So when do the MiG-21’s retire?

it’d be kick ass to see a JSDF F-22 with the F-2’s camouflage scheme..

but too bad, Japan should really consider license building the X-32 :diablo:

Is this because it’s ugly and a lot of Japanese anime has an obsession with things being ugly (e.g. the so-called “steam punk” genre or just plain ugly characters?)

Received this today, seems there are a number of different opinions on this matter inside New Zealand. 🙂

Wow, that some of the most poorly conceived right wing propaganda I’ve ever seen.

The so-called “facts” are some of the most moronic I’ve ever seen.

For example, the “bought liberty to millions of people in the Communist world.” As far as I can recall most people in the Communist got fed up with Communism and toppled it themselves (the Poles, Czechs etc) or descended into bloody conflict (Balkans, Armenia, Georgia etc). Furthermore the fall of communism led to a real decline in the living standars of people. And then there’s the people who were “liberated” from Communism by being obliterated by U.S. bombs in Vietnam and Korea, or who were tortured and executed by U.S. sponsored regimes.

Then the U.S. did not save Australia and New Zealand from the Japanese out of the goodness of its heart, but rather cause Japan openly attacked U.S. territory in Hawaii and the Philippines.

Afghanistan’s democracy is a f**king joke. Real control still resides in the hands of scummy warlords who are often tied to opium smugglers. Yet in that article I don’t see a “the USA helps your kid get wasted by indirectly supporting opium smuggling in Afghanistan.”

I could go on, but it’s pointless.

I know that freedom of speech is a democratic right, but perhaps there should be laws preventing blatant misinformation. This should apply to all aspects of politics, left or right or centrist, as well as those w**kers in the media.

RANT MODE OFF 😀

What is Al Yamama?

I am not biasing anyone, recent history has clearly shown that Britons and Germans simply are not too successful with selling aircraft, except for Hawk. (Buccaneer, Tornado, Lightning). French have performed better even if the 2000 wasn’t that much successful as expected from a Mirage III and Mirage F1 successor. Even relatively successful Alpha Jets and Jaguars have French involvement. So, where is the biasing?

As far as I recall most of the Jaguar sales were promoted by Britain. The Frenchies weren’t too keen on promoting the Jaguar because it would create competition for the Mirage F1. This also explains why export Jaguars were generally sold to countries with a historial link with Britain (India, Oman, Nigeria). It also explains why most export Jaguar Internationals were more similar to GR1 or T2 standard than to the French A standard.

As for the success of the Mirage service, it does help that the French had no moral qualms selling thier jets to a variety of nasty dictatorships such as Argentina, Morroco, Libya, Iraq, Zaire, Egypt etc.

As for British sales, the Brits haven’t really had a multi-role aircraft to promote since the Hunter. The Tornado is highly specialised which is a real no-no in this day and age of multi-role. Many countries still focus on the A2A role and the Tornade F.3 isn’t exactly the best fighter plane for the job.

Also many former British clients (e.g. Australia, Jordan, Kuwait) have switched to cheaper American aircraft.

But the Brits have done really well with Hawk, which if I recall correctly, is much mroe successful than the Alhpajet in terms of export sales.

Only Taiwan imo needs to remain primarily focussed on A2A for their own survival and maybe EF could gain some traction there esp if US under chinese pressure denies them the Raptor-E.

Most countries in the world acquire military equipment specifically according to their own defence needs and do not look to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as a model of future wars.

Most non-E.U. countries around the world do not deploy high tech equipment in peace keeping operations or U.S. led coalitions.

Furthermore a lot of countries around the world have petty disputes with their neighbours and try to maintain an edge over them.

Therefore A2A is still important to many countries. I doubt Singapore discounts A2A especially as Malaysia may be acquiring Su-30MKM. I’d think that A2A capabilities would be a very important factor to the RSAF. After all a multi-role fighter capable of precision bombing is not worth much if it gets shot down by a superior A2A opponent.

You mean like the BAe F-15I, or M1A2 Abrams tank? The bulk of Saudi Arabia’s arsenal is imported from the US. The Brits have largely been taken over by the US in the desert kingdom as the suppliers for the tools of dictatorship. But then, there are a lot more American former politicians in the Carlyle Group than Brits.

Oh I wholeheartedly agree (though BAe F-15I – surely you mean Tornado and F-15S?). And now we support dictators in Uzbekistan, Pakistan etc cause of their “valuable” contribution to the war on terror (I s’pose they are referring to the contratced torture services these countries provide?)

One would’ve thought that after the end of the Cold War, the West would have stopped supporting various dictatorships around the world. But it hasn’t happened. Indeed we are seeing the resumption of the sale of weapons to Pakistan. The only reason the US doesn’y really support dictatorships in SE Asia and Latin America anymore is because the people got sick of oppression and toppled a bunch of US sponsored autocrats (e.g. Suharto, Marcos).

This is why the Iraq war is a joke. If they said the war was for securing cheap oil or for containing potentially hostile countries such as Iran, Syria or Saudi Arabia, I would’ve supported it (at least they would be honest). But as it’s to bring “democracy and freedom” to the poor Iraqis I find it too hypocritical, especially as former Baathist security personnel are being drafted into public positions.

At they say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I read somewhere (maybe in AFM – memory not so good these days) that Chile was looking at acquiring second hand F-16’s and upgrading them as a replacement for the ageing Mirage 5/50’s because brand new Block 50’s are too expensive.