May 1, 2024 | International, Security
10 Critical Endpoint Security Tips You Should Know
Unlock Endpoint Security with our top 10 must-know tips! From MFA to EDR, discover how to protect your digital kingdom.
February 1, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security
Is Russia’s defense industry too busy to take on another fighter jet project?
MOSCOW — Rostec announced this week it has begun developing the MiG-41, a fifth-generation fighter jet set to replace Russia's MiG-31 jets currently in service. However, amid a number of other ongoing military aerospace projects, experts are questioning whether industry has the resources to produce the aircraft by its deadline of 2030.
The MiG-31 fleet entered service in 1980 under the Soviet Armed Forces and was upgraded in 1990 to become the MiG-31BM. The MiG-41, originally developed by Rostec subsidiary United Aircraft Corporation, has long been expected to replace the aging jets. Work on the new aircraft started in 2010 with UAC's Mikoyan design bureau and Sokol aviation production plant, based in Nizhny Novgorod, about six hours' drive from Moscow.
According to Russian news reports, the MiG-41 will be equipped with stealth technology, reach a speed of Mach 4-4.3, carry anti-satellite missiles, and be able to perform tasks in Arctic and near-space environments.
If it enters service, the MiG-41 will be the country's second fifth-generation fighter after the Su-57, which was developed by UAC subsidiary Sukhoi Company and had its first flight test in 2010.
The Su-57 crashed during a flight test in December 2019. The pilot has survived, leaving the plane on the catapult chair. Defense officials told the Vedomosti newspaper at that time that technical mishaps in the control system might have caused the accident. A governmental commission was founded to investigate the accident, but no public report was realized.
That same year, the Russian military bought 76 Su-57 planes. The cost of a single Su-57 might be about 3 billion roubles (U.S. $40 million), Izvestia reported that year, citing defense sources. The plane is equipped with the AL-41F1 engine, which is also used on the Su-35 jet. However, the local Lyulka Design Bureau is currently developing a new engine for the Su-57.
According to Ruslan Pukhov, the director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, the primary focus of Russia's defense industry is to develop that engine. That main effort takes away much-needed resources for the new plane, he explained.
A London-based analyst echoed Pukhov's concerns, expressing skepticism that Russia “will be able to develop, manufacture and introduce into service [the jet] in anything like the purported time frame.”
Douglas Barrie, who focuses military aerospace for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Russia's aerospace sector is already committed to numerous projects, including further developing the Su-75, upgrading the Su-34, and modernizing various bombers such as the Tu-160 Blackjack, Tu-22M Backfire and Tu-95.
“Some would argue that the sector has already more than enough to try to manage without the additional or a project potentially as complex as a new heavy interceptor, or indeed whether there would be realistic levels of funding for a program,” he said.
Defense News contacted the Russian Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of UAC involved in the MiG-41 project, but the firm declined to comment on the jet's development.
For his part, Pukhov thinks the government should ditch its costly projects and instead appropriate funds to develop drones. “This is the sphere where Russia is still behind,” he said.
He added that both China and India will likely want to cooperate on the MiG-41. The latter left a joint project to develop a fifth-generation fighter aircraft based on the Su-57 in 2018.
But Barrie questioned the export potential of the MiG-41, saying the number of similar jets being built elsewhere is rapidly growing.
“Even if such an aircraft were eventually to be developed, it would — were it to meet the same role as the MiG-31BM Foxhound C — have a very limited export appeal.”
On the same subject
-
-
February 8, 2021 | International, Naval, C4ISR
Lockheed Martin’s SPY-7 Radar Is Going to Sea
Posted on February 5, 2021 by Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor ARLINGTON, Va. — Lockheed Martin's new SPY-7 radar will be sailing to sea on the ships of three navies as the company highlights the radar's capabilities for application to other navies, including the U.S. Navy. The SPY-7, which uses gallium nitride modules, initially was developed for the Navy's Air and Missile Defense Radar competition. It was adapted into the Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) procured by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) as a sensor of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense system. Being installed at Clear Air Force Station in Alaska, the LRDR is designed to discriminate between incoming warheads and decoys. The core building blocks [of the LRDR] are the same core building blocks in SPY-7,” said Jon P. Rambeau, vice president and general manager, Integrated Systems & Sensors, Lockheed Rotary and Mission Systems, during a Feb. 2 interview with Seapower. “[SPY-7] is a modular radar that allows us to build different configurations for both land-based and sea-based applications.” The SPY-7 has been selected by the Spanish navy to integrate it with the Aegis Combat System on its F110 frigates. The Canadian navy is procuring the radar to install it on its new Halifax-class surface combatant. Japan had selected the SPY-7 for its two planned Aegis Ashore ballistic-missile defense sites, but when the plans were cancelled in part out of concern for missile debris falling on populated areas, Japan shifted to a plan to deploy the SPY-7 on some future, unspecified sea-based BMD platform. Japan already has BMD capabilities in its Kongo-class guided-missile destroyers with Aegis systems using the SPY-1 radar. Japan, which already has placed an order for the SPY-7, “is going through a process now to determine exactly what that platform is going to look like,” Rambeau said. “We are pleased with the progress that the technology has made, and we're starting to see some uptake both here in the U.S. as well as abroad.” “SPY-7 is part of the Aegis common source library (CSL) and the interfaces are understood,” said Patrick W. McNally, director of communications for Integrated Warfare Systems & Sensors, in a statement to Seapower. “For Japan, we have completed the first of three releases which were recently demonstrated to MDA. Starting from the CSL, with over one million lines of code, Japan will be receiving the best of both Baseline 9 and 10 [Aegis software].” The U.S. Navy is considering backfitting some Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers with a radar more modern than the SPY-1, and Lockheed is keeping a watch on developments in the event the SPY-7 could complete in the program if it comes to pass. Rambeau said his company also “has some more affordable options available to upgrade some of the SPY-1 arrays to provide improved sensitivity and improved resistance to electronic attack and we think we can do that at a fraction of the cost of a wholesale replacement, so we've put forth a couple of options for upgrades to SPY-1 to both MDA and the Navy.” https://seapowermagazine.org/lockheed-martins-spy-7-radar-is-going-to-sea
-
February 26, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Canada's protracted fighter jet procurement race hits new delay
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's protracted effort to buy 88 new fighter jets hit a new delay on Tuesday when the government granted potential bidders another three months to submit their proposals. Governments of various stripes have been trying for well over a decade to replace a fleet of ageing Boeing Co CF-18 jets, some of which are more than 40 years old. Last July, Ottawa launched the competition for a contract worth between C$15 billion ($11.30 billion) and C$19 billion. The deadline for submitting preliminary proposals had been end-March. But the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that at the industry's request, the deadline had been pushed back to June 30 to give bidders more time to address security questions. In 2017, Canada announced it would buy a fleet of older Australian F-18 jets to help keep the air force operational until the new planes start arriving in 2025. “Here we go again with more Liberal dithering and delaying because of Trudeau's weak leadership. Meanwhile our air force is stuck with old rusted out fighters from Australia!” tweeted legislator James Bezan of the official opposition Conservatives. The main contenders are Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing, while Sweden's Saab AB is also participating. Last August Airbus SE withdrew, citing onerous security requirements. The office of Procurement Minister Anita Anand said the government had outlined what security steps contenders needed to take to ensure their planes could operate with allies. European jets must meet stringent standards required by the United States, which with Canada operates the North American Aerospace Defense Command. Canada has experienced many military procurement problems since the early 1990s, variously featuring search and rescue helicopters, trucks, close combat vehicles and submarines. David Perry, a defense analyst at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute think tank, said Ottawa routinely extended time lines to ensure useful feedback from potential suppliers. “This is a project where they have been progressively adding time for well over a decade,” he said by phone. “The net result is that they keep pushing back (the time) when they will actually get new aircraft.” Airbus and other contenders had complained Ottawa appeared to be tilting the race in favor of Lockheed Martin's F-35 plane, which the Royal Canadian Air Force wants. Canada is part of the consortium that developed the plane. None of the three contenders was immediately available for comment. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-fighterjets/canadas-protracted-fighter-jet-procurement-race-hits-new-delay-idUSKBN20J23V