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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
in cases you didn't know Failed coup in Turkey threatens military ties with key U.S. ally
he Turkish defense minister will not fly to Washington on Wednesday to attend a key meeting of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State, the latest sign that the Pentagon’s military relationship with the key Middle Eastern ally may be suffering in the wake of the failed coup attempt there last week.

Pentagon officials say that Turkish Defense Minister Fikri Işık will not attend the meeting hosted by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Carter will convene dozens of top military officials from allied nations at the Air Force base to discuss the 2-year-old mission to oust the Islamic State form Iraq and Syria.

Turkey is a key ally because the U.S. and its partners rely on the use of Incirlik Air Base near the Syrian border to mount daily airstrikes on Islamic State militants, also known as ISIS or ISIL. And the U.S is pressuring the Turks to seal their border with Syria to cut off ISIS’s primary supply route to the outside world.

Yet communication between the U.S. and Turkish military has been limited since the Turkish military attempted to take over the democratically elected government on Friday. Pentagon officials say Carter and his Turkish counterpart have not spoken. Instead, lower-level communications between the two militaries have focused on logistical concerns.

“We've been in conversations specifically about the takeoffs and landings, the recovery of our aircraft at Incirlik,” Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Monday. “So it's been operational. It's about safety and security.”

The coup attempt prompted Turkey to temporarily halt the flight of all military aircraft from Incirlik, but U.S. combat and intelligence aircraft resumed Sunday.

Electrical power for Incirclik was cut off during the coup attempt Friday. A backup generator is providing power for the U.S. facilities there that support flight operations and the roughly 2,700 U.S. troops stationed there, U.S. defense officials said.

The Turkish military's leadership is in turmoil. The Turkish commander at Incirlik was reportedly arrested in the wake of the failed coup, along with hundreds of other general and flag officers across the country. Turkish civilian authorities have reportedly entered the base at Incirlik to conduct searches.

It's widely believed that the U.S. maintains an arsenal of small "tactical" nuclear weapons at the base.

Cook declined to comment on the nuclear weapons or the impact that the arrests might have on the relationship between the U.S. and Turkish militaries.

Carter is not concerned about a lack of communication with the defense minister of a key ally, Cook said.

“I think it's fair to say that Turkish officials have been fairly busy with accounting for what's happened the last few days,” Cook said.
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FORBIN

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
CH-53K demonstrates maximum external lift

The Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion successfully carried out an external lift of a 27,000lb (12,247kg) payload at Sikorsky Aircraft’s Development Flight Test Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on June 23. The out-of-ground-effect (OGE) external load test was conducted 100ft (30.48m) above the ground while performing hover maneuvers that demonstrated the aircraft’s control authority. OGE is defined as an altitude greater than the helicopter’s main rotor diameter where power demand increase greatly due to loss of the benefit of ground effect.

The third YCH-53K recently joined the flight test program and a fourth King Stallion is on track to join the flight test program this summer. The King Stallion will provide the capability to carry a 27,000lb external load over 110nm (km) at 91.5 degrees F (33.1 degrees C) and an altitude of 3,000ft (914.4m).

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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
please somebody explain me what an anti-surface Sidewinder, with like twenty pounds warhead, will be good for:
Raytheon plans to add more capability to AIM-9X Block II as USN boosts missile buy
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Raytheon is looking to add Block I's air-to-surface software into Block II
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I can't see the details (assuming they're behind paywall), that's why I'm asking

CONTRACTS


NAVY


Raytheon Co., Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is being awarded $291,750,539 for modification P00015 to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract (N00019-15-C-0092) for procurement of 660 AIM-9X Block II ...
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... etc. in
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Jura The idiot

Jura The idiot

General
FORBIN said:
And now KC-46 refuel a A-10
...
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... so All Is Well That Ends Well
? :)
KC-46 Moves Closer to Production Decision After Successful Flight Test
With the July 15 refueling of the A-10 Warthog, the KC-46A has officially completed all flight tests needed ahead of a milestone decision this August.

Now the tanker program can a request approval from Pentagon acquisition head Frank Kendall to move forward with a Milestone C decision for low rate initial production, the Air Force announced Monday evening. That approval would allow the Air Force to award a contract to Boeing for LRIP 1 and 2, which amounts to 19 aircraft.

"Today's flight marks the final step we needed to see on the boom fix in order to request production go-ahead,” Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, the Air Force program executive officer for tankers, said in a statement. “Our joint team's tireless efforts are paying off, preparing us for the next step of this critical need to our warfighter."

During the A-10 refueling, the KC-46A transferred 1,500 pounds of fuel to the Warthog, according to the Air Force. It previously conducting refueling demonstrations with the C-17 Globemaster II and F-16, which use the air refueling boom, with the F/A-18 Hornet and AV-8B Harrier — Navy and Marine Corps aircraft that use a probe and drogue system — and with another KC-46.

The Air Force announced the successful refueling of the C-17 and F-16 last week, a boon to the program after it was found that the KC-46 boom had difficulties refueling heavier aircraft such as the C-17. That problem contributed to a delay that pushed a Milestone C decision from June to August, and the delivery of the first 18 certified tankers to the Air Force from August 2017 to January 2018.

The refueling boom has since been reworked and has conducted flight demonstrations since early July. The new design includes a bypass that helps control the flow of fuel when heavier aircraft are refueled.

“It is great to see the KC-46 boom back in action and the program moving forward to a production decision” said Col. John Newberry, the KC-46 system program manager.

Still unknown is exactly how the program delay will affect Boeing’s bottom line. Under the fixed-priced contract negotiated by the Air Force and Boeing, the service is responsible for up to $4.9 billion of the cost of developing the aircraft. Boeing must pay for any cost overruns in excess of that sum, and has already been hit with $1.5 billion in penalties.
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FORBIN

FORBIN

Lieutenant General
Registered Member
o All Is Well That Ends Well
? :)
KC-46 Moves Closer to Production Decision After Successful Flight Test
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Ok my Friend thinking maybe it is the last type to refuel, it is.

That problem contributed to a delay that pushed a Milestone C decision from June to August, and the delivery of the first 18 certified tankers to the Air Force from August 2017 to January 2018.
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But for delivered on time they need build very fast ! presumably the last date postponed, 08/2017 ?

First Sqn of 12 for McConnell AFB, 3 Sqns of 12 planned, also to Altus training base for tankers; later Seymour Johnson for AF Reserve and Portsmouth for ANG, first Sqns.
 
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