We need to get one of these for Danke

[Swordsmyth]

Last month, we reported that the US Army was considering whether it should purchase Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) to replace its aging fleet of Boeing AH-64 Apache and Bell OH-58D Kiowa Warrior copters. Now it seems the Army's Future Vertical Lift (FVL) modernization priority, a competition to design, build, and test the FARA prototypes is ahead of schedule and exceeding expectations, stated Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center Public Affairs.

Out of eight proposals, five had been awarded for prototype agreements as of April 23, well ahead of schedule.

"FARA represents the leap-ahead technology we've been talking about," said Col. Craig Alia, FVL Cross-Functional Team chief of staff. "It's a critical program in that it fills an existing capability gap created by the divestiture of the OH-58."

Dan Bailey, Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC), is the lead project manager on the FARA program. He told the Army Public Affairs office that FARA solicitation to private defense firms was publicly announced in late 2018 with anticipated awards this summer, indicating the program is two months ahead of schedule.

"What's exciting about the new process the Army has put in place through the Army Futures Command and cross-functional teams … is that we've gone from concept … to awards in basically a one-year period of time," said Bailey.

The Army's requirements for FARA include complete integration of government equipment: engine, M230 chain gun and rocket launcher, a minimum speed, specific target gross weight, a maximum 40-foot diameter rotor, and an affordable price tag.




Extended range, payload, and endurance were among the other requirements the Army expects. Separate from those mandates, the timing of the execution plan, funding profile requirements, acceptable risk level, statute requirements and the ability to have helicopters in series production by the mid-2020s for fielding by 2028, were also considered.

"We're at an inflection point where we can't afford not to modernize," said Alia, echoing a similar tune from Brig. Gen. Walter Rugen FVL director. "We know that the current fleet is fantastic and has done a great job for us, but we can't indefinitely continue to incrementally improve 1970s and 1980s technology," Alia added.

The five awards were initiated six months after the initial solicitation went out in October 2018. Bailey said initial designs would be submitted to the Army by February 2020. "Those are designs of the aircraft, updated plan to execute the entire approach and risk assessments of proceeding, followed by another evaluation process," he said.


Baily said the five vendors understand that only two will make it to the next phase. "The awards made this week were not just for phase one; it was for the entire execution all the way through flight test on these vehicles" he explained. "We looked at all aspects of being able to execute, not only the CP effort through flight test in 2023, but also their ability to execute an (engineering manufacturing and development) phase follow-on and a production phase afterward," Bailey explained.
The most likely FARA candidates will be the Sikorsky S-97 Raider and the Bell V-280 Valor.







https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ahead-schedule


Since they like to name helicopters after Injuns Danke can name his @oyarde.

[oyarde]

True ,Danke should name anything he flys after me .

[Anti Globalist]

Perfect. Danke could use it to throw communists out of it.

[Swordsmyth]

No comment from @Danke ?

[Danke]

No comment from @Danke ?

I got something better.

[Swordsmyth]

I got something better.

The aliens gave you a UFO?

[Stratovarious]

After hacking and carefully reviewing the sites budget, I've come up with
a suitable and affordable alternate:

[Swordsmyth]

After hacking and carefully reviewing the sites budget, I've come up with
a suitable and affordable alternate:

What about this?

[Stratovarious]

What about this?

That'll work.....: )

[Swordsmyth]

An Israeli startup called Eviation Aircraft unveiled the world's first commercial all-electric passenger plane last week at the Paris Airshow, reported GeekWire.
Called Alice, the all-electric plane is powered by three rear-facing pusher-propellers, one in the back and two at the wingtips that rotate.

Eviation CEO Omer Bar-Yohay told reporters that the plane seats nine passengers and can travel 276mph at 10,000ft altitude over the distance of about 650 miles. Flight testing is expected in the near term at Moses Lake's airport in partnership with Seattle-based AeroTEC. The plane is scheduled to enter service by 2022, could transform small distance travel across America.

"This plane looks like this not because we wanted to build a cool plane, but because it is electric," said Bar-Yohay.

"You build a craft around your propulsion system. Electric means we can have lightweight motors; it allows us to open up the design space."

Eviation logged its first orders this year from regional airline Cape Air, which runs a fleet of 90 aircraft. Retail price is $4 million per plane, Bar-Yohay said.
He said the new electric plane is being "built the way a plane should be built in the 21st century."




Clermont Group, a private investment fund of Singapore-based billionaire Richard Chandler, has been the top funder of Eviation since inception. Clermont has given Eviation $76 million in exchange for a 70% stake, according to the latest SEC filing dating January 3.
In a memo, Chandler told his staff that commercial electric planes would "change the culture of air travel for future generations," and that the aerospace industry is about to enter a new golden era.

"45% of all flights are under 500 miles – approximately the distance from London to Zurich, or New York to Detroit. This puts almost half of all global flights within the range of an electric motor."

Clermont has also invested millions of dollars into magniX, the firm that manufactures the plane's electric motors. Bar-Yohay claimed if there was an air-emergency, the aircraft could fly on two engines.

Bar-Yohay said, "This is an exciting accomplishment...especially here on the grounds in Paris, but it's also very clearly just the beginning."
If Alice passes upcoming flight tests and goes into production; it could enter service by 2022. By the mid-2020s, the plane could completely revolutionize small distance travel.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...-paris-airshow

[Anti Federalist]

"45% of all flights are under 500 miles – approximately the distance from London to Zurich, or New York to Detroit. This puts almost half of all global flights within the range of an electric motor."

Yup, and to remain profitable, require a turn around time of about an hour.

Wonder how long it takes to recharge...

[Swordsmyth]

Wonder how long it takes to recharge...

Or how often it will spontaneously combust.............

[Swordsmyth]

We recently reported on the Black Knight Transformer VTOL truck after it completed its first test flight and now, for the first time Advanced Tactics have revealed footage of the vehicle in action.

[Image Source: Advanced Tactics]

This is a remote control normal truck which was developed for the US Military, which is able to transform and take off and land just like a normal helicopter; it has been given the name of the Black Knight Transformer multicopter. The video clip shows the eight rotor blades having sprung out so that the truck is able to take off and then cruise at speeds of up to as much as 150mph. When the truck is being used as just a truck, the rotor blades are able to fold back down.

[Image Source: Advanced Tactics]

It is said that the transforming truck has been built as one part of the US Military’s need for a 'multi-mission medical and casualty evacuation unmanned air vehicle/unmanned ground vehicle'.

[Image Source: Advanced Tactics]

A study undertaken by the American government came to the conclusion that robots used in missions would mean that evacuations of casualties in some areas could happen in places where a manned platform would not be able to go, such as in bad weather and environments that are contaminated.

[Image Source: Advanced Tactics]

When the Black Knight Transformer reaches its target, that person could even take over the driving of the vehicle. All in all this vehicle could keep down the risks that are typically associated with many rescue missions. It is also said that the truck could be used for delivering cargo.




More at: https://interestingengineering.com/t...also-be-driven

[Swordsmyth]

The successor to Lockheed Martin’s SR-71 Blackbird, the Mach 3 long-range recon aircraft that once tore across the skies like a Cold-War era arrowhead before its retirement in 1999, may be inching closer toward reality.
According to Aviation Week, a handful of visitors to the SAE International Aerotech Congress and Exhibition at Fort Worth, Texas, this week reported catching glimpses of a “demonstrator vehicle” believed to be linked to the proposed replacement: the SR-72.

(This first appeared in Task and Purpose back in 2017 and is being republished due to reader interest.)
Though the SR-72’s development is (understandably) a tightly-kept secret, Aviation Week reports that: In the early hours of July, an “unmanned subscale aircraft” was seen flying into the Air Force’s Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where Lockheed Martin’s legendary Skunk Works division is headquartered.


With an “optionally piloted” flight research vehicle test slated for 2018 by Lockheed back in June, and a test flight anticipated to occur by 2020, the presence of the demonstrator at Palmdale seems to indicate that the SR-72’s progress is in line with Lockheed Martin’s timeline.
“Although I can’t go into specifics, let us just say the Skunk Works team in Palmdale, California, is doubling down on our commitment to speed,” Orlando Carvalho, the executive vice president of aeronautics at Lockheed Martin, said at the exhibition, which ran from Sept. 26 to 28. “Simply put, I believe the United States is on the verge of a hypersonics revolution.”



Lockheed Martin has remained tight-lipped on the SR-72 program since announcing the Blackbird successor in 2013, but the aerospace giant wants to up the ante in terms of speed. And that’s saying something: the Blackbird as it's known is not only faster than any other jet-propelled aircraft — it can literally outrun missiles.


If the recent sightings in Palmdale are tied to the Blackbird’s replacement, then the aircraft really is fast — and not just on the flight line. While still under development at Skunk Works, the proposed reconnaissance plane is expected to hit Mach 6 thanks to advanced new hypersonic tech.
“Hypersonics is like stealth. It is a disruptive technology and will enable various platforms to operate at two to three times the speed of the Blackbird,” Carvalho told Aviation Week. “Operational survivability and lethality is the ultimate deterrent. Security classification guidance will only allow us to say the speed is greater than Mach 5.”


The proposed hypersonic aircraft could fill a space left by the SR-71, which was retired in 1999 due to the proliferation of spy satellites, enemy air defenses, and ultimately, its exorbitant costs — roughly $200,000 per hour of operation, reports the National Interest. Unlike its predecessor, the SR-72 is being designed with strike capability in mind — which means it’s not just a super speedy spy plane: It can reach out and touchobliterate a target, then zip back the way it came.

More at: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...py-plane-66702

[Swordsmyth]

Move over Elon Musk's "Not-A-Flamethrower" flamethrower. That is because a new flamethrower has been released to the public that can be easily mounted onto a DJI drone, can shoot napalm at targets up to 25 feet away for approximately 100 seconds.

Cleveland based ThrowFlame, the oldest flamethrower company in the US, is now selling on its website the TF-19 WASP Flamethrower Drone Attachment to anyone who has a DJI Spreading Wings S1000+ Professional Octocopter.

The lightweight flamethrower attachment has a one-gallon fuel capacity and is used primarily for agriculture burns, clearing debris from power lines, managing insects, and can even light back-burns to contain wild-fires, the company explained on its website.

The attachment is available for purchase for $1,500 or can be financed by Splitit for $83 per month.
Fox 8 Cleveland said with the increased buzz about the aerial flamethrower; a waiting list has already developed.




ThrowFlame specifically outlined to potential customers in the item description that drones with flame flowers are "federally legal and not considered weapons; however, users are still required to comply with the FAA's UAS rules in addition to local ordinances."
The company has several land-based flamethrowers called the X15 and XL18 that can shoot napalm 50 feet to 110 feet, respectively.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...t-napalm-stuff

[Danke]

I already got one, even a better more up-to-date one.

[Swordsmyth]

I already got one, even a better more up-to-date one.

Did the aliens give it to you ?
Or @oyarde?

[heavenlyboy34]

I already got one, even a better more up-to-date one.

Already got one?

[oyarde]

Did the aliens give it to you ?
Or @oyarde?

I think I am going to need a bigger napalm tank .

[Swordsmyth]

Flying cars, or at least their functional equivalent, edge closer to reality every day — and startup Kitty Hawk wants you to know it’s putting in the flying time to make it happen. The company, led by former Google self-driving car visionary Sebastian Thrun, has now flown its first aircraft, the one-person Flyer, more than 25,000 times. That includes both its excursions as a prototype that resembled a flying motorcycle or ATV, and its current, more refined, mostly enclosed cockpit design.
Flyer is now one of two aircraft that Kitty Hawk is working on bringing to market, alongside its Cora two-person, autonomous taxi built in collaboration with Boeing. Flyer is a one-person, human-piloted aircraft designed primarily for recreational use, and Kitty Hawk has said it has refined the vehicle to the point where someone with no experience can learn to fly it in 15 minutes.

More at: https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/15/ki...es/?yptr=yahoo

[Swordsmyth]

https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/1174480724780433408

[Swordsmyth]

After just seven years of service in the Brazilian Navy where it was wracked with maintenance and structural problems, given that by the time it was purchased from the French it was already four decades old, Brazil's only aircraft carrier is now up for sale.

Officially decommissioned in 2017, the São Paulo never actually saw more than three months of successful continual operation without the need for repairs and maintenance.
According to The Drive, it's now up for auction with bids starting at $1.275 million, or "roughly a tenth of what the country paid to buy the ship from France".

More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/...ng-bargian-12m

@oyarde could loan us the money, @Anti Federalist could be the captain and @Danke could learn to take off and land from a CV.

[oyarde]

If they get it running I know a chinese mayor who might finance that for you .

[Swordsmyth]

Seattle-based Picnic™, an innovator of food production technology and Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) solutions, unveiled today the first-of-its-kind intelligent end-to-end automated assembly platform for the food service and hospitality industries. The compact, freestanding system integrates Picnic’s issued U.S. patent and other U.S. and international patent-pending modular, configurable equipment, with its software, cloud and deep learning technology, and is available to customers with no upfront costs. The platform will initially focus on the production of high-volume, customizable pizzas, made with any kind of ingredients, consistently and sequentially, at a rate of up to 180 18” or 300 12” pizzas per hour.

More at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...embly-Platform

[Swordsmyth]

Bell unveiled a new rotorcraft Wednesday, the Bell 360 Invictus, that it hopes will win a lucrative Army contract next decade. The helicopter is a clean sheet design and features several unique technologies.
Most notably, it has wings.
"I wouldn't call it a common configuration," said Frank Lazzara, director, Advanced Vertical Lift Systems, Sales & Strategy for the Fort Worth-based aerospace company.
"The holy grail of helicopter flying has always been speed and range," he added. "Certainly, wing configurations have been tried before. There have been other combinations of technologies to get to speed and range. I would comfortably say that the configuration that the team has put together here is unique in that effort."
The 360 is Bell's entry for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program. If it wins the competition, that would mean production of upwards of 500 aircraft and hundreds of millions of dollars for Bell, a subsidiary of Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT).




More at: https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/n...-invictus.html

[Swordsmyth]

The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have now “validated” several new weapons on the F-22 Raptor to equip the stealth fighter with more long-range precision attack technology, a wider targeting envelope or “field of regard” and new networking technology enabling improved, real-time “collaborative targeting” between aircraft.
The two new weapons, which have been under testing and development for several years now, are advanced variants of existing weapons - the AIM-9X air-to-air missile and the AIM 120-D. Upgraded variants of each are slated to be operational by as soon as next year.
The new AIM-9X will shoot farther and reach a much larger targeting envelope for pilots. Working with a variety of helmets and display systems, Lockheed developers have added “off-boresight” targeting ability enabling pilots to attack enemies from a wide range of new angles.
“It is a much more agile missile with an improved seeker and a better field of regard. You can shoot over your shoulder. If enemies get behind me in a close-in fight, I have the right targeting on the plane to shoot them,” Ken Merchant, Vice President, F-22, Lockheed, told Warrior Maven in an interview.
Raytheon AIM-9X weapons developers have told Warrior that the Block 2 variant adds a redesigned fuze and a digital ignition safety device that enhances ground handling and in-flight safety. Block II also features updated electronics that enable significant enhancements, including lock-on-after-launch capability using a new weapon datalink to support beyond visual range engagements, a Raytheon statement said.
Another part of the weapons upgrade includes engineering the F-22 to fire the AIM-120D, a beyond visual range Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), designed for all weather day-and-night attacks; it is a "fire and forget" missile with active transmit radar guidance, Raytheon data states.
The AIM-120D is built with upgrades to previous AMRAAM missiles by increasing attack range, GPS navigation, inertial measurement units and a two-way data link, Raytheon statements explain.
“The new AIM-120D uses a better seeker and is more maneuverable with better countermeasures,” Merchant said.


F-22 lethality is also getting vastly improved through integration of new two-way LINK 16 data link connectivity between aircraft, something which will help expedite real-time airborne “collaborative targeting.”
“We have had LINK 16 receive, but we have not been able to share what is on the Raptor digitally. We have been doing it all through voice,” Merchant explained.
Having a digital ability to transmit fast-changing, combat relevant targeting information from an F-22 cockpit - without needing voice radios - lessens the risk associated with more “jammable” or “hackable” communications.


Newer F-22s have a technology called Synthetic Aperture Radar, or SAR, which uses electromagnetic signals or “pings” to deliver a picture or rendering of the terrain below, allowing better target identification.
The SAR technology sends a ping to the ground and then analyzes the return signal to calculate the contours, distance and characteristics of the ground below.
The F-22 is also known for its “super cruise” technology which enables the fighter to reach speeds of Mach 1.5 without needing to turn on its after burners. This enables the fighter to travel faster and farther on less fuel, a scenario which expands its time for combat missions.
The fighter jet fires a 20mm cannon and has the ability to carry and fire all the air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons including precision-guided ground bombs, such Joint Direct Attack Munitions called the GBU 32 and GBU 39.
It also uses what’s called a radar-warning receiver – a technology with an updateable database called “mission data files” designed to recognize a wide-range of enemy fighters, much like the F-35.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/bad-news-chin...075200463.html

[Swordsmyth]

It looks like Lilium’s bigs plans to launch a flying taxi service by 2025 might actually be on schedule.


A new clip posted online on Monday shows how far the company’s Lilium Jet has come in just a handful of months. When the company unveiled its egg-shaped, five-seat eVOTL aircraft in May, it also released footage of its first “successful” test flight. But that flight didn’t exactly impress, as the unmanned prototype simply took off and hovered in the air for a few seconds before landing. But now, it appears that the company’s jet is able to comfortably fly around an airfield at speeds in excess of 62 mph.


But that wasn’t the only big news the company had in store for industry watchers and enthusiasts. Lilium also announced the completion its first manufacturing facility, a 32,000-square-foot space located near its headquarters in Munich. Another larger facility is currently under construction and the company hopes to utilize them both to produce hundreds of Lilium Jets per year in the lead up to the service’s proposed 2025 launch date.
While we’ve recently seen other videos of eVOTLs executing successful test flights, it appears that Lilium has something of a head start on the competition. That will surely be needed, as the company has promised that the jet—powered by 36 engines—will have a range of 186 miles and be able to reach a top speed of 186 mph.

More at: https://robbreport.com/motors/aviati...evtol-2875928/

[Swordsmyth]

Flying cars are fine -- but why use a car when you can have a motorcycle instead? YC-backed startup JetPack Aviation wants to answer that question with the world's first flying motorcycle, a personal aircraft dubbed "The Speeder," a name that Star Wars fans will surely appreciate. Now, JetPack has raised a seed round of $2 million from investors indulging Draper Associates, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, YC, Cathexis Ventures and a group of angels that it says will fund the development of the Speeder's first functional prototype.
Back in March, JetPack revealed its plans for the Speeder, which it says will provide a fully stabilized ride that's either pilot-controlled or fully autonomous. It can take off and land vertically, and reach top speeds of potentially over 400 MPH. There are no exposed rotors systems, which make it a lot safer and easier to operate than a lot of other VTOL designs and helicopters, and the company says it can also be refueled in less than 5 minutes, which is a dramatically shorter turnaround time for powering up versus an electric vehicle.


More at: https://news.yahoo.com/jetpack-aviat...143846308.html

Maybe @Anti Federalist would want one too.

[r3volution 3.0]

I think I'd prefer that the army air force not have something called a Future Attack aircraft.

The Canadians aren't likely to invade, so ground support aircraft aren't really necessary.

...and, on the off chance they do, idiots (or contractors) got rid of the A-10s

And Future Attack makes me think they'll Attack me in the Future.

[Swordsmyth]

https://twitter.com/cctvidiots/statu...09520991969280