The sky-high aircraft and aviation thread

Oh damn. I can't wait for those droni-fied F-16s and the like to show up at Red Flag or some similar exercise and give the hotshot pilots a shock. Outmaneuver this...

The Lockheed Martin’s F-35’s newest snag doesn’t come from a technological issue, but an international policy problem, according to the director of the US Air Force’s F-35A Integration Office.

In order for the aircraft to become fully operational across the nine partner nations and three foreign military sales customers participating in the program, the F-35 must be able to share data in a cloud-based architecture, Maj. Gen. Jeff Harrigian said at an Air Force Association event Thursday. These mission data files, which are meant to be common across the US services and its allies, allow aircrews to make critical decisions, including identifying friend or foe.

But sovereignty issues and concerns over where data comes from have hindered that flow of information among international partners, he said. That lack of a common operating picture has become a sticking point for the program, one that even the Air Force’s chief of Air Combat Command, Gen. Herbert Carlisle, has pointed to as a significant issue, according to Harrigian.

“What will be critically important going forward is how we get data off this airplane, and it’s something that we’ve struggled with,” Harrigian said. “I will tell you Gen. Carlisle put his finger in my chest and said we’ve got to figure this out.”

The ability to accurately identify weapons, adversaries and friendly forces will rely on coherent data sharing, US Air Force Col. Max Marosko, deputy director of air and cyberspace operations for Pacific Air Forces, said Thursday. Without synchronized mission data files, allied forces may not see the same picture in the sky and be able to make a decision.

“Given an example of Brit F-35s in one lane and US F35s in another lane, if our databases aren’t synchronized you’re going to end up with conflicting identification using, which could delay employment and put the force at more risk,” he said. “We can ensure we’re all on the same playing field and we don’t have any identification problems that could most likely lead to a lack of shooting and putting the pilots at more risk. That’s an important thing to consider.”

With its advanced boom refuelling system for the A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) having achieved full operational capability, Airbus Defence & Space has turned its attention to trialling an automatic mode for the fly-by-wire controlled structure.

“We have finalised all of the activities in the simulator, and have already had some flight trials, without contact [with a Lockheed Martin F-16],” says head of engineering Miguel Angel Morrell. “The next step is to do the contact,” he adds. This activity – to be performed using the company’s A310 MRTT demonstrator – is expected to occur around the end of 2016. If these trials are successful, the company will advance to operating the system in fully automatic mode.

Operation of the boom is currently a manual task performed by a qualified “boomer”, but the technology being trialled involves the use of real-time video and image processing to track a receiver aircraft’s exact position.

Under the Airbus concept, the operator will control the boom manually – including commanding its extension – until it has been positioned within a required area, close to the receiver aircraft. At this point, its automatic mode would be engaged to complete the contact procedure.

“Once in contact it’s hands-free to operate, until manual disconnect,” Morrell says.

Airbus says use of such an automatic capability would result in “improvements in operational and safety aspects” of air-to-air refuelling, and also save time during the process.

Existing A330 MRTT operator the Royal Australian Air Force has already expressed interest in the enhancement, Morrell says, although the operator does not yet have a firm requirement to field such an advance.

The Royal Air Force’s VIP-roled Airbus Defence & Space A330 Voyager has been revealed ahead of its first deployment – transporting the UK defence secretary Michael Fallon to a NATO summit in Warsaw on 8 July.

The specially adapted Voyager (ZZ336) has been configured with 58 business-class seats, rather than the usual 291 economy seats.

Announced as part of the UK government's Strategic Defence and Security Review in November 2015, the modification is claimed to be “significantly cheaper” than chartering flights for government officials or the royal family.

It will still be able to function as a tanker, and will reside at RAF Brize Norton alongside the rest of the Voyager fleet. The VIP configuration will be able to be fitted to any of the other A330s in the RAF inventory, should ZZ336 be out of service.

“The refitting of this RAF Voyager – to transform it from a standard air-to-air refuelling and air transport to an aircraft suitable for the additional role of VIP transport – was completed quickly and efficiently with our AirTanker partners,” says Air Marshal Sean Reynolds, deputy commander of capability for the air force. “The reconfigured Voyager flying on its maiden VIP flight on Friday will proudly represent the UK and the RAF across the globe for many years to come.”

The service has so far received 13 of an eventual 14 aircraft under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract, with the final delivery expected later this month. Nine Voyagers are part of the core fleet, while the remainder are “surge” aircraft that can be leased for other roles such as civilian passenger transport.

Aircraft number 13 was converted into a civilian configuration after its February delivery, and the final aircraft from the contract will receive the same modification.

Pilatus has delivered its 1,400th PC-12, around 22 years after the first example of the single-engined turboprop entered service.

The all-metal PC-12NG was handed over on 27 May to an unnamed US customer. This example is the third iteration of the 10-seat aircraft, introduced by the Swiss airframer in January. Priced at $4.9 million, this latest NG features better take-off and climb performance, more cabin comfort, greater range and speed and a quieter cabin.

Since the NG’s introduction in 2008, more than 630 units have been shipped, and the fleet has accumulated more than one million flying hours, says Pilatus. The entire PC-12 fleet, however, has amassed 5.6 million flight hours, it adds.

Annual deliveries of the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-powered type have remained consistently strong over the last decade, hitting a record 100 units in 2009, according to statistics from the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. The market remains buoyant: in the first quarter of 2016, Pilatus shipped 16 aircraft, compared with seven during the same period last year, it reports.

The majority of PC-12s have been sold in a passenger transportation role, with private, corporate, charter and fractional operators making up the bulk of its customers.

Ignaz Gretener, vice-president of Pilatus’s general aviation division, describes the handover as an “exciting milestone”.

“While much attention has recently been focused on the new PC-24 jet,” he says, “the PC-12 is still the backbone of our general aviation business.”

Launched in 2013, the PC-24 is Pilatus’s first foray into the business jet market. The superlight twin is scheduled for certification and service entry in 2017.

Story reported there have been over 150 incidents since the "early 1990s" of commercial (pax and cargo) aircraft starting to land at the wrong airport in the U.S. - of which 35 continued to a landing; the other crews caught their error while still on approach and went around.