It ironic that people criticise the likes of the Rafale and the Typhoon because they are not fully A2G capable yet. Especially in relation to aircraft like the F15 and F16. Until the Strike Eagle the adage was always “not a pound for air to ground” and then they went and built one of the finest strike aircraft the worl has ever seen out of it. Its a bit old now but in the beginning the though of hanging bombs off one of these birds would induce apoplexy into the minds of its pilots.

The F16 was exactly the same, introduced as a cheap light weight dogfighter it late became an excelent little strike fighter as well with many USAF F16 squadrons whose primary duty is air to ground.

Yet the Rafale and the Typhoon were both designed with exceptional A2G capabilities from the very beginning and these capabilities are being expanded all the time. So you see people extolling the virtues of F15s and F16s while blissfully dismissing those of the Rafale and Typhoon whilst ignoring historical facts about all of these projects. That is, historical facts that would impact on their negative feeling towards anything that isn’t American. They can’t do it it is anathema to them and they will not be persuaded otherwise not matter what the truth of the matter is.

If you really want an overview of the Typhoon’s A2G capabilities pick up a copy of this months AFM I think Aircraft Illustrated is doing it as well, there is a supplement in it, read between the lines and you will see that its A2G capabilities fall somewhere between the F16C/D and the Strike Eagle and in some circumstances exceeds both. You will find out something similar is true of the Rafale but don’t take my word for it go and read about it for youself.:)

Big respect for the Aussie SAS , they are they only guys the British SAS rate on a par with themselves . It would be VERY interesting to read an account of what and when both the Brits and Aussie SAS were doing in Iraq although I suspect we wont be told the full story for sometime , these guys have balls of steel and never seem to get the recognition they deserve , although the very nature of the work they do probably precludes any reports of what they are up to. Heroes – all of them.

I don’t think they want the recognition. I am not being funny honest. The Brit SAS were a bit peeved about the whole Iranian embassy seige because all of a sudden they were all the rage. Great for recruitment but they would rather have kept it all hush hush. It wasn’t possible in the event. The SBS were reportedly sniggering about it because they remained relatively unknown and the Australian and New Zealand SAS were sniggering even more because nobody knew that the British weren’t the only ones with an SAS and they are every bit as good to boot. 🙂

Does post 9-11 USA count as the “free world” then? Or should it be re-titled the “not-quite-so-free-as-it-once-was world” in 2003.

A bit like “everybody is born equal but the USA is more equal than everybody else type thingy?”;)

In 15 years the free world will fly F-35. Just a few European kooks will seek justification not to scrap their politically/anti-US motivated geriatric hermite-antiques.

On the other hand they might just be catching up. I can see some streamlining in European defence procurement and indeed co-operation even if we don’t see a Federal EU (gods forbid).

We have already shown what we can do when we put our heads together and agree on something. Good results from the past 30 to 40 years are Jaguar (Britain/France), Concorde (Britain/France), Tornado (Britain/Germany/Italy), Typhoon (Britain/Germany/Italy/Spain), Airbus (most European countries have a stake in this the biggest being France/Germany with about 50% between them with Britain having a 20% stake alone). Also do not forget that the UK has a very large stake in the JSF programme as the only Level 1 partner, we are studying stealth techniques similar to those coming out of the USA because it is not a new concept to the British.

We have learnt a lot and we have always known how to build aircraft every bit as good as the USA. Think about the P51 Mustang for a historical perspective. It didn’t really meet its potential until the British got hold of it and fitted it with a Rolls Royce Merlin engine and we were building jets long before the USA.

Your only real advantage is money (sic resources) and when we pool our own resources in an efficient manner the USA will find it even harder to do business fairly, than it already does.

I find your comments regarding non US products almost as a compliment. For instance your distain for the Eurofighter is only fueled by the fact that it competes well in the export market, with anything Lockheed Martin can produce and so far the only way you have been able to sell the Block 60 F16 is through the usual dodgy deals that LM are so famous for and it all comes down to money. You have more of it than we do but money doesn’t make you super human. In the words of the prophet “Your sh!t still stinks”. 😀

Erm? Lovely. Really I am very happy for you.:confused:

When I went to see ‘The Two Towers’ I wasn’t dissapointed as much as a bit confused.

Because they had to fit so much into the 3 hours available an awful lot was cut out and the editing sometimes seemed a little haphazard and perhaps a little bit rushed. Not that I did not enjoy it because I did immensely and I am looking forward to seeing the Return of the King at the pictures.

So, as I did with the first film I waited for the Extended Edition DVD which comes out perhaps 5 or 6 months after the movie DVD and I was not at all dissapointed. The editing was much better and the extra footage really made the film come together better than it did with the first cinema version.

I think Tolkien would have been reasonably happy with what Pete Jackson and the rest of his team, actors and others have done.

Oh and if you are interested from the age of 3, JRR Tolkien grew up just up the road from where I work. Its a place called Sarehole Mill in Birmingham and in his day it was rural countryside and villages just to the south of the city. Today it is part of a huge conurbation and Sarehole Mill is a subburb of the City of Birmingham. The Mill and its surroundings still survive though. There is a ford crossing the river not far from the mill and it is beleived that this was the inspiration for the Brandywine river crossing in the first book.

BSE free.:D