From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #307 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Sunday, 18 June 1995 Volume 05 : Number 307 In this issue: Re: SR-71 vs TIER Tier Tactical AUV's See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Windle Date: Sat, 17 Jun 1995 20:26:45 Subject: Re: SR-71 vs TIER Jeff said: >I would like to see some discussion of the change in recon assets from the >U-2, SR-71 days to what seems like the current shift to unmanned platforms. >It seems to me that the TIER vehicles are great for Bosnia, Middle East and >other relatively accessable areas. However what about large areas and/or >technically sophisticated environs. Will TIER be able to penatrate across >mainland China? I understand TIER 3 (or is it 3+) is supposed to be able to >survive in hostile territory. Will it have the range/speed for deep >penetration into China or Russia? in daylight? I'm not sure that you're comparing like with like.I think we need to identify the different recon.roles you're talking about here. Surely deep penetration is covered by Strategic Recon assets like SR-71,U2R. Quite seperate to this is Tactical recon where the Tier UAVs fit in. Tier 3- is considered to be suitable for medium to high risk situations where its' LO qualities will make its' survivabilty very high. Its' duration is >8 hrs. Flight tests later this year will show how realistic this figure is. Whichever way you look at it, it will be a welcome additional source of Tactical Recon to commanders on the ground. >.....What kind of a recon platform would the F-117 or a derivative of it >make? There are those who would say that there is a manned stealth Recon a/c of the same generation as the F 117A flying as we speak which is still classified (TR-3A) or maybe some F117s have been modified to fit this role, and this would make sense to me. If some F117s were fitted with recon sensors we'd never know unless we were "in the loop". Whilst we enjoy speculating on "Black" a/c, I have to remind myself every now and again that operating these planes is a deadly serious business, so it's quite understandable for the Pentagon to keep its' cards close to its' chest on some assets.A manned Stealth Recon a/c sounds like a pretty safe bet to me. >Of course, a new generation of high speed manned recon may be in >operation and this will all be moot. Ah !..the A word ! Maybe, but it looks like the project was killed off, though elements of it would still exist if only on computer programmes or paper. It's hard to believe that the super fast/ hypersonic a/c programme shut down with the X-15. If IT exists I don't think that you could stop ATC all over the world from talking about tracking a Mach 5+ target which would give the game away if it was a Recon a/c. I've got a feeling that the odd high Mach track is a research vehicle rather than anything else. ------------------------------ From: BKELLOGG@delphi.com Date: Sun, 18 Jun 1995 00:52:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Tier Tactical AUV's Reference has been made to the Tier UAV's-Would some knowledgable skunker please post or summarize the various tier vehicle classiciations, ie Tier 1,2,3 etc their threat environment and any known characteristics. Brent Kellogg Bkellogg@delphi.com ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #307 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "majordomo@mail.orst.edu". If you want to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from, such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the "subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-skunk-works": subscribe skunk-works-digest local-skunk-works@your.domain.net To unsubscribe, send mail to the same address, with the command: unsubscribe skunk-works-digest in the body. Administrative requests, problems, and other non-list mail can be sent to either "skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu" or, if you don't like to type a lot, "prm@mail.orst.edu A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "skunk-works-digest" in the commands above with "skunk-works". Back issues are available for anonymous FTP from mail.orst.edu, in /pub/skunk-works/digest/vNN.nMMM (where "NN" is the volume number, and "MMM" is the issue number).