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Vi posto l'inizio di un interessante articolo, ecco il link, http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/the-ua...4538/#more-4538 riguardante l'F16E/F Desert Falcon, che viene ormai proposto, dalla stessa LM, come una sorta di F35 dei poveri.
Che ne pensate?
The F-16 has become what its designers intended it to be: a worthy successor to the legendary P-51 Mustang whose principles of visibility, agility, and pilot-friendliness informed its design. It is no exaggeration to call it the defining fighter of its age, the plane that many people around the world think of when they think “fighter.” The aircraft’s ability to handle future adversaries like the thrust-vectoring MiG-29OVT/35 and advanced surface-air missile systems is in question, but upgrades have kept F-16s popular. The planes have been produced in several countries around the world, thanks to licensing agreements, but this does not change their status as the American defense industry’s greatest success story of the last 40 years.
The most advanced F-16s in the world, however, are not American. That distinction belongs to the United Arab Emirates, whose F-16 E/F Block 60s are a generation ahead of the F-16 C/D Block 50/52+ aircraft that form the backbone of the US Air Force and many other fleets around the world. The Block 60 has been described as a lower-budget alternative to the forthcoming F-35A Joint Strike Fighter – and is being treated as such in countries like India and the Netherlands, as they contemplate their future fighter needs.
The UAE invested in the type’s development, and with that investment comes inevitable fielding, training, and equipping needs. This DID article showcases the F-16 E/F “Desert Falcon,” and offers a window into its associated costs. The latest item is a contract for AMRAAM missiles, which had been part of an earlier DSCA request…
The F-16 has now undergone 6 major block changes since its inception in the late 1970s, incorporating 4 generations of core avionics, 5 engine versions divided between 2 basic models (P&W F100 and GE F110), 5 radar versions, 5 electronic warfare suites, and 2 generations of most other subsystems. Moore’s Law applies as well, albeit more slowly: the latest F-16’s core computer suite has over 2,000 times the memory and over 260 times the throughput of the original production F-16.
Even so, each advance costs money to develop, integrate, and test. The UAE invested almost $3 billion of its money into research and development for the Desert Falcon. The aircraft’s conformal fuel tanks look a lot like the current Block 50/52 versions at first glance, but carry more fuel and allow a 40% range increase to give the planes a mission radius of 1,025 miles. They will feed GE’s new F110-GE-132 engine, which produces up to 32,500 lbs. of thrust to offset the plane’s increased weight. The engine is a derivative of the proven F110-GE-129, a 29,000-pound thrust class engine that powers the majority of F-16C fighters worldwide.
The Desert Falcons’ most significant changes, however, are electronic. The most important is the Northrtop Grumman AN/APG-80 AESA radar, which made the UAE the first air force in the world besides the USAF to field this revolutionary new radar technology. AESA radars have more power, better range, less sidelobe “leakage,” better reliability and much better combat availability, and more potential capabilities via software improvements, vs. mechanically-scanned arrays like the AN/APG-68v9s that equip the most advanced American and foreign F-16s. Unlike the APG-68s, the APG-80 can perform simultaneous ground and air scan, track, and targeting, and has an “agile beam” that reduces the odds of detection by opposing aircraft when the radar is on. This last feature is important – one pilot has described turning on one’s radar in combat as being similar to turning on a flashlight in a large and dark building.
The Desert Falcons also take a step beyond the targeting pod systems fielded on other F-16s, by incorporating them into the aircraft itself. Northrop Grumman’s AN/ASQ-32 IFTS is derived from its work on the AN/AQS-28 LITENING AT pod, but the internal positioning reduces drag and radar signature, and frees up a weapons pylon. The ASQ-32 can be used to find aerial targets, as well as opponents on the ground.
Various advanced electronic countermeasures systems make up the Falcon Edge Integrated Electronic Warfare System (IEWS), which provides both advance warning capabilities and automatic countermeasures release.
A helmet mounted display option provides advanced capabilities commensurate with their most modern counterparts, and displays information from the aircraft’s radar and sensors. Avionics improvements round out the enhancements via an advanced mission computer to enhance sensor and weapon integration, a trio of 5”x7” color displays in the cockpit, et. al.
The first flight of the F-16E/F was made in December 2003. Flight testing by Lockheed Martin began in early 2004 and is continuing with three F-16F models. UAE pilot training on the F-16E/F began at Tucson Air National Guard Base, AZ in September 2004, and the first group of pilots completed their training in April 2005. The first Desert Falcons arrived in the UAE in May 2005, and production continues. Versions of this aircraft have also been entered in a number of international competitions, including Brazil’s F-X2 (eliminated) and India’s MMRCA competition.
In the course of development, 2 key issues came up with respect to the F-16 Block 60. One was the familiar issue of source code control for key avionics and electronic warfare systems. The other was weapons carriage.
As a rule, the software source codes that program the electronic-warfare, radar, and data buses on US fighters are too sensitive for export. Instead, the USA sent the UAE “object codes” (similar to APIs), which allow them to add to the F-16’s threat library on their own.
The other issue concerned the Black Shahine derivative of MBDA’s Storm Shadow stealth cruise missile. The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) defines 300 km as the current limit for cruise missiles, and the terms of the sale allow the United States to regulate which weapons the F-16s can carry. Since the Black Shahine was deemed to have a range of over 300km, the US State Department refused to let Lockheed Martin change the data bus to permit the F-16E/Fs to carry the missile. It is believed that the Mirage 2000v9 upgrades the UAE has purchased from France will address this issue, giving the UAE a platform capable of handling their new acquisition.
L'articolo prosegue al link, qui diverrebbe troppo lungo.
Questo messaggio è stato modificato da intruder: 23 febbraio 2009 - 15:35
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Scritto il 24 febbraio 2009 - 08:48
