Comments on: Land like Top Guns?

By: MaxDamage

MaxDamage — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:23:12 +0000

I’ve sort of wondered how Predators can survive without complete air superiority. A Cessna with a pistol-packing co-pilot can down one of them. Yet we’ve canned the F-22 in favor of more unmanned, slow, low-capacity UAV’s.

Some day we’re going to go up against a country with aircraft. That will be an interesting day for Predator pilots.

– Max

By: AT1 B

AT1 B — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:38:42 +0000

The question that should be asked is who has taken charge of the UAV programs in CNAF or even the unmanned programs Navy wide?
Where are the 1000 questions like what Captain Reeves posted on the chalk board in Ready 1 of the Langely?
Why aren’t we scheduling more war games and fleet exercises to test out these questions, generate answers to questions that haven’t been asked and in general figure out how to effectively use unmanned assets in our missions?
Just like we did with carrier aviation we need to walk before we can run and it would be a good time for some 0-6 or above to step up to the plate and not shake thier head “yes man” style. Asking the tough questions, getting tougher answers, and trying to explain where the promises are fall short of reality. Until we start doing that, these will just become billion dollar blunders. Or we will be shut out of the office like we were in the stealth programs.

By: SpazSinbad

SpazSinbad — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:25:49 +0000

GE, pics show Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration NASA Dryden Flight Research Center October 25, 2005: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/AARD/index.html & http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/multimedia/imagegallery/AARD/AARD_proj_desc.html

“The idea was for the “tanker” in the study to develop an aerodynamic model for future automated aerial refueling, especially of UAVs. During the 1990s, a refueling pod was integrated on the newer F/A-18E/Fs. The Dryden AAR flights were developed to demonstrate the operational flight envelope of an older-model F/A-18 carrying the pod and how a secondary aircraft could access the free-stream hose and drogue dynamics from the first aircraft. The AARD flights examined the process of autonomous refueling, without pilot intervention.”

By: grounded eric

grounded eric — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:58:11 +0000

the pics on Wired show a refueling probe. Howzat gonna work? Use a flying boom like air force I can see, but chasing a basket to plug in? I think that will probably be a bigger challenge than the landings. ACLS is proven. Automatic probe and drogue air refueling, not so much.

By: Byron

Byron — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:32:22 +0000

xformed, sad to hear that. Unfortunately, they haven’t figured out a way to build a robot that can cuss, chew tobacco, drink like a fish, chase all the ugly women and still build and repair your pretty grey boats

By: xformed

xformed — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:36:52 +0000

You know, this is the beginning of a bad trend. first they came for the Brown Shoes, and we Black Shoes cheered….then they came and took the DC crew and gave us HALON and automated fire detectors….I’m sure the Lexonauts could write a nice screen play about all the “trades” of the sea going service would slowly be automated and one non-automated group we be left saying “and they came for me.” Maybe we could steal a name like “Rythyms II: The Final Insult”

Think: No more liberty ports, no sitting in the eyes of the ship at dawn contemplating the majesty of the view, BS sessions on the fantail, shooting stars on the bridge wing the old fashioned way….you know, those geeks think they can do away with us all…:)