Fan Xuejun, head of Institute of Mechanics’ [hypersonic] “scramjet” division – focused on using high vehicle speed to compress incoming air forcefully before combustion – was lead scientist for the hypersonic project. Fan told the South China Morning Post that a hypersonic engine plant would make engines in a range of models for customers in …
Southwest flight WN957 diverts and makes emergency landing in CLE due to busted window. This is two weeks after a woman was nearly sucked out a Southwest flight when an engine exploded midair, causing shrapnel to shatter the plane’s window. The woman died from her injuries. @SouthwestAir #WN957 diverts and makes emergency landing in CLE …
Retired Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has stated in his new memoir that F-22 production was axed after building less than half the required number so that the flying force could get then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to approve building a new stealth bomber. Gates made near-sighted decisions based upon focusing on …
China has designs for a mass production hypersonic engine for low-cost planes or spacecraft capable of traveling five times faster than the speed of sound. The plant that would be built in Hefei, in China’s eastern Anhui province, could give the country an edge over the United States and Russia in the race to achieve …
The F-35 program is ramping up production despite continuing operational problems and bugs. Within the next couple of years, between 12 and 15 F-35 jets will be built each month, doubling the current monthly manufacturing average of between 7 to 9 jets. Lockheed and the US military are racing to lock in the tens of …
Supersonic commercial travel is on the horizon. NASA awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Skunk Works® a contract to design, build and flight test the Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator, an X-plane designed to make supersonic passenger air travel a reality. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works will build a full-scale experimental aircraft, known as an X-plane, of its preliminary …
Virgin Galactic had a supersonic (mach 1.87 test flight). VSS Unity has completed our program’s longest rocket burn duration of 30 seconds, fastest speed of Mach 1.87 and highest altitude of 84,271 feet. VSS Unity completed her first supersonic, rocket-powered flight this morning in Mojave, California. Another great test flight, another step closer to being …
A turboprop Cessna with Hellfire missiles is appropriate technology for air superiority and close air support in Afghanistan. The Cessna 208 Caravan is an American single-engined turboprop, fixed-tricycle landing gear, short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft that is built by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers with a single pilot. There is a modified …
One-third of the US Navy’s destroyers, cruisers, and amphibious ships are under significant repair. Maintenance issues have grounded two-thirds of the US Navy’s strike fighters. The military will use a new, computer-based database to manage logistics, maintenance and the supply chain of its new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But there have been numerous problems bringing …
The US has enjoyed complete military dominance since about 1985. The Soviet Union and now Russia is competitive with the number of nuclear weapons. Th Soviet Union also had a total volume of tanks and armored vehicles which the USA and its allies would uncertain of stopping or defeating. There is now the IISS 2018 …
The standard russian Su-35 jet is able to match performance characteristics of a fifth-generation fighter — with the sole exception of its lack of stealth capabilities. A fifth-generation variant of the Su-35 could mean just adding stealth modifications. Boeing has extensively modified the airframe of its F-15E strike fighter to develop the F-15SE Silent Eagle …