F-35 AF-1 & AF-2 Arrival at Edwards Air Force Base. Photo: Lockheed Martin
Our first impressions from the Farnborough AirShow this year are that short termed, urgent requirements, have finally reached the air forces, traditionally known for their long term visionary and meticulous planning processes.
The recent conflicts fought at high profile, in Southwest Asia and Iraq, leave the military with minimal tolerance for error and, under these circumstances, they want everything right now and at the lowest cost.
With the absence of a major enemy, western air forces tend big ticket spending on buying new aircraft, while dragging procurement decisions on almost everything that does not directly support current combat requirements.
Fighter aircraft development and procurement programs are only one symbol of this trend. With a single, next generation fighters dominating the market for the foreseeable future, and the apparent commitment to buy few thousands F-35s over the next decades, the options open for air forces drill down to two – act now or wait and see. Some have already made their choices. The Canadians have recently decided in favor of the next generation fighter, as well as the Australians and British, but firm orders for production quantities are still pending. The U.S. Marine Corps are the most desperate for the new fighter, and the new accelerated test plan, currently underway, seems to brighten the future for the corps’ aviation, held in limbo as its current Vertical Take Off Short Landing (V/STOL) AV-8B and F/A-18C/D Hornets wear out under an extremely intensive operational regime.
Lockheed Martin, which has the highest stakes in the next generation fighter, opted to avoid the debate and visibly maintained a low profile with its F-35 program at Farnborough, leaving the scene for the competition. Wether this was a wise move or not, the future will tell, but it should certainly be scrutinized and questioned by the media.
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The Boeing 787 Dreamliner departing Farnborough, escorted by two Battle of Britain Memorial flight Spitfires, on a 'Photo Op' flyby. Photo: Tamir Eshel
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner departed today from Farnborough airfield in the U.K., back to back to the USA, to continue the flight testing program.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner over Farnborough
Boeing 787 Dreamliner Takeoff at Farnborough
Boeing B787 Dreamliner Over Farnborough
Photos: Tamir Eshel
The Dominator and the Guardian are an unmanned and optionally manned platforms based on the Diamond Aircraft DA42 Twin Star twin engine aircraft. The Dominator is a fully autonomous platform modified by Aeronautics Defense Systems from Israel. Since Dominator is based on a comerciall airframe certified by civil aviation authorities worldwide, it has immediate access to the military and commercial market.
The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Israel’s Aeronautics defense Systems have signed a memorandum of understanding to market the DA42 Dominator unmanned aircraft system internationally. Aeronautics and Austrian based Diamond have been developing the Dominator, based on an unmanned version of the Diamond’s Aircraft DA-42 twin-star two-engine aircraft for the past two years. The Dominator made its first flight in July 2009. The aircraft has recently flew with an advanced payload configuration, carrying a wide area electro-optical aerial surveillance payload providing potential users unique persistent coverage of large areas.
According to Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, the collaboration with Aeronautics to market the DA42 Dominator will expand Boeing’s offering with a wider range of MALE solutions to current and potential customers, both domestically and internationally.
Diamond Aircraft offers the manned aerial surveillance platform - Guardian for law enforcement, homeland security and civilian missions. As a manned platform, Guardian can fly in civilian airspace, where UAVs cannot.
The DA42 Dominator is designed for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions with an all-composite construction that provides durability, reduced maintenance and lower aircraft weight to enhance mission endurance.
The DA42 is marketed as an optionally piloted vehicle in the USA by Aurora Flight Sciences. An unmanned system based on the DA42 is also offered by the Russian company Irkut.
Photos: Tamir Eshel
At the center was the Phantom Ray stealth UCAV, a technology demonstrator of the a four-tailed, six-engine flying platform built by QinetiQ, designed to experiment the flight rules to be used with the future Solar Eagle, a 400 foot span aerial vehicle proposed by Boeing for DARPA's Vulture 2 program.
For the first time at an international airshow Boeing dedicated a special display for its newly established UVS unit. At the center was the Phantom Ray stealth UCAV, a technology demonstrator of the a four-tailed, six-engine flying platform built by QinetiQ, designed to experiment the flight rules to be used with the future Solar Eagle, a 400 foot span aerial vehicle proposed by Boeing for DARPA’s Vulture 2 program. Boeing’s Solar Eagle could fly by 2014, carrying payloads up to 400 pounds to a cruising altitude of 60,000 ft, where it will remain on station for up to 80 days. DARPA would like an operational vehicle to remain in station up to five years…
The air-launched ScanEagleCompressed Carriage was also displayed here, along with other small tactical UAVs from Boeing and InSitu - the Integrator and ScanEagle. Boeing is also working on the ‘Magnetic Eagle Compressed Carriage’ (MECC), designed for aerial anti-submarine warfare. Platforms such as the CCSE and NECC could be deployed from airborne platforms (a video shown by Boeing depicted one system dropped from a ramp of a V-22 in flight). A MECC equipped with a booster could be launched from a submarine.
The Solar Eagle will be capable of flying missions of unlimited duration, powered by multiple electrical motors that will provide the thrust for propulsion and steering, by using differential thrust of different motors. These motors will run on electrical energy generated by fuel cells and solar arrays. The energy stored on board will be sufficient to carry the Solar Eagle to its operating altitude, where the air is calm and plenty of solar energy can be stored during daytime, for use by the motors and systems on board overnight. The full-scale Solar Eagle will be configured as a tail-less flying wing fitted with eight motors, with payloads and energy storage carried in a boom-shaped canister. Boeing has recently completed the assembly of the Hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye that will also be capable of flying long endurance, high altitude missions.
Another UAV shown here for the first time is the H-6U - the. Unmanned Little Bird (ULB). Photo: Tamir Eshel
Boeing also displayed three models of the long endurance A-160T Hummingbird, configured for three missions: persistent area surveillance, persistent area dominance, a weaponized configuration equipped with EO/IR payload and six Hellfire missiles and a tactical transport version, carrying cargo internally or as sling load.
At the center was the Phantom Ray stealth UCAV, a technology demonstrator of the a four-tailed, six-engine flying platform built by QinetiQ, designed to experiment the flight rules to be used with the future Solar Eagle, a 400 foot span aerial vehicle proposed by Boeing for DARPA's Vulture 2 program.
For the first time at an international airshow Boeing dedicated a special display for its newly established UVS unit. At the center was the Phantom Ray stealth UCAV, a technology demonstrator of the a four-tailed, six-engine flying platform built by QinetiQ, designed to experiment the flight rules to be used with the future Solar Eagle, a 400 foot span aerial vehicle proposed by Boeing for DARPA’s Vulture 2 program. Boeing’s Solar Eagle could fly by 2014, carrying payloads up to 400 pounds to a cruising altitude of 60,000 ft, where it will remain on station for up to 80 days. DARPA would like an operational vehicle to remain in station up to five years…
The Solar Eagle will be capable of flying missions of unlimited duration, powered by multiple electrical motors that will provide the thrust for propulsion and steering, by using differential thrust of different motors. These motors will run on electrical energy generated by fuel cells and solar arrays. The energy stored on board will be sufficient to carry the Solar Eagle to its operating altitude, where the air is calm and plenty of solar energy can be stored during daytime, for use by the motors and systems on board overnight. The full-scale Solar Eagle will be configured as a tail-less flying wing fitted with eight motors, with payloads and energy storage carried in a boom-shaped canister. Boeing has recently completed the assembly of the Hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye that will also be capable of flying long endurance, high altitude missions.
Boeing also displayed three models of the long endurance A-160T Hummingbird, configured for three missions: persistent area surveillance, persistent area dominance, a weaponized configuration equipped with EO/IR payload and six Hellfire missiles and a tactical transport version, carrying cargo internally or as sling load.
Another UAV shown here for the first time is the H-6U - the. Unmanned Little Bird (ULB).
The air-launched ScanEagleCompressed Carriage was also displayed here, along with other small tactical UAVs from Boeing and InSitu - the Integrator and ScanEagle. Boeing is also working on the ‘Magnetic Eagle Compressed Carriage’ (MECC), designed for aerial anti-submarine warfare. Platforms such as the CCSE and NECC could be deployed from airborne platforms (a video shown by Boeing depicted one system dropped from a ramp of a V-22 in flight). A MECC equipped with a booster could be launched from a submarine.
