i read from one of the janes defence weekly... that Isreali air force ordered a total of 6 G-550, of which 4 belong to RSAF.

the IAF G-550 is reportedly painted white with blue strips... while that of RSAF has been painted grey.

according to the manufactuere of G-550 gulfstream, they have thus far ONLY recieve 6 such orders.. and have delievered four of them with another two to be delivered within the year.

the two G-550 CAEW of the IAF has been spotted to carry the tailnumber.. N637GA and N969GA.

if JDW is correct.... i have a very strong suspicion.... this grey color G-550 CAEW spotting the tail number N944GA is actually the RSAF CAEW.


the other G-550 CAEW seen with a light tone of grey with tail number N914GA could also belong to RSAF.

Very interesting photos - esp the first one. Where was the source of the photo?

Is it me or does the plane looks damn nice?

yeah who's the source?

well the links to the photos claim them to be RSAF 1st and 2nd CAEW.


good chance they are ours. the background in the photos seriously look like local airfields. it's possible they have arrived already....

Now that wd1 talked about the background....look at the first picture to the right see the fence and radar?

That looks REALLY familiar.

And the trees in the background of pic 1. OMG. B)

BTW, where's the door for the plane ah?

The one in the first picture is already blocked by the radar piece and yet they still draw the outline of the door there...

You are showing signs of a Mil-Porn experience.

Remain calm, stay away from your computer screen and avoid nitrite based supplements.

If symptoms persist, please visit your nearest recruitment officer.

p/s: Yes, they are nice ;)

I think that really is the door. The curved bit on top of it may just be a hollow aerodynamic fairing to blend the radar array.

Although I would love to think that these shots were taken in one of our airbases, I reckon that it was taken somewhere in the UK last year as seen in these photos:
N914GA
N944GA

Besides, I don't think that the RSAF would allow someone to shoot such a clear shot of it inside our bases atm. ;)

Article dated Oct 2007.

So Icestorm's probably right, those are Singapore's.

And we'd probably see the first one arrive late this year, the last in 2010.

Muscular as hell, those wingroot/shoulder bulges and the extended drop-nose rulezzz

Stock 550 looks too damn UnMilitary

Such beauties. :lol:

i took the photo from a foreign website...

but when i saw the color of the plane and recalled the JDW article... the balloon just goes up.

GOD its hot!

you looking at me boy? B)

This site http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.sear...inct_entry=true says all those pictures were taken in Scotland and the CAEWs in the pictures actually belong to the Israeli Air Force.

Cheers,
Sunho

it was indeed ordered by isreal... and in fact... i believe they are flying to isreal to begin installing the phalcon radar....

but if you read janes report... there is a very strong possibilities that those G-550 CAEW are meant for RSAF.

the two isrealis G-550 CAEW are painted white with blue strips... kinda like the color of their national flag.

Thats the Eitams pretending to be El-AL aircrafts, stops a lot of curious questions if they look civvie

wow.... thanks for the info... i didnt realise... since i never paid attention to what the isrealis airline look like....

sexy looking ... the 2 engines reminds of the A10 Thunderbolt mountings...

Beautiful, but can it find MSK? :rolleyes:

sure... if you know which plane or ship he is on... but then again....catching MSK aint SAF job... afterall our fine police decided to withheld information of his escape for a long 4 hour...

4 hour... i walk walk also can reach JB on foot.... ask the police go answer for it.

Looking at the sky in the first two pics, I think that both aircraft are the same colour, just that the first one is taken with overcast sky, while the second one is with clear skies. Either way, they look good :). No idea whether they are Singaporean, but then again, the grey paint suggests use in a maritime environment, doesn't it? (I know that the Israelis have the Mediterranean sea, but most of their Jets are painted in a desert camou pattern right?)

Northrop Wins USN BAMS Development Award

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/sto...channel=defense

Our chances of getting an unmanned version of the G550 diminished as the Global Hawk was declared winner of the BAMS program.

Bill Sweetman had theorized earlier that the technology for Boeing's optionally piloted G550 could be used on the CAEW as well.

http://www.alert5.com/2007/12/unmanned-aew...o-far-away.html

Not sure if the development is continuing. But since the Global Hawk is restricted for export due to the Missile control regime, Singapore might invest in the Boeing unmanned G550 to expand the fleet to include maritime surveillance. Perhaps ST Aero will hire Boeing as consultant to unmanned the G550?

UAVs may eventually be fine for AEW, but for maritime surveillance and patrol i doubt they can really replace manned aircraft. in Singapore's case, taking care of the maritime environment is a far more complex task than simply being an airborne radar, requiring much flexibility to deal with anything from counter-piracy to SAR to over-horizon ASCM targeting.

US will still have P-8A to deal with many of these challenges, as will any Fokker 50 replacement have to do for us.

have read in many places that an MPA's best and most-used sensor system is the Mark 1 Eyeball. can't mount that in a UAV.

No, i strongly doubt Singapore would get Boeing to turn G550 unmanned. First, the G550 UAV for BAMs doesn't have a weapons capability, IIRC. Second, making something unmanned isn't a trivial matter, as NG once pointed out. Remember that Global Hawks were lost before because of issues with its autonomous capability. Can Singapore afford the cost to fund such a project alone? Strongly doubt it.

4 out of 6 to RSAF.

Looks like Singapore is a major partner and funding it cause we get the operational aircraft first.

I bet a lot of arab fighter pilots have wet dreams of shooting the vertical stabilizers off that jet.

Thought I might "digg" this out for fellow milnuts that are interested in the new G550 AEW&C aircraft.

Posting the following photo with prior written permission from the copyright holder, courtesy of Orion - ClubSNAP and Team Ninervictor aircraft spotting group. Strictly to be use in this forum only.

As per the photographer's request, kindly do not re-distribute or re-post the photo anywhere else. Thank you.





Caution: Extremely Large Image, might not show due to bandwidth limitation.



Many thanks to Orion - ClubSNAP and Team Ninervictor aircraft spotting group. Strictly to be use in this forum only.

Once again and as per the photographer's request, kindly do not re-distribute or re-post the photo anywhere else. Thank you.

Omg.

They should call this the Dragon. Man! So many 'spikes' along the neck. Standing next to the thing while @ full power will probably microwave you from the inside out...

been seeing them going in and out of Tengah for some months now.

they are remarkably quiet in contrast to the E-2Cs' distinctive loud drone.

Imagine the crews being encased between 6 gigantic operational microwave ovens for almost the entire day. :P I wonder if they will receive "hazard" pay for their low sperm count.

Maybe the crew are issued lead lined underwear to protect their jewels? :P

It used to be a joke that helmets have to be strategically placed when walking around during ada exercises ie covering a different head. Not just low sperm count but that those end up going round and round instead of swimming straight.

Too bad air operators don't carry helmets....

Having said that, we're already bombarded with mobile, internet and TV broadcast islandwide (just different frequencies) and those are wall-penetrating.... Also MPA radar at keppels runs 24/7 and that's not exactly pointing up. Is that why birth rate so low?

i can't really elaborate, but the BX2 does have its sperm-unfriendly areas as well...the horror! :wacko:

btw correct me if i'm wrong, but the leading edges on the wings are chrome-lined...is it?

lol. Can insurance cover low sperm count?

Seriously, as to leading edges, the standard g550 business jet already has chrome edges so I wouldn't read too much into it. Shiny metal = luxury jet looks.

http://www.gulfstream.com/products/g550/

Like most business a/c eg A380, the wings are manufactured using creep age or age creep forming techniques which are supposed to produce stronger wings and basically uses machined aluminium.

I can't deny the luxury look about it...I was also thinking of aerodynamic efficiency, as its worth noting during WW2 the RAF chromed the leading ages of Spitfires so that they can attain enough speed to intercept the V2 bombs...thing is that the AEW G550s don't need speed that desperately, and I guess looking fancy is the last thing on thier minds...so that's what's leaving me a bit puzzled, that's all...

unless removing chrome is such a darned expensive process :P

It's the airforce new "zhng mine ride" program mah. I wonder what other bling bling they'll add next, already I can see a couple of flashing LED lights. :P

Anyway I was browsing through the plane spotting thread in clubsnap and was wondering if it is against civil and military regulations to fly an aircraft with no tail number painted? Wouldn't that be equivalent to something like driving a MINDEF registered vehicle with no license plate?


http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread....=496591&page=17

I did see a RSAF KC-135 with no numbers clearly visible from a distance except '50' on the nose cone...

I wonder if the "chrome" leading edge has more to do with the efficiency of the wing de-icing mechanism than squeezing out a little bit more speed ...

[edit for below ...]

Couldn't find the original article I read a while back but here's something else similar ...

(from Executive Jets by Geza Szurovy)

"(on the Citationjet ... ) Gone from the wing's leading edges are the traditional, pneumatically-pulsing, black rubber de-icing boots, which would have made laminar flow impossible. Instead there are two stationary polished metal strips perfectly faired into the rest of the wing. Bleed air drawn from the engine at 330 degree Fahrenheit is channeled along these strips, making short work of any ice accumulation. During the certification process, 6 inches of ice was allowed to build up along the leading edge before being zapped with bleed air. The ice melted in record time."

btw ... IINM, the "chrome" is not chrome. It's just polished, unpainted, aircraft aluminum. Just paint over?

Just out of curiosity ... just what has "creep age" or "age creep" forming techniques got to do with the wing leading edges being shiny?

018 @ Tel Aviv, Israel
Yochai Mossi - AirTeamImages ©

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Singapore--...0eba18266059cc8


010 @ Singapore
9v-Orion Images ©

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9v-orion/sets...57620975526364/

We have 8 G550?

There's no 010. Poor photoshop with the middle of the 8 scrubbed out.

why would they do that?