If you think this year’s budget battle is a political showdown, check out this story here about turf war raging inside Britian’s defense world. The head of the Royal Air Force wants to take over all combat aviation, essentially taking over the Royal Navy’s fixed-wing fleet. Now try to imagine if someone made a suggestion like that at tomorrow’s Senate hearing on tactical aviation.
Author Andrew Tilghman
Pilots in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be able to see through the walls and floor of their own plane, thanks to a new high-tech helmet that’ll make NVGs seem like your grand daddy’s bifocals. Check out this recently released video from Northrop Grumman that shows off the new system. (Jump ahead to about the 3:50 minute point in the 6 minute video to see the helmet part.) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvnhFgzIKI[/youtube]
What does complacency sound like? I think I might have a transcript of it on my desk. We had a story in this week’s paper about a a couple of guys in a Super Hornet who completely missed the target range and ended up mistakenly dropping a 500-pound bomb in a national forest in Florida. The funny thing that didn’t make it into that story is the back-and-forth chatter between the pilot and NFO as they were getting ready for a COMPTUEX training run last May: Pilot: I’m gonna waypoint designate 47, is that cool? NFO: Yeah! Pilot: Yeah! Work…
