plawolfThe smoke varies according to throttle setting.
But speaking in general terms RD-33 engines are smokier by comparison to others.
The JF17 uses the RD93 not 33. And it has been widely reported that the improved version used in the JF17 is smokeless, and so far all pictures of production version Thunders would seem to back this up.
Besides, your throttle setting explaintion just plainly doesn’t make sense. The RD33 tends to smoke when flying at low speeds, but that picture shows the planes doing a ‘split’ manoeuvre, which requires a major increase in engine power. The engines would stop smoking when doing it, not start to smoke.
plawolfthose smoky RD-33s make it look like they were done specially for the show..:D
Thats because they were. Past pictures of the JF17 have not shown anything like that level of smoke. In face, none of the pictures I have seen of the production version JF17 are showing exhaust smoke at all.
What more, people who have seen the flypast live have reported that there was no smoke until just before the planes started its ‘split’ manuver.
plawolfGood photos, just a pity the digital cam makes it look as though it was made from mismatched lego bricks.
I heard the people that brought us Lego star wars and Lego Indiana Jones is in search of a new project, maybe their next game can be Lego Lock-on? 😀
plawolfI wonder what members of the NRA would have done if some drone told them to disperse and leave their guns behind and then start japping them in the eye with lasers when they didn’t comply within seconds?
plawolfyeah it was so successful look at how many other countries went on to create there very own versions of the Maginot line, oh wait non of them did, keep trying to re-write history…
Seems like your memory isn’t too fantastic either, since the only reason we are even talking about the Maginot line is because thats someone compared the NMD to it. So in a way, America is building a 21st century version of one as we speak.
plawolfWell to give a quick answer, considering the SM2s and phalanx are not designed to stop torpedos then no they would not be considered a failure, try again…
Edit: yes bring it on: you were taught that in history because the maginot line was and still is considered a huge failure.
But since you are only judging if something is a success or failure based on the outcome instead of the actual performance of the individual elements, then how can you justify not calling SM2 or phalanx a failure, since they failed to stop the ship from being sunk on one hand, while at the same time argueing that the maginot line was a failure because France was invaded, never mind that the line was never breached?
I was just demonstrating how flawed your argument is by applying it to a warship. So what if the defense of the SM2 and phalanx was never breached? Their job is to keep the ship safe is it not? Well they clearly failed that if the ship was sunk didn’t they? The enemy just went around them and attack the ship from another direction, and the ship was sunk. Thats exactly the arguement you are using to call the maginot line a failure. Just swop a few names around.
Normally most people would have the wit and good grace to realise when they made a mistake and put their hand up to admit it and move on.
plawolflol whatever, i guess if the chinese had been invaded by an enemy simply going around the great wall of China then by your standards the great wall would have been a resounding success story for the Chinese… Edit: i doubt that if you were to pick up a book of great military sucesses the maginot line would be in that book, if you were writing such a book would you include the maginot line? i sure as hell wouldn’t.
If a warship was sunk by a torpedo, does that mean the SM2s and phalanx on that ship didn’t work? A system’s failure or success is determined only by how well it can perform the task it was designed for. Its hardly the system’s fault if someone found a way to circumvent it.
Otoh, the success or failure of a strategy is determined by how easily it can be breached or circumvented, and that is why people question the usefulness of ABM – even if the shield worked perfectly, there are still plenty of ways to get a nuke to the ConUS, so the benefit of it is very marginal, especially considering its cost.
plawolfHun? get your facts right. Panama canal belong to Hutchison Whampoa which is a Hong Kong company that have close dealings with PRC.
effectively it’s under Chinese control.
A company with close links to Beijing might be operating it, but China does not control it.
For example, see how long the canal will remain in Chinese hands if the PRC tries to prevent non-Chinese shipping from using it. On the other hand, if Uncle Sam decided to take control of the canal, there isn’t much China can do to stop it.
There is a big difference between ‘ownership’ and ‘control’ when strategic assets are concerned.
plawolfAnyone got any updates ont he situation there? Has venezuela positioned there tank yet and have colombia got there crack commandos in position yet? Something…? anything…? I would imagine each side was on some sort of alert but havnt seen anything on the t.v about it yet. :confused:
Columbia is not sending any troops up to the board to counter the Venezuelian move, so the chances of this thing degenerating into a shooting war is much reduced. Now Venezuela would need to actually go out of its way to try and start a fight. Since Columbia has already effectively back down, Chavez got his ‘victory’, so he has little to gain and only a lot to loose by trying to actively start a war down there now.
Its effectively over since everyone has got what they want. Columbia killed some Farc leaders and Chavez made the Columbians blink and back down from a fight. Unless Columbia does something staggeringly stupid, like trying to hit another Farc camp in a neighbouring country, then things should eventually calm down and return to normal.
plawolfWhat’s the advantage?
It makes your enemy double check his gun camera’s setting when we sees great big whopping pixels all over the images.
Love the camo and the planes look great in that massed formation. However, the smokey engines makes me want to wipe my screen with a cloth to clean it.
plawolfI don’t know what some people think America’s role in LA is, but they are most certainly not the kind of hyper-protective parent to Columbia some here would see to think/hope.
Columbia and Venezuela can have a board war and the US would not care unless it affects them some way, and even then it will have to be a major threat to US interests (like Chavez trying to take over Columbia) for them to get directly involved in a shooting war. Which is not going to happen.
If it was just a pointless boarder war, then the most like outcome would be the US just stays out of it and urges both sides to quite, maybe threaten to slap some sanctions on Venezuela if they don’t call it quites. But in this day and age of an already over-extended US military and skyrocketing fuel prices, the last thing America would want is to get involved in some pointless war so close to home that will seriously destablise the region and dispute much needed oil supplies.
What more, if there is a shooting war, then its more about face and ego then any real strategic objective, and does anyone seriously think that either side is going to just sit back and let the other side bomb their troops without mounting a challenge? If there is a battle, and Venezuela sends some Flankers in, does anyone think Columbia is going to just do nothing?
Thats as good as conceding defeat, and it will be a huge propaganda coup for Chavez. “The enemy is so terrified of us that they do not dare to show up and hide while we bomb their troops with impunity, hahaha.” People think Columbia can take that?
Hell, its very likely tht any clash will just be a highly symbolic air battle. Clean, low body count, easy to stop and extremely embaressing for the loosing side, far more glamorus then killing a few score of enemy grunts in some muddy forest this is likely to yield a high body count for yourself, and could easily drag on and boil over into something neither side wants.
The air battle scenario is even more likely because Chavez got his shiny new Flankers and probably think they are the best fighters in all of LA and wouldn’t mind proving it. However, that may be tempered with the knowledge that the air crews and not fully trained, so would not be able to use the planes to their full advanatge, which also presents some risk of loosing. Although there is always the option of just going to central Europe and rounding up some ex-military Ukranians or Russians to fly the planes like was done in Africa if he really wants a fight over this.
It might not even be out of the question for Russia to directly supply the pilots (secretly of course). There would be little risk to the planes with experienced pilots at the controls, and a high profile win in combat would likely give a much needed boost to flaging Flanker sales. If I was in charge of Suhoi, I might supply the pilots from the company’s own staff if such an opportunity presented itself.
plawolfIs TVC worth it? Ask any missile designer and I think you will quickly get the answer. How many new gen dogfighters don’t come with TVC? Many BVR missiles are also getting them.
The biggest advanatge of TVC is the improvements to agility. This is not valued by western fighter designers because of their preference for long range missiles and stealth. But has anyone wondered what would happen when stealth fighters stop being the exception and becomes the norm? What good are those 100km+ range super BVR missiles when you can only reliably detect the enemy at 50, 40, 30km?
As such, I see TVC playing an ever greater role in fighter design in the coming decades as stealth technologies are further developed and proliferated around the world.
Other advanatges to TVC is the benefits to the pilot. You are going to get for fatiged pulling 9Gs for long seconds or even minutes as you try to point your non-TVC fighter’s nose at the enemy, while your oppent in his TVC fighter only has to clunch for a handful of seconds as he use his TVC to tip the nose in post-stall flight.
Something else to consider about human tolerance is the 9G limit on sustained turns. That has limited the agility of modern fighters the most. But the human body can reliably handle far higher G levels for very short periods. Thus a plane with TVC can potentially pull far higher then 9G turns to point the nose at the enemy in an instant.
That kind of nose pointing ability coupled with off-broadside missiles is far more potent then just off broadside missiles, since they only make the engagement cone bigger and don’t magically allow you to shoot down your opponent just by thinking about it.
plawolfJH-7A Low level flight.
Seems pretty low… I can see a shadow.
Looks like a JH7 as you can see a wing fence in the first pic unless Im mistaken.
And, its low, but not that low. I would say probably around 100 feet if not higher. Many air forces can do that over land, over calm waters like that, they should be able to drop to at least below 30ft with little difficulty. I have seen videos of Mirages going as low as maybe below 10ft over water before.
plawolfThats the first I have heard about India renting Typhoons. Does Russia have enough of them to be renting some out?
If India is going to rent a Typhoon class SSBN, then they might as well ‘rent’ some proper SLBMs to go with it while they are at it. Not only is a 700km missile of little practical use, you’d also have to spend lots of time and money installing it into the Typhoon and then replace them when they come up with something better, and then maybe remove that if they return the sub in the end. Just seem like a much better idea to ‘rent’ missiles as well and save all the hassel and money.
The Americans can hardly criticise since they are doing the same thing with the UK on Trident, although the Chinese might not be too thrilled at that. The Chinese will likely try to use their influence with Russia to prevent such a deal, and if it does go through, its not hard to see the Chinese deciding to ‘rent’ one or two of their old Xias to Pakistan along with some JL1s since the new 094s are starting to come on line in numbers with the PLAN.
The Xia is hardly a modern boat, but it will still be hard for the IN to chase her down in the Indian Ocean, and even just sitting in port, her missiles would still pose a serious threat increase to India.
plawolfSounds a lot like the Gorsky all over again. Having been stung badly by that deal, I doubt India will be all that keen to jump right into another one again so soon.
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