Thinking Smaller, The Air Force Learns Something

[Gargamel]

Thinking Smaller, the Air Force Learns a Thing or Two


Interesting bit here:

One development that caught his eye was the separation of flight control software from mission attack software. “Every participant had a variant of that,” says Pietrucha, adding that Air Force research labs have been advocating this approach.

To illustrate why software separation is attractive, Pietrucha cites the software upgrade cycle for the F-15E, in which he was a backseater. Because the flight control software and the mission software are combined, Pietrucha says the aircraft has to be re-certified every time its software gets updated. Consequently, it takes two years before any change can be adopted. By separating flight and mission software, he says updates could be done in weeks.

“We saw participants making [software] changes overnight,” he says. For example, when one airman asked a manufacturer “ ‘Can you give me a button on the touch screen?’ Bang! The next day there’s a button on the touch screen.” The flexibility in software means the Air Force may be able to change the way it does business, he says.

The contenders so far:

Super Tucano


AT-6C Wolverine


Textron Scorpion


AT-802L Longsword


IOMAX Archangel


L-159 Alca (Recent Czech And Israeli Team)

[ceyko]

The Air Force effectively lost light attack capabilities when the Cessna A-37 was retired after the 1991 Gulf War, and was replaced by the significantly heavier and more capable Fairchild-Republic A-10. That airplane was well-suited to destroying Soviet tanks, the job for which it was designed, but is overkill for the low-intensity wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, now well into their second decade.
Read more at https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-pl...R8Xf0gKA6Jq.99

That's the part of the article that sort of took my by surprise. Of course, I guess the AF lost that capability but the Army and Marines still have that via helos.

[Strychnine]

AT-802L Longsword

Haven't read the article yet, but this reminds me of something. Did you guys ever read about Erik Prince (Blackwater founder) and the armored / armed cropduster he was shopping around?

Pretty damn fascinating read, and definitely a bit sordid.

ECHO PAPA EXPOSED - Inside Erik Prince’s Treacherous Drive to Build a Private Air Force

[BP]

That's the part of the article that sort of took my by surprise. Of course, I guess the AF lost that capability but the Army and Marines still have that via helos.

The Air Force still flies Pave Hawks but mostly for search and rescue and some special forces roles.

[helosailor]

Yep, the PaveHawks weapons are really only for self-defense/cover fire for rescues.

The Afghan Air Force (yeah, they actually have one) has been having fantastic results with the Super Tucano, so it would not surprise me to see some in our inventory as well. They are reliable, and very capable in exactly the type of conflicts that we can expect. Two key words in selling a combat aircraft "Combat proven".