Originally posted by Ja Worsley
Mate I remember it as clear as day, it looked so mean hovering wheels up just a meter off the ground. At the time the Tiger was a myth and the Apache was only just being issued to the USAAC (only one squadron had them and they were at Fort Worth).

Oddly enough the Panther lost out to the Blackhawk because it was too heavy, around 6 Tonnes, where as the Blackhawk came in at around 4.5 Tonnes. Others on offer at the time were B412. BK-117 (one of which the NSW Police took delivery of and on it’s first outing ended up in the drink never to serve again) the AB-412 was also offered by Augusta but lost out during first round talks because the Americans protested it being in the comp and being offered as a cheaper alternative to their own product!

Anyway mate I remember the bugger as clear as day especially the 20mm gun under the nose pointing up on a 15* angle just like an AH-64’s one does

You mean this one?:D

Sorry, couldn’t resist…….

Originally posted by SOC
Heh, the self-landing fighter. Doesn’t even need a pilot! Guess we know which of these two is more advanced now, don’t we 😀

Who said UCAVs were a new thing?:D

Originally posted by SOC
We should have also stood up for our own interests. Aligning with and supporting Israel versus being on the good side of the Arab nations, which do you think would have been better for us, economically and militarily, in the long run?

So in your opinion, it is better to align with Arab dictatordhips/kingdoms/etc than with a democracy? I trust the Israelis with a nuke much more than I trust any of the countries that surround Israel with any WMDs….