Sad to see a force that once operated some of the most high tech combat aircraft reduced to operating light aircraft and some transport helos. About the most complicated piece of hardware flying with the current Iraqi airforce are 3 ancient C-130E’s.

Aslo the F/A-18A/B/C/D are totally different aircraft to the F/A-18E/F/G.

It does make the carrier ariwing a lot more boring for us enthusiasts as it only has only has two similar fighter types (until the F-35 comes in but that’s a boring looking F-22 wannabe).

Mind you aviation is at risk of getting boring with all the UAV’s and similar types in servces.

The Congo Mirages are no longer operational. I think that regime is currently operating Su-25’s. Uganda has only about half a dozen Mig-21’s in service. So 20 Mirage F1A’s is quite a formidable force. Though how many will be taken into operational service and how many will be operational in a couple of years time? African nations generally struggle to maintain aircraft for any considerable period of time due to lack of funding, infrastructure and resources.

Of course the Mirage F1A is a much better combat jet than an Alphajet. However if they haven’t been overhauled it means they are most likely unservicable after sitting in storage for many years.

So Gabon would have to fork out more cash for getting the jets to a fully operational status.

As for avionics etc, countries such as Gabon don’t need the latest in phased array radars, HMS etc. They need simple bomb trucks,

The Allies definitely won the war. A war is won by meeting the objectives the war.

And besides I can’t moralise war, because I like planes and tanks and assault rifles and other things whose sole purpose is to kill other people.

I think the problem is the West’s biggest weakness – the limitations imposed by the military due to considerations for collateral damage and casualties.

This does sound cruel and inhumane and indeed it is. However when you are engaged in a life and death struggle, then any imposition of restrictions will create more casualties on your own side while the inability to wage war effectively will simply prolong the conflict as one restrains the military.

So if Hezbollah are using villages for shelters then simply level the villages. Simple as that. Instead we have a situation where the IDF is obviously practising levels of restraints just like the US is in Iraq.

I am not saying that the IDF should deliberately strike at civilians the way Hezbollah does. Instead priorities should be aimed at allowing the military to operate without fear of reprisal from civilian legal systems. The same thing applies to Iraq.

As for winning the hearts and minds of the enemy, there is no way in hell that people in Iraq or Lebanon or Afghanistan will settle for having a foreign force occupy them. This is why they fight using any tactics at their disposal be it raining rockets on Israeli cities or decapitating foreign contractors in Iraq.

The West should stop trying to pretend that war is a civilised and humane thing. Instead get on with the job of fighting if fighting is what is deemed to be required.

(Personal opinion is that the US should bail out of Iraq and Afghanistan. As for Israel this conflict will never end until either Israel no longer exists or the Arab world gets turned into a glass car park by the Israelis. Reality sucks).

EDIT: Sorry if I offended anyone and sorry for taking the topic off-topic.

Af ew years ago they were actually running out of spares for their F404’s. Apparently they never took into consideration ground runs etc for working out engine time. All of a sudden the engines needed serious overhaul and replacement of critical components. Only problem was that the USN/USMC were first in line for spares, leaving the RAAF short of spares. The problem was fixed but it’s yet another example of the brilliant planning within the DoD.