Trimble over at the The DEW Line spotted this photo apparently showing the weapons bays on the J-20.

     This is not the first time I have posted on the J-20's weapons bays, but in this photo there are some inconsistencies. 1. the PL-9 on the side is larger than the PL-12s in the centerline weapons bay. 2. The PL-12s in the centerline bay appear to have fins overlapping. 3. This appears to be a plastic model that you buy in a hobby shop, and not a very accurate one at that. 

     If this is a model then it does not necessarily show the J-20's true payload, as that would be top secret in China. 

Israel Refutes Palestinian Claim To The West Bank

     Thanks to the The Blaze for spotting this video showing Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon explaining why the West Bank is not an "occupied territory" as many claim. He also explains why there is no such thing as 1967 borders.   

Video Credit Danny Ayalon

 

Israel's Nuclear Armed Submarines

     Last Sunday Defense Tech had an interesting article about Israel's submarine fleet, and the suspicion that Israel has nuclear armed cruise missiles on board. 

      Since the end of WWII, and the UN declared Israel a country, Germany has subsidized Israel's purchase of 6 Dolphin-class submarine since the late 1990s (modified Type 209s). Since Israel started purchasing Dolphin-class subs there has been controversy over whether or not Israel has nuclear weapons on board. Israel has deployed these submarines all the way to the way to the Persian Gulf, and is now keeping a nuclear armed submarine in Gulf permanently as a deterrent to Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah. 

     The missile that has been the subject of the most discussion is the Popeye cruise missile, the U.S. Air Force is also a user of the missile which in the U.S. is designated the AGM-142 Raptor. The variant of the missile which is believed to carry nuclear warheads is the Popeye Turbo, which is rumored to have a 1500km range, and carry a 200kg (441lbs) warhead containing 6kg of plutonium. Israel has deployed submarines armed with these missiles, all the way to the way to the Persian Gulf, and is now keeping a nuclear armed submarine in Gulf permanently as a deterrent to Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah.

     As the World & the UN continues to array against Israel, it will be interesting to see how Israel reacts to the Arab and diplomatic threats.

Photo Credit: Global Security

Russia Offers PAK FA To South Korea

     Stephen Trimble over at The DEW Line reports that Russia is offering the PAK FA to South Korea for the FX-III section of the FX fighter competition.

      When the PAK FA was unveiled last year, Russia has been working with India to develop a variant of the PAK FA for the Indian Air Force. The PAK FA is still in the testing phase, and will probably not enter service for another 1-5 years, but that does not mean it is unavailable for export (a good example of this would be the F-35). 

     South Korea has been running a fighter competition since 1999, with the 1st and 2nd phases culminating in the purchase of 61 F-15K Slam Eagles. Competing in in the 3rd phase for an order of 60 aircraft, are the Lockheed Martin F-35, Boeing F-15SE, and the Sukhoi PAK FA. Of these three the F-15SE is, in my view the leading contender for the contract, due to the fact that South Korea already manufactures parts for the F-15K, and thus would be compatible with some parts from the F-15K. The other two contenders, the F-35 and PAK FA, are not as appealing to Seoul, due to the facts that the F-35 is having problems, and is rising in cost, and that the PAK FA is still in flight testing and would cause South Korea to rely on Russia for parts and weapons for them. On top of this, the F-15SE offers a reduced radar signature, and similar payload, when compared to the F-15K. Along with proven performance compared to the F-35 and PAK FA.

       Another one of the main factors South Korea will be factoring in, is how these aircraft will perform in a war with North Korea. The F-15SE has a larger payload and better maneuvering than the F-35, and is compatible with American missiles which is what South Korea uses. The PAK FA on the other hand is only compatible with Russian missiles, which would mean South Korea would have to purchase weapons from Russia, and that brings up the possibility of Russia not selling the missiles in a war with North Korea.

     As the F-X contest continues, it will be interesting to see which aircraft South Korea chooses, and why they chose it.

     

     

Photo Credit: The DEW Line 

Andrew Klavan On The Culture: 7/24/11

Video Credit: Andrew Klavan

It's The Weekend! 7/23/11

Joint Air To Ground Missile Test Video

Video Credit: Boeing & Raytheon

New Information About The DF-21D

     Last week the Taipei Times, ran an article quoting Chinese Gen. Chen Bingde confirming the existence of the DF-21D, this would be the first time a Chinese official confirmed it's existence. 

     Further down in the article Chen Bingde stated that the DF-21D has a range of  of 2,700km, which is is almost twice as much as the estimate of 1,500km given by the Navy. Chen Bingde also stated that the DF-21D is still in the development stage and that such high-tech devices were difficult to bring to bring to maturity. Earlier this year the company which produces the DF-21D claimed that it would field a 4,000km IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile), along with that Chen Bingde stated that a 2,700km range is easy for them. 

     However, I am skeptical about a 2,700km range for the DF-21D because the Chinese have had problems with high-tech equipment (aircraft engines for example), and the fact that MARVs are not simple things to produce and are very complicated. On top of this the Chinese will be depending on a series of satellites to to feed information to the DF-21D, and satellites can be damaged by flashing lasers at them. Back during the Cold War the Soviets flashed lasers at the Space Shuttle, which caused some problems on the shuttle and discomfort for the crew.

     Overall, the DF-21D is an interesting question, but there still are many kinks to work out in the DF-21D, but, given time the DF-21D could mature into a threat.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

MRAPs For China?

     Recently there have been reports that China is going to be purchasing MRAPs (Mine Resistant Armor Protected), from a South African company named Mobile land Systems.

     Ever since the U.S.-led coalition went into Iraq in 2003, coalition forces encountered many roadside bombs, and the bombs were causing heavy casualties. Thus, there arose a need for a vehicles that could withstand roadside bomb blasts, which led to the development of the MRAP family of vehicles.

     What is strange about China purchasing MRAP type vehicles is that there is no major fighting anywhere in the country. However, China might be purchasing these vehicles because of the fact that the population in western China which is mostly muslim, and might catch the "Arab Spring fever", and revolt. On top of this, Tibet is not exactly happy about the Chinese occupation, and who knows what Tibet might do. 

     As this story progresses it will be interesting to see how many MRAPs China purchases, and what China does with them.

     

      

     

     

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy, Defense Tech

The Virginia-class: The New Ohio-class

     Aviation Week reported last Thursday that the Navy was considering canceling the proposed SSBN(X) project to meet budget reduction requirements. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright stated at the Defense Writers Group breakfast that the Pentagon was considering lengthening Virginia-class submarines to be capable of carrying Trident C-4 SLBMs (Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles).

     The idea of lengthening Virginia-class submarines has been discussed before, the idea being to insert an extra 27.4 meter section into a normal Virginia-class sub, and fill the section with 194  Tomahawk cruise missiles. 

     The proposal to insert SLBMs into a Virginia-class certainly has merit, but with congress in a stalemate over the debt ceiling, the chances of this happening, are slim at best.

     

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy

It's The Weekend! 7/16/11

Video Credit: Youtube

Iranian F-14 Makes A Belly Landing

     Alert 5 spotted this photo showing a F-14 Tomcat that made a belly landing. 

     Just a couple of thoughts about this, 1) where does Iran keep getting spare parts for their F-14s, because the U.S. has an arms embargo against Iran. 2) When did this happen, and what caused the crash?

U.S. Presidential Honor Guard At The Norway International Tattoo

Wow.

Video Credit: Drill4Life

The F-15 Silent Eagle: A Dark Horse

     With all the talk about the Air Force's next fighter being centered on the F-35, there has been another aircraft that has been all but forgotten, the Boeing F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE).
     The F-15SE is a variant of the F-15 Strike Eagle (F-15E), which is itself a variant of the original F-15 Eagle.

     The F-15SE has a top speed of Mach 2.5 (1855 MPH), versus Mach 1.5 to 1.8 (1113 to 1335 MPH) for the F-35A (the Air Force variant). The F-15SE also has a longer mission radius of between 1333 kilometers to 1667 km for an air-to-air loadout, and a mission radius of between 1482 km to 1852 km for a air-to-ground loadout. In comparison, the F-35A has a mission radius of 1082km which is 11km under the Air Force's requirements.
   

     However, the F-15SE's main advantage lies in it's cost, 1 F-15 would cost about 100 million dollars, versus the F-35A which costs 193 million dollars in the LRIP-5 (Low Rate Initial Production) batch in fiscal year 2012. On top of this the F-15SE is actually a stealth aircraft, Boeing has converted the F-15E's CFTs (Conformal Fuel Tanks) into CWBs (Conformal Weapons Bay), which can carry either air-to-air weapons (AIM-120, AIM-9X) or air-to-ground weapons (SDB, JDAM).

     With the Air Force approaching a fighter shortfall, and the two replacements for early model F-15s and F-16s (F-22 and the F-35) not meeting expectations, there is serious need for a fighter to close the gap.

     
   

  Photo Credit: Aviation Earth

More Libyan Rebel Weapons Pictures

     Defense Tech spotted these photos showing 5 tubes for launching S-5 rockets mounted to an ATV chassis. Defense Tech also spotted a video showing some rebels reloading old rifle ammo, and an early 1900s rifle, possibly a Mauser 98 or a Caracano, but due to technical difficulties I was unable to upload the video.

Photo Credit: Defense Tech

The Dutch Attack Fort Hood

     Sometime between July 9th and 10th a Dutch AH-64 conducting training at Fort Hood, accidentally fired two rounds of live 30mm ammunition, as Ares reports.

     Apparently, the Dutch have been using Fort Hood (which is between Austin and Waco in Texas) as a training ground for their Apache pilots. However, what is really concerning is that someone on the ground crew messed up so badly that they accidentally put live ammo in the gun. To really understand how big a 30mm round is, take a look at those rounds below.

     Personally, I'm just glad no one was hurt.

Photo Credit: U.S. Navy, U.S. Army