GOV/MIL First Air Force: Upgraded F-16s needed urgently

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/...orce-upgraded-f-16s-needed-urgently/24432463/

First Air Force: Upgraded F-16s needed urgently

By Brian Everstine, Staff writer 2:34 p.m. EST March 5, 2015

The Air Force's F-16s used for homeland protection need radar upgrades urgently, according to the commander of the group tasked with the mission. These are upgrades the service has put off due to funding restrictions .

First Air Force, the numbered Air Force with the sole responsibility of ensuring air superiority and air sovereignty of the U.S., recently filed an "urgent operational need" request with the Air Force Requirements Council for fiscal 2015 funding for its Aerospace Control Alert mission, Air Force Times has learned.

The request, specifically for Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Block 30 F-16s, seeks the installation of the Northrop Grumman APG-83 SABR active electronically scanned array radar. This radar was part of the combat avionics program extension suite that the Air Force dropped from its fiscal 2015 and 2016 budget requests both because of budget shortfalls.

The Air Force instead sought funding for F-16 service life extension programs and put off the radar. Now the commander of First Air Force is requesting the upgrade.

The Air Force, Air Combat Command and First Air Force officials declined to discuss the specifics of the request.

"Recently, the 1AF/AFNORTH Commander signed and issued an Urgent Operational Need request pertaining to the Aerospace Control Alert mission," the National Guard Bureau said in a statement. "While the specifics of the UON are classified, no specific material solution has been identified, and the [request] is presently under consideration by the Air Force for validation. The Air National Guard did not request, author or submit the [request], though we did coordinate with 1AF/AFNORTH per their requests to do so."

Urgent Operational Need requests are used to identify specific needs "during a current conflict or crisis situation that if not satisfied in an expedited manner, will result in unacceptable loss of life or critical mission failure," the Air Force said in a statement.

The overall goal is to deliver the requested capability within 180 days of a validated request. The Air Force Requirements Council is reviewing this request.

Lockheed Martin has fielded the upgraded radars on F-16Vs recently purchased by Taiwan, Roderick McLean, Lockheed's vice president and general manager of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group, said in a recent interview.

The Air Force has not requested funding or said it formally needs the upgrades for its Block 40 and Block 50 F-16 fleet in the active duty, but has said it would like the upgrades if funding is available. Because Lockheed has been installing the systems already in F-16Vs, the contractor could be ready to install them for the U.S. fleet easily, McLean said.

"We are trying to convey to the U.S. Air Force that there is a low-cost approach to provide these for your block 40s and 50s," McLean said.

The Air Force's F-15 fleet is outfitted with new AESA radars.

The Air Force's original plan for the combat avionics programmed extension suite upgrade, which was included but ultimately not funded in the fiscal 2013 budget request, also included a new center display unit, communications equipment and an integrated broadcast service to collect information for the pilot. A Government Accountability Office report released in late 2012 estimated that the upgrades would cost about $1.8 billion for about 350 jets.

 

[Housecarl]

An earlier articles on the "V" model......

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/f-16v-is-latest-viper-variant-for-fighter-market/

F-16V Is Latest ‘Viper’ Variant for Fighter Market

By Robert F. Dorr - April 23, 2012

Airshow in February this year to unveil plans for a new version of the F-16 Fighting Falcon. The planemaker will offer the F-16V model as a new-production fighter and is also proposing F-16V features as an upgrade package for existing planes.

“The V configuration that we’re putting forth is the architecture that would support AESA [active electronically scanned array radar] on a block 50/52 type airplane,” said Bill McHenry, director of F-16 business development for Lockheed Martin in an April 2012 telephone interview.

The block 50/52 is the latest version operated by U.S. forces, while the newer block 60 flies with the United Arab Emirates.

The F-16 is familiar around the world, with more than 4,500 delivered, and some may ask, why a new version of a fighter that completed its maiden flight on Jan. 21, 1974 – fully 37 years ago?

Time to Try

Two factors make this the time for a new F-16:
•Unless new contracts are signed, the windowless, mile-long fighter factory in Fort Worth, Texas, will produce its last F-16 in 2015 (for Iraq). The Fighting Falcon will have been in continuous production for 40 years, yet many believe the basic design still has growth potential. New F-16V sales would be a boost to Lockheed and to the U.S. industrial base.
•The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) continues to be behind schedule, over budget, and suffering from technical issues. A huge program often characterized as “too big to fail,” JSF is increasingly incurring so much displeasure on the part of Capitol Hill lawmakers that failure may, after all, become an option. Moreover, JSF is the only defense program so large that its cancellation might fit with the nation’s larger budget-cutting needs.

Inevitable Idea

The idea of a new version of the F-16 “has come and gone over the past decade,” said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group in a telephone interview. “The F-35 is no one’s idea of a mass market fighter given its current price point. Even in the elite market of a maximum of a dozen countries, you’re seeing a lot of pushback against the F-35 because of price. The company [Lockheed Martin] is good at hedging its bets against F-35 and marketing major upgrades.” The F-16V will be attractive, Aboulafia said, because “it’s less than half the price” of a JSF.

The F-16V gets AESA radar, an upgraded mission computer and architecture, and an improved “glass” (digital) cockpit. Lockheed Martin says that all of those are features that have been identified by the U.S. Air Force and overseas buyers as needing improvement. The AESA radar promises significant capability improvements and Lockheed Martin says it has developed a solution to affordably retrofit the new radar to existing F-16s. The aircraft manufacturer has not identified a radar type for the F-16V, but two are likely candidates – Northrop Grumman‘s Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) and the Raytheon Advanced Combat Radar (RACR).

The F-16V configuration does not change the aircraft’s external appearance.

The “V” suffix in F-16V – a company term, not a U.S. Air Force designation – is suggested by “Viper,” the unofficial name given to the F-16 by pilots and maintainers.

Many air power advocates have been arguing for years that the United States should consider “new build” F-16s or F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as a lower-cost alternative to JSF. Not all, however, see the F-16V as the solution. “This is two and half tons heavier at empty weight than the F-16A model [of 1975],” said Pierre Sprey, the former Pentagon analyst who helped create the F-16 by arguing for a lightweight fighter. Sprey would prefer a stripped, lightweight, single-mission air-to-air version of the F-16 powered by the 32,000-pound thrust afterburning General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofan that is used on the current F-16E/F block 60 for the United Arab Emirates. Sprey is a longtime critic of multi-role warplanes and of JSF.

Critic’s Comments

The F-16V “is a ‘five minutes to midnight’ desperation move which recognizes that the F-35 program is falling apart,” said Sprey in an April 11 telephone interview. Although the United States is still on record as wanting 2,443 JSFs for three service branches, “my prediction is that the U.S. buy will never be more than 500 airplanes,” Sprey said.

With the F-16V, the planemaker is “coming to their senses,” Sprey said. “They’re saying, ‘we’ve got to compete with Boeing, which is marketing the Super Hornet aggressively overseas, and we’ve to compete with Rafale and Typhoon.’

“But to do that, we don’t need extra weight and glitzy electronics,” Sprey said. “If you could get back to F-16A weights and throw in the -132 engine, you’d have a smokin’ airplane.”

Some analysts say a modern warplane should be robust and multi-role and point out that there seems to be almost an unlimited market for an improved F-16.

Lockheed is not proposing the -132 engine (which is unique to the block 60) for the F-16V, McHenry said. “The avionics, the radar and the modular mission computer are the focus,” McHenry said. “The aerodynamics and performance are pretty settled. There’s no customer requirement for more thrust or more aerodynamic performance out of the platform.” That means F-16V customers would have a choice of the 29,000-pound Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 or General Electric F110-GE-129 used on U.S. block 50/52s.

Twenty-six nations use F-16s. In recent years the F-16 has won new orders in Morocco, Egypt, Oman and Iraq. The U.S. Air Force is retiring some of its older F-16s, but has long been pondering an upgrade program for 300 airframes. The air staff and the Air National Guard have consistently opposed acquisition of “new build” F-15 Eagles, F-16s or F/A-18E/Fs for U.S. forces, insisting that only the capabilities offered by the F-35 will work for the long-term future.

____

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.airforce-technology.com/news/newslockheed-unveils-new-version-of-f-16-fighting-falcon

Lockheed unveils new version of F-16 Fighting Falcon
17 February 2012

Lockheed Martin has unveiled a new version of the Fighting Falcon fighter jet, F-16V, at the Singapore Air Show 2012.

The new aircraft, designed to meet changing customer requirements, features an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an upgraded mission computer and architecture, and an improved cockpit.

The upgrades were based on the capabilities that were identified by the US Air Force and other international customers, which will enable the aircraft to operate alongside the 5th generation fighters, F-35 and F-22.

The 'V' designation has been derived from Viper, a name given by the pilots for the F-16 fighter jet and the enhancements can be retrofitted into existing F-16s.

With nearly 4,500 F-16s delivered, this is the next step for the world's most successful 4th generation fighter.

The AN/APG-68 radar-equipped F-16 with wind-corrected munitions dispenser infrared navigation provides the pilot with separate air-to-air and air-to-ground modes, including long-range, all-aspect detection and tracking, simultaneous multiple-target tracking and high-resolution ground mapping.

The F-16 aircraft is also widely deployed by the air forces of Israel, Egypt, Iraq, New Zealand, South Korea, Chile, Poland, UAE, Bahrain, Greece and Singapore.

The Fighting Falcon programme began with the lightweight fighter F-16A/B and underwent continuous transitions to F-16 C/D and Block 60 versions as per emerging customers' requirements.


Image: Lockheed unveils new version of Fighting Falcon, F-16V at the Singapore Air Show. Photo: Lockheed Martin.

 

[Dozdoats]

Geez...

Zoomies...

 

[Housecarl]

Geez...

Zoomies...

Look at it this way, 1AF/AFNORTH is being practical about what they think is needed.

Think in terms of the number of Russian missions being flown "in close" and crossing NATO airspace and Alaska. You don't need a stealth F-22 to chase and shadow Russian AF Bears or Blackjacks, but the AESA radar with AIM-120s are just about de rigueur for chasing down cruise missiles in the ground clutter.

When you look at the "fly away" cost of one F-35, never mind 350 of them, this upgrade is a steal. Upgrading the power plants to General Electric F110-GE-132 turbofans would more than likely give too many people fiscal indigestion; never mind the number of career people that have been tied to the F-35 mess that would immediately get ruffled.

That A-10Cs got deployed instead of more ANG F-16 units to Europe and SW Asia says something as well regarding some in the decision loop understanding the idea of the proper tool for the job.

 

[Dozdoats]

When you look at the "fly away" cost of one F-35, never mind 350 of them, this upgrade is a steal.

Which is why I said what I said...

What's the old Russian saying ... "The best is the enemy of the good?" Well, there you have it.

 

[Housecarl]

When you look at the "fly away" cost of one F-35, never mind 350 of them, this upgrade is a steal.

Which is why I said what I said...

What's the old Russian saying ... "The best is the enemy of the good?" Well, there you have it.

Cool. Sorry for the misinterpretation.

 

[Doomer Doug]

The Pentagon strikes again

The Pentagon has a long history of pulling stunts like this. They "develop" a new weapon system for years and years and years. It doesn't come online in time to replace the original one. It has quality control problems. It has cost overruns. It is not on budget. It is not on time. It is not meeting quality standards. Ergo, the Pentagon then goes back to original system to "fix" it long enough to last until the new system is available.
The Pentagon did this with the M-60 to M-1Abrahms tank in the 1975 to 1980s. The Navy did it with the Trident submarine. The Air Force is now doing it with the F-22 and F-16. For God's sake, gang even the Coast Guard botched its new Coast Guard cutter. The Navy screwed up the 175 foot boat? and the new destroyer class.

This is nothing new at all. It is the way the Pentagon does things. The original need for, design of the M-1911 was in 1898. It was issued in 1911. It took us years to get the M-16 right, and then the Army got troops slaughtered due to underpowered ammo in Vietnam.

The F-16 is 1980s build, using 1970s design and 1990s electronics upgrade. The new Russian fighters will SHOOT US OUT OF THE SKY IN LARGE NUMBERS. We aren't quite as bad as the Buffalo fighters launched from MidWay to fight the incoming zeros, at least not yet.

 

[Richard]

Surely it makes sense to acquire the F16V or upgrade some to the new standard, not all fighters are up against the new Russian jets. How many of the new Russian jets are operational anyway and how many older Russian fighter jets need upgrading anyway.

 

[Dozdoats]

COL Boyd would be rolling in his grave.

My oft-repeated mantra "Mindset - Skillset - Toolset --In That Order!" is a paraphrase from Boyd's work.
================================

http://www.aviation-history.com/airmen/boyd.htm

John Boyd - USAF
The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of Air Warfare
by Robert Coram
Airmen Index

John Boyd in 1952, after winning his wings as an Air Force pilot. After basic flying instruction in Mississippi, he trained in jets at Williams AFB, then combat training in the F-86 at Nellis AFB, before being sent to Korea. (Boyd Family Photo)

During the 1950s, John Boyd dominated fighter aviation in the U.S. Air Force. His fame came on the wings of the quirky and treacherous F-100; the infamous "Hun." Boyd was known throughout the Air Force as "Forty-Second Boyd," because he had a standing offer to all pilots that if they could defeat them in simulated air-to-air combat in under 40 seconds, he would pay them $40. Like any gunslinger with a name and a reputation, he was called out many times. As an instructor at the Fighter Weapons School (FWS) at Nellis AFB, he fought students, cadre pilots, Marine and Navy pilots, and pilots from a dozen countries, who were attending the FWS as part of the Mutual Defense Assistance Pact.

He never lost.

Boyd was famous for a maneuver he called "flat-plating the bird." He would be in the defensive position with a challenger tight on his tail, both pulling heavy Gs, when he would suddenly pull the stick full aft, brace his elbows on either side of the cockpit, so the stick would not move laterally, and stomp the rudder. It was as if a manhole cover were sailing through the air and then suddenly flipped 90 degrees. The underside of the fuselage, wings, and horizontal stabilizer became a speed brake that slowed the Hun from 400 knots to 150 knots in seconds. The pursuing pilot was thrown forward and now Boyd was on his tail radioing "Guns. Guns. Guns."

The myth of "Forty-Second Boyd" still rankles AF fighter pilots. They say there is no "best" pilot; that everyone has a bad day. But if they went through Nellis in the late 1950s, they know Boyd had no bad days. And they cannot come up with the name of anyone who ever defeated him.

Boyd was equally famous in the classroom where he developed the "Aerial Attack Study." Until Boyd came along, fighter pilots thought that air combat was an art rather than a science; that it could never be codified. Boyd proved them wrong when he demonstrated that for every maneuver there is a series of counter maneuvers. And there is a counter to every counter. Afterwards, when fighter pilots attacked (or were attacked), they knew every option open to their adversary and how to respond.


An F-100 taking off from Nellis AFB circa 1959. Note checkerboard pattern on the vertical stabilizer and nose. This indicates it was a "Hun" from the Fighter Weapons School. It was in the Hun that Boyd became famous as "Forty-Second Boyd," the man who defeated all challengers in simulated air-to-air combat in less than 40 seconds. (USAF Photo)

After the study was declassified, foreign pilots passing through Nellis took it home where it changed the way every air force in the world flies and fights. Even today, more than 40 years later, nothing substantial has been added to the Aerial Attack Study.

After a six-year assignment at Nellis, Boyd returned to college for another undergraduate degree. He went to the Georgia Institute of Technology where, one night while studying for an exam in thermodynamics, he had the epiphany that became his famous Energy-Maneuverability Theory, or E-M Theory, as it came to be known.

The E-M Theory changed everything that everyone thought they knew about fighter combat. It enabled fighter pilots to evaluate their energy potential at any altitude and at any maneuver. And, perhaps more importantly, the energy potential of their adversary. It changed forever the way aircraft are fought in combat.

Boyd then used E-M as a design tool. Until E-M came along, fighter aircraft had been designed to fly fast in a straight line or fly high to reach enemy bombers. The F-X, which became the F-15, was the first Air Force fighter ever designed with maneuvering specifications. Boyd was the father of the F-15, the F-16, and the F-18.

America has dominated the skies for the past 30 years because of John Boyd.

After he retired, he developed a theory of combat that, according to Vice President Dick Cheney who was Secretary of Defense at the time, was responsible for America's swift and decisive victory in the Gulf war.


John Boyd after retiring from the Air Force. (Boyd Family Photo) John Boyd's grave in Arlington National Cemetery, Section 60, gravesite 3660. He was buried in March, 1997.
(Photo by Chet Richards)

But it is as a fighter pilot that many retired Air Force officers today remember John Boyd.

For the past three years I have been researching Boyd's life for a biography titled "Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War." It will be published by Little, Brown and Company in November, 2002. The chapters covering Nellis in the 1950s will be of much interest to fighter pilots.

 

[Ben Sunday]

Quoting from DoomerDoug:

We aren't quite as bad as the Buffalo fighters launched from MidWay to fight the incoming zeros, at least not yet.

The last flight of VF-221 at Midway with Major Floyd B. Parks in command, had six F4F Grumman Wildcats with the remainder of the force being the aforementioned Brewster Buffalo, a pursuit plane at least 10 years out of date.

Several books in my library offer the following statement from one of the few surviving pilots. "The Buffalo is so bad it should be back in Miami being used as a training plane."

A sad commentary that our pilots were sent off to be slaughtered flying a piece of junk that was obsolete and pathetic in most every aspect.

 

[night driver]

Per my bro-in-law, the 16's have their own shop WAY back in the back lot at Lockheed in DFW, where the 16 team does its magic. Nobody really bothers them, they just keep turning out a few planes a month.....

Bro had a discussion with one of the acceptance test pilots one afternoon, after said pilot had test/acceptance flown a 16. Guy test em by FIRST cranking them off the runway and at the end of the runway, slamming the stick back into his lap, shoving the throttle into Full Military Power and taking the bird vertical and DIRECTLY to its service ceiling. He then goes through a set of maneuvers and comes back and lands.
Bro asked him why. Asked if he really didn't want to run a few maneuvers first before that.
Guy's answer,"I don't want to have to walk that far home. Do it right here and it's a LOT shorter walk home."

This is also the guy who, when he came into the plant to pick up one of their planes (not sure which variant) asked if they had built it or had it been built by another team. When assured that they had done it he thumbs-upped them and said "You guys build em good." and proceeded to take it out and acid test it as above.

Bro was on the mid-fuselage Team and the Rework Team for the 35 until they asked/let/encouraged him to quit with all benes...
Not being stupid and mid 60's he said "SURE!"

 

[Housecarl]

A more recent article on the Taiwanese "V" upgrade.....

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.janes.com/article/42231/f-16v-radar-integration-clears-way-for-taiwan-upgrade

C4iSR: Air

F-16V radar integration clears way for Taiwan upgrade

Marina Malenic, Washington, DC and James Hardy, London - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly
21 August 2014

Key Points

Lockheed Martin has integrated an AESA radar onto an F-16V, its designation for its latest upgrade suite for legacy aircraft
Taiwan can now begin receiving the upgrade to 144 of its Block 20 F-16A/Bs

Lockheed Martin has completed the integration of an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar as part of its FR-16V upgrade programme, the company announced on 20 August.

Taiwan is the launch customer for the new variant of the aircraft, having signed a contract worth up to USD1.85 billion to upgrade its fleet of 144 Block 20 F-16A/B aircraft that was announced in October 2012.

The radar integration and completion of a Critical Design Review guarantees that the Northrop Grumman Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR), which is derived from the F-16E/F Block 60 AN/APG-80, meets all specified US Air Force (USAF) and Lockheed Martin requirements, the company said in a statement.

"Completing this milestone on schedule demonstrates our ability to meet programme commitments," said Roderick McLean, a Lockheed vice-president and general manager of the F-16/F-22 Integrated Fighter Group. "It proves once again why customers turn to Lockheed Martin to upgrade their F-16 fleets and advance the mission capability of the world's most effective 4th-generation multi-role fighter."

Along with the SABR upgrade, Taiwan's fleet is to receive enhancements to mission computers, vehicle systems, aircraft structure, cockpit and electronic warfare systems.

The F-16V - the V refers to Viper, the US Air Force's (USAF's) nickname for the F-16 - was unveiled at the 2012 Singapore Airshow. Ana Wugofski, vice-president of international business development at Lockheed Martin, told IHS Jane's at the time that while the major development would be AESA integration, the overall purpose was to ensure compatibility with fifth-generation fighter fleets coming online in the next few years.

"With an increased mission computer and high-speed databus, it is about incorporating more information into the airplane," Wugofski said. "As customers transition to the fifth-generation configurations, the ability to interoperate" will be very important, she added.

Earlier this year the US Air Force cancelled a similar upgrade - the Combat Avionics Programmed Extension Suite (CAPES) - being developed for Taiwan and newer F-16s in USAF service that was intended to mitigate delays to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter.

The CAPES upgrade included an AESA radar, high-resolution, multifunction colour displays and an electronic warfare suite. The US announced the USD5.3 billion package in 2011, with Taiwan paying for about 30% of development, but removed CAPES from its 2015 budget request in March due to budget constraints and in order to divert funding to the F-35 programme.

COMMENT

McLean's statement that "customers turn to Lockheed Martin to upgrade their F-16 fleets" is only partially true: BAE Systems won the contract to upgrade South Korea's fleet of 132 F-16C/D Block 52 aircraft and has campaigned hard to persuade other potential customers, such as Singapore, that it is a viable alternative to Lockheed Martin. Boeing has also suggested that it is interested in entering the upgrade market after the success of its work on QF-16 target drones.

"We're not trying to upset the apple cart here, but we want to make sure that Singapore and other customers know that there are alternatives," John Bean, BAE Systems' vice-president of Global Fighter Programs, told IHS Jane's in February 2014.

With more than 4,550 F-16s delivered worldwide and delays to the F-35, the upgrade market is certainly viewed as a major opportunity for industry. Bean said that BAE Systems saw Greece, Turkey, and Egypt as: "having the nearest term need to upgrade their fighters ... [and are] probably closest to our radar", while "all told we see at least 1,000 airplanes out there that are candidates [for upgrades] over the next few years".

Related articles:

Taiwan F-16 plans complicated by CAPES cancellation
AESA-equipped Typhoon to fly this year

 

[Housecarl]

For links see article source.....
Posted for fair use.....
http://www.defensenews.com/story/mi.../18/air-force-developing-f16-radars/24971511/

Air Force developing new F-16 radars

By Brian Everstine, Staff writer 5:24 p.m. EDT March 18, 2015

The Air Force has budgeted $25 million to begin development of new radars for its F-16 fleet, a need especially felt by the service's homeland defense mission.

Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke, director of the Air National Guard, said the upgrade is needed for surveillance and the ability to detect targets.

"It's a deficit and we need to address this," Clarke told the House Appropriations defense subcommittee Tuesday.

The service earlier this month filed a "sources sought" notice to contractors for information on the development of an active electronically scanned array radar for the F-16.

Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told lawmakers on Tuesday that the service has budgeted money to begin development, and would like to spend about $75 million "if we can find the funding'' to build the radars for the entire F-16 fleet.

"We need to develop an AESA radar plan for our F-16s who are conducting the homeland defense mission in particular," Welsh told the House Armed Services Committee. "Our entire fleet – active, Guard and Reserve – none of them have been upgraded with that radar."

The service estimates it would spend $3.2 million per aircraft to install an integrated AESA radar.

"We think that's the way to go," Welsh said. "We're looking now at how we can do that as we move forward."

The Air Force originally sought the upgrade in the fiscal 2013 budget request, but it was cut as part of cost reductions imposed in the Budget Control Act.

First Air Force, the numbered Air Force responsible for the homeland protection mission, earlier this month filed an "Urgent Operational Need" request for radar upgrades to its F-16 fleet.

These requests are used to identify needs "during a current conflict or crisis situation that if not satisfied in an expedited manner, will result in unacceptable loss of life or critical mission failure," the Air Force said in a statement.