i think smokers tend not to put on the pounds cos they spend all their money on cigeretts so they cant aford to eat no more.:D

“Quite honestly, most countries that are willing to spend the money (especially on the high operating costs) of the MiG-31 don’t really need it..

the MiG-31 was designed purely for specific mission, as well as being able to cover vast areas such as the Soviet Union. Countries have shown that they would rather buy the Su-30s, which may not be as good as the MiG-31 against intercepting specific targets.. but offer much more roles it can do and is still no slouch as an interceptor.. unfortunately, the export potential of the MiG-31 is bleak.”

hence me trying to find new roles the foxbat can perform with minimal or no mods.

the mig31 will never be able to dogfight or move mud as well as the 30s, but it can do some roles that the flankers just cant undertake, like antisat missions and recon ops over dangerous airspace.

another role i can think of it for the mig31 to act as a mini-AWACS as the mkks are doing. the mig’s bigger radar and much facter speed should make it more effective and servivable in this role then the 30s.

arthur:

“A recon version was never necessary, since the MiG-25RB-series worked just fine for the FA. The MiG-31 was developed for the PVO to improve on the MiG-25’s shortcomings, but those shortcomings only concerned the intercept-part of the job. So no recce. “

i was think more in terms of adding this extra feature to try to attract buyers.

“Again, the MiG-31 was an interceptor aircraft for the Air Defence Force of the Soviet Union. They didn’t bother with attacking ships, that was the job of the AV-MF and (although only minor) the FA. Different services, different jobs, different platforms.”

againt, same as above. im sure it wont be that hard to upgrade the mig31 to do a little anti-shipping on teh side.;)

“That’s what the MiG-31D was developed for.”

nice, but dont know much abt teh ‘D’ model, is it in service? any articles on what type of weapons it can used?

joint a sports team, be it football, rugby, tennis, badminton, basketball. basicly anything that will have u running alot. u can keep fit and have fun at the same time. now thats my find of programme.:D

problem is, u need to find other ppl willing to do the same.:( any one interested in a game of tennis?

“China wouldn’t be able to afford Typhoons. It would also kill the J-10 program deader than a dead dog.”

actually, china can easily afford it. and it would more likely kill future flanker deals as opposed to the J10.

china may be willing to make a big commitment (100+) to try to intice the EU to lift arms embargos. france and germany are already for lifting of the embargos, and the only significant player who is still unconvinced is the UK. but the EF2000 is the UK’s baby, so if the rumor cuts do happen, then they may be more willing to compramise to keep the EF within acceptable costs. (unit cost would decrease with increase in number produced).

then again, selling the typhoon to china might nbe more lethal to the programme then the budget problems. after all, what is the point for the typhoon if its only possible adversaries end up fighting along side it?:D

sabrace:

“Once again, if CAC is doing that, it’s a big risk which one would’nt take.”

well they only done that after someone else let the cat out of the bag, so its not that big a leak no more. remeber that the pic that CAC is using was actually first realsed on the internet before it was stampted and put on CAC’s website, so they can always say its not their fault as they ‘didnt’ release the pic, but merely picked it up and used it. that would most likely be outside any confidentiality contract they signed, so its not really a risk.:D

“I saw the J-10 pic on CAC’s webpage way before the FC-1 flew so you can’t say that the engineers were feeling left out.”

well all they got was one pic while the FC-1 boys got to appear on national TV and had tons of newspaper articles written abt them. and do we even know who the chief designer for the J10 really is? i think they havet he right to be a little disgruntiled. :rolleyes:

“If there’s an official government order to keep the project shrouded, it has failed miserably to the point that such an order might as well be lifted. They don’t have to give out the specs but can atleast acknowledge the project’s existance.”

well the secrecy campiagn worked pretty well at first, but after decades of playing in the ‘little league’ of international military aviation, u would understand the design team’s anxiaty to show the world that they have now come of age. thats probably why after the flood gates were opened, there was no stopping it again.

as for acknowledging the existance of the project, well i think the government has already done that when on numerous times the J10 was named in national publications. i guess they just define ‘specs’ a little differently to u.

“Me thinks that the J-10 started off as a very high risk project with several controvertial foreign connections which need to kept out of the spotlight at any cost.”

possibly, but then again, all chinese military projects started off as secret, so that by itself proves nothing.

“Right. This only means that crobato’s claims are false.”

what claims are u talking abt?

flex:

“It is very interesting to note that when talking about the victories of F-16s against MiG-29s of Iraq and Yugoslavia, no one is willing to hear exactly the same arguments about AWACS and ECM cover etc. etc. Do I understand it properly that when an American fighter scores a victory then it is all about the neverending capabilities of the aircraft, but when a Mirage beats a Viper, then it is about AWACS?”

very good point!