So much for the problem cited by Swerve:

2. There is no clear route. Most of any possible routes would be over foreign territory

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3903864,00.html

Report: Saudis permit Israeli jets to pass over to Iran

London Times reports Saudis carry out defense missile tests aimed at allowing Israeli warplanes to pass through airspace on way to bomb nuclear facilities in Iran. ‘We will let them through and see nothing,’ says source

Ynet
Published: 06.12.10, 08:42 / Israel News

Saudi Arabia has carried out tests of its missile defense systems aimed at allowing Israeli warplanes to pass over its territory on their way to strike nuclear facilities in Iran, defense sources in the Persian Gulf told the London Times Saturday.

Passing over Saudi Arabia would shorten the flight to the Islamic Republic. According to the report, the missile tests were carried out in order to ensure that Israeli planes will not be shot down while flying over the kingdom’s territory.

In 2009 the London Times reported that Mossad chief Meir Dagan held talks with Saudi Arabia on the subject, and even updated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on their outcome.

In the report, a diplomatic source was quoted by the paper as saying that “the Saudis hinted that they would agree to allow Israeli jets to pass through their airspace in order to carry out a mission with common Israeli and Saudi interests”.

In Saturday’s report a US defense source in the region was quoted as saying, “The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way.”

He added, “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the State Department.”

Sources in Saudi Arabia also told the paper that senior officials in the kingdom had agreed among themselves to allow the planes’ passage. Despite the bad blood between the two states, fears Tehran will develop a nuclear weapon are shared.

“We all know this. We will let them through and see nothing,” one source told the paper.

so for this new fighter design SAAB thought FOD was a higher priority than dog-fighting?

Obviously not, since they actually went with a different design in the end 😉

According to articles describing the development of Gripen, the top-intake design was the best “statically stable” design they came up with… better than the canard-delta if natural aerodynamic stability was required.

However, the decision was made to make the aircraft “statically un-stable”, using full FBW & computerized flight controls. This allows a better aerodynamic performance, which allowed use of the higher-lift, greater payload canard-delta configuration.

Thanks for the links, pagen01, as the word “airbase”, without any further elucidation whatsoever as to which airbase, or what meaning of the term was intended, meant nothing to those outside your narrow geographical area.

And no, I hadn’t read the 3-page thread started weeks ago about it, as it looked (from the preview blurb that pops up from the title in the index page) like just another thread about a WW2 base.

Ah, but…

A short barrel doesn’t mean an inaccurate weapon.

My father is a retired railroad police officer, and in the State of Utah that automatically made him a reserve Sheriff’s Deputy.

When he went to the police range for his annual qualification, he always got “regular” police officers miffed. With his Smith&Wesson .357 magnum with a 2 1/4″ barrel, he normally shot a perfect or near-perfect target (50′ range)… far better than most of the “real” officers.

I think everyone is getting confused by the Southern Cross, it is normally depicted with 4 stars and not 5.
G.

Australian flag:

Here are what the stars are:

New Zealand flag:

What about a modern Bronco or Mohawk for COIN missions.

Mohawk isn’t very good for COIN.

Bronco idea isn’t a fantasy…
http://strikehold.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/ov-10-comeback-will-the-bronco-buck-again/

14/10/2009
Boeing has confirmed that it is going to offer a new, upgraded version of the Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco for the USAF’s OA-X Light Strike aircraft programme.

Apparently, you have signed in there, so it accepts a link request from your computer’s IP address.

For anyone who does not have an account there, it limits the link to the sign-in page.

This is actually common for sites that require registration before access is granted.

I suggest you download the pic/doc & put them up on a “no registration required to view” hosting site.