Des nouvelles de la Royal Air Force

[Invité Rob]

MBDA's Brimstone missile to enter RAF combat duty with new seeker

By Craig Hoyle

The UK Royal Air Force has secured urgent operational requirement funding to change the seeker on MBDA’s Brimstone air-to-surface missile, with the work to support operations of its Panavia Tornado GR4 strike aircraft in Iraq and – from early next year – Afghanistan.

Providing the first official confirmation of a dual-mode seeker upgrade to the Brimstone, chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy said on 23 June that the modification will “provide more capability against the targets we’re up against at the moment.”

Acquired under the UK Ministry of Defence’s air-launched anti-armour weapon project and now operational with the Tornado GR4 (below), the Brimstone has posed a challenge to military planners since its introduction to service, due to its use of a millimetre-wave radar seeker and a fire-and-forget mode of employment.

Derived from the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire but extensively re-engineered to endure carriage and release from fast jet platforms, Brimstone was conceived for  use against massed formations of enemy armoured vehicles: a scenario far removed from the counter-insurgency demands of Afghanistan and Iraq.

A new seeker would provide the lightweight weapon with a so-called “man-in-the-loop” function, reducing the risk of targeting error and collateral damage. Each Brimstone weapon system comprises a rail launcher with three 50kg (110lb) missiles, with these fired either individually or as multi-round salvoes.

News of the UOR deal comes less than a week after the MoD announced plans to deploy Tornado GR4s to Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan in early 2009, where they will replace a current UK commitment of eight BAE Systems Harrier GR7/9s. The RAF will also continue its long-standing detachment of eight GR4s at Al Udeid air base in Qatar, which provides support for British, coalition and Iraqi government forces in southern Iraq.

The MoD declines to provide further details of the Brimstone upgrade, but confirms that the work is being performed for use by the Tornado GR4 fleet, and is intended “to make existing weapons more suitable for the environment they’re operating in”. The weapon is also slated for integration with the Harrier and the RAF’s Eurofighter Typhoons.

MBDA says only that it continues to offer enhancements to several of the UK’s in-service guided weapon systems.

Torpy says that the RAF is also considering possible future enhancements to its MBDA Storm Shadow cruise missiles. It is also interested in pursuing a new generation of novel weapons using laser and radio frequency technologies, plus smart fuze designs. Such weapons would provide “tuneable effects to minimise collateral damage, but deliver the effect we need,” he told an Air Power Association lunch in London.

Link.

http://www.flightglobal.com

[Invité Rob]

Le sixieme C17 pour le RAF est arrive en le Royaume-Uni.  =)

[Will]

Le sixieme C17 pour le RAF est arrive en le Royaume-Uni.  =)

il est deja parti en mission hier pour ammener des provisions aux soldats au Kosovo :O

not a moment too soon on dirait.

[g4lly]

il est deja parti en mission hier pour ammener des provisions aux soldats au Kosovo :O

not a moment too soon on dirait.

houla le Mod ne renonce a rien pour l'appro ... ce n'est pas moins cher par la mer puis la route?

[Will]

...

Upon landing at its home base of Brize Norton, the aircraft was rapidly prepared for operations as in only 18 hours after its delivery, it will see its first operational mission in support of Operation Valero, the 2 Rifles depoyment to Kosovo.

...

j'ai mal lu je pense  :-X

[P4]

Ils ont des réacteurs R&R?

[Will]

Ils ont des réacteurs R&R?

non ce sont des Pratt & Whitney. Au debut on a que "loue" 4 C-17 qui devait pouvoir etre mis en service au USAF quand on en voullait plus, ceci et on en avait si peu a sans doute fait que c etait trop d efforts de tout customise je suppose.

Une autre chose que quelqu'un m a dit recemment est que la RAF a "reserve" 4 "tail numbers" ZZ177 -> ZZ180, encore 4 C-17 au long terme?

[Invité Rob]

UK seeks sovereign Reaper control capability

The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is looking to establish a sovereign command, control and communications architecture to allow the service's General Atomics Aeronautical ...

08-Jul-2008

RAF looks to buy more C-17s

UK Royal Air Force (RAF) commanders are looking to buy at least two additional Boeing C-17 Globemaster aircraft to boost their strategic airlift fleet. ...

08-Jul-2008

Link.

http://jdw.janes.com/public/jdw/index.shtml

Je pense il est probable que en fin nous avons 8-10 C17s.  =)

[pascal]

nickel on va pouvoir faire transporter plein de trucs par la RAF  =)

[Invité Rob]

Defense News ecrit que le Royaume-Uni va donner quelques contrats pour des programmes des missiles au MBDA UK, QinetiQ, Roxel, etc... .

U.K. To Award No-Competition Missile Bids

By andrew chuter

Published: 9 Jul 11:42 EDT (15:42 GMT)

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LONDON - The British government is preparing to change how it procures missiles with an announcement during the Farnborough Air Show that a team of top U.K. producers has been awarded a string of contracts to start new programs or update existing weapons without a competition being held.

The Lightweight Multi-role Missile from Thales could help fulfill the light missile requirement of the anti-surface guided weapon. (Thales photo)

Procurement minister Baroness Taylor is expected to unveil concept phase or assessment phase contracts to a partnership of companies here known as Team Complex Weapons. The companies involved include leading European missile house MBDA, research company QinetiQ, rocket motor manufacturer Roxel and missile and systems supplier Thales UK. Discussions about bringing Raytheon Systems, Britain's other major missiles supplier, into the group continue.

The programs involved in the Taylor announcement could include the first of several weapon types destined to be rolled out as part of the Selection Precision Effects at Range program; capability enhancements to the Storm Shadow cruise missile; light and heavy missiles for the Royal Navy's helicopter-mounted future anti-surface guided weapon; an anti-air weapon to replace the Sea Wolf onboard Type 23 and Future Surface Combatant frigates; and a loitering munition.

Team Complex Weapons marks a move away from the previous competition policy here. That's likely to be replaced by a strategic partnering agreement changing the way contracts in the sector are handled.

An MoD spokesman said he was unable to comment ahead of Taylor's visit to Farnborough the week of July 14.

While the MoD was maintaining silence over the announcement, the ministry's own Contracts Bulletin July 7 published notification that concept and assessment-phase contracts for complex weapons had been signed with MBDA and Thales UK. No details of the weapons involved were published.

The Contracts Bulletin said the MBDA work was worth 54.6 million pounds ($107.7 million) and the Thales deal 4.4 million pounds. Thales declined to comment about the Contracts Bulletin deal. No comment was immediately available from MBDA.

It seems likely Thales will work on the light missile requirement of the anti-surface guided weapon. The company's Belfast-based Air Systems Division unveiled a precision-guided weapon known as the Lightweight Multi-role Missile earlier this year.

At the time of the unveiling, company officials said the privately funded weapon was a contender for the British requirement. Live test firings of the 1.3-meter-long weapon are already well under way.

MBDA is expected to lead work on the heavy missile requirement for anti-surface weapon. It has previously touted a much improved version of the Sea Skua missile, which currently fills the helicopter-launched anti-ship requirement.

The Team Complex Weapons concept was rolled out by then-procurement minister Lord Drayson at Farnborough two years ago as a key part of the government's defense industrial strategy.

Drayson cited the threat of significant future industrial over-capacity in the missile sector as the reason for creating Team Complex Weapons. The scheme is aimed at protecting industry skills here to ensure operational sovereignty of the armed forces.

At the time, Drayson said MoD spending on complex weapons was scheduled to drop 40 percent over the five years starting 2006.

Link.

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3618915&c=EUR&s=AIR

[Invité Rob]

La Reine va donner le RAF nouveaux 'colours'. C'est la commence du RIAT 2008 et la RAF va faire un 'flypast' avec 90 avions. =) Le BBC a un programme special qui commence a 14:15 BST.

The Queen is due to award new Colours to the Royal Air Force at the service's largest ceremony in more than 30 years.

The event will mark the start of the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

About 5,000 guests, including serving personnel, will attend, and there will be a flypast of nearly 90 RAF aircraft.

On peux voire la choose ici:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7501006.stm

[Invité Rob]

BAE Systems pub a l'anniversaire 90ieme du RAF.

Link.

http://www.baesystems.com/BAEProd/groups/public/documents/bae_publication/bae_pdf_riat08_uk_advantage.pdf

[Invité Rob]

Le MoD annonce six nouvelles programmes des missiles.

Extract, tout l'article en le link.

Indirect Fire Precision Attack Loitering Munition (MBDA-led with Team Loitering Munition);

100kg weapon family to meet first the Future Air-to-Surface Guided Weapon (heavyweight) requirement for Royal Navy helicopters (MBDA);

Light weapon family to meet first the Future Air-to-Surface Guided Weapon (lightweight) requirement (Thales UK);

50kg weapon family to meet the Selected Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) requirement for fast jets and helicopters (MBDA);

The Common Anti-Air Modular Missile family to meet first the requirement for a Future Local Area Air Defence System (FLAADS) for the Type 23 frigate and the Future Surface Combatant (MBDA);

and

An upgrade programme for Storm Shadow, currently used on the Tornado GR4 (MBDA).

Link.

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/ModLaunchesANewApproachToAcquiringComplexWeapons.htm

[Will]

Jane's:

UK Royal Air Force (RAF) commanders are looking to buy at least two additional Boeing C-17 Globemaster aircraft to boost their strategic airlift fleet.

A third aircraft could also be purchased as an attrition replacement for a Lockheed Martin C-130J aircraft lost to enemy action in Iraq last year, according to the Chief of the UK Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy.

The purchase of the additional C-17s has yet to be approved by the UK government but the RAF sees the aircraft as part of its long-term airlift force.

"We want a robust fleet of 25 C-130Js, 25 A400Ms and ideally eight C-17s," ACM Torpy told Jane's . "The extra two C-17s would give us a particularly robust strategic airlift capability."

The RAF has lost four C-130s in combat incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past three years, including one of its recently purchased C-130Js. "We need to take a judgement as whether to replace the lost C-130J or buy another C-17," said ACM Torpy.

He described the programme of retiring the RAF's 1960s-vintage C-130Ks and replacing them with the new Airbus Military A400M from 2011 as "very tight" because of delays to the new European airlifter.

"There is a six-month delay [on the A400M] and a six-month risk window," he said. "We would like to see delivery [of A400Ms] as close as possible to the planned in-service date. We don't want an unmanageable gap emerging [between the retirement of the C-130K and the arrival of the A400M]."

-------------------------

essais de Paveway IV a China Lake

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/CapabilityTrialsASuccessForRafsNewPrecisionGuidedMunition.htm

[Chris.]

4 C-130 perdus en 3 ans ? Il n'y aurait pas comme un problème là?

[Will]

4 C-130 perdus en 3 ans ? Il n'y aurait pas comme un problème là?

Un C130K abbatu en decollant en 2005, deux C130K perdu dans des accidents (dont un feu a cause de debris qui ont entre dans le moteur je crois), un C130J qui a atteris sur une/des mine(s) il y a un an ou deux en deposant des soldats dans le desert... A part en 2005 il y a heureusement pas eu de morts. On est dans de zones de combats. :-[

[Philippe Top-Force]

"We want a robust fleet of 25 C-130Js, 25 A400Ms and ideally eight C-17s," là je commence à être jaloux.  :-[

On va finir par expédier la 11 BP chez vous pour s'entraîner, un outsourcing  :lol:

[xav]

They mention RAF F35 in this article: http://www.air-defense.net/Forum_AD/index.php?topic=1324.msg319113#msg319113

[Will]

livraison expresse: statistics du "air bridge" de 6 mois d operations en Afghanistan

WEEKLY FLIGHTS

5 Tristars Brize Norton-Kandahar (1,000 people)

3 Airbus A300s of freight Lyneham- Kandahar

4 C-17s Brize Norton-Kandahar

2 Antonov AN-124s Brize Norton to Kandahar

POST

Average no of mail bags per month: 3,400

Delivered to theatre at Christmas: 13,320

CATERING

Food delivered by sea: 780x40ft containers

Food delivered by air: 490 tonnes.

Bottled water drunk: 10.2 million litres.

EQUIPMENT

Number of types supported in theatre: 2,063

New equipments introduced: 184

AMMUNITION

.50cal (198,000 rounds)

5.56mm (2,370,400 rounds)

7.62mm (2,233,800 rounds)

9mm (170,000 rounds)

81mm mortar (38,868 rounds)

105mm (4,430 shells)

[Will]

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3683648&c=AME&s=AIR

Pendant que on attend le A400M, on doit extendre la vie de une partie des C-130K...

[Service de semaine]

4 C-130 perdus en 3 ans ? Il n'y aurait pas comme un problème là?

Voilà la fin de l'un des quatre C-130 concernés....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/2645230/Video-shows-British-forces-blowing-up-bomber-in-Iraq.html

Pour le "bomber", encore une belle erreur journalistique...

[Will]

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=3707962&c=EUR&s=AIR

*achat de 3 UAV Reapers pour un total de 5

*debut des tests operationnels des Sentinels en novembre

*ammelioration du SIGINT (projet HELIX): soit on upgrade les Nimrods R1, soit on achete des "Rivet Joints" US, soit on ajjoute des capacite SIGINT sur des Nimrods MRA4...

[Invité Rob]

Tres bon!  =)

[xav]

A CRASHED Red Arrows jet lies wrecked — after skidding into a CAR PARK.

The snap emerged yesterday after a botched landing saw the £5million Hawk career off the runway, hit a building and smash control tower windows before coming to rest.

Two crew ejected.

The jet was being delivered to RAF Cranwell, Lincs, to be sprayed red for the display team.

The RAF is investigating.

Pictured: The dramatic scene after a 'Red Arrows' Hawk jet crash-landed and smashed into RAF base

Crash-landing: The plane was believed to have been flown by Wing Commander David Firth-Wigglesworth

As car park prangs go, this was more serious than the average shunt.

But it could have been far worse - considering it involved a runaway RAF Hawk jet.

The £5million aircraft was due to become part of the Red Arrows fleet.

It was being delivered to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire to be sprayed in the display team's signature red livery when it crashed on landing and skidded off the runway.

The Hawk hurtled across the airfield, smashing into a crew building and three cars before coming to a rest next to the air traffic control tower.

It also destroyed some of the building's windows in the process.

Battered: The destroyed Hawk lost its wings after hitting the control tower

Trail of destruction: Rubble is strewn across the car park

The two-man crew ejected during the drama and were treated in hospital for their injuries.

The plane was understood to have been flown by Wing Commander David Firth-Wigglesworth, 43, the Red Arrows' Senior Flying Officer.

Scroll down for more

Near miss: The jet smashed into this parked car

One witness to the crash said: 'As the aircraft touched down, its undercarriage gave way and it swerved to the right. Two loud bangs followed as the aircrew ejected.'

A source at RAF Cranwell added: 'A friend of mine had just left the building hit by the Hawk. If he hadn't left when he did, he wouldn't be here now.'

An investigation is being carried out into the cause of the accident.

:lol: Allez expliquer cela a votre assurance voiture.

[Chris.]

chère mobiliaire, alors que j'avais parqué ma voiture dans un parking dument signalé, un OVNI est venu percuter ma voiture.  :lol: