Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

A place to engage extended discussions of things that come up on the ttbrown.com website. Anything goes here, as long as it's somehow pertinent to the subject(s) at hand.
Trickfox
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Trickfox »

Whatever happened to Gravity Well?????

another ping pong game anyone?

Trickfox
The psychopropulsier (as pointed out in the book The Good-bye man by Linda Brown and Jan Lofton) is a Quantum entanglement project under development using Quantum Junctions. Join us at http://www.Peeteelab.com
Griffin
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Hull friction

Post by Griffin »

Rose, I agree -- that is an awesome picture on your etheric.com link. Thank you. The caption is also apt for the Flow Forum: “Airframe electrification used in the B-2 bomber to reduce air drag and hull friction.”

We recently experienced some Hull friction here which, though a bit of a drag, may prod some improvement in our aerodynamics. Pass the negative ions, please.

As ever,

Griffin
Rose
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Rose »

Too funny, Griffin!

Yes,There was a hull of a lot of a resistance to our fine group, wasn't there?

rose
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Gravity well
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Gravity well »

Trickfox wrote:Whatever happened to Gravity Well?????

another ping pong game anyone?

Trickfox
I'm here! Lurking and learning :)
Gravity well
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Gravity well »

Some B-2 news... but still no official revelations about the electrogravitics.
B-2 computer upgrade passes first milestone
By Stephen Trimble

Northrop Grumman has passed the first milestone in the development of a modern computer architecture to upgrade the B-2A stealth bomber's flight management system.
Following the US Air Force's approval of a preliminary design review in early June, Northrop has been cleared to finalise the design by October and to deliver the computer upgrade for flight tests in the fourth quarter of 2009, says Ron Naylor, its B-2 programme manager. The company is upgrading the B-2's 256Kb-class processor chip with a Pentium-class Lockheed Martin integrated processing unit, with the improved FMS to feature 1Gb/s computational speed.
Once installed, the replacement processor and a new disc drive with fibre channel interfaces will enable a series of future and ongoing upgrades for the bomber's weapon and sensor systems. Northrop is upgrading its radar antenna, for example, to an active electronically scanned array. The radar processor, however, is being left alone until the FMS can handle the data throughput required to process synthetic aperture radar maps.

The USAF is also adding the Boeing GBU-39 small diameter bomb on the B-2. Without the processor upgrade, making any targeting changes for the full load-out of 80 small diameter bombs would take much longer.
The most direct upgrade supported by the new processor will be an improved communications suite. Addition of the integrated processing unit is the first increment of a larger modernisation effort called the B-2 extremely high frequency and computer upgrades programme. A second increment will replace the aircraft's Milstar ultra-high-frequency system to the EHF standard provided by the future satellite constellation of the Boeing family of advanced beyond line-of-sight terminals, making the B-2 a new "node" in the global information grid.
The upgrade requires changing the shape of the B-2's outer-mould line on the top of the aft fuselage. In a review of the programme released in March, the US Government Accountability Office reported concerns that the design changes could inadvertently alter the stealth bomber's radar cross section.
"We've had experts from across the company and the air force look at that and they say there aren't impacts to the low observability specifications from the antenna," counters Naylor. While the GAO is also concerned over the "high-risk" nature of the new disk drive, he says the design has faced problems normally associated with any computer development programme, but remains on track.
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... stone.html


Upgrade drags Stealth Bomber IT systems into the 90s
We're looking for a Mr Gorb... Gorbachev
By Lewis Page → More by this author
Published Friday 11th July 2008 11:08 GMT
Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at The Register Security Debate, September 24 2008.
US aerospace heavyweight Northrop Grumman has revealed some details of a planned upgrade to the computing system of the famous B-2 Stealth Bomber, one of the most expensive and unusual aircraft in the world. According to reports, the well-known but seldom seen ghost bomber will be finally moving up to Pentium processors and code written in C. The B-2 will also get a new disk drive.

Stealth Bomber - now with Pentium sticker.
Northrop says that during the upgrade, many standalone computers distributed throughout the B-2's batwinged airframe will be combined into a single faster and more modern Integrated Processing Unit (IPU) with fibre links to the various hardware it needs to interface with.
Flight International reports that the IPU will use "Pentium class" processor chips. According to Northrop: "It provides the high-speed data handling environment required to implement future capabilities such as an EHF satellite communications system, and the ability to destroy moving targets."
The new disk drive - a piece of kit seen by US government auditors as "high risk", but in which the air force and Northrop have full confidence - will come from Honeywell. The B-2's flight-management computer, without which its unstable low-observable flying wing airframe cannot fly, will be replaced by a more modern single-card processor "installed in one of many computer slots" in the new IPU.
Naturally the stealth bomber's software has to be rewritten for the new platform, in particular the operational flight program (OFP) - the app which lets the ungainly plane fly, rather than lurching out of control as it would without constant computer assistance. (A recent B-2 crash shortly after takeoff at the Pacific island of Guam was caused by a false sensor data feed into the OFP, resulting from an airspeed measuring device being affected by tropical moisture. The duff data fooled the OFP app into wrecking the $2bn bomber - while the pilots were unable to do anything to stop it.)
It seems that the current OFP was written in a now-obsolete programming language called JOVIAL. Northrop are proud to announce that they have figured out how to translate the code into a "newer, more modern programming language called C".
While it might seem odd to some readers that the US Air Force's multibillion dollar flagship plane is only now "upgrading" to fairly basic tech, this is commonplace in advanced aerospace and military kit. The space shuttle's flight computers, similarly critical to it remaining under control, are likewise basic. In the early years of the 21st century, the main battle computer of a Royal Navy destroyer was still based around two 24-bit, 1 MHz processors each with 25KB of RAM.
Getting back to the B-2, Northrop and the US air force expect to start flight testing the new computer upgrades late next year. There are also a raft of other hardware updates - more bomb racks, massive bunker-penerating superbombs, better comms, better radar etc - planned for coming years. ®
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/11 ... _upgrades/
Griffin
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Raising Hull

Post by Griffin »

Yes, Rose-

And we need to raise Hull -- into a higher dimension of consciousness. Otherwise, there'll be Hull to pay.

Griffin
Gravity well
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Gravity well »

First ever! Pictures of a B-2 crash.

Take a look: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 73248.html

Video: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/v ... lth-b.html

Anyone see anything interesting? Resolution is pretty low but better than nothing.
natecull
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by natecull »

Gravity well wrote:First ever! Pictures of a B-2 crash.

Take a look: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science ... 73248.html

Video: http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/06/v ... lth-b.html

Anyone see anything interesting? Resolution is pretty low but better than nothing.
Just wondering about this user comment:
27. RE: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos: Exclusive First Look
I remember reading somewhere several years ago that the B2 had a near-fatal flaw that the Air Force was covering up: the planes wouldn't function correctly if they were allowed to get wet. They had to be kept in hangars at all times, and couldn't be flown in bad weather. It appears that the story was true, and somebody screwed up by allowing this one to get wet. That's right, they spend a billion dollars apiece on planes that won't work if they get wet. And they keep it a secret from us.
Urban legend, or hint to electrostatics?

Not that electrostatics has anything to do with a sensor getting waterlogged - but *if* you had a flight/stealth technology that relied on the whole plane being dry, then maybe an obscure failure mode involving the sensors getting wet might be seen as a less-than-critical issue given the whole mission should be scratched in that case? Dunno.
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Gravity well
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Gravity well »

natecull, very interesting comment indeed. From looking at the log, this crash was a result of a human error. Preflight maintenance person and pilot didn't communicate and the error in calibration was not caught and fixed properly.

Now, here's a question that I hope someone here can shed some light on: how does electrostatics and electrogravitics behave when the surfaces are wet? I'm guessing there is some impediment... anyone want to enlighten us?

If that comment above is correct about B-2 not being able to fly properly in the rain (maybe it loses stealth??) and electrogravitics is affected by the water on the surfaces, then this could be another confirmation...
Gravity well
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Gravity well »

Very interesting pic of a B-2 in flight: http://chamorrobible.org/images/photos/ ... 5-Guam.jpg

Anyone know how come B-2 has this vapor cloud around the top section and F-15s do not? These are not vapor clouds that occur when you break a sound barrier: http://wilk4.com/misc/soundbreak.htm since B-2 (supposedly) is a subsonic plane.

Also, interestingly, moisture was the cause of B-2 Spirit's crash (check out these fairly newly released accident reports): http://www.acc.af.mil/accspecialreports ... nboard.asp
Rose
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Rose »

Gravity well, the picture resembles the one on page 2 of this link:
http://www.etheric.com/Downloads/Columbia.pdf

The caption there attributes the glow to airframe electrification.

rose
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Mikado14
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Mikado14 »

Rose wrote: The caption there attributes the glow to airframe electrification.

rose
So THAT's what they're calling it now.

Mikado
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Trickfox
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Trickfox »

Sorry

I'l be out of commission for the next few days. I will be in the hospital.

I will be back as soon as I can to answer some of these questions.

I am weak a bit now but I'll be ok next week,.

Raymond
The psychopropulsier (as pointed out in the book The Good-bye man by Linda Brown and Jan Lofton) is a Quantum entanglement project under development using Quantum Junctions. Join us at http://www.Peeteelab.com
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by htmagic »

Trickfox wrote:Sorry

I'l be out of commission for the next few days. I will be in the hospital.

I will be back as soon as I can to answer some of these questions.

I am weak a bit now but I'll be ok next week,.

Raymond
Raymond,

We'll be praying for a speedy recovery and a quick stay at the hospital.

Take care, Mr. Trickfox,

MagicBill
Speeding through the Universe, thinking is the best way to travel ...
Mikado14
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Re: Looking for an article detailing 'black projects' (B-2 etc)

Post by Mikado14 »

Rose wrote:Gravity well, the picture resembles the one on page 2 of this link:
http://www.etheric.com/Downloads/Columbia.pdf

The caption there attributes the glow to airframe electrification.

rose
Sorry Rose, here is what the photographer says about his picture:


From the Photographer, Bobbi Garcia:

As for how I got the shot. I was in a chase F-16 being flown by Maj "Bernie" Cassidy. Between test points we would try to capture the condensation on still film. The camera I was using was a Hasselblad with a power winder (equates to about 1 frame per second) and the vapors only happen briefly and sporadically. As you can imagine, there was a little "spaz action" going on, trying not to take any unnecessary photos that would cause the power winder to be busy when I needed to be actually shooting.

We were fairly low in altitude when the shot was taken, and heading home from the mission.

There is enough moisture over the ocean to actually cause that phenomon to happen at various speeds, not just supersonic. That is why people on the navy carriers can get that shot more often than most land-based aircraft photographers.


And if you don't believe me then see for yourself:

http://www.wilk4.com/misc/soundbreak.htm

Sorry to rebuke Mr. La Violette but there is a picture floating around that shows the coronal glow more towards the leading edge.

Mikado
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy
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