Mod. Notice Technological advances in weaponry

[CD Xbow]

An F35B has become a ghost plane and as yet has not been found. Pilot ejected OK.

F-35 Can't Be Found After Pilot Ejected (Updated)

The USMC F-35B may have traveled in a 'zombie state' after the pilot ejected, leaving its whereabouts unknown.

www.thedrive.com

 

[Mofra]

An F35B has become a ghost plane and as yet has not been found. Pilot ejected OK.

F-35 Can't Be Found After Pilot Ejected (Updated)

The USMC F-35B may have traveled in a 'zombie state' after the pilot ejected, leaving its whereabouts unknown.

www.thedrive.com

IIRC we lost a Hornet years ago that became a ghost plane too - the pilot ripped off their mask after heavy maneuvers just north of Darwin/Tindal, lost consciousness, and just flew off into the sunset (military pilots ensure their aircraft is 'trimmed and balanced' at all times so they can maintain a steady altitude and direction in the event of a loss of consciousness)

 

[CD Xbow]

IIRC we lost a Hornet years ago that became a ghost plane too - the pilot ripped off their mask after heavy maneuvers just north of Darwin/Tindal, lost consciousness, and just flew off into the sunset (military pilots ensure their aircraft is 'trimmed and balanced' at all times so they can maintain a steady altitude and direction in the event of a loss of consciousness)

I didn't know we lost one that way. IIRC the Hornets had a good safety record. At least in this case the pilot ejected, though the reasons for that have not been reported. Been a few air tags memes about finding the F35B.

 

[CD Xbow]

CoA have cancelled the purchase of further Schiebals Camcopter-s-100 rotacraft. RAN have six already and during the caretaker mode of the last gov, Mr Dutton made the rather unusual decision to purchase a whole swag more without going to tender. Both the choice and process were criticised at the time.

Australia Cans Planned CAMCOPTER S-100 Acquisition - Naval News

Australia has quietly canned a planned sole source acquisition of the Schiebel CAMCOPTER S-100 nearly 16 months after selecting the system...

www.navalnews.com

 

[CD Xbow]

Forbes have an article why it will be hard for the PRC to sink a US Carrier. The author mention how hard it would be to sink a carrier, which is true, but fails to mention how much easier it would be to render them 'not mission capable' by something disturbing the flight deck.

Why China Would Be Hard-Pressed To Target U.S. Aircraft Carriers In A Pacific War

China would have great difficulty completing the "kill chain" required to disable a U.S. supercarrier.

www.forbes.com

 

[CD Xbow]

Article in the Warzone talks about USN plans to deploy larger drones from the decks of their ships, not the carrier.

Navy Looking To Operate Air Combat Drones From Wide Range Of Ships

The Navy is looking for ways to launch and recover advanced drones from aboard everything from expeditionary sea bases to destroyers.

www.thedrive.com

There is an interesting video in the comments about the Brodie system, which was a WWII method of 'catching' a small manned recon plane with a elevated hook on a ship. This is done today with some drones. Vid below:

 

[CD Xbow]

Artillery is king of the battlefield, and the king is getting a big upgrade. Boeing have developed a guided 155mm artillery round powered by a small ramjet engine. Range is unknown but peculation is it's 70km or more. Ramjets only work when in motion, and in this instance the explosive artillery shell provides the velocity for the ramjet to work.

This Is A Ramjet Artillery Shell Right As It's Fired Out Of A Howitzer

A ramjet artillery shell has flown further than ever before and could more than double the range of existing and future 155mm howitzers.

www.thedrive.com

Raytheon and BAE Systems are also working on competing designs. Raytheon's round is another ramjet-powered type, while BAE Systems' shell is a so-called saboted concept that involves releasing a smaller projectile after launch that flies at a very high velocity.

 

[CD Xbow]

USN Ensign Andrew Song writes an interesting piece about the search for the Argentinian Sub, ARA San Juan (S-42), that was lost in 2017. It took a year to locate the wreck. For a few reasons, submarine rescue nearly always fails.

The fraught task of submarine rescue | The Australian Naval Institute

navalinstitute.com.au

 

[Mofra]

USN Ensign Andrew Song writes an interesting piece about the search for the Argentinian Sub, ARA San Juan (S-42), that was lost in 2017. It took a year to locate the wreck. For a few reasons, submarine rescue nearly always fails.

The fraught task of submarine rescue | The Australian Naval Institute

navalinstitute.com.au

Mates doing sub-survival training in the 90s were told outright "we just make you do this training so your parents feel better"

 

[CD Xbow]

Mates doing sub-survival training in the 90s were told outright "we just make you do this training so your parents feel better"

Yes, that seems a realistic take. Personally I couldn't think of a worse place to die. Burn, drown or suffocate, the best would be a very rapid decompression due to hull failure.

 

[CD Xbow]

In this long and scholarly article researchers and students from UNSW Canberra describe a design for a recoverable sonobuoy hybrid UAV for continuous use from the maritime patrol P-8. After release from the plane the craft dives into the see and works like a conventional sonobuoy then after a period of time resurfaces, takes off and is 'caught' by the plane. Sonobuoys are one use devices and limited in numbers, this gets around those limitations. The poor quality picture below illustrates the path:

Students design UAV to target undersea threats | The Australian Naval Institute

navalinstitute.com.au

 

[CD Xbow]

I posted about the Strix before, it's a reasonably large VTOL UAV that packs into a shipping crate. It has just finished it's design review and a prototype will be built to fly in 2024. Strix is a joint project between BAE and Innovaero, a WA company.

Aussie BAE Systems new VTOL long-range drone STRIX passes design review, in static testing - Breaking Defense

After a successful "ePrototype," company is building a full-scale prototype of STRIX and "propulsion testing has taken place on a static rig at our Henderson shipyard in Western Australia," BAE Systems Australia said.

breakingdefense.com

More on the Ghost Shark from the Financial Review

Ghost Shark robot sub circles Australian suppliers

As a major naval expo gets under way in Sydney, local suppliers are being signed up to build Australia’s first robot submarine.

www.afr.com

Finally, BAE have released a design for an up gunned Hunter derivative, that feels a bit more Tier 1 than Tier 2.

BAE Offers Evolved, Up-armed Hunter for Australia - Naval News

BAE is offering an up-armed, evolved variant of the Hunter class frigate to the Royal Australian Navy, as the Navy looks to increase its lethality.

www.navalnews.com

 

[CD Xbow]

Navantia are covering all the bases for the RAN, a powerful corvette, a 5000t frigate and something that at 10,000 tons should be called a cruiser but is named a destroyer.

https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/indo-pacific-2023/2023/11/navantia-shows-tasman-corvette-and-destroyer-aimed-at-ran/

With double the VLS and antiship missiles that the Anzac carry the Tasman class corvette is a pretty powerful beast but Navy folks tell me corvettes generally don't have the legs the RAN requires. I haven't seen any specifications of the class.

Xavier from Naval News takes his splendid accent to Indo-Pacific 2023 and looks at all the new toys on offer by Navantia, BAE, TKMS and Gibbs and Cox. These designs have followed the recent defence strategic review.

 

[CD Xbow]

Another robot the ADF has helped develop but have not yet acquired, the AUV Spearfish.

https://www.navalnews.com/event-news/indo-pacific-2023/2023/11/c2-robotics-speartooth-luuv-hits-capability-milestones-at-navys-autonomous-warrior-event/

I don't think it's time to dilly dally, I hope we soon hear details of production and deployment of the Ghost Bat (MQ28), the Ghost Shark AUV, Syspaq drones, this Spearfish AUV and others.

 

[Werewolf]

First side view images of the B21 Raider have been seen in pubic, and surprise, surprise, it looks much like the old B2

B-21 Raider Seen Like Never Before In New Images

We have just been given our first side view of Northrop Grumman's B-21 Raider stealth bomber, an aircraft that remains cloaked in secrecy.

www.thedrive.com

The B-21 has just flown (successfully) for the first time yesterday:

B-21 Raider Has Flown For The First Time (Updated)

On Friday, November 10, at just after dawn, the B-21 Raider took to the skies over Palmdale's Plant 42, marking its first flight.

www.thedrive.com

 

[CD Xbow]

The B-21 has just flown (successfully) for the first time yesterday:

B-21 Raider Has Flown For The First Time (Updated)

On Friday, November 10, at just after dawn, the B-21 Raider took to the skies over Palmdale's Plant 42, marking its first flight.

www.thedrive.com

So far a pretty successful development cycle. Shame about the price - said to be $750 million a plane. About the same price as building & equipping a decent sized hospital.

 

[CD Xbow]

Everybody doin' it. Austal have released a proposal for their Tier2 'Lethal Cape' patrol boat with a quad launcher for the NSM and an autocannon. It's not clear if the current Cape class are upgradable to this spec. No air defence. I think Tier 2 vessels should be able to defend against a range of air attacks so I am putting these in the Tier 3 bucket. The RAN describe the Anzacs as Tier 2 and they have a substantial radar, a proper combat system and medium range air defence. That's Tier 2, not an up gunned patrol boat.

Austal Unveils Missile-Toting 'Lethal Cape-class' Patrol Boat

Australian shipbuilder Austal proposes "Lethal Cape" fitted with antiship missiles and autocannon to match RAN Tier 2-requirement.

www.navalnews.com

 

[CD Xbow]

​

Article from Naval News describing the early attempts by AUKUS partners developing a common control system for drones. This was trialled at the recent Autonomous Warrior exercises. One USV used is the Ocuis Bluebottle, pictured above, a long duration USV that can be equipped with a sonar. The RAN has a few of them, even the RNZN is trialling one, hence the markings on this one.

AUKUS Partners to Develop Common Control System for Drones - Naval News

During Exercises off the Australian Coast the AUKUS partners progressed the goal of an AUKUS Common Control System.

www.navalnews.com

In one part of the exercise the Bluebottles, equipped with Thales Australia’s Blue Sentry thin-line towed array sonars, worked with USVDIV-1 vessels to track and isolate a Saab AUV62 submarine simulator. In collaboration with a C2 Robotics Sabertooth, they then cued RAN MH-60R Romeo helicopters which further prosecuted the contact. All-in-all, CDRE Kavanagh said, working together the systems were “super capable” in the ASW role.

Also from Naval News an article which is an answer to the question, what is the future of the USN?

https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/11/rand-what-the-u-s-navy-really-needs-by-dr-scott-savitz/

If you don't want to read the article, I can give you a one word answer - ROBOTS!

 

[CD Xbow]

The Roadrunner, a reusable, multipurpose, twin-jet-powered platform that boasts high subsonic speed and takes off and lands vertically. Made by Anduril, they are the folks building the ghost shark USV for the RAN

Roadrunner Reusable Anti-Air Interceptor Breaks Cover

Roadrunner can takeoff from its 'nest' vertically, loiter until a drone or missile threat pops up, and destroy it, or return and land if not.

www.thedrive.com

 

[CD Xbow]

Over the last couple of years USAF stealth aircraft have been spotted in test flights with reflective or dark materials on some of their surfaces. These appeared to be a material applied as a film. The most likely explanation is it is some sort of 'stealth' film that affects the optical and thermal emissions from the craft. For the first time an F35C 'in the wild' has been seen operating from an aircraft carrier with these material applied.

F-35C With Mirror-Like Coating Photographed Aboard Carrier

The mirror-like coatings have appeared on F-22s, F-35s, and F-117s, but this is the first time we have seen them in the carrier environment.

www.thedrive.com

Most likely they are testing a metamaterial like this:

Graphene ‘smart surfaces’ now tunable for visible spectrum

Researchers at The University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute have created optical devices with a unique range of tunability, covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light.A paper published in Nature Photonics outlines applications for this ‘smart surface’...

www.manchester.ac.uk

 

[CD Xbow]

Not a technological advance of weaponry, rather a quantum leap in stupidity. The Taipan helicopters have been a disaster in ADF service for a number of reasons including capability shortfalls, difficult to maintain and costly to run - allegedly $50,000 per hour, much dearer than an F35. I have no problem with the ADF getting rid of them but I do have problems with them cutting them up and disposing of them as land fill. They could be resold at many millions of dollars per craft. I think the ADF hoped this would pass unnoticed at xmas.

UPDATED: Ukraine requests unwanted Army Taipan helicopters - APDR

Technicians are currently – and in secret – disassembling all 45 Army Taipan Multi Role Helicopters

asiapacificdefencereporter.com

Note - the article is written by Kym Bergman who has been a shill for the craft for a long time. I'm sure the manufacturers spend a lot of money advertising in the APDR. If you read the the comments you will find many negative comments about the craft by serviceman.

 

[Andre]

Not a technological advance of weaponry, rather a quantum leap in stupidity. The Taipan helicopters have been a disaster in ADF service for a number of reasons including capability shortfalls, difficult to maintain and costly to run - allegedly $50,000 per hour, much dearer than an F35. I have no problem with the ADF getting rid of them but I do have problems with them cutting them up and disposing of them as land fill. They could be resold at many millions of dollars per craft. I think the ADF hoped this would pass unnoticed at xmas.

UPDATED: Ukraine requests unwanted Army Taipan helicopters - APDR

Technicians are currently – and in secret – disassembling all 45 Army Taipan Multi Role Helicopters

asiapacificdefencereporter.com

Note - the article is written by Kym Bergman who has been a shill for the craft for a long time. I'm sure the manufacturers spend a lot of money advertising in the APDR. If you read the the comments you will find many negative comments about the craft by serviceman.

They are shit, but I bet the Ukrainians would still jump at the chance to get their hands on them. Stupidity and timidity (afraid to get out ahead of other countries, by supplying attack helicopters) combined.

 

[CD Xbow]

They are s**t, but I bet the Ukrainians would still jump at the chance to get their hands on them. Stupidity and timidity (afraid to get out ahead of other countries, by supplying attack helicopters) combined.

Seems that may happen after an 'outcry'.

UPDATED: Ukraine requests unwanted Army Taipan helicopters - APDR

Technicians are currently – and in secret – disassembling all 45 Army Taipan Multi Role Helicopters

asiapacificdefencereporter.com

 

[CD Xbow]

The CoA has announced $400 million to develop 3 block II prototype Ghost Bats and further develop other aspects, mostly the AI.

Aussies add $400M AUD for Boeing’s Ghost Bat loyal wingman, to unveil an armed UAV this year - Breaking Defense

“I won't go into details of the nature of that drone for security reasons,” Pat Conroy told reporters in Canberra. "But I want to assure everyone in this country that we are spending lots of time working on drones."

breakingdefense.com

'“This investment will build three new next-generation Block 2 Ghost Bats. They will have an enhanced design and improved capabilities. This funding boost will enable a focus on developing sensor and mission payloads and integrated combat system and autonomous systems,” Conroy said today. “But the majority of the funding will go into developing the unique Australian technology that allows the Ghost Bats to work together with each other and with crewed aircraft as one team to achieve their mission.”

 

[CD Xbow]

US Army is cancelling it's project to develop a new light attack helicopter. The recent war in Ukraine has shown how vulnerable these slow moving rotary platforms are, many of the missions will be done by drones in the future.

Cancelling The Future Attack Recon Helicopter Was The Right Choice By The Army

The vastness of the Pacific, modern air defenses, advances in drone technology, and lessons learned in Ukraine left a shrinking case for FARA.

www.twz.com

Saw this interesting video of a MRBM target being launched from a palate out the back of a C17, the middle bit has the SM6 interceptor launching (the slow motion vid is amazing) and finally the interception.