PioneerI found this very interesting!
I guess it makes sense! Both country’s are beginning to feel the pinch in terms of financial crisis vs defence!
Also I think Japan will cleverly utilize Britain’s world export market and connections to filter sales of joint Jap/British weapons systems or to subsidise R&D for such weapons needs by the JSDF’s!!
I also see it as an opportunity for Japan (and the JSDF) to wean itself of the U.S defence industry!!
I guess Japan and Britain have done it before!
I guess they can do it again!!
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerAnd by now you would have had NG F-20E competing with Saab JAS-39E for sales, probably thwarting Saab at every turn. Not to mention the secondhand F-20A/B/C/D market replacing the Mirage user base. (Kfir and Cheetah would have probably never been exportable.) Just food for thought.
Agree 🙂
Sadly a very cost and operationally effective fighter, which was not built 🙁
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerVietnam?
No the US had superiority both in quality AND quantity.
This is a hard one :confused:
I read somewhere that the North Vietnamese Air Force only ever had (some thing like ??) 24 fighters up in the air at any one time during the Vietnam War!
The Vietnamese more than anyone realised more than anyone else, the superiority of U.S air power. But the few aircraft the NVAF did put up forced the U.S to commit much larger numbers (and types) of aircraft than otherwise originally thought needed by U.S planners, which equated to escort and support aircraft to accompany and support the air strikes over North Vietnam.
One also needs to remember that the so-called inferior NVAF fighter’s in both terms of quantity, quality and so-called pilot training actually equated to a very scary and embarrassing poor air-to-air loss ratio for the U.S military. Which was only truly overcome when the American’s recognised, reassessed and implemented proper (and relearned) basic fundamentals of basic air-to-air dogfighting, which involved a crash re-training program back in the U.S.
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerI think you mean 5 Shermans against 1 Tiger. The M47 Patton wasn’t even in service in WW2.
Sorry obligatory but I have to agree with jbritchford 🙁
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerVery very interesting!!!!
What time-frame aka year(s) are we looking at for this Douglas/Fokker DC-2 bomber development??
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerThe French have nothing to laugh about right now, and between Britain and France right now, it’s the British who have the most to be happy about, not the French.
I do not wish to get political or sentimental, but perhaps this might be the opportunity for France and Britain to stop their long and drawn out historic differences and pissing competition to seriously combine their military weapons/platform development needs!! After all for a small window of time they proved that they could and did do it (SEPECAT Jaguar and Puma helicopter….)
I think France seriously has to take note of it’s poor Dassault Rafale sales performance (save the recent Indian announcement!), whilst Britain appears to be relinquish more home grown to U.S or joint projects!
Just a thought :rolleyes:
Regards
Pioneer
Pioneermay be worth mentioning that to the MOD in case the F-35’s ever go thirsty, maybe ask the AEW question as well :diablo:;)
You make a good point BSG-75!!
If my memory serves me correctly, the USN has had various programs, which have encompassed a standardise platform to replace both the E-2 Hawkeye, C-2 Grayhound, S-3 Viking and the KA-6 tankers! 😀
Unfortunately, apart from the amount of money they must have sunk into such valid (and in my opinion ‘sensible’) projects, I think the USN chose to overlook such roles/platforms as secondary importance, in favour to its fast jets! 😡
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerOk now we are rocking!!!
This is a better and extended video of the Starfighter/Genie combo, which encompasses much more interesting information and footage!!!
P.S. The video also has some interesting info and footage on the M61 Vulcan cannon!!!
This video is from the ‘Great Planes’ series of excellent videos
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerYou beauty!!!!!
I finally found it, after all this time!!
Unfortunately it has no sound. But one is able to see the ingenuous trapeze- launch system, as well as an actual successful launch of the AIR-2A Genie!!
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerIs it confirmed that the aircraft supplied to Syria will be combat capable?
With no disrespect intended Rii!!!
The Yak-130 is the perfect economical platform to drop bombs and fire rockets on the Syrian people!!
Well done Russia and Putin for attempting to prop up and supply another dictatorship! The Russian’s should call themselves the Soviet Union! Oh they were the Soviet Union 😮
The structure of the United Nations Security Council really needs to change or the UN dissolved!
‘My apology for my rant gents’ 😮
Regards
Pioneer
Pioneerlol if they waited longer and got the Rafale M.. then by that time the Indian gov’t will have signed for F-35s and you’d say.. do you think the Indian Navy might have done better selecting the F-35.
Sorry my friend……..but no cigar 😀
I personally deem the F-35 way to expensive and complicated (capability and maintenance wise) for the practical Indian Air Force!
I think the Indian’s already knew and appreciated the over expence and complication of the F-35 – especially when the Russian’s are willing to cooperate and share the love of the Sukhoi T-50 (let alone the capability of the Flanker series!!)
The big problem I do see for India, is the fact it is over looking the logistic nightmare it will create for itself with so many various combat aircraft in its operational inventory – what with the MiG-27’s, MiG-29’s, Su-30MKI’s, Jaguar’s, Mirage 2000’s, the long and drawn out Tejas (LCA) and now the Rafale’s!!!
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerWow here we go again 😡
While the A-10 is very good at providing close-air support, the Air Force needs aircraft that can do more than one mission, Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Jan. 26 in an interview with Military Times reporters and editors.
“Is the F-35 going to be as good a close-air support platform as an A-10? I don’t think anybody believes that,” he said, “But is the A-10 going to be the air-to-air platform that the F-35 is going to be? So again, the Air Force is trying to get as much multimission capability into the limited number of platforms it’s going to have.”
Wow it didn’t take long for the USAF top-brass to resort back to its old ways of it’s ingrained contempt and hate of the A-10 Thunderbolt II did it!
Even after all the combat experience, reliability and practicality which was unfortunately needed to wake up the Pentagons eyes to realistic need of such a specialised combat platform – especially at all cost (especially to that of the U.S. ground forces) factual combat the USAF want to sacrifice this proven weapons platform to save their precious F-35 Lightning II.
I am not one for government for interfering into the true needs of the military, but I think U.S Congress really needs to say…’hey clowns hands off this proven, effective and cost effective plane!! Or we will take them off you and give them to the U.S Army!!
I wonder what the U.S Army and USMC have to say about the USAF’s want of getting rid of this excellent and specialised tank-killer / CAS aircraft?
I for one am finally glad that the Pentagon and the U.S administration have finally ‘woken up and smelt the roses’, when it comes to its wet dream and dissolution of focussing so much time, effort and resources to fighting terrorist / guerrilla’s in Afghanistan and Iraq! This has been at the cost of the likes of the resurgent of the Russian’s as a want-to-be superpower again, Iran and especially so the build up (economic, militarily and politically)!
But it is my opinion that if the United States engages with the likes of Iran/China, then its going to seriously need the ruggedness, quick turn around time and combat proven ability of a true war-tested and blooded platform as the Thunderbolt II to counter the likes of China superior ground forces numbers – as opposed to putting all their eggs and fantasy’s into the over ambitious, over priced, and unproven F-35!
I see no problem with a ‘specialised’ aircraft like the A-10C! Especially so when it is in fact one of the cheapest to [originally] purchased, to train on, to operate and to deploy within the entirety of the U.S Military Order of Battle. Let alone the actual fact that it is about the only combat aircraft in the U.S arsenal which can actual provide CAS safely and effectively!!!
P.S.I think it will also be very interesting to see if the USAF does phase out these five squadrons of A-10, if they try to kill the A-10 aircraft as a whole and prioritise their scrapping, so as to be done with these aircraft and the CAS role for good!! After all U.S Secretary of Defense have done it before to put an end to a program/platform of want!!
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerThe French Rafale has won the Indian Air Force’s to replace its aging Russian-made MiG-21s aircraft. The technical evaluations that led to the ejection of the F-16, F/A-18 and MiG-35 programs were based on more than 640 parameters.
I wonder if this makes the Indian Government kick itself that it did not wait a little longer on choosing the MiG-29K as its prime carrier-based fighter/bomber?
Do you think the Indian Navy might have done better selecting the Rafale M variant for the sake of operation commonality??
Regards
Pioneer
Pioneerfrom military photos.
They are in training, thats for sure.
Taking the dangers of FOD very serious by the looks of it!!!!!!
Regards
Pioneer
PioneerI honestly cant believe what im reading???
I know that every armed forces has a level of inter-service rivelry, but this seriously takes the cake!
The RAAF with their Caribous here have always supported the Army (to the best of it availability) up here in the north during exercises. There is never any bitching, as they are after all supposed to be working for the same purpose.
The USAF has seriously lost the plot, how disgusting it is to hear this sort of thing, where they wont support their own grunts!
Agree Agree 100%!!!!!!!
It’s just not the “inter-service rivelry” at play here!
It’s the whole military complex system the U.S Military has become – where budget allocation and project control has serious $$$$$ business prospects for military people!
The support and well being of “their grunts” is a sadly a very long off secondary by-product of the American military system 😡
Perhaps the RAAF might be able to get a good deal out of these 78 C-27J’s???
Regards
Pioneer
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