tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post5386640102545956028..comments2024-03-28T03:06:18.182-05:00Comments on Bayou Renaissance Man: Saab's GlobalEye: an example of too many military eggs in one basket?Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10595089829300831372noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-49901612227720043352018-03-18T15:43:01.245-05:002018-03-18T15:43:01.245-05:00Anonymous is missing a small point - the Pheniox m...Anonymous is missing a small point - the Pheniox missile has been used exactly 3 times in combat... One plain failed to track, and the other two's engines failed, and just fell off the rails when launched. How well do ya think Iran's stockpile has been maintained over the last 40 years, and would it matter? <br />But I agree the best use of these is collection of data from drone sensor craft, at long range...Which could do just as well with ground stations. JohninMd (Help!?!!)noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-35399912063515279802018-03-18T10:08:55.729-05:002018-03-18T10:08:55.729-05:00They should paint "Shoot Me First!" on t...They should paint "Shoot Me First!" on the fuselage. The aircraft must admit a huge energy spectrum to lock on to. An Iranian F-14 will fire a Phoenix at it from a long way off.<br /><br />The Emeries like their toys. Last time I was there they were about to buy Ospreys.<br /><br />GerryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-6342458272155035682018-03-18T05:50:43.583-05:002018-03-18T05:50:43.583-05:00Of course, if all they're worried about is hav...Of course, if all they're worried about is having a Forward Operating Sitting Duck platform so they can posture more brazenly toward their neighbours in Iran and Qatar, why not simply buy those business jets with some sort of ELINT noise generating platform instead?<br /><br />It'd be cheaper to operate and it'd serve the same Forward Operating Sitting Duck mission requirements.<br /><br />Then again, perhaps this actually <i>is</i> the UAE's idea of an expensive, gold-plated decoy, and that the "warning system" consists of these Forward Operating Sitting Ducks getting shot down.<br />Post Alley Crackpotnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-36670694233777378742018-03-17T14:35:48.481-05:002018-03-17T14:35:48.481-05:00Because of the skill set required to run the uniqu...Because of the skill set required to run the unique and complex systems, there will be a group - probably fairly small - of very highly trained system operators.<br /><br />Because of the uniqueness and complexity of the equipment, there will a group - probably fairly small - of very highly trained support technicians with highly complex test and repair technology. <br /><br />Waddya wanna bet all 3 planes will be parked adjacent to each other - probably kept in the same hangar - to make the maintenance and support easier, and they'll be right next to the barracks and maintenance shops for all those very highly trained folks? Alphonsenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-67744101852292107182018-03-17T13:35:59.534-05:002018-03-17T13:35:59.534-05:00The UAE is a tiny conglomeration-country with a mi...The UAE is a tiny conglomeration-country with a minimal problem set.<br />Security for the three a/c will be minimal, but obviously a high value target.<br /><br />But as noted combining active emitters with passive receivers is a non-starter, and I doubt 9 operators can manage combat operation like 50+ on an AWACS, so I doubt the capabilities are anywhere near commensurate.<br /><br />But if a country can afford a few of the smaller planes, vs. <i>none</i> on the order of an E-3 or equivalent, this will be an improvement of their potential activities of an order of magnitude.<br /><br />Columbia or Mexico going against cartel drug flights, for instance, gets them an AWACS at a price they can easily manage, for a much more compact problem set. They just need to see lots of little planes, not defend against the Soviet Air Force circa 1985.<br /><br />Think of literally dozens of such platforms from Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, etc., and the problem of the Chinese PAF becomes orders of magnitude greater.<br /><br />Ditto for Russians vs. dozens of platforms fielded onsie-twosie everywhere from Sweden to Macedonia.<br /><br />Ultimately, the answer is, indeed taking that smaller AESA array, and distributing it, or something even smaller, to fleets of UAVs, able to operate from anything down to straight highways and private strips, and putting the operators in a bombproof central station or stations, and running the whole by datalink.<br /><br />Then you get hundreds of operators, but you don't need to put any of them on the plane.<br /><br />If whatever OPFOR you're working against shoots down a drone or two, you just send up a few more.<br /><br />What you're looking for is the airborne equivalent of sonobouys and the SOSUS network, rather than sending in a CVN in a carrier task force.Aesophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07834464741531503378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-51096185914290432872018-03-17T11:19:58.380-05:002018-03-17T11:19:58.380-05:00Peter,
Saab has an excellent 20th Century system....Peter,<br /><br />Saab has an excellent 20th Century system. 21st Century systems are<br />tending toward redundant, dispersed, meshed, unmanned sensors with <br />the battle staff on the ground. <br /><br />As for overload, think of the movie scenes with more folks coming in <br />and firing up more workstations as DEFCON rises. On the ground, you<br />can tolerate normally idle workstations, and can have multiple sites <br />able to link to the sensor network.<br /><br />And, yes, the military has been very aware of satellites as a potential<br />single point of failure for *decades*.TGreennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-49754280892014143922018-03-17T11:19:55.142-05:002018-03-17T11:19:55.142-05:00McC is right, and the 'other' problem is t...McC is right, and the 'other' problem is throughput for the 'offboard' management of sensors. There isn't enough bandwidth available to actually DO that.Old NFOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16404197287935017147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-76817950793527117492018-03-17T10:49:53.335-05:002018-03-17T10:49:53.335-05:00The answer if this is a good solution depends o th...The answer if this is a good solution depends o the cost and the most likely scenarios for use.Ray - SoCalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11293232996007277071noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-2822537148406035292018-03-17T07:34:18.959-05:002018-03-17T07:34:18.959-05:00Mixing an active radar emitter with a SIGINT platf...Mixing an active radar emitter with a SIGINT platform is just asking for trouble. Any receivers sensitive enough to be useful will be burned out or blinded by the plane's own emissions.McChuckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10243337792601085456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6244999628674918029.post-75587935957115731702018-03-17T06:12:23.315-05:002018-03-17T06:12:23.315-05:00I think that the future belongs to drone aircraft ...I think that the future belongs to drone aircraft out collecting -- possibly for an AWACS aircraft, because that sort of mission profile allows the collection platform (does it really need to be another aircraft??) to be distant - as in half a continent away. In the case of the UAE, it may not be a bad choice because of the rather small operating area they have and the low intensity conflicts that they anticipate being involved with -- and they have the money to pay for them.<br /><br />As you point out, they're targets.LLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05538854359365988863noreply@blogger.com