Originally posted by WACHENR0DER
I don’t think Greece is a definite..

besides.. does the HAF really need the Eurofighter? They’ve ordered brand new F-16s and Mirages, enough to last them until the JSF is available for export. I don’t really understand why they want another aircraft type.

They put off the purchase until after this year, but they seem to have made their choice.

Originally posted by matt
Well i thought it was pretty big news that two former cold war oponents would do joint exercises for the first time.

It could also mean exercises with other European countries.

But their are always a few who would opose so i offered to take it off.

How would they use the Kamov’s ?

Because the Ka-27s would be on the helipads of some of the vessels involved, possibly. 😉

The recently refitted Slava will probably be there, as well as perhaps the Kerch (Kara-class) and maybe even a remaining Kashin. Various smaller patrol craft like Grishas etc and such are also a possibility. The Ropucha landing ships, probably not.

The Black Sea Fleet is in desperate need of new ships; the Slava might provide it with the firepower to sink an entire enemy fleet quite easily (and it’s not like the European navies in the area are big competition) but it needs credible backup- the Slavas practically the only relatively ‘modern’ ship there (i.e. in the same category as the Sovremennys, Udaloys etc).

Sorry, no chance for Typhoon. With that much F-16 costumers in the world, JSF is in the better position. It wasn’t able to win in Korea against the F-15, and it won’t be able to win against the JSF. And I like it that way. It is better to shoot down JSF’s from former U.S. “strategic allies” than Typhoons.

It’s not like they tried particularly hard in South Korea.

Regardless, I can see JDW being right. I’ve noticed a distinct tendency for everyone with something to say on aviation referring to the JSF as something of a “holy grail”- always implying it’ll be 100% on schedule, 100% within requirements, not $1 over the estimated unit cost, etc. Fact of the matter is, it’s going to get fatter, it’s going to get delayed by several years, and it’s going to be much, much more expensive than anyone can possibly imagine. It’s also going to have the massive orders made for it by the USAF, USMC, USN and RN slashed extensively- probably to around half of what they are now. There is *plenty* of precedent for this.

Originally posted by GarryB
Sounds like the first step is stealing the Kaliningrad perhaps?

Use NATO planes to limit and then stop traffic between Kaliningrad and Russia and then ask them if they want to join the EU?

I highly doubt they’d have the balls to **** off Russia that much. And why would they want to steal Kaliningrad in the first place?

heheheheh. They mean “dealing with” the increased weight by just upping the thrust. Of course, this does nothing for manueverability.

Where did you hear an SA-15 isn’t reloaded? The launch canisters are removed and replaced via crane, in field conditions by a dedicated vehicle.

Originally posted by plawolf
i wonder why the J10 didnt get an IRST system, its not like china couldnt make it (even if it is just a licenced flanker verson).

Perhaps they can’t- have they put it on any previous fighters? If not, it’s easy to say “China is relatively technically advanced”, but to turn that latent capacity into real military capability doesn’t come natural, easily, or cheap. They may not think it’s even worth the bother.