From: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V5 #311 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@mail.orst.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@mail.orst.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Friday, 23 June 1995 Volume 05 : Number 311 In this issue: Tier drones -- Summary AW&ST, June 12 / June 19 Re: AW&ST, June 12 / June 19 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: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 11:06:20 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Tier drones -- Summary The following is a modified and extended repost from earlier (1/30/1995 and 5/31/1995) articles, which I posted here before -- in particular, most of the Tier 3- data is new: The Tier reconnaissance and surveillance drones (RPVs or UAVs) are ARPA programs, and depending on the specific vehicle, they are jointly exercised with different agencies, like the CIA or DARO, or ordered on behalf of them. The following Tier UAVs are known: Tier 1 ====== CIA UAV, a modified General Atomics 'Gnat-750' drone, flying 24 to 30 hour missions at 5,000 to 15,000 feet with a small EO payload. One is owned by the CIA, one is leased, together with a ground station. A two-seat Schweizer RG-8A, previously used by the USCG, is used as a data-relay aircraft. Maybe 3 more Gnat-750s (originally ordered by Turkey) and a ground station will be procured, and drones may be updated with the Tier 2 engine (Rotax 912). They were/are used from Albania and Croatia to monitor the war in the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia etc.). Tier 2 ====== Pentagon's joint service UAV, the General Atomics 'Predator', has a 44 hr endurance at up to 25,000 feet with a 450 lb. payload, including an SAR, and can survey up to 1,300 sq. nautical miles. The first flight was on 7/3/1994, and 10 UAVs, 2 ground stations and sensors systems are planned to be procured (all together for $20 million ?). It is ready for crisis deployments, and will probably be used in Bosnia. It was flown daily from Ft. Huachuca, AZ, with EO and IR cameras and LOS data links -- and some are now fitted with satellite data links for OTH flights. All planned 10 aircraft were supposed to be delivered before March 1995. Tier 2 UAVs participated with great success in the exercise 'Roving Sands', a combined theater ballistic missile defense and integrated air defense exercise, lasting from April to May 1995, based at Ft. Bliss, TX and the White Sands Missile Range, NM, but reaching out over a four- state area in a hunt for Scud-type mobile missiles. Tier 2+ ======= DARO/ARPA/US Atlantic Command program for a semi-autonomous long endurance surveillance UAV. The winning team comprises: - Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical, San Diego, CA (team leader, overall design) - E-Systems Melpar Div. (ground stations) - Rockwell International (wings) - Loral Communications Systems (formerly Unisys) - Allison Engine Co. - Hughes Aircraft's Radar Systems and Electro-Optical Systems Divisions - GDE Systems (mission planning software) - Heroux Inc., Canada (landing gear) Some of the losing teams were: - Raytheon/Lockheed Martin - E-Systems Greenville/Grob Aircraft - Motorola/Boeing/Hughes - Northrop Grumman - TRW/IAI - Mission Technology Inc, (with its Valkyrie twin-engined, joined-wing, concept, with a range of 4,500 miles, and a speed of 220 kt, which would have been much cheaper but less sophisticated.) Costs and schedules: - the Phase Two contract of $164 million (the amount is subject to negotiation) was awarded to Teledyne Ryan by the DoD's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) on behalf of the Pentagon's Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office (DARO); - the complete program may cost up to $500 million; - the unit flyaway price is supposed to be $10 million in FY 1994 dollars; - Phase Two comprises a 31-month, advanced development and flight test program, including the design, building and testing of two advanced development air vehicles and a ground station, followed by a 12-month flight and systems test program; - this is followed by Phase Three, which includes up to eight additional demonstration aircraft and two ground stations, which would undergo a two year operational demonstration; - Congress wanted to add $60 million in FY 1996 to the Tier 2+ program, but the Senate Intelligence Committee (or the House Permanent Subcommittee on Intelligence) now wants to cancel it in favor of more Tier 3- vehicles. They always wanted to join or consolidate the two projects (Tier 2+ and Tier 3-). Proposed technical data of the Teledyne Ryan design: - purpose: non-stealthy, heavy-payload, long-endurance, near real-time battlefield surveillance UAV; - construction: standard aluminum frame with composite secondary structures, and all composite wing; - wing span: 116 ft. - length: about 40 ft. (compared to 6 ft. person in drawing) - height: about 12 ft. (compared to 6 ft. person in drawing) - gross takeoff weight: 20,000 - 25,000 lb. - performance: 24 hr. endurance at a range of 3,000 nm. from its base, flying at an altitude of 65,000 ft. - engine: one modified Allison AE 3007 turbofan, with 7,200 lbf. static thrust at sea level -- currently rated only up to 50,000 ft. - payload: 1,800 lb, comprising: threat warning and detection, countermeasures (jamming capability and reel-out/reel-in decoy deception system), 48-in. satellite dish for data link (like C-Span), operating in the Ku and UHF frequencies for wide-band data links of near real-time images, video, and targeting data, synthetic aperture radar, electro-optical and infrared sensors. Tier 2++ ======== Proposed stealthy Tier 2+, also called Tier 4. Would have had more payload than Tier 3-, but was not proceeded with. Tier 3- ======= DARO/ARPA/US Atlantic Command project of a semi-autonomous stealthy reconnaissance UAV, actually a downgraded Tier 3 drone. The winning team comprises: - Lockheed Martin (who calls it "DarkStar") is responsible for the body (the fuselage), the body systems, and final assembly; - Boeing Defense and Space Group's Military Airplane Division builds the wings and autonomous controls, integrates the avionics and some of the sensors; Costs and schedules: - the project is about 2 years ahead of Tier 2+; - the unit flyaway price is supposed to be $10 million in FY 1994 dollars; - the original $124 million contract covers two prototype vehicles, a basic ground station and the first phase of the flight test program (21 months are covered, July 1994 through March 1996); - roll-out (or walk-in) was on 6/1/1995 at Palmdale, and flight testing is planned for 8/1995 from Edwards AFB. The first prototype will arrive at NASAs DFRC in July, and the second in August; - the program is two months ahead of schedule, and the flight test program could be finished by the end of November 1995; - the RCS of the second prototype is planned to be measured at Lockheed's Helendale facility, next spring; - Eleven to twenty vehicles could be procured, and would possibly be operated by an ACC unit. The exact number of each, the Tier 3- and the Tier 2+, will be determined later; - During 1998-99, various exercises will be conducted to find out how many of each system would be required. The exercises might also include U-2R and other assets; Proposed technical data and layout: - construction: mainly graphite composites, with an aluminum fuselage carry-through spar for the wing; - the appearance of the UAV was variously described as: "a miniature B-2 flying wing", "Frisbee with wings", "Semi-boomerang", "Saucer-Shaped"). The fuselage (or body) of the drone resembles the B-2 fuselage in profile. It looks a little bit like the space-ship 'DarkStar' from the Carpenter SF-movie of the same name, or even more like the space ship 'Voyager' from the STNG follow-on TV-show of the same name; - it has slightly forward swept wings: 4.5 deg. for the trailing edge and 0.5 deg. for the leading edge; - wingspan: 69 feet (after insertion of two 2-foot wing-root extensions, to increase wing incidence (or decrease body incidence) by 2 deg. -- wind tunnel tests had shown, that the body created high-drag vortices when flying at higher AoA); - wingarea: 321 square feet; - aspect ratio: 14.8; - mean aerodynamic chord: 56.5 inch; - root chord: 69 inch; - tip chord: 41.7 inch; - taper ratio: 0.60; - dihedral: 2 deg.; - lift to drag ratio: about 30 to 1; - length of fuselage: 15 feet (and about 12.5 feet wide); - height: 5 feet; - the outer control surfaces are split-flap ruddervons like on the B-2, and the inner surfaces are both elevons. The vehicle has no vertical surfaces nor a tail; - engine: one Williams-Rolls FJ44, producing about 1,900 lbf. static thrust at sea-level, buried inside the fuselage, with the air-inlet and jet- exhaust invisible from below. The engine is visible from head on, and the rectangular jet-exhaust resembles the F-117's layout; - a 5 inch longer growth version of the FJ44 with 18% more thrust (resulting in a 10,000 feet higher ceiling), could be accomodated; - performance: loiter 8 hours over a target area at 500 nautical miles range, at an altitude of 45,000 feet, and reach 130 KEAS (300 KTAS) cruise speed (with 1,000 lb payload); - supposed to be able to cover 15,000 sq. nautical miles at 1 meter resolution and make 600 spot images at 0.3 meter resolution and have 20-meter CEP to target precision weapons; - empty (or zero fuel) weight (with the radar payload): 5,640 lb. (and about 5,440 lb. with the EO payload); - fuel capacity: over 3,000 lb.; - maximum gross takeoff weight: 8,600 lb. -- limited by the landing gear capacity; - payload: 1,000 lb. comprising either a Westinghouse SAR, also used in the Tier 2 drone, and developed for the canceled A-12 or an electro-optical sensor, a Recon/Optical Inc. television camera (200 lb. lighter than SAR), which are located in a port (left) payload bay, while the avionics are located in a similar bay on the starboard (right) side. Three flush mounted satellite antennas are located on top of the 'saucer-shaped' body, one for data links (like C-Span), operating in the Ku-band, one for GPS, and one for comand and control functions, operating with UHF frequencies; - other features: two flush-mounted static pressure ports are in the front, and an ECS vent is located on top of the body, and a pitot-tube is located inside the engine air-inlet. The prototype has an additional (nearly 5 feet long) air-data probe boom protruding from under the fuselage and a small telemetry blade antenna on top of the body, both associated with flight testing. The landing gear, adopted from the Starkraft experimental aircraft, has a two-position strut to increase the angle for B-52-style unrotated takeoff, because the elevons have not enough authority at about 110 kts. (takeoff speed) for rotation. The landing speed is about 100 kts. The aircraft is optimized for a low RCS toward the ground, with two side 'spikes', which are supposed to point away from known radar threats, by planning the flight path accordingly. The aircraft is designed to defeat two radar wavelength: 140 to 180 NHz (UHF), used by early warning radars, and 8 to 12 GHz (X-band), used by fighter radars. The aircraft is painted black on the underside, to make it difficult to spot visually at altitude, and white on top, to protect the composite resins from sunlight. Both prototypes are treated with RAM for LO; Tier 3 ====== Very stealthy high endurance reconnaissance UAV from Lockheed, described as a B-2-sized flying wing with a wingspan of 150 feet. Supposedly priced at $150 to $400 million a piece, and canceled after $850 million were spent on the program. Maybe scaled down, flyable prototypes, wind tunnel and RCS-test models were build and/or flown. Tier 4 ====== Proposed stealthy Tier 2+, also called Tier 2++. Would have had more payload than Tier 3-, but was not proceeded with. The 'Tier' designations are ARPA 'procurement' project names, not official military designations, which will probably be assigned later. The main reason that these drones are ARPA projects, is the ability to procure the systems under a new 'Section 845 -- Other Agreements Authority' granted to ARPA by Congress, for prototype development outside of the burden of normal defense procurement regulations and statutes. Airborne reconnaissance/surveillance systems summary (sorta): It seems, that the Strategic Reconnaissance and Intelligence gathering role is filled by: - Satellites (of all sorts, including KH-11, KH-12, and predecessors, as well as DSP-647 and others) - SR-71 (after they are operational, again) - RC-135 (mainly for ELINT missions) - (Aurora, if it exists) The Medium-Range (between pure strategic and pure tactical) Reconnaissance and Surveillance role (including AEW and ASW) is filled by: - U-2R (some equipped with C-Span data links) - Tier 2 (kinda operational) - Tier 2+ (after they are operational) - E-2 and E-3 AWACS (for AEW missions) - P-3 and S-3 (for ASW missions) - E-8 Joint-STARS (for ground surveillance) And the pure Tactical Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Targeting role is filled by: - tactical fighter (like RF-4C, and podded systems like TARPS, carried by F-16, F-15, F-14, etc.) - older FAC systems (like OA-37B, OA-10A, Hunter UAV, OH-58D, etc.) - older battlefield ELINT and ground surveillance systems (like RU-8, RV-1, RU-21, RC-12, EH-1) - RAH-66 (after they are operational) - Tier 1 (in CIA use) - Tier 3- (after they are operational) - (TR-3A, if it exists) Additions and corrections are welcome! The most interesting thing for me is, how good will the data-fusion, data- dissemination/distribution be handled and integrated into existing and planned systems, not to forget the various ground and sea-based systems (like Aegis and other integrated systems). - -- Andreas - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: Kathryn & Andreas Gehrs-Pahl Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 11:46:16 -0400 (EDT) Subject: AW&ST, June 12 / June 19 For several reasons, including such mundane ones as the fact that it is hay season, and I am helping my inlaws (who have a horse farm) by driving hay around the countryside, which virtually consumes all of my spare time, and the fact that my Aviation Week nowadays only arrives on Fridays or Saturdays (instead of Monday), I am a little bit late with the AW&ST summary. The June 12 and 19 issues had, apart from a lot of generally interesting articles, quite a lot of skunky articles: WASHINGTON OUTLOOK, June 12, page 37: X-33 TURMOIL "NASA is considering major changes in the X-33 project to keep it from turning into a program to build a replacement space shuttle. NASA boss Daniel S. Goldin is said to be very disappointed with what he regards as the conservative designs coming out of the three X-33 teams -- Boeing/McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin and Rockwell. The three have pleaded that if they are going to invest their own money in the reusable launch vehicle (RLV) effort, they want some business out of it when the X-33 program ends, not after some follow-on RLV is built. So under the plan being discussed, NASA would scrap the project's industry-led arrangement and set design requirements itself. The agency -- under backbreaking deficit pressure -- also would drop the private sector investment requirement, hiking NASA's costs from about $700 million to $1 billion." REPRISE "The Senate Intelligence Committee has zeroed Teledyne Ryan's Tier 2+ long endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), repeating last year's effort by the Senate Appropriations Committee to force a consolidation of UAV programs. The Pentagon's plan is to build a few of Lockheed/Boeing's smaller, stealthy DarkStar Tier 3- UAVs and greater numbers of the larger, longer-endurance Tier 2+. Last year the Appropriations Committee sought to force a merger of the two. Now, some Senate lawmakers are trying to kill the Tier 2+, reasoning that the stealthier DarkStar will be more survivable. Teledyne Ryan will claim Tier 2+ is cheaper, with a far smaller signature than advertised." NEWS BREAKS, June 19, page 19: "A B-2 bomber successfully completed its first GPS-Aided Munition (GAM) drop on June 13. The guided test weapon made by Northrop Grumman was dropped from a B-2 at approximately 40,000 ft. over a Navy China Lake range, acquired GPS satellites within 10 sec., and maintained autonomous guidance over a 45,000-ft. downrange track. It impacted the target well within the 20-ft. circular error probable projected by company engineers." TIER 3 MINUS TO TEST VALUE OF STEALTH, June 12, pages 41-42, and MISSION OF TIER 3- REFLECTED IN DESIGN, June 19, pages 52-55: Both articles, from our favored AW&ST-writer Michael A. Dornheim -- whom we met at 'Groomstock' and who was also featured in the Discovery Channel video about the F-117A Nighthawk, repeated just last week or so -- is summarized in my other post about the Tier drones. The first article includes a side view photo from Tony Landis, and a top view photo from Eric Schulzinger, the second one has a three-quarter view photo from Eric Schulzinger, and 5 detail and overview photos from Tony Landis. The second article also includes a sidebar with an overview of Tier 3- specifications. INNOVATIONS TO BOOST F-22 FLIGHT TEST EFFICIENCY, June 12, pages 92-96, and ELEVEN AIRCRAFT TO ALLOW FAST-PACED TEST PROGRAM, June 12, page 96: The article describes the new integrated management and development approach to the flight testing of the F-22. A summary of the aircraft involved in flight testing follows: * 2 static airframes (STA): - STA 1: F-22A static airframe: static fatigue tests, structural loads; - STA 2: F-22A static airframe: static fatigue tests, structural loads; * 9 engineering, manufacturing and development (EMD) aircraft: - a/c 4001: F-22A EMD, with extended boom and spin chute: to be delivered 5/97; flight qualification, flutter tests, structural load tests; - a/c 4002: F-22A EMD, with extended boom: to be delivered 11/97; performance tests, stores tests, electronic warfare (EW) tests and IR-signature tests; - a/c 4003: F-22A EMD, with extended boom and provision for spin chute: to be delivered 9/98; crosswind landings, weapons bay tests, tail hook tests; - a/c 4004: F-22A EMD: to be delivered 4/99; avionics tests; - a/c 4005: F-22A EMD: to be delivered 7/99; avionics tests; - a/c 4006: F-22A EMD: to be delivered 9/99; avionics tests; - a/c 4007: F-22B EMD, two seater, with extended boom and spin chute: to be delivered 11/99; flight qualification, performance tests, structural load tests, and later avionics test; - a/c 4008 F-22A EMD: to be delivered 1/00; avionics tests, low observability tests; - a/c 4009: F-22B EMD, two seater, with provision for spin chute: to be delivered 3/00; avionics tests, low observability verification; * 4 preproduction validation (PPV) aircraft: - a/c 4010: F-22A PPV: military utility tests; - a/c 4011: F-22A PPV: military utility tests; - a/c 4012: F-22A PPV: military utility tests; - a/c 4013: F-22A PPV: military utility tests; One of the four PPV aircraft will also be used for climatic tests. * The F-22B (two seater) do not have to meet the low-observability specifications, but the F-22A (single seater) are built and tested to LO-specifications. * The preliminary test program will take approximately 60 months, involves about 253 tests, resulting in about 5,500 hr. of flying time in more than 2,900 test sorties. It is accelarated by utilizing GPS receiver (with stealthy, flush-mounted antennas, designed for another Lockheed program [which might have been Tier 3, Tier 3- or something else]) instead of test range instrumentation for time and position data. * A specially modified software tool called 'TEST_PLAN' will be used to increase efficiency as well. LOCKHEED MARTIN TAPS YAKOVLEV FOR STOVL SKILL, June 19, pages 74-76: Lockheed ADP announced Yakolev as a subcontractor for its ASTOVL version of the JAST program demonstrator. Because British Aerospace has a long standing exclusive contract with McDonnell Douglas concerning VSTOL design work, Lockheed wants to use the expertise of the Russian VSTOL aircraft design bureau instead. The information flow would be one-way only, and Lockheed is primarily interested in Yakovlev's software concerning flow fields. KODAK DEVELOPS COTS DIGITAL CAMERA, June 12, page 163; Eastman Kodak has developed a low-cost digital surveillance/reconnaissance camera, based on the Megapixel Imaging Technology (Mite), including a gimbal turret, transmitter, software and display stations. The $500,000 progressive- scan CCD system, which can digitize and transmit 1,000 x 1,000 pixels with up to 30 frames per second is slated for Tier 2+ and other military systems. An image intensifier for high-resolution imagery at night and a tunable liquid crystal filter for multi-spectral imaging is also under development. X-33 TEAM PICKS VERTICAL LANDER, June 19, page 81: McDonnell Douglas/Boeing decided to use a VTOL concept for its SSTO RLV demonstrator. The X-33 demonstrator would not be necessarily an orbital vehicle. The testing of propulsion, thermal protection systems, composite structures and cryogenic tanks are their main concern. SWEDEN EXPLOITS RADAR FOR ID, June 19, pages 59-62: The Swedish National Defense Research Establishment (FOA) is working on ways to use pulse doppler radar to identify an aircraft by its radar-return signature. Tests with models were promising, but the power output may be a problem for full-scale applications. Also, the aircraft's signature would have to be on file, to compare specific characteristics of an encountered signature with corresponding signatures in a database. The interesting part is, that RAM may help to identify an aircraft, because RAM-coatings have little effect on resonant frequencies, which may give resonance radar the best potential for stealth target detection. And last but not least, a very good and long article about the 'Keyhole' series of CIA satellites from Philip J. Klass: CIA REVEALS DETAILS OF EARLY SPY SATELLITES, pages 167-173; The article summarizes the following projects and satellites: - 'Discoverer' Project (satellites 'Discoverer 1' to 'Discoverer 39'); - Project 'Corona', the follow-on to 'Discoverer'; - Project 'Argon', a sub-program of 'Discoverer' / 'Corona'; - Project 'Lanyard', a sub-program of 'Corona'; - Project 'Gambit', a still secret, parallel project to 'Corona'; Of the 144 'Discoverer'/'Corona' satellite launches, 102 were successful. The projects included the following 'Keyhole' satellites, which used the corresponding 'KH-x' cameras -- 'KH-1' through 'KH-8' satellites were based on the Lockheed 'Agena' satellite / upper stage, and used film capsules, which were retrieved in mid-air by especially equipped C-119 or C-130 aircraft or fished out of the sea: - KH-1 = camera built by Itek Corp.; 'Discoverer' Project; 'Discoverer 14' was the first success; - KH-2 = camera built by Itek Corp., 'Discoverer' Project; 'Discoverer 16' was the first unsuccessful launch; 'Discoverer 18' was the first success; - KH-3 = camera built by Itek Corp., 'Discoverer' Project; 'Discoverer 29' was the first success; - KH-4 = stereo camera built by Itek Corp., 'Discoverer' Project and Project 'Corona'; 'Discoverer 38' was the first success; - KH-4A = stereo camera with dual film capsules built by Itek Corp.; Project 'Corona'; - KH-4B = stereo camera with dual film capsules (more film) built by Itek Corp.; Project 'Corona'; - KH-5 = geodetic mapping camera built by Itek Corp.; Project 'Argon' under 'Discoverer' Project and Project 'Corona'; 'Discoverer 20' was first unsuccessful try; - KH-6 = high resolution camera built by Itek Corp.; Project 'Lanyard' under Project 'Corona'; only three unsuccessful (third was only a partial success) launches; - KH-7 = 'close-look' camera built by Eastman Kodak; Project 'Gambit'; - KH-8 = 'close-look' camera; Project 'Gambit'; - KH-9 = multi-function satellite 'Big Bird'; - KH-10 = not mentioned; Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL); canceled; - KH-11 = near real-time photo-reconnaissance satellite built by Lockheed; - Advanced KH-11 = not mentioned; (Project 'Improved Crystal' ?); - KH-12 = not mentioned; - KH-13 = not mentioned; Also mentioned is the contempory first USAF 'electronic' reconnaissance satellite system, 'Weapon System 117L' (WS-117L) or Project 'Samos': - photo-reconnaissance satellite, also based on the Lockheed 'Agena' satellite / upper stage; did not use reentry capsules, but instead on-board development of the negatives, and scanning and radio transmitting of the (low-res) images from space; The following rocket booster were used as launcher: - McDonnell Douglas 'Thor': for early 'Discoverer' and 'Corona' cameras (satellites): 'KH-1', 'KH-2', 'KH-3', 'KH-4', 'KH-4A', 'KH-5', 'KH-6'; - McDonnell Douglas 'Thorad' / 'Thor-Agena D' / 'Thrust Augmented Thor': for later 'KH-4A' and all 'KH-4B' cameras (satellites); - Convair 'Atlas-Agena B': for testing of 'KH-7' camera (satellite); - Convair 'Atlas-Agena D': for operational 'KH-7' cameras (satellites); - Martin Marietta 'Titan 3B' (with 'Agena D'): for 'KH-8' cameras (satellites); - -- Andreas - --- --- Andreas & Kathryn Gehrs-Pahl E-Mail: schnars@ais.org 313 West Court St. #305 or: gpahl@raptor.csc.flint.umich.edu Flint, MI 48502-1239 Tel: (810) 238-8469 WWW URL: http://www.umcc.umich.edu/~schnars/ - --- --- ------------------------------ From: BaDge Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 12:59:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: AW&ST, June 12 / June 19 Did anyone see the recent Discover Channel broadcast about the F177A last week in which they mentioned that the current model is significantly different from the one flown in DS? They showed some nice cockpit views and mentioned that the display is now in full color. This show seemed to be fairly new, and had some enjoyable interviews with some of the pilots who flew the initial sorties, mentioning their dealing with the fatique and fear that accompanied flying all those missions during that relatively short time span. regards, BaDge ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V5 #311 ********************************* 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. 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