I missed where the classic aircraft analogy came from.

Now I’m just plain confused…..

Ah, sorry mrmalaya. The classic aircraft analogy comes from John Lake’s latest article about Rafale. I can’t say that it’s a memorable piece of journalism, but this under-the-belt jab is the gift that will keep on giving: 😉

Sometimes, the apparent logic of buying proven Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, rather than the superior Supermarine Spitfire, seems inescapable (…). The Indian bride has chosen not to wait for Mr. Right, and has instead opted for Mr. Right Now. 😮

http://www.indiandefence.com/forums/indian-air-force/17031-jon-lake-exclusive-report-rafale-must-watch.html

The Spitfire pilots are afraid of the Gloster Gladiators.
I repeat: the Spitfire pilots are afraid of the Gloster Gladiators. :p

Sorry, I can’t help myself, but then again I’m not the journo who came up with that ridiculous analogy in the first place.

If you’re not getting my gist, read along here for the very latest in our favourite cross-channel pissing contest: http://rafalenews.blogspot.com/2012/05/typhoon-rafale-answers-to-eurofighter.html. Has the fat lady sung, as they’d say across the pond?

M88 is only 50cm longer than a J52, which sits right above the Skyhawk’s wing… which is why I’m thinking it could fit fine with no gravity issues (the weight difference is only 200lbs, M88 being lighter and with a smaller diameter, both good things).

To fit the extra 50cm, the rear of the afterburner section would have take up a bit more length inside the tail… but there seems to be space available to do that: http://a4skyhawk.org/sites/a4skyhawk.org/files/images/specials/a4d-1-rg-smith_ed-1200pix-mod2_ran-a4g-history_thompson.png

I think F111Buff should read this… 😉 http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/sinking-feeling-our-subs-outdated-20120227-1tz3h.html

Some choice excerpts:

The managing director and chief executive officer of the Australian Submarine Corporation from 1978 to 1992 and the chairman of Australian Submarine Corporation’s engineering services until 2002, Mr Ohff said while the Collins was brilliant in its day, the 1980s design had since been overtaken by three new generations of submarines.

”I am very proud of what we achieved [with Collins] but if one of those went up against a modern submarine such as a German HDW 209 or 214, I would rather be in them,” he said. ”By 2035 you might just as well stay in port – you’d get blown out of the water [if you put to sea].”

Mr Ohff said an ”evolved Collins” would lock Australia into outdated design principles. ”There is not sufficient flexibility in the Collins class design,” he said.

You have hit the nail on the head IMHO. I like to frame the same question as:

– Is the RAN looking to guard the southern flank of the second island chain? (the arc that roughly extends from Palau-Ambon-Timor-Bali-Jakarta-Singapore) If yes: SSKs will do the defensive job as well as one can hope for (which is not very well, incidentally).

– Is the RAN looking to project power to the first island chain? (and in particular, observe/blockade Chinese air & naval bases in the Paracel islands and Hainan) If yes: an SSN would be much better.

I wonder whether there are nuclear non-proliferation treaty issues with buying a Virginia or Astute (introducing weapons grade uranium to the South Pacific and all)… Also not sure if the UK/US can legally/politically commit to taking back the spent fuel rods and reactor cores – might be seen as “nuclear dumping” since the rods then have to be stored for a very long time. Worth someone’s time to dig into. 😉

Anyway, that’s why I keep harking back to the Barracudas… 3-4% civilian grade uranium can easily be sent back for reprocessing (versus 97% weapons grade on the UK/US SSNs).

Same loads for most missions, except cruise missile missions where the Rafale B will carry 2 SCALP underwing versus 1 SCALP on the Rafale M’s centerline.

As for sortie numbers, the Navy would argue that they could have done even better had they not just returned from a busy 3.5 month deployment right before Libya… which forced them to send CdG home early in August for some R&R. The airforce would counter with the fact that a large number of their Rafales were busy on equally essential missions – training pilots, deploying to Afghanistan and UAE, and on nuclear alert… Pick your side. :p

Those pictures are very recent : a few days old.

No they’re not. Half those pics are from pre-2007. You can tell by the size of the Syracuse satellite dishes on the island (on each side of the forward radar antenna. These were replaced by much larger units during the 07-08 refit). Also there are no Rafales in one of the pics (the one with the Dauphin Pedro SAR helo in the foreground, probably from ~01-02).

The remaining pics can’t be a few days old, since CdG is just starting to work-up again after a maintenance period and crew change. So she can’t start aviation operations again until the ship and her crew’s readiness have been checked off, which AFAIK takes a week or two.

By the way, it’s poor form to post pics that are obviously not yours without mentioning or linking the original source. Especially if you don’t even know what they are!

Nice pics though. 😉