its not just an economy issue, its also a capability increase. The range on the aircraft will increase by more than 50% before needign a refueling.

Winglets represent a non-trivial development expense for a very small benefit. They make sense for the airlines where even a few % of extra fuel savings can make a big difference in fuel costs as commercial aircraft commonly fly 3 or 4 legs a day for thousands of miles. And, even then, they don't always make sense…

Its not really a reliability issue these days, though, for an aircraft that's designed to be in the air for days at a time with IFR (it'll run out of lubricating oil after that), having 8 engines is a nice bit of security. Its about cost and redesign. Going with 4 engines will involve new engine nacelles (either…

The BR715 like on the 717 has about a 40% better specific fuel consumption than the TF-33. The BR725 like on the Gulfstream is a bit better, but is a bit too long for the existing nacelles. Since the BR700 series is a bit modular, they can actually spec a first stage turbine of exactly the same diameter as the TF33…

I know the people have a problem with Rolls Royce getting any engine business for US Military aircraft, but, by far, the absolute best, most economical replacement engine for the B-52 is the RR BR700 (specifically, either a redo of teh 715-A1-30, or, a slightly uprated version of the 725-A1-12 as used on the…

More specifically, as I have heard it explained to me, that the Dome of the Rock not be controlled by the "arabs". A peace agreement that grants shared control over the Temple mount and the Dome of the Rock would signal the beginning of the 7 years of tribulation as it would allow the Jewish people to erect a third…

I'm NOT claiming that the first generation system will be able to do this. My first comment assumed that the system, as deployed, will be improved over the existing prototype. I apologize if my lack of clarification may have indicated otherwise.

Of course, there had to be a certain delay for the target to actually react to the projectile being fired. It's not like they'll get a radar warning of a missile launch and lock. They'll be under constant PD system lockup when in the battlespace. How many seconds before they realize that the gun has fired a…

I've seen a similar scenario played out on a modern redo of the classic computer/tabletop game "Harpoon". One was a hypothetical "what if" based around the movie "The Final Countdown" with the Nimitz and her flight compliment ready to take on the Pearl Harbor strike force (in three different engagement scenarios). …

This is SOOO much worse in the digital camera era. If you've ever come across the clearing house sites for those sorts of pictures, you'll find sets of literally THOUSANDS of digital images that were taken over maybe a thirty second period where the paparazi basically just slapped in an empty card and held the auto…

The simple answer here is that what you're seeing here is a first generation prototype with a solid munition. It is effective for intercepting incoming aerial targets, though size, speed, maneuvering and EW environment will indeed have an effect on the range at which it is really effective. At under 8 miles, the…

Well, lets see, 9 rail guns, powder magazines emptied and filled with capacitors for firing them. Replace the remaining 6 X 5 inch guns on either side with FE laser cannons, replace the ammo magazine for each turret with a capacitor bank for firing them, Fill all the space on the deck in front of the #1 turret with…

The simple answer here is that what you're seeing here is a first generation prototype with a solid munition. It is effective for intercepting incoming aerial targets, though size, speed, maneuvering and EW environment will indeed have an effect on the range at which it is really effective. At under 8 miles, the…

If you find the B-1B on full reheat to be a visceral thrill, just imagine being front and center to the 6-pack on the B-70 with the candles fully lit. I'd imagine the Earth would reverberate from the raw power. A worthy trade in my book.

I stand happily corrected. I knew there was an engine change, but, for the life of me, I couldn't remember from what to what...

Not discounting the human tragedy here, but, its likely that if this accident hadn't have happened, a small number of Valkyries would have been purchased (probably less than 50). With Valkyries in the stable, the B1-A may never have come into existence, meaning that the B1-B wouldn't have either. Without either of…

It probably had the newer "smokeless" J79 upgrades that later models had. I think that the C/D tomcats were even cleaner out the tailpipe than those, which may have the TF101s (i think that's what they were called in the A/B)

Remember, the idea of the system is that it is remotely commanded. Its mounted to the vessel, but the system can be entirely remotely operated. This requires no involvement of the civilian crew beyond PERHAPS turning the ship in a certain direction for a few minutes. There will be an ability to locally control the…

One of the core points of this is that the vessel is largely a "launch point" for an attack. While there will be an ability for local command ability over the system, they will be primarily remotely operated. You'll have a high level commander with a battlespace map arrayed before him with range rings for all of his…

The ships carrying these systems will be able to operate them as well in all but the most limited of circumstances, or, that's what I understand from what I've read about this stuff. One thing to keep in mind, the pirates operating off of Somalia don't care if what they're going after is a military vessel or not,…