UK Defence Forum

Another f35 dwn, seems to be becoming a regular occurrence

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-for ... y-landing/

A10 practicing road operations

Boeing has revealed a concept stealthy cargo / Air-Air refueling aircraft.
I get the AAR, but do you really need a stealth cargo plane? Maybe a small plane for deploying SF, but C-130 or larger?

Plus its Boeing, so you know it won't be built properly


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/s ... -by-boeing

Little J wrote: ↑27 Jan 2023, 15:14 Boeing has revealed a concept stealthy cargo / Air-Air refueling aircraft.
I get the AAR, but do you really need a stealth cargo plane? Maybe a small plane for deploying SF, but C-130 or larger?

Plus its Boeing, so you know it won't be built properly


https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/s ... -by-boeing

Is more a cargo plane in the same sence Voyager is ?

as its still a concept, I'd guess its still 50/50 on what it is

I paid a visit to MARTAC last month:

(Washington Post) 4th February 2023

First ever confirmed kill by the $67.3 billion F-22 Raptor program is a stray Chinese "spy balloon", shot down over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after it passed across the entire continental United States...


^ Fake btw...

[VIDEO] U.S. Pacific Fleet by Admiral Sam Paparo

Interview with Admiral Sam Paparo, US Pacific Fleet Commander

What is PACFLEET

What are the challenges (spoiler: China, Russia, North Korea...)

Key partners in the region ,,,,,

Importance of large exercises

Social media reports of a train crash in the US releasing large quantities of toxic waste...

There appears to be a news blackout.

*I'm at work, so can't check properly

Who’d of thought..

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/02 ... e-wingmen/

The Air Force is studying whether drone wingmen flying alongside piloted fighter aircraft could be controlled by operators in nearby battle management aircraft or refueling tankers, according to Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown.

The future fleet of collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, as the service calls the concept, could involve them being partially guided from nearby aircraft such as the KC-46 Pegasus or E-7 Wedgetail, Brown said in a discussion at the Brookings Institution on Monday.

Little J wrote: ↑13 Feb 2023, 20:31 Social media reports of a train crash in the US releasing large quantities of toxic waste...

There appears to be a news blackout.

*I'm at work, so can't check properly

The crash happened on Feb 3rd, there's been coverage both local and national and multiple local press conferences about it. There's not a cover-up so much as there is media apathy towards train derailments, which let to little attention early on. As the effects of chemical spill have gotten worse, more attention as been paid.

Some serious chemicals involved in the spill, and reports of dead fish, chickens and wildlife. The locals understandably are concerned for their own health.

Halidon wrote: ↑16 Feb 2023, 03:04

Little J wrote: ↑13 Feb 2023, 20:31 Social media reports of a train crash in the US releasing large quantities of toxic waste...

There appears to be a news blackout.

*I'm at work, so can't check properly

The crash happened on Feb 3rd, there's been coverage both local and national and multiple local press conferences about it. There's not a cover-up so much as there is media apathy towards train derailments, which let to little attention early on. As the effects of chemical spill have gotten worse, more attention as been paid.

Besides the obvious cost of repair and cleanup the company gifted $25000 to local residents or $5 each resident pathetic

On Feb. 6, an apocalyptic plume of gas rose over the village of East Palestine, Ohio, blotting out the sky. Norfolk Southern, the US railway company responsible for the toxic spew of vinyl chloride, has now offered a $25,000 donation to assist the area’s nearly 5,000 residents who were ordered to evacuate their homes, or face death.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/norfolk- ... 00640.html

Another rare / exclusive access: I could see up-close an MQ-4C Triton last month (but I couldn't really film it on my own nor walk around it...)

Boeing is to end production of the F/A 18 Super Hornet in 2025.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 023-02-23/

Will congress let them this time?

[VIDEO] Interview with VADM Brad Cooper, @US5thFleet
during #IDEX2023
#TaskForce59 achieved full operational capability
100 unmanned vehicles by the summer
Integration of USV from &
Cooperation with and
Forward basing of LCS

https://www.ga-asi.com/ga-asi-continues ... ot-support

SAN DIEGO – 06 March 2023 – General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is pleased to continue supporting the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) LongShot program. LongShot changes the paradigm of air combat operations by demonstrating an unmanned air-launched vehicle capable of employing air-to-air weapons.

Current air superiority concepts rely on advanced manned fighter aircraft to provide a penetrating counter air capability to effectively deliver weapons. It is envisioned that LongShot will increase the survivability of manned platforms by allowing them to be at standoff ranges far away from enemy threats, while an air-launched LongShot unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) efficiently “closes the gap” to take more effective missile shots.

Video on my visit aboard USS Cooperstown

We once had a program to make some of these..

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/03 ... celerates/

AURORA, Colorado — The Air Force is ramping up plans for incorporating drone wingmen into its fleet, and envisions 1,000 of the so-called collaborative combat aircraft in service as it sketches out ideas.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Tuesday that the service will ask Congress for funding in the fiscal 2024 budget to move forward with the CCA program, as well as the Next Generation Air Dominance program of futuristic fighter aircraft, so it can map out how it will operate, organize and support these new systems.


In his keynote address at the Air and Space Force Association’s AFA Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, Tuesday, Kendall said he and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown told planners to assume the service might acquire 1,000 CCAs. Under this model, the Air Force would acquire two CCAs for each of 200 NGAD platforms, and two for each of 300 F-35s, Kendall said.

[VIDEO] Cmdr. Steven S Whitworth, Commanding Officer, USS Sioux City (LCS 11) discusses the Freedom type Littoral Combat Ship recent deployments to US 4th, 5th and 6th Fleet area of operations.
He also discusses how the LCS design makes a good mothership for unmanned systems and a good platform for counter drug operations.