Airbus A380

Images, courtesy of Jonathan who went again on Friday. He managed to get an exclusive visit to the interiors of the A380. Wooo!

For years, the large airliner segment of the airliner market was dominated by the Boeing B747. Will the advent of this airliner end the years of American dominance in jet air travel?

Asian Aerospace 2006: B-1B Lancer

Image, courtesy of Jonathan who went there a second time!

Beautiful, sleek and lethal.

Why the American Press must print the cartoons

An excellent article from the Christian Science Monitor.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0223/p09s02-coop.html

More images

More images of the Asian Aerospace 2006 to come. They will include the business jets and a few other miscellaneous items.

"Through not observing what is in the mind of another a man has seldom been seen to be unhappy; but those who do not observe the movements of their own minds must of necessity be unhappy. "

'The Meditations' Marcus Aurelius, 167 A.D.

Borgia: Blood for the Pope

'Borgia: Blood for the Pope', from the Heavy Metal Magazine, is one of the most graphic and provocative graphic novel or comics I have read in a long time. Sandman? Batman returns? American comics? Those are tame and ordinary. In the long tradition of advant garde European comics, this one is totally no holds barred. There is no sacred cow. It includes orgies, rapes, mass castrations, massacres, killing of children, oral sex, the corruption of religion and clergy, power struggles and more. Since it is about the infamous Borgias, it can surely not be any less. In any way, it is likely to be toned down.

The three-part work written by the well-known Jodorowsky is about the Borgia dynasty. Manara, famous for his protrayals of women, is responsible for this gorgeous visualisation.

This is part one of three. Be warned. Don't pick this up if you are easily offended.

'Remember how long thou hast been putting off these things, and how often thou hast received an opportunity from the gods, and yet dost not use it. Thou must now at last perceive of what universe thou art a part, and of what administrator of the universe thy existence is an efflux, and that a limit of time is fixed for thee, which if thou dost not use for clearing away the clouds from thy mind, it will go and thou wilt go, and it will never return.'

'The Meditations' Marcus Aurelius, 167 A.D.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Fighters III

Lockheed Martin F-35. The aero-modellers' desire Yes, this is literally a model. A life-sized mockup of the real thing.

Point heatseekers here. Lockheed Martin F-16D. Note the dorsal spine at the base of the tail. Secret stuff there.

Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle. Singapore will be receiving the F-15SG which will have twin-GE engines rather than Pratt and Whitney ones.

Boeing F-18E. If the congress won't give us the A-12, we will get a larger and new aircraft. Call it the F-18E!

Next up. Steve 'I gonna have that business jet' Jobs' wet dream. That's right. Business jets.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Helicopters


Eurocopter EC-155. This is a Malaysian-registered aircraft.

Eurocopter EC-135.

Eurocopter EC-120.
Not a Eurocopter for once. A Boeing crop-duster. Great for sight-seeing over the Gaza strip. Excellent for dropping in and saying hello to your favourite Hamas or Hizbollah terrorist. AH-64D Apache Longbow.

Asian Aerospace 2006: All-Terrain Vehicles, Light Attack Vehicles and Armoured Vehicles
Terrex AV81. This 8x8 Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) is of Irish origin and is now marketed by Singapore Technologies Kinetics.


Another view of the Terrex AV81 with an automatic grenade launcher mounting.

Armoured Land Rover (I think) with an automatic grenade launcher mounting.

Upgraded M113 with additional armour and a 12.7mm mounting (I think).

This looks like the CIS 12.7mm machine gun. I'm not sure.

Mini-All Terrain Vehicle.

The automatic grenade launcher mounting at the rear of the Mini-All Terrain Vehicle. Wow! These automatic grenade launchers are just everywhere man! Buy two get three free!


Fast Attack Vehicle (FAV)

Asian Aerospace 2006: Trainers

The British Aerospace Hawk trainer.

The Embraer Super Tucano trainer.

The Albatros L39 trainer.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Pegasus Lightweight Howitzer

Air-transportable lightweight howitzers appear to be the rage these days. Here is Singapore Technologies Kinetics entry in this category.

Asian Aerospace 2006: 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher

The 40mm Automatic Grenade Launcher offered by Singapore Technologies Kinetics. Lethal and fearsome. In theory that is.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Redback Weapon System

The Metalstorm technology originating from Australia is one of the more original ideas to emerge in the defence field in recent years.

The Redback Weapon System, a four-barrelled 40mm gun system, is a resultant of the collaboration between Singapore Technologies Kinetics and Metalstorm.

Basically, the Redback Weapon System is a lightweight multi-barrel system with stacked munitions which can easily be mounted on light vehicles.

Calibre: 40mm
Weight: 70kg
Munitions: 40mm HE, AB, less lethal
Range: Munition dependent
RoF: 3000 rpm
Slew Rate: 700 degrees/second

Advantages of the Metalstorm technology:
1. Extreme rate of fire. Fast engagement times.
2. Mechanically simple. No expensive feed system. No jams.
3. Electronically fired. Longer lifespan than normal munitions.
4. Enjoys all the advantages of electronically fired munitions. Fast start-up.

Possible disadvantages:
1. Low muzzle velocity*.
2. Expense of multiple barrels.**

*I'm hazarding a guess here.
** Again, this is offset by the lack of a complicated feed system.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Anti-Armour Missiles

The Matador Short Range Anti-Armour Weapon (SRAAW). This is a direct descendent of the Armbrust LAW with better penetrative capabilities. However it is about 2 kilogrammes heavier.

The Eryx Short Range Anti-Tank Weapon (SRATW) with SACLOS guidance and a X3 magnification sight. The firing tube weighs 12 kilogrammes while the firing post weighs 5 kilogrammes.

The Spike Anti-Armour system with a firing post consisting of the Command Launch Unit (CLU), the thermal imaging sight and a tripod.

Asian Aerospace 2006: Small Arms

The SAR-21 assault rifle. This one is mounted with a small TV screen. This allows an infantryman to shoot around corners without exposure by holding out the rifle while aiming via the screen.

The Brügger & Thomet MP-9 with a silencer. Formerly the Steyr Tactical Machine Pistol?

SIG-550 series assault rifles and a lower receiver with a grenade launcher.

Benelli M3 Super 90 Shotgun

An assortment of Smith and Wesson semi-automatic pistols. The centrepiece is a .45 while most of the rest are a variety of 9mm.

Mini-Hecate 7.62mm Sniper Rifle

Asian Aerospace 2006: The Fighters II

Here are more images, courtesy of Jonathan.

The Saab Gripen. This is a mock-up. Sadly, Saab and its partner, British Aerospace, did not see fit to fly in the real McCoy. Oh well. Sleek, diminutive...

Lockheed Martin F-16D with an assorted range of weapons included laser-guided bombs (LGB), Mavericks missiles and more.

The F-16D with its distinctive 'hump'...

The AH-64D Apache Longbow loaded with 16 Hellfire ATGMs and two rocket pods.

Asian Aerospace Human Traffic Management: An Absolute Horror

The management* of human traffic at this year's Asian Aerospace was terrible. I have a friend who had to queue for two hours before he could get in. Meanwhile, another friend said that he queued for a long time before finally finding his way in through the back door by seeking someone who worked inside. And that queue included the pre-registered people. What is Reed Exhibitions doing?

Thankfully, I was only in the queue for half an hour. I did manage to read a chapter in a book while I was waiting in queue.

The traffic conditions were not good. The roads were congested. Avoid going there by taxi. It's madness.

I have been to several previously and they were efficient at the registration.

*The security checks at the entrance was swift and efficient. It clearly wasn't the bottleneck. The bottleneck was obvious the registration areas where the few clerks hurriedly attempted to type and print the name badges for the delegates.

Asian Aerospace 2006: M8 Ridgeway Armoured Gun System (AGS)

The M8 Ridgeway Armoured Gun System (AGS) was recently cancelled by the Bush administration. The M8 was developed and was almost ready for serial production when it was cancelled.

This is the latest in a line of cancellations of major weapons programmes, for instance the Crusader self-propelled gun, the XM-8 assault rifle, A12 and so forth.


This special example is actually armed with a 120mm gun rather than the usual 105mm rifled gun. (However, the person manning the exhibit was unable to tell me if the 120mm gun is a rifled or smoothbore weapon. Given that the origin of the gun is American, it is likely to be smoothbore.) This example of the M8 is equipped with a turret with level II protection and chassis with level I protection. The M8 with level III protection throughout would weigh 25-tonnes.


United Defense, one of the larger American manufacturers, which built this vehicle was bought over by British Aerospace last year.


This example was at the Asian Aerospace 2006.

Asian Aerospace 2006: The Fighters

RSAF F-16D Fighting Falcon. Profile.

US Navy F-18E Super Hornet. Note the new in-takes. The F-18E and F-18F are dimensionally bigger than the F-18A/B/C/D by a significant amount. It is pretty much a new aircraft.

RSAF F-16D Fighting Falcon.

USAF Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle.

RSAF Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow.

*A note on the photos I put up. Feel free to use them if you want. I put them up to share. If you want better quality images, do let me know. I have about two hundred images of the event. Drop me an email. I will send them to you.

A visit to the Asian Aerospace 2006

Yesterday, I went to the last Asian Aerospace event held in Singapore. It was great fun despite the lack of variety of military aircraft. There were no European or Russian fighters this year. Only the American exhibitors were left. Somehow, the Europeans and Russians appeared to have decided against marketing their wares this year.

The roads leading to in this particular exhibition was extremely congested and it took me two hours to see the first exhibit. Likewise, it was torture leaving the place. It took me a good two hours to get home.


Here I am, standing before a Boeing F-18E of the US Navy.

Here, I am wielding a Brügger & Thomet MP-9 machine pistol affixed with a silencer.

And here you see me with the new PGM Mini-Hecate 7.62x51mm sniper rifle with a 4-16X scope. Wait till you see me bunny-hop with this! Heheh. Not really.

The Boeing Longbow Apache AH-64D.

I will be posting a lot more images from Asian Aerospace 2006 soon.