The Dragon's Tales

RQ-180:

Aviation Week has a surprisingly detailed article about the RQ-180.  This is the unmanned aircraft which may have been spotted last August.

6th Generation Fighters:

The USAF's NGAD has been redirected to promote the 'Digital Industrial Revolution' for manufacturing.

The USAF's NGAD has a PEO and has set up the program office in general.

The USAF's advanced engine plans have hit a funding snag.

The RAF's chief of staff has endorsed the American 'Digital Century series' fighter program.

The FCAS companies are urging their governments to move forward with the program.

France and German signed a deal regarding weapon exports.  The FCAS is probably one of the weapons covered.

KF-X:

The Korean led stealth fighter program will roll out its first prototype in the first half of 2021.

South Korea unveiled a mockup of the aircraft.

South Korea also showed off a mockup of the cockpit.

South Korea has stated it is open to foreign partners in the KF-X.

The whole program may be at risk though.

South Korea has started construction of the aircraft.

Su-57:


Russia has started MUM-T testing between the Ohotnik-B UAV and the Su-57:

Chinese Stealth Carrier-borne UAV:

China's reported plan to put a ISR drone on its carriers makes sense to some.

China's Sharp Sword carrier based UAV is claimed to be entering service by the end of the year.  It may be the aircraft may NOT be carrier based, but in service already.  It did get displayed at the October 1st military parade.

J-20:


The J-20 at a high AOA.

B-21:

The USAF has reactivated the 420th Bomber Wing for B-21 testing.

The B-21 first flight could be delayed.

Some are questioning whether or not the schedule for the B-21 can be kept.

First public flight is still aimed for Dec 2021.

B-2:

The USAF tweeted a photo of the B-2 stating it would be the last thing Area 51 Raiders would see if they had actually tried.  The USAF later apologized.

F-117:  

Who is flying the 'retired' F-117s?

F-35:

The F-35 is closer to IBCS integration.

The full rate production decision for the F-35 has been delayed by 13 months.

A USAF student pilot apparently saved a F-35A when the computer crashed in flight.

The official welcome ceremony was held for the 158th FW's first F-35A.

At least 13 F-35Bs embarked on the USS America to test the 'Lightning Carrier' concept.

A F-35 did some very impressive demo flying over San Francisco.

Australia is looking for a larger piece of the F-35 manufacturing pie.

British F-35Bs are off to operational carrier testing.  One was photographed in 'Beast Mode.'

Italy has deployed its F-35s to Iceland.  Take an up close and personal look.  They have completed their mission.

The Japanese will get their first aircraft carriers in 75 years, but the USMC will fly their F-35Bs off them first.

Netherlands will order 9 more F-35s.

Norway is having problems with the drag chute on its F-35As.

Poland has placed the F-35 front and center in its air force modernization plans.

South Korea showed off its F-35As to the public.

South Korea will also order 20 more F-35As.

South Korea awarded a contract for the design of a ship that can carry F-35Bs.

Lockheed has declared the F-35's stealth coating rock solid.

The offset projects promised by Lockheed for South Korea are progressing.

United Technologies won a $325.2M contract to support the F-35.

META:

Claims about passive radar are a bit overblown.

6th Generation Fighters:

BAe is exploiting 'syngeries' between the Typhoon and the Tempest.

BAe is imagining what the Tempest factory might be.

BAe is working on advanced cockpit controls that will inform on the Tempest.

MBDA showed off some of its work on Tempest.

Italy has signed a contract to study joining the Tempest project.

Is Italy joining the Tempest project actually a bad thing?

The FCAS vs Tempest: WHO! WILL! WIN! europe's budget.

The USAF may switch over to fast iterations of new fighters every 5 years.

F-3 Fighter:

The Japanese MoD is rumored to be placing the start of the F-3 program in the 2020 budget request.

Ohotnik-B:

The Russians are showing a model of the Ohotnik-B with a very different exhaust nozzle than the current aircraft.

Su-57:

Three Su-57s were spotted practicing for the MAKS 2019 airshow.

Development testing is supposed to be complete in 2019 for the Su-57.

The Su-57 was caught doing an interesting deployment of its drag chutes.

Turkey is considering buying Su-57s instead of F-35s.

Sukhoi unveiled the Su-57E, an export version of the Su-57.

An Su-57 was sent to Turkey as part of the airshow.

The impressive aerial display by an Su-57 gets discussed.

Chinese Loyal Wingman:

The Chinese showed off a Loyal Wingman concept at MAKS.

J-20:

A dubious report has come out that the J-20 will be the basis for the J-XY.

B-21:

Northrop is applying lessons learned from the B-2 to the B-21 program.

The B-21's first public flight route has been announced.

The USAF will probably need more than the 100 B-21s currently planned.

The USAF is considering dumping the B-1 to fund the B-21 to completion.

B-2:

A video has emerged of the B-2 dropping practice 500 lbs bombs.

Even as the B-21 is coming, the B-2 is still being upgraded.

The B-2 visited Iceland for the first time.

Watch 3 B-2s land at an RAF airbase.

Take a look at B-2s flying with RAF F-35Bs.  They were training together.

A B-2 flew a long duration flight over the Arctic.

Take a look at these close up pictures of the B-2.

The B-2 practiced hot pitting in the Azores.

F-117:

An F-117 fuselage was spotted being hauled on the California highways.  It was headed to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The first flight of the F-117 gets discussed.

51 F-117s remain in the inventory.

F-22:

The USAF is working on a plan to fix the maintenance capability of the F-22's stealth tech.

The F-22 has some stunning images from its flights in Chicago.

Upgrades needed to the facilities in Germany so F-22s can be deployed there for long term have been cancelled as part of the funds transferred for Trump's stupid border wall.

The F-22 will not reach the readiness rates ordered by ex SecDef Mattis.

The F-22s from Tyndall are now active and integrated in Alaska.

F-35:

F-35s struggle with readiness rates.  Parts availability and the oldest aircraft are the biggest issues.

Female pilots are involved with the F-35 program.

The F-35A finally gets chaff countermeasures next year.

USAF F-35As deployed to an austere Middle Eastern base.

The USAF plans on deploying F-35As to South Korean next year.

The USAF F-35A demo team is moving to Hill AFB for the 2020 season.

F-35As along with F-15Es bombed an ISIS stronghold.

Check out these Luke AFB F-35s in 'Beast Mode.'  Something once called a fiction by F-35 haters.

An F-35 was able to detect a missile launch and could be used in an early warning fashion.

The USMC has been invited to operate its F-35Bs off of the Japanese mini carriers.

A F-35B has fired the first AIM-9X in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Vermont ANG got two F-35s this week.

The British has had problems with ALIS.

Watch an F-35B land on the HMS Queen Elizabeth.


The British will send the HMS Queen Elizabeth to Canada and US with 7 F-35Bs aboard.

The British HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier intended to carry F-35Bs set sail for the first time.

The first Dutch F-35 assembled in Italy has made its maiden flight.

Has the Israeli campaign against Iranian backed militias spread to Iraq?  (they use F-35s for these attacks)

Israel has received two more F-35Is.

Japan has formally selected the F-35B for its V/STOL aircraft.  42 aircraft will be ordered.

Japan hopes by ordering more F-35s it will get more contract work for the aircraft.

Poland has been approved to buy 32 F-35s.

South Korea is about to get 4 more F-35As.

Taiwan has revealed it has been told it can only buy the F-35 after 2030.

There is a path for Turkey to return to the F-35 program.

BAe has won contracts to upgrade the EW suite of the F-35.

BAe thinks it can reduce costs on F-35 support by applying Typhoon lessons.

Lockheed won a $32M contract to retrofit USAF F-35As.

Lockheed also won a $2.4B contract for spare parts for the F-35.

Lockheed spelled out how Poland will benefit industrially if they buy F-35s.

Lockheed got a $266M contract for F-35 tooling.

Lockheed is preparing to improve the F-35s targeting capabilities.

Raytheon demonstrated JPALS to the F-35 partners.

META:

Who is more impressive?  The F-22 or Su-57 demo teams?

Check out these stunning pix from NYC of F-22s, F-35s and more.

6th Generation Fighters:



The sixth gen of fighters gets profiled.

MDBA unveiled its weapons concepts for the European FCAS project.

The fighter component of the FCAS project is now known as the Next Generation Fighter and will be designed to work with carriers in the same way as the Rafale from the get go.

The Swedes have joined the Tempest project.

The Tempest will probably have hypersonic weapons.

Thales and Aeralis have signed an MOU to develop a combat training system for the Tempest.

US experts opine on the NGAD.

The USAF expects to do a lot of modeling and simulation in support of the NGAD effort.  This has always worked so well in the past (*cough*Zumwalt*cough*FCS*cough*).

KF-X:

Jakarta is still trying to get concessions on the cost of their participation in the KF-X program.

Jakarta is also exploring trying to send commodities instead of money for their payment of the KF-X program.

Ohotnik-B/Hunter-B:


The Russians have stated the flying wing Ohotnik UCAV has made its first flight.

SU-57:

The SU-57 has supposedly entered serial production.  The first production model is supposed to be delivered this year.

The Su-57 will be put on static display at MAKS.

PAK-DA:

Supposedly, the PAK-DA will be tested (if its ever built) in Zhukovsky.  Article mostly talks about the other, older bombers Russia has.

Chengdu's Mystery Plane:

A flying pin from the Chengdu Aircraft company doesn't match with any known aircraft.  Real? Trolling? What?

J-31/FC-31:

AVIC officials are upbeat on the J-31/FC-31 progress and eventual adoption by the PLA.

J-20:

The first J-20 has been assigned to a combat unit in Wuhu.

B-21:

Northrop has started building the first EMD B-21.  There are additional test aircraft being built, which implies there were earlier demonstrators were flown.  The first flight will be in late 2021.

B-2:

It is the 30th anniversary of the first flight of the B-2 bomber.

F-117:

NASA tested scale models of the F-117 in 1995 to see what would happen if the aircraft carried external weapons.

F-22:


Like the F-35, the F-22 will not reach the required 80% combat readiness.

Some great shots of the F-22 with aggressors were shot over Alaska.

There are some gorgeous videos of the F-22 and F-35.

The F-22 sent to Oshkosh had its RAM skin crumbling.

F-22s (and CF-18s) intercepted Russian bombers.

F-35:

The F-35 won't reach the 80% availability due to parts problems.
There has been a leadership change in the F-35 program.

F-35As are getting the Auto GCAS aircraft early.

4 F-35As landed in Powidz air base as part of a deployment to Poland.

F-35s have landed in Latvia for the first time.

The first permanent base in Europe for US F-35s is being built.

The first F-35A for the Vermont NG has flown from the Lockheed Ft Worth facility.

The F-35A demo team will fly in Canada.

An F-35 went on its first combat training mission 5 hours after being delivered from the factory.

An F-35 sent target data to a US Army missile command.

The USS Tripoli has completed builder's trials.

Take a look at the shockwaves on the. F-35C

1st Lt Catherine Stark is the first female USMC pilot to be selected to fly the F-35C.

WiB reports the F-35 may have an issue with its canopy.  A new canopy glue may fix the readiness problems.

The first locally trained Australian F-35 pilots have flown.

Australia has consolidated its MRO support for the F-35.

Belgium is spending 375 million Euros on F-35 infrastructure.

Britains 2nd F-35B squadron arrived at Marnham.

Israel is going to have to pick between the F-15X and F-35I in their budget since they do not have the resources for both.

Are Israeli F-35Is making strikes in Iraq against Iranian assets?

The Netherlands has plans to order another 8 to 9 F-35s.

Turkey has taken delivery of the S-400 missiles.  Will Trump keep Turkey in the F-35 program?  The Pentagon is planning on raiding the spare parts budget - which is already 15 years behind schedule! - to pay for removing Turkey from the program.  Turkey is officially out of the F-35 fighter program by March 2020: Turkey cannot have the S-400 and the F-35. The Pentagon has started unwinding Turkey's involvement in the F-35 program.  Of course, Trump found a way to blame Obama: fscking man up, Trumpster.  Lockheed's CEO is stating the Turkish question is being addressed and is confident other customers will buy the F-35s built for Turkey.  A refund and details of how Turkey will be removed are up in the air.

South Korea has had two more F-35As arrive in country: its 3rd and 4th out of 40.

South Korea has started designing a light carrier for the F-35B.

South Korea is moving forward with its F-35B acquisition.  

Sixth Generation Fighters:

The USAF successfully shot down multiple missiles using a laser meant for self defense of fighters at WSMR.

The US Navy next generation fighter may not be 6th gen and will DEFINITELY not be developed with the USAF.

Lockheed thinks the 6th gen may have lasers as weapons.

Airbus expects the Franco-German FCAS to be delayed due to export issues.

The Swedes are negotiating to join the British Tempest jet project.

F-3:

Lockheed and the US gov has offered Japan the source code to the F-35 avionics as part of the F-3 deal with Lockheed.  The tech transfer offer is pretty deep, actually.

MAGMA:

The flapless UAV has flown.

Hunter-B/Ohotnik-B:



The Hunter-B was present for Putin and to be seen by the US.

Supposedly, the Ohotnik-B's first flight has been delayed a year, but it is a rumor rather than citable.

OTOH, Tass claims the Ohotnik-B did a 'hop.'

Su-57:

The Russians are claiming the engine for the Su-57 has entered serial production.

Russia is willing to offer Turkey the Su-57 if the F-35 deal falls through.

Putin was escorted by 6 Su-57s on the way to Astrakhan.

Putin says Russia will buy 76 Su-57 by 2028.

J-XY:

The engine for China's new carrier aircraft under development apparently has been completed.

J-20:

The Chinese are in the midst of their own budgetary wars: the J-11 and J-20 programs are apparently fighting over funding.

The J-20 may have FOC declared this year.

Model 401:

Could the Model 401 be used as a (partial) A-10 replacement?

B-21:

There has been a big burst of construction at the facility at Edwards AFB where the B-21 will soon start testing.

B-2:

The cockpit of a B-2 was filmed and here are some callouts.

Watch a B-2 drop the MOAB.

F-22:

F-22s intercepted Russian nuclear bombers off the coast of Alaska multiple days in a row.

The 24 F-22 elephant walk was only doable because of a checklist change.

F-22 shots at an airshow are impressive.

Watch from inside an F-22 cockpit.

Lockheed won an $18.5M contract for the F-22.

F-35:

The US House of Representatives appropriation committee added 12 F-35As to the budget.  The SASC bill wants another 2 35Bs and 2 35Cs on top of that.

The F-35 AGCAS has been cleared for introduction.

Parts problems are delaying F-35 production.

The GAO has released a report on the F-35 sustainment: the low F-35 mission readiness is due to a lack of spare parts.

The Lot 12 production contract is expected to be final this summer.

The Pentagon is looking for replacement parts for those made in Turkey.

USAF F-35As have deployed to the Middle East for the first time.

USAF F-35As have conducted air strikes for the first time.  They did so with radar reflectors and external missiles mounted to increase their RCS.

USAF F-35As participated in a prolonged air defense exercise.

The 65th Aggressor Squadron will be stood up at Nellis AFB and use the earliest F-35s.

The standup of the 5th F-35A wing at Luke AFB has been delayed by 18 months.

A USAF F-35A was spotted in the Middle East with a single missile on a wing.  An odd configuration.

The F-35A will probably go to the Paris airshow.

USAF F-35As have deployed to Aviano in Italy.

USAF F-35As in the Middle East are shown deployed in 'beast mode.'

The USS Essex acted as a mini carrier with its load of F-35Bs.

The USS America (LHA-6) will forward deploy to Japan alongside the USS Essex.

The USMC Commandant talks about the 'lightning carrier' concept, using the LHD and LHAs as light carriers.

The USMC is folding the F-35B into its island hopping strategies.

The USMC has conducted its first elephant walk with 20 F-35Bs.

A USMC F-35B suffered a bird strike in Japan.

US Navy F-35Cs are finding new roles.

The USN's new anti radiation missile is making good progress and the USAF F-35As will also get the weapon.

The US Navy has deactivated the VFA-101 Grim Reapers.

British F-35Bs will fly at the Yeovilton airshow.

British F-35Bs deployed to Cyprus for their first overseas training.

Because Canada is already a partner in the F-35, their requirements for workshare for their CF-18 replacement may exclude the F-35 from the competition: Canada wants more local industry participation in the new fighter, but the agreement for who gets what work share in the F-35 is not renegotiatable.  Canada may bend the rules for the F-35.

Greece is considering the F-35 to replace the F-16.

Israel will "share" its operational experience with the F-35 with Britain and the US.

Japan is reassuring the US they will continue buying the F-35.

Japan stated its F-35s made 7 precautionary landings prior to the loss of its fighter.

The US Navy's blackbox hunter has joined the search for the downed Japanese F-35A.  The US and Japan are confident the F-35 lost will not be recovered by China or Russia.  The US military walked back the claim the F-35A wreckage had been found.  The canopy and the blackbox were found.  The US Navy has stopped looking for the wreckage.

The Japanese Izumo and Kaga are being converted to being F-35B aircraft carriers.  Some oppose this.

There has been no further word on the F-35A Japan lost.  A sub rescue ship and a USAF U-2 joined the search when it was happening.

The F-35 program has been coming under fire in South Korea over the offset portion and induction of the first F-35 has been delayed as a result.

Turkey is claiming if they will not participate in the F-35 program, the program will collapse.  Turkey is eying its options if it does lose the F-35 and have announced they are starting to jointly develop aircraft with the Russians.  The US House of Representatives has an early spending bill barring Turkey from buying the F-35.  The crisis is deepening because Turkey is supposed to take delivery of their first S-400 missiles by July.  Erdogan claims Turkey will eventually get the F-35.  the US Senate bill will ban Turkey from getting the F-35 ever if they receive the S-400.  Turkey had claimed they thought the negotiations were getting better.

Turkey's TCG Andalou, an amphibious ship intended to carry F-35Bs, has had a fire in its bow on April 29.

Lockheed has developed a new missile rack to allow the F-35 A and C models to carry 6 AMRAAM missiles internally compared to the four now.

Lockheed is hoping that new suppliers for the F-35A will help reduce the aircraft price significantly.

Lockheed saw its bottom line increase in large part due to the F-35.

Lockheed got a $117 million contract for spare parts for the F-35.

Lockheed has received a $1.1 billion contract from the US Navy for the F-35.

Lockheed is pitching F-35Cs armed with hypersonic missiles.

Northrop has benefited from the increased F-35 work.

Pratt & Whitney got a $200M contract for long lead items for the F-35 engines and another contract for another $53M.

Loyal Wingman:



Australia and Boeing announced a new Loyal Wingman aircraft called the BATS.  It is designed to be built in Australia without American components so it can be exported pretty much anywhere without American approvals.  First flight is expected to be next year.
India's HAL has shown off its concept.



Kratos' XQ-58A Valkyrie was to make its first flight.   It did and it was beautiful.  The intent is to make the Valkyrie a Loyal Wingman where a flock of them could be managed by an single F-35.  In the process, Kratos stole Boeing's thunder.

6th Generation Fighters:

The USAF head of acquisition seems unhappy with the answer the USAF came back with about what its next gen fighter will be and seems to want to derail the effort.

Analysts are stating the US Navy needs its 6th gen fighter and unmanned assets for its carriers to stay relevant.

Is it better for India to order F-16s, ahem F-21s or join the Tempest project?

MTU Aero Engines may join the Franco-German FCAS project.

Dassault is warning against turning the FrancoGerman FCAS into another Eurofighter.

AMCA:

India's indigenous stealth fighter has supposedly begun the detailed design phase.

Su-57:

The Russians will only take delivery of ONE Su-57 in 2019 and ONE in 2020.  Not 12 in 2019.  More will not be delivered until the improved engine has been perfected.

Russia is trying to convince the Indians to buy the Su-57 again.

J-20:

Chinese J-20s deployed to Cangzhou air base.

F-117:

At least one F-117 is still flying.

A Dutch magazine claimed F-117s conducted airstrikes in Syria.  The Drive semi convincingly argues the F-117 returning to combat for strikes in Syria were unnecessary because the US gov has at least 8 stealthy Avenger drones capable of conducting strikes.

B-2:

What a shot!  The B-2 gets the full hawaii experience.

F-22:

13 F-22s participated in an elephant walk.

An Australian pilot has been trained on the F-22.

F-35:

The Pentagon is proposing buying 78 F-35s instead of 84.

Some doubt the F-35 can carry weapons capable of intercepting North Korean missiles.

F-35s were photographed in the Sierra mountains.

US Generals are coming out strongly against the F-15X buy and advocating buying more F-35s.

The USAF's F-35As apparently clobbered the older fighters at the Red Flag exercise pretty handily.

Watch the F-35A demo team at Luke AFB.  They debuted new aerobatics.

The USAF isn't worried by the F-35As gun being inaccurate.

The USAF conducted an exercise where they did forward refueling for the F-35A.

The USAF is trying to fix ALIS...by moving it to the cloud: *head desk*

USMC's deployment of the F-35B on the USS Essex has ended and hints at new roles for the amphibious group.  The F-35Bs conducted over 100 combat missions.

The US Navy has declared IOC for the F-35C finally.

The US Navy is preparing for its first carrier deployment of the F-35C.

The US Navy F-35C commander is focused on the first deployment of the bird and transitioning the first USMC wing.

The US Navy ordered repair materials for 7 F-35s.

The US Navy paid a beltway bandit to help with the F-35 program.

The US Navy gave Lockheed a $14M contract mod for improving the ground avoidance system.

One analyst believes the Navy should not develop the 6th gen fighter yet and instead develop an F-35C derived interceptor/bomber escort.

The Pegasus finally refueled an F-35.

Australia's F-35 repair work by Northrop gets detailed.

Australia signed an agreement with Lockheed to increase local industry participation.

Australia is happy with the F-35 operations so far.

Israeli F-35s may have destroyed a Chinese made antistealth radar in Syria.

Japan is gearing up for supporting the F-35.

Poland might buy 32 F-35s.

The Russian Embassy in DC made some weird threats to the F-35 with Vietnam era footage.

Singapore is buying 4 F-35s with options for 8 more.

US Generals are pushing for Turkey to lose its participation in the F-35 program due to the purchase of the Russian S-400 missiles.

BAe is updating the EW suite on the F-35.

Lockheed is working to reduce F-35 operational costs.

Northrop has finished the 500th center fuselage for the F-35.

Sixth Generation Fighters:


The USAF PCA effort gets a profile.

The US Navy may postpone the 6th gen procurement.

AvWeek has a slideshow of the next gen fighter efforts.  Whether all of them will be 6th gen or not remains to be seen.

China has begun work on its 6th gen fighter.

Avweek discusses Germany's position with the Tornado replacement.

The French and Germans are expected to sign the first contracts in mid 2019.  Some seem to have been signed already.  Concept studies for manned and unmanned aircraft were contracted.  Work gets profiled by AvWeek.

The FrancoGerman FCAS team is working on export controls for the new fighter.

Spain was expected to and then did join the FCAS team.

Italy is attacking the FCAS deal.

Britain may be inviting India to join Team Tempest.

The Tempest will have a carrier capable loyal wingman UCAV.

Saegheh-2:

Iran unveiled an updated version of the Saegheh stealthy UAV.  This is a knock off of the captured RQ-170.

KF-X:

Metal has been bent for the first KF-X.

Su-57:

The Russians are stating they will place their second LRIP order for 13 Su-57s in 2020.

Ohotnik-b/Hunter-B:

Russia's Ohotnik-B or Hunter-B appears to have been doing taxi tests (more). Aviation Week is calling it a strike aircraft.  Jane's gets into the mix, too.  A new picture emerged and, wow, that engine sticks out.

J-20:

Unnamed analysts are stating an upgraded J-20 will be far superior to the F-35.

There are reports the Chinese are building a two seater J-20 for electronic warfare.

Chinese Stealth Bombers:

China is building the acknowledged strategic H-20 bomber, but also a regional medium stealth bomber as well termed the JH-XX or so says the DIA.  More info here and here.

KC-Z:

The KC-Z may not be stealthy after all.

B-2:

The B-2 is getting its ejection seats upgraded.

Photos were taken of the B-2 sortieing out of Hawaii.