Sorry, but I doubt the fragile Airbuses would last in the hands of Binter.

Well my latest additions ( I know do have a dozen airliners)

Or the other way round, it makes your Granit capable assets a primary target. Senn from another standpoint it is more difficult to take out a biggr number of lesser capable launch platforms, then taking out a small numer of dedicated Granit launchers.

This is no missile you can hang onto an average tactical aircraft. You would need a SU-27 type at least.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=381706

Not directly an aciident, but the hardest landing of a 737 I witnessed at DUS. You could smell the smoke on the visitors teracce.

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=380708

Guess nobody told them about the sidewind

Yes, the off-board targetting is completely different, but what did you say, NSM doesn’t really need any MPA coming there? Not true if you ask me, we both know that the surface ship’s surfaceradar will only go as far as 20-30miles, that wouldn’t allow you to use that NSM very good would it? If your enemy then is a Kirov with his targetting helicopter up, I’d like the result of your engagement… ESM bearing will not give you any good coordinates, you can be miles off, miles that the missile can’t travel or miles that the missile might be going wrong…
So,the MPA or “accidentely” passing plane or helo IS necessary to use the NSM in an accurate way. Not till the last phase as the Legenda/Uspekh system, yet still necessary.

Stefan, I don’t think we’ll ever know how it really works. We have a grasp of it, but the details… The only thing I got loose from a Russian was: “nothing about this system on the net is wrong”. Nothing more, nothing less.

That is the question, we don´t know how Granit would work. Given the problems or the challenge I see in coordinating a group of incoming granits, I think that keeping that formation together and working is a really difficult thing. Nothing I do not think the Russian could not achieve, but difficult nevertheless.

The last one

Looks very cold

I strongly recommend spotting on TFN too, as it has the more intersting traffic often including Iberia 747s or A340s. AFAIk some of the britsh charter carriers do also prefer to land there. There are some good spotting points there.