Does anyone think the biger A330 would allow USAF to only take 1 tanker?

No, but ferrying missions are only a small part of general tanker duties. For the majority of missions tanker aircraft are used on their own.

Could an AWACS aircraft be fitted with a CIWS such as Phalanx to shoot down incoming missiles?

I know it sounds crazy, but if it works on ships….

A few F-15s were withdrawn due to fatigue problems, but the majority are flying again; although they may have to be retired sooner than originally planned.

Posh and Becks are on Holiday in Florida. One day when they are out near the swamps they go into a shoe shop, where Victoria is rather taken with a nice pair of boots.
“What kind of boots are these?” she asks the shop assistant.

“They’re Alligator boots, Mrs Beckham,” he answers her. “They’re $1000 a pair”.

“What!?” Exclaims David, “We’re not getting ripped off like that! Come on Victoria we’re leaving!” And they storm out of the shop.

Much later, the shop assistant is driving home, and on the way his route passes the swamp. Something in the swamp catches his eye, so he stops the car. He is amazed to see Posh and Becks standing up to their waist in the swamp, a huge pile of a dozen dead Alligators on the bank next to them. He watches as an Alligator leaps from the water towards them.

Victoria calmly throws a net over the beast, then David leaps on its back and ties a rope around its mouth. They drag the animal to the bank, then hit it around the head with baseball bats a few times to kill it. Then David flips the animal over to look at its legs and says….

….

“B*11*cks, this one isn’t wearing any either!”

I suppose selecting the A330 for commonality with RAF tankers would be too simple a solution? :rolleyes:

Heck, if the UK wants to outsource defense and become the 51st state, fine; at least then we get Raptors 😀

Spoken like a true Gentleman.

I too am very grateful for this invaluable resource. 🙂

In case you haven’t noticed the USA is tettering on the edge of financial collapse…..fuel at record high…..mortgage foreclosure at record levels….housing market collapsing……many high wage union jobs gone or going…..the country over-run with illegal immigrants (who get free health care by the way)…..etc. etc. etc. If you think that protectionist Democrat politicians (that control the House and soon the Senate) funded by unions are going to stand by aimlessly and let what is widely seen as a French run consortium put more American workers out of work, well then I guess we just have to agree to disagree. BTW, the Chinese are funding U.S. debt, not the French!

If only Boeing hadn’t gotten greedy to the tune of 6-8 Billion extra dollars. Thank God McCain called them on it.

Are you referring to balance of payments with regard to defense or the overall economy? I believe the U.S. has a significant overall negative trade deficit with Europe. Now the U.S. is expected to sacrifice it’s one remaining leadership industry, Aerospace, in the name of fairness when the balance for the remainder is already negative??? Fairness for the French? Things won’t “even out” till the protectionists in Europe adopt a more market driven approach IMHO.

Hey, I’m not just making this stuff up. And yes, everyone else should be concerned…..I believe the old cliche is that when the U.S. catches a cold, everyone else catches pneumonia.

The US isn’t expected to sacrifice anything. If you choose to buy the European Tanker, fine; if you want to buy your own tanker, fine; but don’t run a competition between the two then decide to go for the losing bid because its more convienient.

Other people have problems too, not just the US, so don’t whinge to the rest of the world that we have to go out of our way to prop you up just because you are having to tighten your belt; we all are.

As for the trade deficit and the budget deficit, this is no fault of anyone but the US itself, and can only be solved by a fiscally responsible administration in the White House.