so, what's up with selecting Leon Panetta for CIA?
personally, the angle of "ignore the CIA they are useless" rings true given OB's rhetoric. It favors his idea that terrorism is at best a policing issue and not a serious threat. should be interesting to see how he does deal with Gitmo. Which of the following:
(1) the world takes the prisoners off our hands
(2) we just quietly relocate them across the US
(3) Gitmo fades away as an issue and remains open
BTW - does anyone read this?
http://www.newcriterion.com/posts.cfm/The-Limits-of-Realism-5387
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Russian Fifth Generation Fighter
The Russian development of a fifth generation fighter should be a wake up call for Obama and his new security team that the development of the F-22 and the new F-35 joint strike fighter is essential for the United States to maintain our dominance in airpower. Because of the recent decline in oil prices and the negative effects on there economy, Russia will be looking for additional dollars from other sources. One of the largest sources of foreign investments for Russia is their very large arms industry. They are one of the largest arms suppliers in the world and often sell these weapons to rogue states and enemies of the US. It is very possible this new advanced fighter will be sold to nations like Iran, Syria and Venezuela to name just a few. Maintaining our advancement in military technology will not come about my wishing it. It requires us to make the necessary investments in order to maintain our advantage. During the cold war Presidents of both parties worked with Congress for needed defense spending in order to provide the United States with the best defense possible. Let us hope our new president and congress understand that needed defense investments are essential for out nations security
Article
Getting Russia's 5th-Generation Fighter Off The Ground
Source: Military Periscope
Russia's military aerospace industry has spent more than a decade and half to develop an affordable, practical fifth-generation fighter aircraft with lean production costs. (For comparison, American fifth-generation fighters were introduced in 2005 with the Raptor.)
The new Russian aircraft are intended to replace the 25-year-old designs of the Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-27/Su-30MK-series. They are expected to be a Russian strategic counter to the technological challenge presented by the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor and F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter.
The program that is now expected to fit this requirement is a cooperative project led by the Sukhoi Design Bureau that will engage most of the major subsystem design bureaus of the Russian military aircraft industry. The project is designated as the PAK-FA, which stands for Perspektivnnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks - Frontovoi Aviatsyi, or Future Air System for Tactical Air Forces. The design bureau designation for the prototype is T-50.
Earlier Prototypes
The first T-50 prototype is in the initial stages of assembly at the Komsommolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KNAAPO) plant in the Russian Far East region of Kharabovsk, say Russian industry sources. The factory is said to have finished adapting the detailed design drawings provided to them last year, and "metal is now being cut at the KNAAPO facility."
However, the first flight of the aircraft has been delayed. Initial plans anticipated that flight would occur late in 2008, and this has now been pushed to sometime this year or perhaps into early 2010.
If the PAK-FA/T-50 program does get off the ground, both physically and figuratively, it would represent one step more than previous attempts by the Russian military aircraft industry to move to a next generation of fighter aircraft production.
Russian industry flew two next-generation fighter prototypes in 1997 and 2000, respectively – the Sukhoi S-37/Su-47 forward swept wing technology demonstrator and Mikoyan MFI 1.44 test bed (MFI is a Russian acronym meaning "multirole fighter"). However, these planes were both very heavy, high-cost, large wing area aircraft that were in the class of the F-22A or the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Their designs proved to be impractical for the modern combat requirements of the Russian air force and far too costly to put into production. Moreover, there was little chance that these aircraft would prove attractive to export clients, which is all but required to achieve the economies of scale needed for successful Russian arms programs.
The PAK-FA is a much smaller plane than the earlier fighters. It is supposed to weigh less than an Su-27 but more than a MiG-29. In the same fashion as the other two prototype designs, it is going to fly with almost none of the on-board systems that are supposed to be part of its final configuration.
According to a Russian industry statement, "the radar to be flown in the aircraft from the NIIP design bureau will a passive electronically scanning array (PESA) radar based on the same technology that is used in the Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flanker's Irbis-E radar. The next-generation active array (AESA) that program requirements call for is still some time in the future. The engines will be twin-mounted Saturn/Lyulka 117S modernized derivatives of the Su-27's AL-31F-Series 3 engine and not the next-generation AL-41F1." There will be few newly designed on-board systems in the avionics configuration, say other sources.
Industry officials in Russia have sought to downplay the absence of these major subsystems in the T-50 prototype with the following rationale: "Since the serial production covers a period of 30 years and 30 more years for operation, the engine and other systems will change considerably in the course of serial production. That is normal."
As a result, this means that the "insides" of the aircraft – the systems that really matter – will emerge some years after the first prototype flights.
Uncertainties over Components
In theory, a Russian fifth-generation fighter airplane that would actually be more than just a one-of-a-kind flying marvel, and might actually enter production, should provide a boost to those in the U.S. Air Force who are fighting for the procurement of additional F-22As. Yet, with the T-50 prototype bereft of all its new-age components and engines, there is little about the configuration of the Russian plane that represents much of a technological challenge to the Raptor.
Both Russian and American observers point out that there was a gap of almost 15 years between the flyoff of the YF-22 and YF-23 prototypes and the acceptance into service of operational F-22A aircraft. This lag was almost entirely due to the fact that the Lockheed Martin fighter also flew at first without any of its next-generation subsystems.
The PAK-FA is now poised to take a very similar route from first flight to operational service. The prototype will fly sometime within the next 12 to 18 months, but there will be a developmental gap between those flights and the emergence of a real radar, avionics and other subsystems that will stretch into 2016 or beyond.
Some Russian industry sources have intimated that the PAK-FA might be even delayed on purpose in order to give Sukhoi a chance to produce and sell the Su-35 Super Flanker – an aircraft bridging the old and new generations – to the Russian air force and foreign customers, This could buy time for the PAK-FA's systems to fully mature.
During a recent broadcast on Russian state television, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fielded questions phoned in by viewers. Asked about the PAK-FA program, Putin stated that Russia is "developing such airplanes and the work is going according to plan. I am certain that they will appear in the Russian armed forces and I would like that they appear on time."
However, what "on time" really means seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
Overcoming the PAK-FA's technological bottlenecks depends to no small degree on foreign partners joining the program -- and bringing much-needed funding with them. Having been neglected for years, Russia's electronics industry sector will require a significant infusion of investment capital so that it can produce the quantity of components needed for competitive pricing.
"The reality of the modern-day fighter business," explained one U.S. military aircraft specialist, means that "the label 'fifth-generation fighter' is more of a marketing gimmick" than a true definition of where an aircraft actually fits on some technological development scale. How the PAK-FA will be categorized and where it will fit on that scale is still uncertain. That will depend on when the new aircraft enters service and its configuration at that time.
Article
Getting Russia's 5th-Generation Fighter Off The Ground
Source: Military Periscope
Russia's military aerospace industry has spent more than a decade and half to develop an affordable, practical fifth-generation fighter aircraft with lean production costs. (For comparison, American fifth-generation fighters were introduced in 2005 with the Raptor.)
The new Russian aircraft are intended to replace the 25-year-old designs of the Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-27/Su-30MK-series. They are expected to be a Russian strategic counter to the technological challenge presented by the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor and F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter.
The program that is now expected to fit this requirement is a cooperative project led by the Sukhoi Design Bureau that will engage most of the major subsystem design bureaus of the Russian military aircraft industry. The project is designated as the PAK-FA, which stands for Perspektivnnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks - Frontovoi Aviatsyi, or Future Air System for Tactical Air Forces. The design bureau designation for the prototype is T-50.
Earlier Prototypes
The first T-50 prototype is in the initial stages of assembly at the Komsommolsk-na-Amure Aviation Production Association (KNAAPO) plant in the Russian Far East region of Kharabovsk, say Russian industry sources. The factory is said to have finished adapting the detailed design drawings provided to them last year, and "metal is now being cut at the KNAAPO facility."
However, the first flight of the aircraft has been delayed. Initial plans anticipated that flight would occur late in 2008, and this has now been pushed to sometime this year or perhaps into early 2010.
If the PAK-FA/T-50 program does get off the ground, both physically and figuratively, it would represent one step more than previous attempts by the Russian military aircraft industry to move to a next generation of fighter aircraft production.
Russian industry flew two next-generation fighter prototypes in 1997 and 2000, respectively – the Sukhoi S-37/Su-47 forward swept wing technology demonstrator and Mikoyan MFI 1.44 test bed (MFI is a Russian acronym meaning "multirole fighter"). However, these planes were both very heavy, high-cost, large wing area aircraft that were in the class of the F-22A or the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Their designs proved to be impractical for the modern combat requirements of the Russian air force and far too costly to put into production. Moreover, there was little chance that these aircraft would prove attractive to export clients, which is all but required to achieve the economies of scale needed for successful Russian arms programs.
The PAK-FA is a much smaller plane than the earlier fighters. It is supposed to weigh less than an Su-27 but more than a MiG-29. In the same fashion as the other two prototype designs, it is going to fly with almost none of the on-board systems that are supposed to be part of its final configuration.
According to a Russian industry statement, "the radar to be flown in the aircraft from the NIIP design bureau will a passive electronically scanning array (PESA) radar based on the same technology that is used in the Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flanker's Irbis-E radar. The next-generation active array (AESA) that program requirements call for is still some time in the future. The engines will be twin-mounted Saturn/Lyulka 117S modernized derivatives of the Su-27's AL-31F-Series 3 engine and not the next-generation AL-41F1." There will be few newly designed on-board systems in the avionics configuration, say other sources.
Industry officials in Russia have sought to downplay the absence of these major subsystems in the T-50 prototype with the following rationale: "Since the serial production covers a period of 30 years and 30 more years for operation, the engine and other systems will change considerably in the course of serial production. That is normal."
As a result, this means that the "insides" of the aircraft – the systems that really matter – will emerge some years after the first prototype flights.
Uncertainties over Components
In theory, a Russian fifth-generation fighter airplane that would actually be more than just a one-of-a-kind flying marvel, and might actually enter production, should provide a boost to those in the U.S. Air Force who are fighting for the procurement of additional F-22As. Yet, with the T-50 prototype bereft of all its new-age components and engines, there is little about the configuration of the Russian plane that represents much of a technological challenge to the Raptor.
Both Russian and American observers point out that there was a gap of almost 15 years between the flyoff of the YF-22 and YF-23 prototypes and the acceptance into service of operational F-22A aircraft. This lag was almost entirely due to the fact that the Lockheed Martin fighter also flew at first without any of its next-generation subsystems.
The PAK-FA is now poised to take a very similar route from first flight to operational service. The prototype will fly sometime within the next 12 to 18 months, but there will be a developmental gap between those flights and the emergence of a real radar, avionics and other subsystems that will stretch into 2016 or beyond.
Some Russian industry sources have intimated that the PAK-FA might be even delayed on purpose in order to give Sukhoi a chance to produce and sell the Su-35 Super Flanker – an aircraft bridging the old and new generations – to the Russian air force and foreign customers, This could buy time for the PAK-FA's systems to fully mature.
During a recent broadcast on Russian state television, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin fielded questions phoned in by viewers. Asked about the PAK-FA program, Putin stated that Russia is "developing such airplanes and the work is going according to plan. I am certain that they will appear in the Russian armed forces and I would like that they appear on time."
However, what "on time" really means seems to be in the eye of the beholder.
Overcoming the PAK-FA's technological bottlenecks depends to no small degree on foreign partners joining the program -- and bringing much-needed funding with them. Having been neglected for years, Russia's electronics industry sector will require a significant infusion of investment capital so that it can produce the quantity of components needed for competitive pricing.
"The reality of the modern-day fighter business," explained one U.S. military aircraft specialist, means that "the label 'fifth-generation fighter' is more of a marketing gimmick" than a true definition of where an aircraft actually fits on some technological development scale. How the PAK-FA will be categorized and where it will fit on that scale is still uncertain. That will depend on when the new aircraft enters service and its configuration at that time.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
SPQR Bread!!!
Yes, a post about bread! PBS regularly airs a program called, "Secrets of the Dead." An episode called, "Herculaneum Uncovered" recently aired. Herculaneum was a Roman era sister-city to Pompeii that was also completely destroyed and covered by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. The hosts go deep behind the scenes showing areas and artifacts not accessible to the public. One of the coolest things they have is a Roman loaf of bread that is almost 2,000 years old. Pretty unique archaeological finding, no? You can see the whole program here. You can view the loaf of bread at the beginning of chapter 3. It is worth checking out. 
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
You say tomato...
Interesting article from Timesonline's David Aaronovitch about the conflict in Israel. When its all said and done, "Will the Israeli action advance or hinder any movement towards a long-term solution in the area, or have we all given up on that?" I do think that there will be a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians during the first term of the Obama administration due to demographics. The Israelis, U.S. and Sunni neighbors (Saudis, Jordanians and Egypt) figure you need to smash Hamas: 1) in order to get them to agree to a settlement as well as deal a blow to Iranian led Shia encroachment. That explains why reaction was pretty muted on the first day as well as to why Egypt didn't open their border.
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