Don’t tell that to fifth generation jet designers that push dry thrust to super cruise speeds. :rolleyes:

Just being funny about turbofans being limited to subsonic speeds. I realize after posting I haven’t refreshed this topic for awhile. I do tend to leave topics open for awhile before reading. Oops.

How does an Il-96 tanker compare to a prospective Il-76-90A in the same role? They share the same powerplant after all. Is it just that the Il-96 airframes are already available?

The difference is an airframe more capable of about 75 mph at efficient cruise and a more stable airframe to sortie behind. I would hate to be stuck in the wake of the Il-76’s wide body.

If the tender was completed ten to twelve years back it would have been much better. The delays are soiling it.

And yet again nothing on MiG-29UPG? They even point out the lack of UPG…

I swear this must be the most secretive program on earth.

Surely they can perform some of their Tejas magic and fuse Python to the HMCS and integrate their indigenous Astra? The R-73, R-77, and R-27ET/ER may still be effective, but they should try to standardize. Otherwise they may decide to save coin and the only upgrades will be built around communications and countermeasures. The MiG-29’s in service don’t have enough hours on them to skip other modifications IMHO.

It’s always cool to see GR3A/Jaguar with the over wing Sidewinders/Magic 2. Mirage F.1 should have used that trick when they carried R530’s and wingtip Magic 2 for an extra pair of missiles.

I’m pretty sure GR3A uses them to find overhead targets when they fly low.

Funny how France and Russia were getting along and the Rafale deal started. But as soon as France and Russia no longer were getting along the Rafale deal became a mess. People are very naive to think Putin has nothing to do with manipulating HAL officials when his advisors have so much access to their personnel. Don’t forget that Putin actually paid separatists in the Ukraine to become aggressive and that it was his ally that began the shooting during their revolution yet Russia went into Crimea to save innocent separatists. India is Russia’s cabana boy and it’s showing. Funny, India should be calling the shots in their relationship, but it’s not mature enough to see through its mental fog.

The MKI is not a good short or long term investment for India in 2015. Are they really going to buy more fighters from the 80’s??

From the guy in the article commenting on MiG-29’s, F-16’s, and F-15’s – the stuff he knows:

link: http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12405&p=155178#p155178

Let me jump on this hand grenade … With 500 hrs in the MiG-29 [plus 900 in the light-gray Eagle and 2000-plus in the Viper (Viper FWIC grad)], the Fulcrum will sustain a higher turn rate than the Eagle but not as high as the Viper. I’ve seen this in numerous ‘engagements’ against both plus I’ve flow the Viper against the MiG-29 many times. I do agree that the airplane can be very overrated with it being a better airshow airplane than a fighter.

link: http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=24323&p=255987#p255987

I thought having been an F-5 Aggressor pilot (albeit for less than 18 month before the squadron was closed) and flying the MiG-29 that I’d go INS-direct to the the Red Flag Aggressors. Not so fast. In the USAF’s standard of good deal / bad deal, I went from flying the MiG-29 (good deal) to Cannon AFB as the wing weapons officer (bad deal). I did make it back to Nellis on the next assignment though. Retired in Dec 04. Still flying a privately-owned MiG-29, so I’ve got that going for me – which is nice. The MiG-29 is a great dogfighter regardless of its poor handling qualities. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in conflicts starting with Desert Storm, it most likely won’t make it to the merge. Now I’m diverging from the original subject so I’ll just shut up. Cheers.

link: http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22157&p=243232#p243232

I was an F-5 Aggressor pilot from Jan 87 to Oct 88 and was in the thick of the transition from the F-5 to the F-16. I may be able to lend some first-hand perspective to the history of the 64th’s conversion to the Viper …
With the emergence of the new Soviet threats, MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker, the F-5’s inability to simulate these new threats’ capabilities and the increasing costs of maintaining the F-5, it was decided the Aggressors needed a new airplane if they were to stay viable.

Starting in early 88, options were examined at higher headquarters as to what jet would replace the F-5. It was the rumor du jour as to what that replacement would be. The F-20, the F-18, real MiGs … The F-20 was high on the list. Dissimilar to anything flown by any US services, it was almost a reality when the Navy seriously considered the F-20 as a replacement for its Aggressor squadrons. In the end, General Dynamics sold the Navy the F-16N at a bargain basement price which undercut Northrop and the F-20. The USAF decided F-18s weren’t a viable option because of the lack of any USAF logistics support. Ironically, at the same time, the USN was buying the F-16N.

Real MiGs? The USAF closed the 4477th TES in Mar 88. If the F-5s couldn’t replicate Mig-29s and Su-27s you couldn’t do it with the Red Eagles’ MiG-21s and MiG-23s. Actual Flankers and Fulcrums? Late 1980s? C’mon man! The 474th TFW at Nellis was slated to deactivate. That was the original source of jets for an F-16 Aggressor squadron. F-16s was the decision despite about 70% of the USAF’s fighter force flew F-16s. So much for the “dissimilar” in dissimilar air combat training.

The 64th Aggressor Squadron deactivated at the same time as the 4477th TES. The 65th Aggressor squadron absorbed the 64th’s F-5s and personnel and became a mega Aggressor squadron. Until the spring of 1989, the 65th continued to operate the F-5, in addition to five T-38s acquired from the 4477th. Over that time, people were reassigned and jets went away. In the interim, an initial cadre of Aggressor pilots went to the 474th’s 430th TFS and started using their F-16s in an Aggressor role. As the 65th’s jets went away some F-5 Aggressor pilots converted to the F-16, others went back to their original fighter and some, like me, being an F-5 instructor pilot, got some cherry assignments to some exotic locations-Tunisia in my case. A lot of pilots got out; the airlines were hiring that year. The 64th Aggressor Squadron was reactivated in the spring of 1989 with the deactivation of the 474th TFW. When the 64th Aggressor Squadron was deactivated again, an Aggressor flight was formed as part of Red Flag (414th Combat Training Squadron) with just a handful of jets. The traditional Aggressor road shows ended in the fall of 89 at Eglin AFB just prior to Desert Storm.

As to the 422 TES-after talking to some of the really old melons here at Nellis, this is the basic timeline:
In the early 1970s there was a test flight attached to the Fighter Weapons School, a.k.a. 414th Fighter Weapons Squadron. In Nov 1969 the 422 was activated as a separate squadron in the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing to do operational test with the designation as the 422 Fighter Weapons Squadron. It remained separate from the Fighter Weapons School from that point. The 422 was redesignated as the 422 Test and Evaluation Squadron in Dec 81. In Nov 91 the 422 TES was moved underneath the 57 Test Group. On 1 Oct 96 the 422 was transferred to the 53d Wing’s 53d Test and Evaluation Group.