Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Honeywell and Pratt & Whitney sued by F-22 pilot's widow August 15, 2012
Posted by Richard Clements in : Aviation Safety , 1 comment so farAirForce Times has run an article stating that the wife of Capt. Jeff Haney who died when his F-22 Raptor crashed in Alaska in November 2010 has agreed to a binding settlement after launching a lawsuit with the main contractors for the jet.
Anna Haney wife of Capt. Jeff Haney filed the lawsuit in May, stating that the jet is “dangerous and defective” and was the reason that her husband had been killed.
In the AFT article John Gagliano, the attorney for Anna Haney, confirmed that a settlement had been reached but refused to provide any further details as to what the settlement terms are.
In fact according to court documents from the U.S District court for the northern district of Illinois, the settlement terms are confidential and the recording of the proceedings that took place on Aug. 8 is to be sealed. It’s though that the settlement will be approved during September in a special meeting.
Only last month the Pentagon announced that a primary cause of the hypoxia type symptoms suffered by some Raptor pilots was that of a faulty valve on the G vest worn by the pilots. There are some pilots who still are reluctant to believe that this is the cause of the problems that have affected the jet.
Based on the Air Force investigation, Capt. Jeff Haney crashed as a consequence of a human error.
Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com
Image credit: Lockheed Martin
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British pilots flew armed U.S drones during the Libyan conflict July 29, 2012
Posted by Richard Clements in : Drones , 1 comment so farSeveral online news outlets, including the British Newspaper The Guardian, have been running news articles stating that British exchange pilots in the U.S flew armed American Predator drones during the Libyan conflict. The disclosure had slipped out during a parliamentary answer, some 10 months after the end of the conflict, during which the British Government had insisted that no British armed drones had been used. Whilst technically still true the MOD (Ministry of Defence) has since admitted that RAF personnel on an exchange program had indeed flown the armed predators during the conflict whom became a key part of the air war.
During the conflict, between April and October (2011), the Predators performed some 145 air strikes according the figures released by the Pentagon; it remains unclear how many of those air strikes were flown by British personnel. The Guardian quoted a RAF source as saying that the British pilots would have followed British ROEs (Rules Of Engagement) rather than U.S. ones. “If they were asked to go beyond their own nation’s rules, then they would refuse to do so.”
The Defence Minister Lord Astor had “let the cat out of the bag” on Tuesday Jul. 26 during questions and said “Her Majesty’s government do not use armed remotely piloted air systems against terrorist suspects outside Afghanistan. However, UK personnel flew armed remotely piloted air systems against Gaddafi’s forces in Libya in 2011, in support of the NATO humanitarian mission authorised under UNSCR resolution 1973.”
The MoD was quick to make a statement on the subject: “There were no and are no UK remotely piloted air systems operating outside of Afghanistan. The UK armed forces routinely embed UK personnel with allied nation units (and vice versa) via exchange programmes. As confirmed by Lord Astor, UK personnel embedded within a US unit flew armed remotely piloted air systems missions against Gaddafi’s forces in Libya in 2011,” the spokesman said to The Guardian.
In 2007, to operate its MQ-9 Reaper (Predator B) drone alongside the USAF in support of UK ground forces in Afghanistan, the Royal Air Force formed 39 Sqn at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.
British Reapers provide real-time video imagery to ground commanders, with the capability to attack ground targets if required.
Richard Clements for TheAviationist.com
Image credit: Crown Copyright
F-22 to deploy to Japan. With a solution to the oxygen problem (and some concerns about the AMRAAM missile) July 27, 2012
Posted by Richard Clements in : Military Aviation , add a commentAs the debate about the F-22 “invicibility” goes on after the confrontation with the Eurofighter Typhoon during the Red Flag Alaska, some good news should ease some tension will help ease tension within the Raptor community.
First of all, the U.S. Air Force has finally narrowed down the root cause of the hypoxia like symptoms that have been plaguing the F-22 missions in the last couple of years.
“We have eliminated one of the hypotheses that the air force scientific advisory board postulated as a potential root cause for the hypoxia-related incidents and that was contamination. We have the data that has confirmed that” said USAF chief of staff Gen. Norton Schwartz in an article appeared on Flighglobal.
Indeed, USAF has collected data which suggests the problem is with the pilot’s life support system and specifically hardware defects associated with it. “Part of that is the upper pressure garment of the g-suit assembly [...] Part of that has to do with hose and valve and connection hardware in the cockpit.”
The modifications are going to be fully tested and should be starting to be installed next fall. In the meanwhile, the current restrictions to 40,000 feet, to fly within 30 minutes from an airport as well as some maneuvering limitations which are in force on the F-22 fleet will continue until the modifications are implemented on the aircrews equipment.
With the changes, SECDEF Leon E. Panetta gave the go ahead to the deployment of a squadron of F-22s to Kadena, in Japan, that will take place in the next coming days. Panetta has in fact approved the Air Force’s plan which foresees a gradual lifting of restriction which will allow the service to resume normal F-22 operations over time (including the air space patrol flights in Alaska, currently undertaken by other types of aircraft), ensuring the safety of the pilots.
The hop to Kadena, Okinawa, was allowed along a route over northern Pacific and by lifting the limitation about the distance from the nearest landing field (extended to 1.5 hrs). The aircraft will be accompanied by KC-135 tankers that will have to carry at least one F-22 pilot, whose task will be to give Raptor pilots advice should the need arise.
It’s not clear how the F-22 (more or less secretly) deployed to UAE last spring, considered the restrictions to fleet.
The oxygen deprivation problem isn’t the only problem that continues to affect the U.S. Air Force.
Something which has been going on as long but has received far less publicity is the series of issues experienced by the AMRAAM missile.
The problem with the AMRAAM, described by Strategy Page isn’t F-22 specific to be fair (although the AIM-120 is the Raptor’s main air-to-air missile), as it deals with the rocket motor that powers the missile in flight.
It has been found that if the missile experiences low temperatures (like those that can be found at high altitude) the motor becomes unreliable.
The USAF tests a few missile when ever it receives a new batch of missiles, it was during this test that the problem was found, as such there have been no deliveries for 2 years whilst the manufacturer looks into the cause.
Although the AMRAAM entered service some 20 years ago (1992) the missile has gone through some upgrades during that time and it’s likely that components in the rocket motor have been slightly changed. And the result is this problem.
The manufacturer continues to look into the problem whilst the USAF holds onto the funding to pay for these faulty missiles.
Written with David Cenciotti
Image credit: Richard Clements
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Photo: Pararescueman (with swim fins) jumps from a HC-130P/N King during a special rescue demo June 13, 2012
Posted by David Cenciotti in : Special Operations , add a commentThe following cool photo, allegedly taken on Oct. 27, 2010 (even if the EXIF says Sept. 11, 2009) shows pararescuemen from the 920th Rescue Wing jumping from an HC-130P/N King while performing a freefall rescue demonstration, at Cocoa Beach, Florida.
As enough evident, the airman wears swim fins, he’ll need to swim to shore as part of the demonstration for Air Force Week Cocoa Beach.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
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Oriental Turboprops: U.S. C-130 Hercules cargo planes flying near Mt. Fuji, Japan June 9, 2012
Posted by David Cenciotti in : Military Aviation , add a commentThe following cool image shows a formation of U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft flying in formation on Jun. 5, 2012, as they return from the “Samurai Surge” training mission near Mount Fuji, Japan.
At 12,388 feet, Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan.
Image credit: U.S. Air Force
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