I think LM is on the mark with what he says, however i would point out that with systems like the guided MLRS round in common use now (Iraq) and proving hugly successful and popular with the guys on the gound perhaps traditional CAS assets are no longer best solution. As i side note i hear troops much prefer having GMLRS systems for a number of reasons, less collatarol damage and nearly always much faster to react (hit the target) then aircraft. Feel free to correct any grammar Otaku, perhaps add something constructive too.

(IMO, Captain Kirk rules the galaxy

Great post, but i’m afraid its common knowledge Captain Picard was the greatist starship captain of all time 😉 have you tried the ‘startrek wiki’ not wikipedia but the wiki for startrek, i forget the name though 🙁

“Without solid & objective data and evaluation, F35 still stands as a sounds-fascinating barely airworthy flying advertisement to me. LM can claim and rebut all it wants, but share holders will eventually demand an operational product, on budget and on schedule. As for its “projected” performance, thrust/weight ratio, and inlet & wing geometries all indicate that it will be a kinetically inferior/challenged platform. Unless LM can find some alien technology or genuine technological breakthroughs, i personally prefer to believe in physics/science, rather than magic/advertisement. Why are there so many F35 critics out there? Simply put, too much is at stake, while LM is still refusing to give us straight answers. Without solid flight data, F35 experience still stands similar to LM-based video game experience”

…I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Still its not going to have alot of competition is it, i mean flankers are out of date and RCS disasters, the PAK-FA is, well vapour ware and no other country is making stealth fighters/attackers. JSF should have it easy.

Call it a publicity stunt or a political statement all you want, and I myself do question the timing of this deployment,

Yep your correct on the publicity/propaganda, heres one news report out of hundreds for your amusement.

September 10, 2008

Argentina – El Patagonico – Original Article (Spanish)

Caracas: The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, announced today that Russian warplanes are to land in his country to conduct joint exercises with Venezuelan armed forces, and he informed the international press that he intends to, “fly one of those beasts.”

“Russian aircraft and strategic aviation which is capable of encircling the globe are coming to our country,” said the President, as reported the Italian news agency ANSA.

“Russian planes, strategic bombers, TU-160s have landed in Venezuela, Yes. So that you feel the pain, little-Yankees, I’ll even fly one of those things,” he said.

But wait theres more:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a longtime antagonist of the United States whose country is also a key oil provider, has supported the Russian stance in Georgia, reports the Associated Press. In a televised speech, he called the US an “empire” and pledged that “every day, relations between Venezuela and Russia will continue to deepen.”

Chavez called the deployment part of a move toward a “pluri-polar world” — a reference to moving away from U.S. dominance. “The Yankee hegemony is finished,” Chavez said in a televised speech….
🙂

they had simulated rounds. and 6 to 8 hrs flights are not brief for supersonic bomber. They came back in 13 hr flight. they to fly north to avoid EU and than fly south to engels. So just the flight times for 9 days is close to 40hrs or may be more.
droping ordance is not big deal. it is the navigation system in unknown place and minimum support infrastructure that make it significant. There werent any AWACS guiding them.

I guess by that that commercial airliners would be equally proficient in combat to these tu-160’s then..

I guess you were as suprised as he was that they made it back, considering you felt you had to post an article up to show us all the magnificant feat of long distance flying, must say though i’m kinda shocked they made it back…

Over a dozen at least, with serial production going on for almost a year now.

you sure, last i heard there were five operational and in the ‘fleet’