The Dead District

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

President Macron Announces Start of New French Nuclear Aircraft Carrier Program (PANG, le porte-avions de nouvelle génération)

France will build a new, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace its Charles de Gaulle carrier by 2038

French President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday, 8 December, officially green-lighted the construction of a new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as part of the PANG program (PANG, le porte-avions de nouvelle génération - the new generation aircraft carrier). The future flagship of the French Navy is intended to replace the existing FS Charles de Gaulle (R91) aircraft carrier around 2038.

The announcement was made during Macron’s visit to French nuclear power company Framatome, which designs and supplies nuclear steam systems and services.

“Charles de Gaulle, as you know, will come to the end of its life in 2038. This is why I have decided that the future aircraft carrier that will equip our country and our navy will be nuclear-powered like the Charles de Gaulle,” Macron said. “Your plant in Le Creusot, which has been producing parts essential to our navy for a long time, will produce, among others, several major parts of the nuclear boiler of the future aircraft carrier by forging and machining them right here. … By these choices, we confirm France’s desire to preserve its strategic autonomy.”

The new French aircraft carrier will be equiped by electro-magnetic catapults, and American-made, and the ship will be designed to accommodate next-generation warplanes and serve until around 2080.

They didn’t provide a price tag but French media estimate it will cost around 7 billion euros ($8.5 billion).

It will have a length of 990 feet, a width of 130 feet and a displacement of 75,000 tons. The first steel cut is set for 2025, while sea trials are slated to begin in 2036 and commissioning with the French Navy in 2038, which matches the expected decommissioning of the Charles de Gaulle.

According the Naval News new aircraft carrier specifications are follow:

Nuclear-powered (CVN) with two K22 reactors (2 x 220 megawatts thermal)

Length between 940 and 970 feet

Full load displacement around 70,000 – 75,000 tons

Maximum speed: 26 to 27 knots (similar to Charles de Gaulle)

Propulsive power would be around 80 megawatts delivered to three or four shaft lines

Total power around 110 megawatts, including the electrical plant

Future air wing: 32 next-generation fighters with two to three E-2D Advanced Hawkeyes and a yet-to-be-determined number of unmanned carrier air vehicles

Two side elevators with 40 tons lifting capacity

Three 300-foot electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) by General Atomics

Flight deck: 3.9 acres

Aircraft hangar: 54,000 square feet

Crew: 900 and 1,080 sailors (not including the air element of 550 to 620 sailors) with higher comfort compared to Charles de Gaulle.

Thales SeaFire radar

Principal Anti Air with MBDA Aster surface-to-air missiles for self-defense

Photos (c) Alain BOLLERY

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

New Chinese Unmanned Turret for APC/IFV

China test a new Unmanned Turret (or RCWS) for APC/IFV

Previously the turret was spotted in assembly line

Wind tunnel tests will help design future Army tiltrotor aircraft

Army researchers will study whirl flutter behavior to determine the viability of new tiltrotor analysis tool.

NORFOLK, Va. - After more than three years in development, a team of U.S. Army researchers and industry partners completed the construction of a testbed that will help to inform the design of future Army rotorcraft.

The team plans to test the TiltRotor Aeroelastic Stability Testbed, or TRAST in a massive wind tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center to gauge the effectiveness of modern tiltrotor stability models.

“This research effort is to gain confidence in Future Vertical Lift vehicles that are aimed at a tiltrotor configuration,” said Andrew Kreshock, an Army aerospace engineer at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, now known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory. “Since future vehicles are being developed without wind tunnel testing, this puts more pressure for accurate stability predictions.”

Tiltrotors offer enormous potential for the Army in terms of speed and vertical lift capability. Unlike most aircraft, they can hover in the air like a helicopter or fly forward at great speeds like an airplane depending on the orientation of their rotors.

The ability to transition between the two modes allows tiltrotors to capitalize on the advantages of both rotorcraft and fixed-wing aircraft depending on the situation.

“Currently, the max speed of conventional helicopters is around 160 to 180 knots,” Kreshock said. “Tiltrotors can achieve 300 knots. We’re looking at almost doubling the speed of our current fleet and thus increasing our range by almost twice as much in the same flight time.”

But despite its versatility, tiltrotors face severe stability issues due to the placement of incredibly heavy engines with large rotors on the end of the wings.

The interaction between the propellers and the wings can generate a dangerous phenomenon known as whirl flutter, where strong aerodynamic forces cause the airframe structure to shake violently and even fail.

As a result, tiltrotors are difficult to construct properly, and researchers continue to validate tools necessary to predict how different tiltrotor configurations will fare against whirl flutter.

According to Kreshock, TRAST serves to help researchers develop state-of-the-art analysis software that open the possibilities for new tiltrotor designs.

“Helicopters have gone through many generations from when they were first built to now, but the only tiltrotor in production is the V-22 Osprey,” Kreshock said. “And the tools developed for predicting stability in the V-22 were made in the 1960s and 1970s. Because we have better computers now, we can model as many degrees of freedom as we need compared to the tools from decades ago.”

In order to predict whirl flutter behavior in TRAST, Kreshock and his team employed different analysis codes for different parts of the tiltrotor structure.

They used a structural code called NASA Structure Analysis, or NASTRAN, to model the aerodynamics of the wing and two different programs—the Comprehensive Analytical Model of Rotorcraft Aerodynamics, or CAMRAD, and the Rotorcraft Comprehensive Analysis System, RCAS—to model the rotorcraft.

Through the combination of these three programs, the team isolated the aerodynamic behavior of individual aircraft components and then used this information to estimate the stability boundaries of the TRAST model.

Once the researchers test the TRAST model in the wind tunnel, they can compare how well the predictions generated by the analysis codes match the actual behavior of TRAST in the face of extreme whirl flutter.

“We want to measure the stability boundary without actually breaking the model,” Kreshock said. “It’s tricky because as you start getting closer to the stability boundary, you can watch the model vibrate and become more unstable. As we watch this model shake from the window, we have to make sure to keep one finger on the switch to shut down the wind tunnel before the model actually breaks.”

According to Kreshock, present tiltrotors like the V-22 Osprey handle the issue of whirl flutter through reinforced airframes and thick airfoils, which severely increase the weight of the aircraft.

He believes that TRAST may help the Army explore new design possibilities for tiltrotors that resolve the whirl flutter problem in different ways, such as wing extensions.

“Compared to civilian aircraft, the Army always pushes their aircraft to the limit,” Kreshock said. “In order to meet this demand, we need to improve the stability predictions so that we not only have more efficient aircraft but also be able to test new technology in the future.”

Sunday, December 6, 2020

The Scientific Production Association KURGANPRIBOR preparing the production line for VKO-25 and GK-94 grenade

The Russian Scientific Production Association KURGANPRIBOR preparing the production line for VKO-25 grenade (for UBGL GP-25/30), and GK-94 (for GM-94, pump action magazine fed grenade launcher). According the shedule, production will launched in next year.

First time the cumulative grenades with impressive for their size power was demonstrated at the "Army-2019" Forum. They are designed for grenade launchers 40 and 43 mm.

The grenades were developed by a team of the Novosibirsk Institute of Applied Physics, which is part of the Kurganpribor group of companies - one of the most successful Russian organizations engaged in development in the field of armor protection and in the shock field.

It is at the Novosibirsk Institute of Applied Physics that small-sized ammunition is developed for the under-barrel GP-25. which is attached to AK type machines. Grenades fired from such grenade launchers are designed to destroy enemy personnel.

At the Army-2019 forum, those present had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the cumulative grenades VKO-25 and GK-94. At a distance of 400 meters, they are able to penetrate 120 and 200-mm RHA and 400mm concrete. That is, it is enough to fire a column of armored vehicles of a conditional opponent from AGS with similar grenades, and it will be completely destroyed.

"Tests of the cumulative grenade developed by us for small calibers VKO-25 and more powerful GK-94 have exceeded all expectations. She has a huge penetrating power, before which any armored equipment, brick and concrete buildings will not stand. Other similar grenades have a much lower armor penetration". Said the General Director of NPO Kurganpribor Fedor Kolosovnikov.

Specification of VKO-25 hollow charge grenade

120mm armor element Through-penetration hollow-charge fragmentation grenade VKO-25

Specification of GK-94 hollow charge grenade

Brazilian delegation took part in the Dialogue on Defense Industry in Ukraine

Brazilian delegation visited the Ukraine for military production cooperation.

The parties discussed strategic cooperation between the two countries in the military-technical and defense spheres. Promising bilateral projects in the field of military-technical cooperation, as well as in the aerospace industry were outlined.

The importance of holding the first Dialogue on Defense Industry between Ukraine and Brazil was noted. The parties praised the fact that Ukraine became the sixth country in the world with which Brazil launched such a Dialogue (along with the United States, Italy, France, India and Portugal).

"The first Dialogue on Defense Industry between Ukraine and Brazil, which took place following the agreements between the Presidents of Ukraine and Brazil, becomes a unique interstate format, which, among other things, allows to establish direct links not only between state enterprises, but also between private companies in this area," Ihor Zhovkva said.

In this context, the Deputy Head of the Office of the President thanked Secretary for Defense Products of the Ministry of Defense of Brazil Marcos Dego for including the representatives of world-famous companies Embraer, Taurus Armas, AVIBRÁS, IMBEL, Condor, Kryptus in the official delegation.

"Ukraine and Brazil have their own highly developed technologies and operate in third country markets. I am convinced that by joint efforts we will be able to increase our competitive advantages in foreign markets," Ihor Zhovkva stressed.