Air Force Testing Dangerous Drone Lasers Above North Dakota

If you’re planning on flying around Devil’s Lake, ND anytime soon, you might want to check in with the FAA—the government is locking down a big chunk of the sky to fire off eye scorching UAV lasers.

The restricted zone will be reserved for drones and drones alone—civilian planes will have to fly at a different altitude, or around the area altogether, which the FAA admits is “vast.” So why does any of this matter? Drones are just tiny lil’ things, right? And it’s not like the they’ll be shooting hellfire missiles down into Bismarck. But even something that doesn’t explode can be risky in the sky (and down below): the drones will be firing targeting lasers from high altitude, lasers with enough power to be deemed “non-eye safe.” How non-eye safe is non-eye safe? Enough that “Personnel working at the [targeting] range will use proper protective gear.” It’s safe (but not eye-safe) to assume these beams could seriously screw your retinas.

And given the fact that these military-grade lasers can extend for miles—even the little ones you yourself can buy—an errant shot at the ground, or one that hits a civilian cockpit, could have serious results. Let’s not forget that just today, a pilot over New York sustained an eye “injury” from a handheld laser below—the kind of accident that can down a plane with a little bad luck thrown in. If you find any of this disconcerted, it’s best to get used to it quick. The government won’t losing its drone lust any time soon.

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Source: Gizmodo.com

Pentagon restricts F-22 Raptor Flights

Due to the reported suffering in lack of oxygen of the F-22 Raptor pilots, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to restrict flights of its most advanced fighter jet, F-22, officials said last Tuesday, May 15, 2012. Some pilots complained of dizzy spells and blackouts but engineers have yet to figure out how to fix the problem.

The F-22 Raptor will no longer be conducting longer-range flights and would stay within the reach of their runaways to ensure the pilot could do an emergency landing, George Little, Pentagon’s Spokesman told the reporters. Under Panetta’s decision, “effective immediately, all F-22 flights will remain within the proximity of potential landing locations to enable quick recovery and landing when a pilot encounter another physiological conditions during flight.”

Panetta also advised the Air Force to assist their men in the installation of the back-up oxygen system in the F-22 planes and provide a monthly progress report on the efforts to control and fix the undiagnosed technical problem. Panetta’s officials said that the first back-up systems would be installed by December 2012.

Known as the most sophisticated fighter in the world, F-22 has yet to be deployed in  combat. According to the Air Force, the F-22 flies at a higher altitude than other jets, above 50,000 feet and relies solely on pressurized oxygen instead of a mixture of oxygen under pressure and air in the cockpit. The plane is also faster and more active than older jet fighters as the pilots face more gravitational forces than in other planes.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Boeing Defense, Space and Security, this stealth air superiority fighter possesses capabilities that include ground attack, electronic warfare and signals intelligence roles. According to the Air Chief Marshal, Angus Houston, former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, said in 2004 that the “F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built.”

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News Source: defencetalk.com

Texas and other Gulf States Officials Oppose C-130 Transfer

The governors of Texas and other Gulf states like Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi have written to the White House imploring to block the move of C-130 fleet from their states. The US Air Force are planning to move the entire fleet of C-130 transport aircraft of the Texas National Guard to Montana.

The Air Force along with the rest of the military units is making a lot of changes due to budget cuts. Part of this change is to move units of aircraft to different bases. One such move will see the Texas C-130 fleet transferred to Montana, which will lose its F-15 fighters. The Texas National Guard will gain MC-12 Liberty plane, these aircraft gather intelligence.

Gulf states are prone to experience major weather disturbances like hurricanes and the C-130 are very useful in during these emergencies. When the Hurricane Katrina and Rita in 2005 as well as with Hurricane Ike and Gustav in 2008 hit the Gulf region, the C-130s had been instrumental in evacuating people and transporting supplies during the calamity.

A part of the governors’ letter to the President reads:

“Texas and the Gulf Coast are under constant threat of hurricanes, wildfires and floods. These C-130s have answered the call to support Gulf Coast States to counter these threats at a moment’s notice. … Mr. President, it makes no sense to move the assets of a perfectly functioning and experienced unit that has supported us well to establish the exact same capability in a state with none of this experience or any ties to the states that traditionally require these assets for emergency response.”

Since the C-130 belongs to the Air National Gurad, Texas Governor Rick Perry can easily call it up when a disaster strikes any gulf state and it will be ready to respond within hours. If the transport aircraft moved, there will be no C-130 withing the vicinity that can respond during disasters. Gulf state governors will have to rely on the Defense Department to call up federal military forces to see action during a calamity – a process that can take-up several days.

Gulf state governors are not alone in their pursuit. Gulf states senators and congress representatives are questioning military officials about the merit of the C-130 transfer. During the budget committee hearing, representatives from the gulf states have bombarded Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and the Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz with questions and demands of explanation on how the Air Force can benefit financially in moving the C-130s. Unfortunately, the military officials have yet to come up with an answer.

“The hearing today was for the budget of the Air Force,” Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “We asked questions about their plan, and they can’t provide reasonable explanations as to why they made their decisions. That makes me angry.”

source: http://www.star-telegram.com

Pentagon Grounds Lockheed F-35 Jets

The Pentagon announced on Monday that more than 15 Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets are grounded. All the high-speed ground and flight operations of the fighter jet are temporarily suspended because of the parachutes under the pilot’s ejection seat. The parachutes were discovered to be improperly packed.

The grounding affects the flight testing of the six F-35 jets based in Edwards Air Force Base in California. It also halted the training program using nine units of the fighter jet in Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It also affected the three planes that are nearly finished in the Lockheed factory in Texas. However, the eight F-35 fighter jets stationed in Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland; are spared from being grounded because they have older version of the ejection seat with properly packed parachutes. Lockheed said that it will probably take 10 days for the first set of properly packed parachutes to be available.

The grounding comes after Pentagon announced that the $382 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program is due for a thridreconstruction. They are slowing down orders for the F-35 to allow more time for development testing in order to avoid costly repairs or modifications. Some sources think that the Pentagon will put-off procurement of the fighter jets for the next five years and will only resume on 2017.

According to Richard Aboulafia, defense analyst with the Virginia-based Teal Group, the improperly packed parachutes only adds to the negative news that F-35 has been getting lately.

“There’s a perception that they’re moving too fast on production before ironing out all of the problems, and this is going to reinforce that perception,” said Aboulafia.

The troublesome parachutes were packed by a UK-based Martin Baker Aircraft Corp, a private company, apparently due to confusing instructions.

source: http://www.reuters.com

Air Force to throw welcome party for F-35s

Eglin Air Force Base will host a welcome part for the F-35 on Friday. The event celebrates the arrival of two F-35 aircraft at Eglin. The first touched down at the base on July 14 and the second arrived about a week later.

The welcoming ceremony will be hosted by Gen. Edward Rice, commander of the Air Education and Training Command. Other guest speakers include Lockheed Martin executive Larry Lawson, general manager of the F-35 Program, and 33rd Fighter Wing Commander Col. Andrew Toth.

The F-35 Lightning II is a multirole fighter and attack aircraft that will be used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as several foreign militaries. Eglin will be a primary training center for F-35 flight crew and maintenance personnel.

Eglin’s two F-35 aircraft have been grounded since Aug. 2 when engineers experienced a major engine problem with an F-35 test aircraft.

Source: pnj.com

RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk reached IOC

The U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command has declared that the unmanned RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk built by that the Northrop Grumman has reached its initial operational capability (IOC). IOC is declared when a development program completes initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E), and is cleared to support real-time operations.

While IOC was recently declared, the Air Force determined there was a critical need to implement Block 30 Global Hawks earlier this year. The Block 30s were moved to operational status prior to the IOT&E report being released and have provided critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of disaster relief efforts in Japan, NATO operations over Libya and are replacing Block 10 aircraft in Central Command operations.

“The men and women of Northrop Grumman are proud to provide Global Hawk’s unprecedented capabilities to support critical missions all over the world,” said George Guerra, HALE vice president, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.

Block 30 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial reconnaissance system which provides military field commanders with high resolution, near real-time imagery of large geographic areas

“The basic requirement for Block 30 IOC is to support one continuous Block 30 24-hour orbit for 30 days,” said Gen. William M. Fraser III. “There are enough assets and infrastructure in place to support the one continuous Block 30 orbit requirement for IOC.”

There are currently nine Block 30 Global Hawks stationed abroad.

Source: ASDNews, airforce-technology.com

F-35 is cleared for ground operations

The F-35 fleet has been cleared by the Joint Program Office for ground operations. The F-35s were grounded this month because of a problem with a control valve.

The F-35 fleet was grounded August 3 after a valve in the Integrated Power Package (IPP) of aircraft AF-4 failed. The IPP is a a sort of super generator that provides power to start the engine and cools the plane.

The Joint Program Office which manages the F-35 program was clearly eager to let the public know that they’ve found the cause of the failure. But they were cautious about when a return to flight will occur.

“While initiating DT ground operations is a major step for the F-35 fleet returning to flight, further reviews are required prior to lifting the suspension of flight operations for the 20 F-35s currently in flying status,” JPO spokesman Joe DellaVedova said in a statement.

On a related news, the fleet of F-22s remains grounded until the results of a probe into possible issues related to the aircraft oxygen system are available. The Air Force grounded the F-22 fleet in May 3 because of concerns that the plane’s oxygen system – crucial for the high-flying plane – was causing hypoxia in pilots. Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. John Haynes said no root cause has been found for the problem yet and none is expected until the safety board completes its investigation, expected in early fall.

Source: defense.aol.com

RAAF Hornet successfully fired JASSM

A RAAF F/A-18 Hornet successfully fired a Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) at the Woomera test range last week.

The Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile has a range of more than 200 kilometres and was selected in 2006 by the former Howard government to equip the F/A-18 Hornet fleet pending the retirement of the F-111 fleet.

The JASSM has been listed on the federal government’s “projects of concern” watch list, but makers Lockheed Martin are optimistic the successful Woomera test will mean its removal.

“A second successful firing of the JASSM baseline missile off a RAAF F/A-18 Hornet was achieved at the Woomera test range in South Australia last week,” a Lockheed Martin spokesman told The Australian.

JASSM is in service with four other air forces including the US Air Force which has ordered more than 3000 of the semi-stealthy cruise missiles each worth about $700,000. Experts say JASSM will give RAAF a leading weapons capability edge within the Asian region.

Source: The Australian National Affairs

Pentagon clears Iraq F-16 issue

Despite news out of Baghdad that Iraq is shopping for 36 F-16s, the Pentagon clarified that current discussions are for 18 aircraft only. A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that Iraq’s renewed interest in an F-16 order should result in further negotiations between the U.S. and Iraqi governments after a planned sale of 18 planes initiated last year was put on hold.

“We’re still working on letters of offer and acceptance for 18 F-16s, said Maj. Christopher Perrine, a spokesman for the Department of Defense.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki said Saturday that the government planned to come back to the U.S. government with a request to purchase 36 F-16s.

The Pentagon notified Congress last October of a plan to sell Iraq 18 planes plus weapons, spare parts and equipment for $4.2 billion. But that deal was placed on hold because the Iraqi government did not budget the money.Perrine said that to sell more than 18 aircraft, the Pentagon would have to again notify Congress, which would have 30 days to vote to block a sale.

Source: Star-Telegram

USAF Weapons School to get F-35s

The U.S. Air Force has issued a Record of Decision for the proposed basing of F-35A Lightning II aircraft at Nellis Air Force Base.

USAF will bring 36 F-35 fighters to Nellis Air Force Base starting from next year till 2020. The decision is to proceed with the preferred alternative, which entails basing 36 F-35 fighter aircraft at Nellis AFB between 2012 and 2020 for the Force Development Evaluation and Weapons School programs.

The F-35 has been designed to have a low radar cross section primarily due to stealthy materials used in construction, including fiber-mat.Unlike the previous generation of fighters, the F-35 was designed with a shape for low-observable characteristics.

Implementation of this action will be accomplished as set out in the Final Environmental Impact Statement released in May 2011.

The beddown of the F-35 mission at Nellis will result in an increase of 412 personnel; require construction of new facilities, as well as alteration and demolition of existing facilities at Nellis AFB. Flight activities will occur at Nellis AFB and the Nevada Test and Training Range.

Potential impacts associated with implementing the Preferred Alternative were analyzed during the Environmental Impact Statement process.

The Final Environmental Impact Statement contains public and agency comments received on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement as well as responses to comments.

Source: www.nellis.af.mil