Now we say the US wont be a problem but Argentina was held in contempt by a US court in September 2014 those US companies owed money may put pressure on the US government to not allow use of the F414 to Argentina until it pays off its debt

and I can not find anywhere that Argentina has signed a deal for Kfir Blk-60 has this happened or is it still in talks

So reading from post 1757 Argentina would like to start talks about Gripen NG and Brazil need to start talks with SAAB to see if Argentina can join any group that might be set up. Saab will then need to start talk with the US and UK to see if Argentina can have Gripen so there are lots of talks ahead

also Argentina has for some time now been part of the SA OPV group and has not built one a ship yet with each ship costing less than one Gripen their record is not great that is not to say it wont happen but I would be shocked if Argentina end up with Gripen until there is change over the Falklands

Now if Argentina were to get 24 Gripens what dose this mean for the Falklands defence apart from more Typhoons stationed on the inland which would be a good thing for the RAF

With the new HC6’s the RAF will have 60 Chinooks in service and that this time there are only 3 Squadrons operating the Chinook 7-18-27 so in real terms the RAF could Keep both 28 & 78 number plates operating 20 air-frame between them at Benson or at this time 18 Squadron under takes the OCU role as well as operation’s so 78 could have taken the OCU role for Chinook it is important that the RAF keep as many units as possible as there is a lot of people stuck waiting for a post for promotion

It is a sad day 78 Sqn flew 70 of my cadets this summer

I think the Mirage F-1 MF2000 with up dated Exocet would be a handful for anyone

Hi all,

I’m currently researching for a potential novel, a pivotal part of which requires the main character to be flown from California to Alaska (Edwards to Elmendorf most likely) absolutely as fast as possible. As I’m striving for factual accuracy and a sense of realism I was wondering if anybody here could assist me with this.

Any aircraft involved needs to be essentially ‘off the shelf’, so aircraft that are hypothetical, proposed or indeed no longer in service (the two-seat SR-71 would probably have been ideal otherwise) aren’t going to work, but any current military or commerical aircraft that would reasonably be available in the area might.

In context, the severity and importance of the crisis means time is critical and as such the US government may well be willing to push an aircraft well beyond its normal limits if it means the main character can be safely and swiftly delivered to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, so limitations such as how long an aircraft can stay supersonic (if indeed any supersonic aircraft are suitable) or trying to reduce engine wear can be stretched.

Would I be able to have my character put into the rear seat of, say, an F-15E or F-16D (which would nicely underscore the urgency and desperation of the situation) or would technical limitations make a more conventional civilian aircraft capable of high subsonic flight, maybe a Cessna Citation X, more suitable?

Any and all answers appreciated.

Firstly it would depend on the characters back ground leading up to the flight but F-15E has a 3,450 mi (3,000 nmi, 5,550 km) range with conformal fuel tanks and three external fuel tanks if this helps

TSR.2 was too ambitious, too many new technologies at once, & above all, too expensive. If we’d got it into service, it’d have gobbled up too much of our budget. There was almost no prospect of exports. Maybe Australia.

If we’d spent the development money on improvements to Buccaneer (e.g. a less ambitious version of the TSR.2 avionics), & development of a new fighter-bomber, something with more range & payload than Lightning, we could have achieved what we wanted to with the F-111, & had something the RAF could have used instead of the Phantom. Both an upgraded Buccaneer & a new FB would have been exportable.

In some ways Tornado did just this it first flew just 9 years after TSR2 was binned and entered service 14 years after TSR2 was binned