British Military Aviation And Updates

Incredible pics show US stealth bombers flying over white cliffs of Dover

Incredible pics show US stealth bombers flying over white cliffs of Dover
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Joe Gamp
Contributor, Yahoo News UK

,
Yahoo News UKAugust 30, 2019

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The dramatic images capture the B-2 Spirit aircraft flying over the UK's beaches (MOD)
Incredible new pictures show US Stealth Bombers in formation while flying over the White Cliffs of Dover.

The dramatic images capture the B-2 Spirit aircraft tearing across the UK's beaches.

They also were also joined by the RAF’s F-35 Lightning jets in the first dual training mission between the US and UK of its kind.

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The US Stealth bombers were joined by UK F-35 Lightning Jets in a joint training exercise between the two nations (MOD)
The Stealth Bomber is the most expensive military aircraft, costing around £1 billion each when they were introduced.

But production and development costs brought the price to £1.64bn for each of the 21 aircraft that were built between 1987 and 2000.

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The Lightning Jet comes in at a cool £100million per fighter.

Group Captain Richard Yates, Chief of Staff at the UK Air Battle Staff said: “We’re delighted that the USAF and 501st Wing Bomber Task Force are here in the UK and that our F-35 Lightning pilots have the chance to fly alongside and train with the B-2 bomber crews.

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(MOD)
"This is the first time that any other country has done this."

At around 3pm, Dover Strait Shipping published a picture it identified as two stealth bombers and their escorting F35s.

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A Stealth Bomber costs around £16 billion per aircraft (MOD)
They turned around over the sea off Folkestone.

And local resident Bobbie-Louise Willis photographed a group of planes above Elms Vale at about 2.45pm.

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A United States Air Force B2 Spiri flies above the English countryside near Dover with two RAF F-35 jets (MOD)
Defence minister Mark Lancaster said: “NATO is the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic defence, and those secure foundations continue to be reinforced by the training exercises being completed between the Royal Air Force and our special friends in the US Air Force.”

The exercise was the first time USAF B-2s trained with non-US F-35s.

Lieutenant Colonel Rob Schoeneberg, Bomber Task Force Commander, said: "Working alongside international fifth-generation aircraft provides unique training opportunities for us, bolsters our integration capabilities, and showcases the commitment we have to our NATO alliance.”
 
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MBDA readies new missile for electronic warfare

MBDA readies new missile for electronic warfare
By: Sebastian Sprenger   7 hours ago

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A delegate looks at MBDA missiles on display at the company's stand at the DSEI arms fair on Sept. 10, 2019, in London. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
LONDON — The British Ministry of Defence has tapped MBDA to demonstrate an electronic warfare version of the company’s Spear missile.

The idea is to replace the warhead with a miniaturized payload, made by Leonardo, that can jam enemy air defenses or beckon them away from strike missiles following in their wake, the company said at the DSEI defense trade show in London.

“These state-of-the-art electronic jammers will confuse our adversaries and keep our pilots safer than ever in the air,” Defence Procurement Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan was quoted as saying in an MBDA statement. “Paired with the devastating power of precision Brimstone and Meteor missiles, our world-class F-35 and Typhoon jets will continue to rule the skies in the years to come.”

MBDA plans to offer the new missile for swarm-like scenarios, meaning a number of them would be launched ahead of traditional strike weapons to confuse and overwhelm radar defenses.

The electronic warfare weapon is meant to “complement” the Spear miniature cruise missile variant, which is designed to “precisely engage long range, mobile, fleeting and re-locatable targets,” the company said. Both variants share the same architecture and propulsion system, which provide enough juice for the jammer version to loiter above prospective targets.

Small, expendable drones — or missiles, in this case — are a prominent requirement for two next-generation combat aircraft programs taking shape in Europe: the Tempest and the Future Combat Air System. The miniaturized, networked platforms are envisioned to accompany larger strike aircraft and provide support capabilities, like jamming or reconnaissance, from a distance.

MBDA is the designated weapons maker for both the British-Swedish-Italian Tempest effort and the French-German-Spanish FCAS program.
 


REACTION ENGINES TEST PROGRAMME FULLY VALIDATES PRECOOLER AT HYPERSONIC HEAT CONDITIONS :: Reaction Engines

REACTION ENGINES TEST PROGRAMME FULLY VALIDATES PRECOOLER AT HYPERSONIC HEAT CONDITIONS
Tue, 2019-10-22 07:14



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Reaction Engines has successfully tested its innovative precooler at airflow temperature conditions representing Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, marking a significant milestone in the development of its SABRE™ engine and paving the way for a revolution in hypersonic flight and space access.

The precooler heat exchanger is a vital component of Reaction Engines’ revolutionary SABRE air-breathing rocket engine and is an enabling technology for other precooled propulsion systems and a range of commercial applications.

This ground-based test achieved the highest temperature objective of the Company’s HTX testing programme and took place at its specially constructed unique facility at the Colorado Air and Space Port, United States.

During the latest series of tests, Reaction Engines’ unique precooler successfully quenched airflow temperatures in excess of 1,000°C (~1,800°F) in less than 1/20th of a second. The tests demonstrated the precooler’s ability to successfully cool airflow at speeds significantly in excess of the operational limit of any jet-engine powered aircraft in history. Mach 5 is more than twice as fast as the cruising speed of Concorde and over 50% faster than the SR-71 Blackbird aircraft – the world’s fastest jet-engine powered aircraft.

This most recent test builds upon the success of previous HTX hot tests undertaken in April which saw the precooler successfully operate at temperatures of 420ᵒC (~788ᵒF) – matching the thermal conditions corresponding to Mach 3.3 flight.

Commenting, Mark Thomas, Chief Executive, Reaction Engines, said:

“This is a major moment in the development of a breakthrough aerospace technology which has seen Reaction Engines’ precooler tested at Mach 5 airflow temperature conditions, smashing through previous achievements at Mach 3.3 temperatures and paving the way for hypersonic flight. In addition to its use in our SABRE class of air breathing rocket engines, there are numerous exciting commercial applications for our precooler technology, which delivers world-leading heat transfer capabilities at low weight and compact size, and we are seeing significant interest from a range of potential customers and technology partners.”

Reaction Engines’ patented precooler heat exchanger has the potential to be used in a wide range of commercial thermal management applications. These include the development of precooled systems that would significantly enhance the performance of existing jet engine technology, along with applications in automotive, aerospace, energy and industrial processes.

The major testing milestone is the culmination of 30 years of engineering innovation since Reaction Engines was founded in 1989 by three propulsion engineers from Rolls-Royce, Alan Bond, Richard Varvill and John Scott-Scott.

Richard Varvill, Reaction Engines’ co-founder and current Chief Technology Officer, said:

“This is a momentous landmark for Reaction Engines in the development of its SABRE engine, which has the potential to revolutionise both access to space and high-speed flight by powering aircraft to five times the speed of sound. The performance of our proprietary precooler technology was validated at hypersonic flight conditions and takes us closer to realising our objective of developing the first air-breathing engine capable of accelerating from zero to Mach 5.”

The HTX hot heat exchanger testing programme is a significant milestone on the roadmap to enabling transformational SABRE powered space access systems and has been keenly supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and European Space Agency (ESA). In March, the two agencies reviewed and validated the preliminary design of the demonstrator engine core of SABRE, which Reaction Engines will use to undertake ground-based testing at its under-construction TF1 test facility at Westcott, Buckinghamshire, UK.

The HTX hot heat exchanger test programme was supported under a contract to the Company’s US subsidiary Reaction Engines Inc. by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The precooler test item was designed and constructed at Reaction Engines’ headquarters in the UK, before being shipped to the Company’s Colorado site for testing.

Following this significant testing milestone, the Company will embark on achieving the next steps of the SABRE programme while also pursuing nearer-term opportunities that will benefit from the addition of the Company’s heat exchanger technology.

Over the last four years Reaction Engines has raised over £100m from public and private sources and has secured investment from BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce and Boeing HorizonX.

Commenting on this achievement, Science Minister Chris Skidmore said:

“The SABRE engine is one of the UK’s most exciting engineering projects which could change forever how we launch satellites into orbit and travel across the world. It’s fantastic to see Reaction Engines passing this significant milestone, which demonstrates how its precooler technology can deal with the extreme temperatures associated with travelling at five times the speed of sound. The government has invested £60 million in SABRE and is committed to taking a more strategic approach to space, developing our national capabilities to complement and expand on the UK’s leading role in the European Space Agency once we leave the EU.”
 
Probably 2035ish.
Wait for the aftermath of the Chinese virus to manifest itself, Paddy. I'm betting funds for this program will not only be curtailed, it'd cease in totality & BAe will go back to becoming prime sub contractors for the 6th gen US fighter aircraft program a la F-35 - a job it's eminently suited to perform with prior experience too with Italy & Spain following suit. Your dreams of an independent aerospace industry is going to crash land very soon . It could have been salvaged if only you were part of the EU but we all know where that went, don't we .
 
Wait for the aftermath of the Chinese virus to manifest itself, Paddy. I'm betting funds for this program will not only be curtailed, it'd cease in totality & BAe will go back to becoming prime sub contractors for the 6th gen US fighter aircraft program a la F-35 - a job it's eminently suited to perform with prior experience too with Italy & Spain following suit. Your dreams of an independent aerospace industry is going to crash land very soon . It could have been salvaged if only you were part of the EU but we all know where that went, don't we .
We'll have lots of money after Chinese debt repayments are cancelled.
 
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