Please, note to anyone depicted in this cartoon, from Nick Minchin to Mr Gates, Brendan Nelson, Joel Fitzgibbon, our venerable Johnny and Air Marshal Angus Houston who said in 2004 that the 'F-22 will be the most outstanding fighter plane ever built...' you're welcome to obtain high resolution of the said cartoon. Signed by the artist by his own hand.

Most other Gus' cartoons are also available in high resolution for better clarity of spirit... Just contact this site if you wish to adorn your trophy den with these unique artistic pieces in limited editions of whatever, to be framed by your local framer...

Don't be shy... Make me proud to be hung high and dry.

Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 "Raptor" fighter jet, widely considered the world's most advanced and off limits for export, streaked through a milestone performance in the UK.

The 60th Farnborough event marked the radar-evading jet's debut at an overseas air show.

It featured a manoeuvre called a "tail-slide", in which the pilot shoots nearly straight up, then lets the sleek jet drop without stalling.

It is a display made possible by the thrust of dual engines built by Pratt & Whitney, part of United Technologies.

The single-seat aircraft is capable of twice the speed of sound.

Unlike most fighters, no weapons are carried externally on the Raptor, to make it harder to detect on radar screens.

Pilot Major Paul 'Max' Moga from the US Air Force 27th Fighter Squadron opened the weapons-bay doors after pointing the aircraft's belly at spectators, showing where bombs and missiles would be stored.

Crossing the Atlantic to get here was itself a first for the aircraft, deployed last year to Kadena Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa, the hub of US air power in the Pacific.

Japan, Israel and Australia have shown interest in buying the F-22 if the US Congress were to lift the export ban enacted 10 years ago, partly to prevent the spread of US technological know-how and partly to avoid regional arms races.

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see toon at top 

Boeing says it will delay the first flight of its 787 Dreamliner because of problems with the installation of fasteners on the passenger plane and a just-ended machinists strike.

Yvonne Leach, a Boeing spokeswoman for the Dreamliner program, says Dreamliner's "first flight is not going to be accomplished" in the fourth quarter as planned.

The F22 Raptor fighter jet took to the skies at the Farnborough air show. The US Air Force stealth aircraft is made by Lockheed Martin, and is arguably the world's most sophisticated fighter jet.

The fifth-generation fighter twists, turns and rips through the sky, at points seemingly floating through the air like a snowflake, thanks to turbofans that include thrust vectoring.

It can evade and battle ground defence systems, is kitted out for surveillance and intelligence work, and has hidden weapons bays.

see toon at top...

THE official review used by federal Labor to justify its commitment to the multibillion-dollar US Joint Strike Fighter project was just a public relations exercise, according to comments by former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon in secret talks with his American counterpart.

Mr Fitzgibbon candidly told US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in February 2008 that the Air Combat Capability Review of Australia's future air power he had announced a week earlier was driven by domestic politics and was unlikely to produce any result other than acquisition of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, marketed by Lockheed Martin.

According to US embassy cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided exclusively to The Age, Mr Fitzgibbon made the admissions at a morning coffee session during the annual Australia-US Ministerial Meeting (AUSMIN) in Canberra.

He explained to Mr Gates that the newly elected Labor government would review the former Howard government's decisions to retire the ageing F-111 bomber fleet, pursue the acquisition of Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) to replace the F-111s and FA-18 fighters, and purchase 24 Super Hornets, as a stopgap until the first F-35s were delivered.

In opposition, Labor had been critical of the Coalition's move to acquire the JSFs and had urged that Australia seek the lifting of a US Congressional export ban in order to acquire the more capable F-22 Raptor, once described by Defence Force chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston as ''the most outstanding fighter plane ever built''.

Labor repeatedly warned that likely delays and cost blowouts with the JSFs could compromise capability and Australia could ''end up getting into trouble''.

In January 2008 Mr Fitzgibbon reiterated Labor's intention to ''pursue American politicians for access to the Raptor''.

But the following month, at AUSMIN, Mr Fitzgibbon was quick to assure the US government that such statements had been merely ''political'' and Washington could be confident that the F-35 acquisition would proceed.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/labors-review-of-howards-fighters-decision-a-sham-20110208-1almj.html

see toon at top...

Gus:

"The perfect storm of manufacturing hell..." has been an expression used by some ex-Boeing employees to describe the Dreamliner project...

In order to create its new Dreamliner Boeing went for broke. The concepts are simple: create a lighter plane, more fuel efficient, using more advanced technologies. It seems easy enough if one follows common sense procedures. To make a lighter plane one uses composite materials such as plastics and carbon fibre. Most planes these days are about 50/50 composite/aluminium per weight. For the Dreamliner Boeing has gone further: 70/20 composite/aluminium ratio. For further weight reduction, most hydraulics have been replaced by electric motors linked with a fibre optic network. The air inside the cabin is to be "not so dry" and more pleasant.

To achieve the ratio 70 per cent composite, the Dreamliner has carbon fibre wings. Fantastic technology that so far had been used scantily in very small planes, mostly built by amateur enthusiasts — and before that on racing yachts for quite a few years. We all know here what happens to carbon fibre racing boats in raging seas. There is a chance of delamination and breakage. So at Boeing, the engineers had to calculate stresses, fatigue and fixtures, using the power of the largest computers available in the US. So far so good.

The last big things I saw ever built out of carbon fibre were the America's Cup Yachts, 2010. More than 30 metre catamaran and trimaran with carbon masts soaring about 70 metres into the sky. But they were sailing in 8 to 10 knots breeze with apparent wind of 30 knots maximum... A plane flies at around 900 kms per hour cruising speed (nearly 500 knots). The stress factors plus the safety allowance are huge.

Eventually after solving all of the known problems, the Dreamliner was ready for a short test flight which it did successfully. Next flight, with the aviation authority onboard, the Dreamliner had major electrical problems. Some people inside the plane were complaining "it was raining inside", the electrics were going bonkers and a fire started in an electrical box. The pilots had to make an emergency landing. The "inspectors" were not impressed. One small problem that had apparently been overlooked was that carbon fibre invites condensation — far more than aluminium... Thus the "not so dry" air was actually condensing and drops of water were falling from the ceiling. Some of the water got into the electrics and short-circuited, letting smoke out.

Making a plane needs buyers in advance and in order to entice buyers, plane companies such as Boeing and Airbus invite their client-countries to participate in the construction. This can invite all sorts of problems. For example, Airbus had electric cabling done in Germany and when they arrived at the assembly line they were too short to do the job. Specifications are often tricky with complex bits. Sometimes one needs to do a dummy run or a sampling to make sure things fit... For example, the air conditioning unit on board the Dreamliner may need to be entirely redesigned as to remain within the specific weight, while removing more water from the air inside than before. This can be more tricky than it looks.

All in all the Dramaliner start-up production line was to cost 5 billions dollars and it is now up to 18 billions and four years behind schedule.

Thus the new contract for refuelling aircrafts is a bit of fresh air for Boeing...

Things are never simple...

Note: the "Dramaliner" is the name the Yourpeans call the Dreamliner... The Joint Force Fighter seems to be in the same boat... see toon at top... The price of Dreamliner seats is supposed to be 10 per cent cheaper than other aircrafts, except for the A380 for which the cost of seats is about 30 per cent cheaper if nearly used to capacity.

There will come a time anyhow when flying for holidays for pleasure will have to be taxed beyond reality in order to rein in global warming... See what happens............

Billions of pounds have been added to the bill for Typhoon fighter jets due to bad planning and "over-optimism" at the Ministry of Defence, a spending watchdog said today.

Some 232 of the planes were originally ordered by the British government in the mid-1980s.

That number has since been reduced by 72, but the development and production costs have risen by a fifth to £20.2 billion, and support costs have also gone up.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/billions-added-to-raf-typhoon-costs-2229809.html

A serving Army Reserve officer says the "destructive" military culture will never change while Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston remains Chief of Defence and has called for him to resign.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith says he has received numerous new complaints of sexual assault and misconduct at Canberra's Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in the wake of last week's Skype sex scandal.

Yesterday, Mr Smith announced a plan to fast track the introduction of women into frontline combat roles along with a raft of reviews and inquiries into the culture within the ADF.

But Julian Fidge, a GP in Wangaratta and a medical officer with the rank of Captain in the Army Reserve, has called the issue of women in frontline service a "furphy".

He says Air Chief Marshal Houston is the reason a "destructive" culture remains in Defence and has called for his resignation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/12/3189651.htm

...

Gates ultimately won this fight, ending F-22 purchases at 188 planes at nearly a half-a-billion dollars each. Yet, in the final analysis, the program met its budget target. "The F-22 spent about the same amount that they originally estimated," Moshe Schwartz, a weapons-buying expert at the Congressional Research Service, told a Senate panel last month. There was only one problem: "They got a third of the aircraft" originally projected for that sum.

The Government Accountability Office summed it up like this last month:

Despite a 70% reduction in quantities for the program, total acquisition costs have only decreased by 14%, due to research and development and average procurement unit cost increases. As a result, program acquisition unit costs for the F-22 Raptor have almost tripled, from $139 million to $412 million per airplane. For the current 188 aircraft program, the $273 million increase per plane translates to $51.3 billion in lost buying power for the F-22 program as a whole.

Poof! More than $50 billion -- gone! -- just like that. Breathtaking, heart-breaking, infuriating, whether you're a pilot, a patriot, or a taxpayer – or some combination thereof.

So the nation has paid triple its estimated cost for an airplane apparently unsuited for any of the three wars the nation is now waging. Kind of makes you hope we do better buying the F-35 warplane, under development for the Air Force, Marines and Navy. Compared to the F-22, it's supposed to be a bargain: 2,457 planes for $383 billion, only $156 million apiece. As of today.

Russia has demonstrated its first stealth fighter, designed as a cheaper alternative to the US F-22 Raptor.

The Sukhoi T-50, jointly developed with India, flew publicly for the first time at the MAKS 2011 air show near Moscow.

The supersonic T-50 aims to match the latest US design, handling manoeuvres that are impossible to older aircraft.

Russia plans to make up to 1,000 of the jets over coming decades, with India expected to buy up to 200. However, full production is not due before 2015.

Mikhail Pogosyan, president of the Russian state-run United Aircraft Corporation which is developing the craft, said: "The T-50 jet will provide the backbone not only of the Russian air force but also that of India."

The Russian Air Force was expected to buy up to 200 of the craft, which is intended to replace the SU-27 fighter, he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14564311

Joint Strike Looser...

WASHINGTON — At a time when $46 billion in mandatory budget cuts are causing anxiety at the Pentagon, administration officials see one potential benefit: there may be an opening to argue for deep reductions in programs long in President Obama’s sights, and long resisted by Congress.

On the list are not only base closings but also an additional reduction in deployed nuclear weapons and stockpiles and a restructuring of the military medical insurance program that costs more than America spends on all of its diplomacy and foreign aid around the world. Also being considered is yet another scaling back in next-generation warplanes, starting with the F-35, the most expensive weapons program in United States history.

None of those programs would go away. But inside the Pentagon, even some senior officers are saying that the reductions, if done smartly, could easily exceed those mandated by sequestration, as the cuts are called, and leave room for the areas where the administration believes more money will be required.

These include building drones, developing offensive and defensive cyberweapons and focusing on Special Operations forces.

Publicly, at least, Mr. Obama has not backed any of those cuts, even though he has deplored the “dumb” approach of simply cutting every program in the military equally.

Mr. Obama will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday in another attempt to persuade lawmakers to reach a long-term deficit-reduction deal and replace the indiscriminate cuts with more targeted ones.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/us/politics/mandatory-cuts-

The biggest barrier to cutting the F-35 program, however, is rooted in the way in which it was developed: The fighter jet is being mass-produced and placed in the hands of military aviators such as Walsh, who are not test pilots, while the aircraft remains a work in progress. Millions more lines of software code have to be written, vital parts need to be redesigned, and the plane has yet to complete 80 percent of its required flight tests. By the time all that is finished — in 2017, by the Pentagon’s estimates — it will be too late to pull the plug. The military will own 365 of them.

By then, “we’re already pregnant,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, who oversees F-35 development for the Pentagon.

When the F-35 finishes testing, “there will be no yes-or-no, up-or-down decision point,” said Pierre Sprey, who was a chief architect of the Air Force’s F-16 Fighting Falcon. “That’s totally deliberate. It was all in the name of ensuring it couldn’t be canceled.”

The Pentagon has long permitted equipment to be produced while it is still being tested, with the intent of getting cutting-edge gear to warriors more quickly, but senior military officials said the F-35 takes the approach to new extremes. Doing so has served as more than a hedge against cuts — it has also driven up the overall price. The 65 aircraft that already have been built, and those that will be assembled over the next few years, will require substantial retrofits that could cost as much as $4 billion as problems are uncovered during testing, the officials said.

Initial tests already have yielded serious problems that are forcing significant engineering modifications. The entire fleet was grounded earlier this year because of a crack in the fan blade in one jet’s engine. The Marine Corps’ version has been prohibited from its signature maneuver — taking off and landing vertically — because of a design flaw. And the Navy model has not been able to land on an aircraft carrier because its tailhook, an essential feature to alight aboard a ship, needs to be redesigned. The Pentagon’s top weapons tester issued a scathing report on the F-35 this year that questioned the plane’s reliability and warned of a “lack of maturity” in performance.

When the F-35 program was first approved by the Pentagon, Lockheed Martin said it could develop and manufacture 2,852 planes for $233 billion. The Pentagon now estimates the total price tag at $397.1 billion. And that is for 409 fewer planes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/f-35s-ability-to-evade-budget-cuts-

Australia's biggest Defence acquisition is currently rated as "unaffordable" because of reliability issues, a US congressional committee has heard.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has been billed as the smartest fighter jet on the planet, designed to strike enemies in the air and on the ground without being detected by radar.

The first two of Australia's initial order of 14 F-35s is expected to be delivered this year at a cost of just under $US130 million each.

Federal Cabinet's national security committee is expected to endorse the purchase of an additional 58 F-35s next month.

But the head of the JSF program, US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, visited Australia two weeks ago and declared the reliability and maintainability of the aircraft was not yet "good enough".

And overnight the US House Armed Services Committee was told the planes are currently not affordable to use at the moment.

The committee heard software problems could delay the fighter's production, and foreign buyer delays could see countries like Australia paying millions of dollars more per aircraft.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-27/f35-joint-strike-fighters-unaffordable-us-committee-hears/5348414

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Too much complex technology that would even confuse an arcade game addict... And still not competitive compared with Russian fly by wire fighter jets...

Sir Gus de Leon y Die Kartoffel

You local aeronautical expert.