Yes that is one of the options as also making them pilot-less. The reason there were no more F-22s made was the cost per unit and the cost per hour to operate them. We all better hope this is not another gold plated POS that will take 20 years to iron the bugs out... or about the time they are obsolete..
The radar absorbing coating on existing fighters is a big problem and has to be reapplied after flying through a friggen rain shower at speed..They may be developing a better exterior coating for the NGAD or even a different process for radar absorption but that will be a propitiatory/secret process.
The video was all about projected capabilities for the NGAD (call it the Airfarce wish list) so we will just have to wait and see how many wishes are possible and granted.
either way this is going to be one more expensive MIC goat rope IMO .. If an F-35 pilot helmet cost 400,000$ for each custom fit pilot I can not even guess how much they will try to get for an NGAD pilot's helmet ? What a way to run a military procurement program !
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(06-12-2023, 01:38 PM)727Sky Wrote: If an F-35 pilot helmet cost 400,000$ for each custom fit pilot I can not even guess how much they will try to get for an NGAD pilot's helmet ?
When I saw that the first time, I had a hard time accepting it. You can buy a nice house for $400K. I wonder exactly how many of those helmets have been produced.
06-12-2023, 10:19 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2023, 10:22 PM by Ninurta.)
I have to wonder if this might not be yet another example of complexity adding to vulnerability of a weapons system. For example, the "360 degree field of view facilitated by cameras outside the vehicle". That is taken directly from some alleged UFOs in US possession, having cameras on the skin that transmit vision to the inside of the craft so that the hull can remain intact as shielding against "cosmic radiation" and the like. BUT - what happens if the cameras are blinded... if, for example, the CCDs in them get fried? That would blind the pilot effectively. Two windows on either side of the pilot would then tend to transform his vision ability to that of prey rather than predator - think about how herbivores tend to have eyes on the sides of their head, where predators have eyes to the front of their head.
And this "networked battlefield" concept kind of bothers me, because I'm sure the "network" they mention is an electronic one. What happens if that network get destroyed or jammed in the middle of a fight? Would that also not tend towards handicapping fighters who have come to rely on it in training scenarios?
High-tech may be great, but it needs low-tech backups for when it fails. Think backup iron sights for when that fancy ACOG or red dot reflex site goes wonky.
06-12-2023, 10:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2023, 10:34 PM by 727Sky.)
(06-12-2023, 02:08 PM)Snarl Wrote:
(06-12-2023, 01:38 PM)727Sky Wrote: If an F-35 pilot helmet cost 400,000$ for each custom fit pilot I can not even guess how much they will try to get for an NGAD pilot's helmet ?
When I saw that the first time, I had a hard time accepting it. You can buy a nice house for $400K. I wonder exactly how many of those helmets have been produced.
Each F-35 pilot has their own individual helmet.. So you are down 400K before the engine is even started or the aircraft is towed out of the hanger..
I still believe quantity has a lot of quality... For logistics lets put all these fine aircraft at a few bases around the world; as China dials in their first wave hypersonic attack !
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
Silence those who disagree and you will never realize you are wrong.
No one rules if no one obeys
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire
(06-12-2023, 01:38 PM)727Sky Wrote: If an F-35 pilot helmet cost 400,000$ for each custom fit pilot I can not even guess how much they will try to get for an NGAD pilot's helmet ?
I wonder exactly how many of those helmets have been produced.
Each F-35 pilot has their own individual helmet.
In late 2017, 500 pilots had been trained to fly the F35. That's $200M on helmets alone ... back then.
06-14-2023, 04:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-14-2023, 04:47 AM by 727Sky.)
$29,000 dollars an hour to operate the F-15 and the F-35A model comes in at $43,000 an hour !! The F-35A is not the vertical takeoff Marine and Navy version which I assume comes in close to $60,000 an hour ? Think about that and tell me there is not insanity in the military procurement procedures and cost !
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
Silence those who disagree and you will never realize you are wrong.
No one rules if no one obeys
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” - Voltaire
