US military news, discussions and history

[Hakan]

Guys before they open a u.s defense forum i suggest we plan out all of the sticky thread so that way everything is done right and organized from the beggining. Maybe a thread for each service branch along with threads for important topics such as uav programs, naval programs, small arms etc.

I think this format for threads would be a good idea to use when starting threads in the new forum:

Huge Projects of Türkiye

It doesnt have to be exactly the same but the concept of listing the thread contents in the opening post is a good idea. As new major things are added the op is updated by a mod. Im hoping that the u.s defence forum gets its own mod so that way the forum gets managed well,

@Nihonjin1051 @LeveragedBuyout @SvenSvensonov @gambit @American Eagle @Desertfalcon @F-22Raptor

 

[Bouncer]

Past and present experimental weapons:

Can you please post a small description of these weapons? Awesome thread otherwise!

 

[AMDR]

ASM-135 ASAT, an F-15 launched anti-satellite missile. The first test in 1985 successfully hit and destroyed a satellite

 

[Esc8781]

Many people haven't heard of these guys.

Regimental Reconnaissance Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Can you please post a small description of these weapons? Awesome thread otherwise!

Sure thing.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Guys before they open a u.s defense forum i suggest we plan out all of the sticky thread so that way everything is done right and organized from the beggining. Maybe a thread for each service branch along with threads for important topics such as uav programs, naval programs, small arms etc.

I think this format for threads would be a good idea to use when starting threads in the new forum:

This is definitely a good plan, but I've found that with dedicated branch threads, such as the JMSDF thread, that they quickly devolve into a general discussion about the entire military of a nation - now the JMSDF thread is just the JSDF. It's hard to keep them unified and on topic, even when off topic posts are reported or deleted and an outline is provided. I am eagerly awaiting a formal US military thread, in the mean time though I thought people would like a place to discuss the US military and share some pictures.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Air Force crew prepares to test next-generation tanker

For the group of airmen selected to test the Air Force’s next generation tanker, the assignment is bigger than once in a career.

With the KC-46A Pegasus expected to rival the lifespan of its predecessor, the almost 60-year-old KC-135, it is once in a generation.

“When they have no hair left and they’re sitting there talking to their grandchildren, they will say ‘Hey grandpa, what did you do when you were in the Air Force?’ ” said Lt. Col. James Quashnock, commander of the 418th Flight Test Squadron Detachment 1, stationed at Boeing Field in Seattle. “Every single guy here will answer, ‘I was the first to work on the KC-46.’ ”

The 418th Flight Test Squadron Detachment 1 includes 27 airmen and civilians, working in a nondescript office right off the flight line at Boeing Field, about 6 miles south of downtown Seattle. The group, about half military and half civilian, are tasked with overseeing the test and development of the next generation tanker and ensuring that it is safe to fly, along with creating the procedures that will govern the future flight of the Pegasus.

“This 46 will be around here for decades, and decades, and decades,” Quashnock said. “Our great grandchildren will probably be able to fly this aircraft. It’s going be an Air Force legacy for a long time.”

Fly when ready
The detachment serves as the lead developmental test organization for the Air Force on the new tanker. The team is made up of pilots and boom operators from the Air Force, along with mostly civilian engineers who work with Boeing to make sure testing is accurate, and that it is being done safely, Quashnock said.

For now, that means mostly simulation testing, with the aircraft’s real equipment set up to computers to work on how the systems will operate. The first aircraft in the developmental lot, a modified Boeing 767-2C, has not finished production. That aircraft will be flown and maintained by Boeing and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. Once that is done, it will receive the boom and other military-specific equipment, and that’s when the detachment’s pilots and test boom operators will step in.

“We want to make sure they are doing the right tests and doing it safely, to collect the data that the program office needs to then approve the full purchase of the aircraft,” he said.

The first contract includes four test aircraft. These will be put through the paces mostly at Boeing Field, along with other tests at Edwards Air Force Base, California; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The initial 767 variant is expected to fly in the next month or two, with the modified variant to fly several months later.

Boeing and the program office work the schedule, Quashnock said, and the airmen on-site are concerned with actually flying the aircraft when it is ready.

“We fly when the aircraft is ready, not necessarily on the schedule,” he said. “Boeing is focused on the schedule. We’re here to provide the support when the aircraft is ready.”

The detachment’s pilots come from the service’s other tankers — the KC-135 and KC-10, along with those who have flown the C-17, C-40 and B-2. All have graduated test pilot school.

“What that wide mix of aircraft does is allows us to bring in a breadth of experience across all those different types of aircraft,” Quashnock said. “Because all aircraft are built a little bit different. ... Having that broad spectrum allows eyes that have different backgrounds to look at something and go, ‘That looks like something I know about,’ or ‘That’s something I have seen before. Let’s talk about it and make it better.’ “

Air Force Materiel Command hand-selected every member of the team, including the “best boom operators in the Air Force,” he said. The operators come from a mix of KC-10 and KC-135 backgrounds, and have all done test work at Edwards. Their experience will be needed to lay the groundwork for how new operators will work on the jet.

“We want to look through every situation and every scenario, and account for what this 18-year-old boom operator straight into the Air Force is going to encounter and what is he going to do,” said Chief Master Sgt. Ernest Burns, superintendent of the detachment. “Because there is a tremendous amount of responsibility that a boom operator has. To connect two airplanes going 400 miles per hour is not an easy chore.”

The KC-46 is the No. 1 acquisition program in the service — the Joint Strike Fighter is the No. 1 Defense Department-wide — meaning it is the top priority for people, and the program’s funding is protected.

“When that happens, you kind of get the ability to do certain things like by name request the right people you need into your program,” Quashnock said.

The biggest change will come for the boom operators. In the KC-135 and the KC-10, operators looked out through a window at the rear of the aircraft to connect with the jets receiving fuel. In the KC-46, the operators will sit near the front of the jet and use 3-D cameras to operate the boom.

“This is completely new,” Burns said. “We’re doing this through [the remote visual system] and we’re up front. We are running through every scenario to think of what a brand-new, 18-year-old boom operator could encounter.

That’s why developmental testing is so important. ... We don’t want to leave anything uncovered. We don’t want to let any operational guy learn something for the first time.”

The Air Force is using lessons learned from the Japanese and Italian tankers, along with the KDC-10 used by the Netherlands. Test boom operators are using a simulator system before the actual KC-46 can begin flying to determine test protocols.

“It’s a huge test. A huge leap and there are a lot of things we’re going to figure out as we go,” he said. “However ... we’re going to be able to do things much safer. Especially at night.”

No owner's manual
The KC-46, while based on Boeing’s 767, is pure tanker. Italy’s and Japan’s version of the 767 tanker is mostly a freighter-built 767 ripped apart and rebuilt for refueling, Quashnock said. The KC-46 is all new, meaning most of it is unproven and unflown. That will be the job of the detachment.

“You want to look at, where could this plane go and what can it do?” he said. “What failure modes are out there that anybody else who could climb in this aircraft are going to go see and go find.”

Test pilots and boom operators will have to fly through hundreds of scenarios that operational fliers could run into and develop the checklists and procedures to work through it. The jet is new, and there isn’t a manual yet, Burns said.

“It’s not a freighter that’s converted,” Burns said. “From the initial spar, it is built as a tanker. Obviously, there are engineering obstacles to figure out as part of the development. Boeing’s mantra is ‘zero cuts.’ They do not have to cut or modify anything.”

Boeing has done a lot of work on its 767s, with Japan and Italy doing additional work on their tankers, but the Air Force has a “more robust process” to work through.

“That’s what a robust test program does, that’s why we have to do it first before we pass it off to the Air Force,” Quashnock said. “At some point, somebody has to be first.”

Taking the 'hero'
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh announced in February that the service had given the KC-46 its official name: the Pegasus. It’s a name with plenty of history in the Air Force, Quashnock said.

The name and Pegasus imagery can be found on dozens of squadron patches throughout the service over the years. The original Greek mythology is a fit for the aircraft, he said.

“The Pegasus is what took the hero to go kill the demon,” he said. “Without the Pegasus, the hero would not have been able to succeed. That’s almost exactly what the KC-46 is. Without tanker gas, the JSF is not going to get anywhere, the F-22 is not going to do anything.

We can’t go anywhere in the world without the tanker.”

From Air Force crew prepares to test next-generation tanker | Military Times | militarytimes.com

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Past and Present AGMs

AGM-69 SRAM

AGM-129 ACM

AGM-78 ARM

AGM-12 Bullpup

AGM-130

AGM-84e SLAM

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Lesser known US special forces group - 95th Civil Affairs Brigade

That mustache! - should be a requirement

 

[SvenSvensonov]

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" - US submarine fleet

Virginia Class sub pics

Seawolf Class Sub pics

 

[SvenSvensonov]

F-35 Ahoy! Navy Version Of JSF Faces Nimitz’s Tests

WASHINGTON: The next two weeks will be enormously important for the Navy’s carrier-based version of the Joint Strike Fighter as two F-35Cs undergo extensive testing operating from the USS Nimitz. The Navy has been the least committed of the three services buying versions of the Joint Strike Fighter, so if the two planes being tested perform well it could help change the views of some senior Navy leaders. Anything less than a sterling performance, of course, could well give reluctant Navy officials more ammunition to buy more F-18s and stretch out or shrink their planned purchase of F-35Cs.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan was very upbeat about the aircraft during a program briefing with reporters yesterday. The two F-35Cs are flying directly to the carrier and will land using arresting gear, he said. No cranes gently lifting the planes onto the Nimitz’s deck. Nope. These aircraft will fly the last portion of their trip and are expected to execute the carrier version’s very first landing on a carrier with a small group of reporters watching.

After several months of uncertainty whether CF-3 and CF-5 would both be ready to fly — complete with new tail hook assemblies and huge amounts of test instrumentation — Bogdan told us yesterday they would both fly to the ship. As Breaking D readers know, thetail hook on the F-35Cs had to be redesigned. The initial design did not reliably engage the cable and wasn’t strong enough. The Arresting Hook System got better damping, changed the shape of the hook and made it and where it connects with the airframe, much stronger. During tests over the last five months, F-35C test pilots had to deliberately land their aircraft on the nose gear to mimic what can happen when pitching seas may drive a carrier deck right up into a plane as it lands. A Navy pilot I spoke with said the physical punishment of such a landing is “pretty impressive” — not to mention the stresses it can place on the plane. I’ll be in San Diego and on the Nimitz all next week covering the tests for you.

From F-35 Ahoy! Navy Version Of JSF Faces Nimitz’s Tests « Breaking Defense - Defense industry news, analysis and commentary

 

[AMDR]

Have Guns, Will Upgrade: The M109A7 Paladin PIM Self-Propelled Howitzer

Have Guns, Will Upgrade: The M109A7 Paladin PIM Self-Propelled Howitzer

The USA’s 155mm M109 self-propelled howitzers (SPH) were first introduced in 1962, as a form of armored mobile artillery that could stand up to the massed fire tactics of Soviet heavy artillery and rockets. They and their companion M992 Armored Ammunition Resupply Vehicles (AARV) have been rebuilt and upgraded several times, most recently via the M109A6 Paladin upgrade.

In the meantime, the Army has re-learned a few home truths. Artillery arrives in seconds rather than minutes or hours, is never unavailable due to bad weather, and cheaply delivers a volume of explosive destruction that would otherwise require hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bombers and precision weapons. Most combat casualties in the gunpowder age have come from artillery fire, and the US Army will need its mobile fleet for some time to come. So, too, will the many countries that have bought the M109 and still use it, unless BAE wishes to cede that market to South Korea’smodern K9/K10 system View attachment 143939, or new concept candidates like the KMW/GDLS DONAR View attachment 143939. What to do? Enter the Paladin PIM program.


PIM Program: A New M109A7/ M992A3 Paladin
While the M109 was technically mobile, in practice it was only semi-mobile. The need to string communications wire in order to physically connect the battery’s howitzers and their fire-control center fixed the vehicles in position. Surveyors were used to calculate the battery’s location as part of this process, and the entire emplacement and readying procedure could easily take 15-20 minutes. So, too, could the process of taking this setup down so the battery could move to another location. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that spending so much time outside of any protective armor was going to get a lot of people killed in any serious conflict involving tools like attack helicopters, massed artillery and rocket fire, and nifty toys like artillery-locating radars that backtrack the origin point of incoming shells.

The M109A6 Paladin addressed these issues via computerization and communications upgrades. Secure SINCGARS radios replaced the wires. Inertial navigation systems and sensors attached to the gun automatically tell the crew where they are, and where their shells are likely to land. Finally, automatic gun-laying translates the fire co-ordinates to a specific gun position. No aiming circles. No surveyed fire points. No wire lines. Just move into the assigned position area somewhere, calculate data, receive orders from the platoon operations center, use FBCB2 (aka “Blue Force Tracker”) to verify the location of “friendlies,” use the automatic PDFCS (Paladin Digital Fire Control System) to aim the gun and send the shell on its way. Once the fire mission is over, the vehicle can move off, receive another target, then quickly lay and fire again.

Improved armor added even more protection to the new system, and an upgraded engine and transmission made the M109A6 speedier. On-board prognostics and diagnostics were installed to improve the vehicles’ readiness and maintainability. Finally, ammunition stowage was made safer, and the load was increased from 36 rounds to 39 rounds of 155mm shells. Some of which can be M982 Excalibur GPS-guided shells.

The M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV) vehicle is the M019’s companion. The M992A2 is also referred to as “Carrier Ammunition Tracked” by the US Army, which is an apt name because it holds up to 90 shells on 2 racks (up to 12,000 pounds total), plus an hydraulic conveyor belt to help with loading the M109. In practice, the duo’s crews often handle that task manually. The Paladin PIM program will enhance the FAASV/CAT to M992A3.

M109A7 PIM: The Weapon
The Paladin Integrated Management partnership builds on the A6’s advances, but there are so many changes that it’s almost a new-build program.

The BAE/Army partnership will re-use the turret structure and the main 155/39 mm gun. As such, additional range and accuracy depends on using new projectiles like the rocket-boosted & GPS-guided M982 Excalibur, or ATK’s non-boosted PGK screw-in guidance system. Both are explicitly contemplated in the Paladin PIM’s loading systems. Maximum rate of fire also remains unchanged, because tube structure and temperature remain the limiting factor for sustained rates of fire.

The Paladin Digital Fire Control System is somewhere between old and new. The system has continued to receive upgrades, and is being produced by BAE and Northrop Grumman. GPS is currently provided via older PLGR systems, with data sent to the Dynamic Reference Unit – Hybrid (DRU-H inertial navigator), but the obsolescence of electronic components within this box means that DRU-H and possibly PLGR are on the future replacement list.

What will be new? Two big advances:

Chassis. Previous M109 upgrades hadn’t altered the M109’s 1950s configuration. The new chassis are being fabricated & assembled with components from the M2/M3 Bradley IFV (e.g. engine, transmission, final drives, etc.), in order to create more commonality across America’s Heavy Brigade Combat teams. BAE Systems expects a growth in overall weight of less than 5%, but the combined effects of the new chassis and more robust drive components give Paladin PIM the ability to operate at higher weights than its current GVW maximum of about 39 tons/ 35.4 tonnes. That will be tested, given the expected weight of the T2 add-on armor and separate underbelly armor add-on kits.

All-Electric. The M109A7 PIM also incorporates select technologies from the Future Combat Systems 155mm NLOS-C (Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon), including modern electric gun drive systems to replace the current 1960s-era hydraulically-operated elevation and azimuth drives. The removal of the hydraulic systems saves the crew a tremendous amount of maintenance, and they retain manual backups for gun laying just in case.

The shift to an electric turret included a major redesign of the vehicle’s power system, converting the 600 hp engine’s work into up to 70 kW of 600 volt/ 28 volt direct current for use by various on-board systems. The power system’s modularity means that if any one of the motors inside fails, it can be replaced in the field within less than 15 minutes, using the same single part type. In concrete terms, it means the howitzer crew can handle the problem themselves and continue the mission, instead of withdrawing for repairs.

Paladin PIM: The Program

Adam Zarfoss, BAE Systems’ director of artillery programs:

“Artillery is playing an important role in operations in Iraq, with the Paladin providing critical fire support with both standard and precision munitions… The M109A6-PIM is the next step in Paladin development to ensure this essential fire support system remains ready and sustainable for soldiers in the HBCT [Heavy Brigade Combat Teams] through its projected life beyond the year 2050.”

Even with the previous-generation Paladin’s computerization and fast, safe set-up and take-down, a noticeable capability gap existed between the M109A6 used in Iraq, and newer self-propelled guns. At the same time, America’s comparable XM2001 Crusader/ XM2002 ARRV View attachment 143939 was canceled as an $11 billion Cold War relic in 2002, and the light 155mm NLOS-C died with the 2009 removal of the Future Combat Systems ground vehicle program.

The Paladin Integrated Management Program is designed to handle America’s future needs in the absence of Crusader and NLOS-C, and close some of the M109A6’s technological gaps. The initial goal was 600 M109A7 / M992A3 vehicle sets, but that has been lowered slightly to 558.

BAE Systems and the U.S. Army have signed a 2007 memorandum of understanding (MoU), establishing a Public-Private Partnership (P3) to develop and sustain the Army’s M109A6 vehicles throughout their life cycle. The establishment of a P3 will capitalize on the strengths and capabilities of each organization to ensure the cost-effective and on-time reset of the current fleet of M109A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) and M992A2 Field Artillery Ammunition Supply Vehicles (FAASV), as well as the planned production of the M109A7/M992A3 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) systems.

PIM prototypes were originally slated to be delivered to the US Army for test and evaluation in 2009, but changes to the program meant that the prototype contract wasn’t even issued until October 2009. That moved prototype delivery back to May 2011.

By January 2012, BAE had completed Phase I of the Army’s formal Developmental Test Program, with 5 vehicles returning for refurbishment, and 2 remaining at Aberdeen Proving Grounds for further tests. Full testing of all vehicles was set to resume in June 2012, and the Milestone C approval to proceed with Low-Rate-Initial-Production (LRIP) was scheduled for June 2013. In practice LRIP approval by the Defense Acquisition Board slipped to October 2013, and formal induction didn’t take place until May 2014.

Industrial Team
Parties to the memorandum signing include BAE Systems leaders, US Army TACOM (Tank, automotive & Armaments COMmand), The Army’s PEO-GCS (Program Executive Office for Ground Combat Systems), the Army’s PKM-HBCT (Project Manager – Heavy Brigade Combat Team), and the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. The MoU was signed during the AUSA 2007 conference in Washington, DC.

BAE Systems has significant experience with public-private partnerships thanks to Britain’s “future contracting for availability” innovations. In the USA, meanwhile, it has a long standing and successful partnership with the Red River Army Depot in Texas to remanufacture and upgrade the USA’s M2/M3 Bradley fighting vehicles.

The Army’s PM-HBCT will manage the M109 RESET activities. Anniston Army Depot will retain labor and lead the majority of the program, including the M109A6-PIM production process, through the public-private partnership. They will be integrated into the PIM Integrated Product Development Teams (IPDTs) structure during the design phase, and will support the manufacture of the prototype vehicles.

During the production phase, Anniston Army Depot will be responsible for induction of vehicles, overhaul of critical components like the gun system, and modification/ upgrade of the cab structure. BAE Systems will be responsible for materials management. The partially assembled cabs, along with overhauled components, will be provided to BAE Systems for integration with the new M109A7 PIM chassis. Areas involved in production will include York, PA; Aiken, SC; and Elgin, OK where final assembly will take place.


Export Potential
A total of 975 M109A6 Paladins were produced for the US Army, and another 225 or so were produced for Taiwan. Full rate production ceased in 1999. BAE built a small final batch to fill out an Army National Guard request, which finished in 2001.

Most other countries who use the M109 (Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Israel, Kuwait, Morocco, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, Iran on its own, soon Iraq with US support) employ previous versions, ranging from M109A1s to M109A5s.

That’s a lot of potential upgrades.

So far, the most popular upgrade abroad is the M109A5+, which adds independent position location via GPS/INS, and radio transmission of co-ordinates. It’s a budget-conscious upgrade that omits the M109A6’s automatic gun-laying, which would require a tear-down and rebuild of the turret. It also omits the PIM upgrades, which make very substantial changes to every part of the vehicle.

On the other hand, countries that do decide to field fully modern armored artillery systems will find that Paladin PIM is still generally cheaper than buying new heavy systems. That’s enough to succeed in America. What about the rest of the world?

Abroad, Paladin PIM will be competing against options like KMW’s PzH-2000, Denel’s G6, and Samsung’s K9/K10 on the heavy side, some of which offer more advanced features. It will also have to deal with substitution threats from lightly-armored truck-mounted 155mm artillery like BAE/Saab’s Archer, Elbit’s Atmos, and Nexter’s Caesar. It’s still early days, but the M109A7 Paladin PIM system has yet to find an export customer.

 

[gambit]

Everyone -- or at least those interested in high performance aviation -- are aware of the 'g-suit' that fighter pilots always wear. Under high g maneuvers, enough blood can be transferred by g-forces away from the upper body that it would cause the pilot to black out, or gravity induced loss of consciousness: g-loc.

The g-suit or anti-g suit works by applying physical pressure -- compression -- via pressurized air to bladders which then will literally squeeze the lower waist and legs to keep as much blood in the upper body as possible. The early g-suit designed used water, which is heavier than air and eventually not used.

Emergency medical necessities exploited the pilot's g-suit to create the MAST: Military Anti-Shock Trousers. USAF Pararescue have the MAST as standard equipment carry in their missions. If the victim is either in shock or approaching that condition due to blood loss, a PJ can use the MAST to keep as much of whatever remaining blood in the upper body as possible. In essence, the limbs are sacrificial compared to the brain.

Military anti-shock garment: Historical relic or a device with unrealized potential?

MAST was subsequently introduced into medical practice during the Vietnam War and was then called the Military Anti-Shock Trousers (MAST).[5] Its value in the military was documented when soldiers with massive trauma and bleeding, previously considered fatal, were able to survive a 30-60 minute air-lift and helicopter ride to a definitive care facility.[6]

In the 1970s, MAST began to be introduced into the civilian Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems.[7] In 1977, it was listed by the Committee on Trauma of the American College of Surgeons to be an essential device to be carried on all ambulances.

The use of the MAST have been controversial in the civilian settings. Some lives were saved, but for emergency personnel who were not familiar and trained in its use, a hasty removal of a MAST on a trauma patient can kill the patient due to rapid blood loss for the brain. Today, the MAST is renamed the pneumatic anti-shock garment, but the PJs still refers to the device as the MAST.

In the civilian setting in most advanced countries, it is rare that any trauma victim would be greater than 30 minutes away from competent, trained, and well equipped emergency medical services and staff. But the military does not have that luxury all the time. Any air medevac must still negotiate hostile ground weapons and find safe air corridors.

Rotor & Wing Magazine :: The Military Spin: Joint Service Medevac Capabilities

Air Force HH-60G combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions traditionally fly with 2-3 PJs per aircraft. They carry: fast and rappel rope, medical ruck, extrication kit, medical oxygen, collapsible litter, medical accessory bag, Stokes litter, spine board, Propaq vital-signs monitor, and military anti-shock trousers (MAST). Payloads and patient requirements dictate the number of PJs and equipment carried on civil SAR missions.

If we send men, and now women, to fight for our cause, we will do everything in our power to save anyone when he/she is in need. The MAST may be controversial for the civilians and many EM services will not even train their technicians in its use, but for a severely wounded US combatant of any branch, the PJ will do everything in his training and any equipment at his disposal to keep his charge alive.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Video: U.S. Navy Version of F-35 Lands on Carrier for First Time

The Lockheed Martin F-35C Joint Strike Fighter has made a successful trap onboard USSNimitz (CVN-68).

“F-35C completes first carrier landing,” the U.S. Navy’s twitter feed announced at about 5p EST on Monday.

Two of the single-engine stealth fighter are scheduled to conduct sea trials onboard the nearly 100,000-ton warship this week to prove the jet can operate safely on the flightdeck.

The Joint Strike Fighter Program Office is deploying test aircraft CF-3 and CF-5 to the carrier. The two jets are fully instrumented and are cleared to operate with a full flight envelope. Once onboard Nimitz, the jets will be run through the gamut of carrier operations.

Earlier in the year, F-35 program manager Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan said that he had some doubts as to if the sea trials were going to be possible because of problems with the aircraft’s hook and nose landing gear. Given the rigorous testing the two jets have undergone, the situation has improved. “I feel pretty good about this now,” Bogdan said.

 

[SvenSvensonov]

Everyone -- or at least those interested in high performance aviation -- are aware of the 'g-suit' that fighter pilots always wear. Under high g maneuvers, enough blood can be transferred by g-forces away from the upper body that it would cause the pilot to black out, or gravity induced loss of consciousness: g-loc.

The g-suit or anti-g suit works by applying physical pressure -- compression -- via pressurized air to bladders which then will literally squeeze the lower waist and legs to keep as much blood in the upper body as possible. The early g-suit designed used water, which is heavier than air and eventually not used.

View attachment 143961

Emergency medical necessities exploited the pilot's g-suit to create the MAST: Military Anti-Shock Trousers. USAF Pararescue have the MAST as standard equipment carry in their missions. If the victim is either in shock or approaching that condition due to blood loss, a PJ can use the MAST to keep as much of whatever remaining blood in the upper body as possible. In essence, the limbs are sacrificial compared to the brain.

Military anti-shock garment: Historical relic or a device with unrealized potential?

The use of the MAST have been controversial in the civilian settings. Some lives were saved, but for emergency personnel who were not familiar and trained in its use, a hasty removal of a MAST on a trauma patient can kill the patient due to rapid blood loss for the brain. Today, the MAST is renamed the pneumatic anti-shock garment, but the PJs still refers to the device as the MAST.

In the civilian setting in most advanced countries, it is rare that any trauma victim would be greater than 30 minutes away from competent, trained, and well equipped emergency medical services and staff. But the military does not have that luxury all the time. Any air medevac must still negotiate hostile ground weapons and find safe air corridors.

Rotor & Wing Magazine :: The Military Spin: Joint Service Medevac Capabilities

If we send men, and now women, to fight for our cause, we will do everything in our power to save anyone when he/she is in need. The MAST may be controversial for the civilians and many EM services will not even train their technicians in its use, but for a severely wounded US combatant of any branch, the PJ will do everything in his training and any equipment at his disposal to keep his charge alive.

I've had the opportunity to fly in some of the old prop engines aircraft of the WWII era and without a G-suit it is a crappy experience. "clench your fists, clench your legs" - that's what I was told to do to prevent G-lock. This was to be done once every three seconds and your fists and legs clenched and held for one second. Praise be to the engineers that created the G-suit because without it flying high performance aircraft sucks.