When I was at school we were taught that the main ethos that lies behind the EU is the interdependency of nations; a system where we help each other when things go wrong to avoid ending up in the situation that caused the two worst conflicts in human history. As this has been the most peaceful half century in European history I would say the basic idea of that is working.

Personally I would sooner live in a country that helps others out, rather than one that spends that same money on munitions. Am I the only one?

MH

What has preserved european peace are American interests, and nuclear weapons.
US military bases in UK, Germany, Italy, Spain… have preserved US interests, along with quite a few $, and nuclear weapons have ensured that eu countries have nothing to gain by fighting each other over a few land.

The problem with the UK is that the govt has been willing to pride itself for so long to be the only one to have the “capabilities” to fight along side the US almost as “equal” that they have transformed the country into the 51th US state for the US arm industries.
This “scrapping” of military hardware is almost unknow for France or Germany for exemple, and demonstrate the continuous “optimism” of the UK govt in the face of reality…

By then we can hope at least one foreigh export with the UAE ? Anyway, it’s likely that the french govt will bank, but not necessarily more than other EU countries with at least 2 aircrafts to upgrade and maintain.
Also the construction of drones, like the neuron and derivatives might fill the gap between F4 and F5 rafales…

Rafale :
Between 115 knots (213 km/h; 132 mph) and 100 knots (190 km/h; 120 mph) in safe mode.
The canards help reduce the speed of the delta wing.

F18 quite a few variants with various weight… I’ve no idea.

That actually sounds cute 🙂
…but why wouldn’t the spectra EW work on other a/c ?

All is in the name : SPECTRA (Système de Protection et d’Évitement des Conduites de Tir du Rafale, Self-Protection Equipment Countering Threats to Rafale Aircraft)

Even if Al quaida confirmed he is dead ?
Now I’m sure we don’t know all the story, but I think we can be pretty sure he is dead, and that Pakistan has custody of his wifes, the debris of that downed helo…
But then we never saw the result of an enquirie with all the evidence that he was guilty in the first place, but that’s another story.

What we know for sure is that something happened in Pakistan and that Ben Laden was concerned along with a strange looking tail.

Does anybody know if the PAF or army operate the blackhawk or any other US transport helo, because in that case there would be no need for stealth.

But A/A missiles were never going to be where the ECM pods are. I really don’t get why they’d be at a disadvantage where they’re located now, its all well laid out if you ask me, especially where the ECM pods are. And no matter what configuration the Typhoon has on board, its always going to carry at least six A/A missiles. Hardly a lack of any.

IR missiles on wing tips are better situated to lock on a target during dogfight, which is why they are almost always situated there in the first place (better view).

There is no point reinventing what’s already working. To master it is the true challenge…
One thing is sure, the US isn’t going to like to see these thing flying since it’s thank to AWACs platform they have such advantage over most potential enemies.