Bøger af Vassilios Sitaras

The Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider is the first strategic bomber to attain hardware status since the Cold War B-2A Spirit, which was publicly unveiled in 1988 and introduced in 1993. First flown on November 10, 2023, the mighty Raider is destined to become the mainstay of Americäs long-range air fleet with at least 100 units entering service from around 2027 onwards. Once operational, it will certainly be the most advanced military aircraft in the World, as well as the first ¿Sixth Generation¿ warplane. Its main goal, apart from nuclear deterrence, is to render useless the Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) battle networks created during the last decades by the revisionist Eurasian powers Russia and China. While details concerning this devastating weapon remain classified, we attempt a first assessment of its historical perspective, technical characteristics, concept of operations and challenges.

The De Havilland Mosquito and the Avro Lancaster were two of the most legendary British aircraft of all time, eclipsed only by the immortal Supermarine Spitfire in fame. They flew for the first time six weeks apart, on 25.11.1940 the Mosquito and on 9.1.1941 the Lancaster and they were both powered by the same RR Merlin engine. Commencing bomber operations over Europe in the spring of 1942, they were also produced in similar numbers (7,781 Mosquitoes and 7,377 Lancasters). Still, they served two different design philosophies: the mainstream philosophy of a slow, heavily armed bomber with a devastating payload (the mighty Lancaster), versus the alternative one of a very fast and unarmed combat aircraft made of wood, with many applications (the compact and multi-role Mosquito). A crucial question inevitably arises: which of the two was more cost/effective?

On March 1, 2018, President V. Putin caused something of a stir, by publicly showcasing the newest version of Russiäs Doomsday Machine. The effect on Western public opinion was tremendous, creating the impression that Russia was updating its deterrent at an alarming pace. Still, rather limited information about this weaponry has been officially released in the (almost) five years which have followed the speech. Putting together the pieces of the jigsaw involves, inevitably, a lot of speculation. We summarize the most essential information and estimates about a total of 11 weapons of strategic and sub-strategic nature, either put in service recently (from 2010 till early 2023) or still under development. We also examine, briefly, the Russian nuclear doctrine and the strategy of active defense.

As a true bolt out of the sky, the AUKUS announcement shocked the entire World on 15/9/2021. The trilateral consultations leading to its conclusion were held ¿top secret¿ for several months between Australia (A), Britain (UK) and the United States (US). Most of the relative background is classified, and it will probably remain for many decades to come. The exact content of this security pact is also to be further clarified within the following years, because, for the time being, there has been only a general ¿framework agreement¿. This provides for Australia to receive nuclear propulsion technology, in order to construct a future class of attack submarines (SSNs), most likely eight in number. This small book is just a preliminary assessment of the facts publicly revealed in the first two months since the official announcement (15/9 ¿ 15/11/2021). Although they represent just the tip of the iceberg, they can provide some ground for analysis and comment. We shall also attempt some guessing of the shape of things to come, i.e. to identify the most likely hardware resulting out of the deal.

Twice since WW2, namely in the early 1960s and in the mid 1990s, the United States Department of Defense (DoD) initiated combat aircraft projects aimed at satisfying the different requirements and needs of more than one Armed Service. The first was the TFX or F-111, which flew in 1964 and served from 1968 till 1996 (In Australia till 2010). The second was the JSF or F-35, which first flew as a demonstrator (X-35) in 2000 and as a real fighter in 2006. It has been introduced in 2015 and will be operational till the 2070s. This paper follows the development History of both TFX and JSF programs, analyzing the numerous challenges they faced and evaluating their final outcome as effective weapons systems. We analyze the two aircraft from the perspective of cost as well as operational capability. The overall question examined is the following: do the gains, mainly in cost savings, of these two ¿joint¿ platforms justified the losses in performance?