Steve TouchdownFrom another exercise, this time over the North Sea:
The scene is the North Sea airspace. The date is 28 July 2004. Nine Swiss F-18s are taking part in Exercise NOMAD as the offensive counter air fighter sweep ahead of an offensive package. The defending team was four Tornado F3s with AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile) and ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile), four French Mirage 2000s and four Swiss F-18s. The F3s were on a full JTIDS link (Joint Tactical Information Distribution System) with the E-3D. None of the other defenders had this facility. The offensive F-18s were decimated, principally by the F3s and their modern air-to-air weapons who needed to make only three radio calls during the twenty-minute engagement. Why was it like that? Because the offensive package had just met Network Enabled Capability for the first time. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Viscount Trenchard would have approved.
Source: 2004 Trenchard Memorial Lecture
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve Touchdowncool, nice to catch some updates from an ‘operational mirage 2000D….do you know where the 2nd photo was taken, afghanistan?
coanda
Sad to report that particular Mirage 2000D is no longer with us: crashed 26th August in Alsace, France 🙁
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownThe Indian pilot ejected safely, according to local news reports.
Very sadly the news reports on Tuesday night were in error, Bhairav:
IAF confirms death of Mirage pilot :
The Indian Air Force on Wednesday confirmed the death of Flight Lt. Neehar Gururani, the pilot of the Mirage fighter aircraft, which crashed near the Gwalior airbase late on Tuesday night.
Giving details, an IAF spokesman said that the the ill-fated Mirage fighter had taken off from Gwalior airbase at 8.30 p.m. on a night exercise sortie and lost radar and radio contact with ground 15 minutes after take off. The damaged plane was found 50 kms north east of the Gwalior airbase. The dead pilot’s was also retrieved and brought back to the base. The Air Force has ordered a court of inquiry into the cause of the crash.
This is the fourth crash involving a Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft. These aircraft were inducted into the air force in 1987 and have had a much more cleaner flight safety records than other fighters.
Flight Lt. Gururani is the son of Air Marshal S Gururani, who retired recently as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief IAF Maintenance Command. (ANI)
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownI wonder what these much newer fighters were ?
Presumably he’s referring to “Maple Flag ’04”
http://www.fencecheck.com/articles/base_visits/article_06_08_2004_ken_middleton.php
Steve TouchdownThankfully, the RMAF Fulcrum pilot was found alive and well this morning, 10km from the crash site. Suffered only bruises and superficial wounds, I believe.
It’s been a bad week for attrition: the last three days has seen a Royal Jordanian AF F-5E crash (pilot killed), an Indian AF Mirage 2000H crash (pilot killed) and a US Navy F/A-18C go down near Nellis AFB (pilot ejected).
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownI would bet that an equal amount was raised in the pubs in the U.K.
Only another Sauron would take that bet considering that Belfast and Londonderry are both in the U.K.
The point is that terrorism didn’t “start” for the rest of the World on 9th September, 2001.
Both you and Sean seem to have bought into this mult-faceted Hydra of extremist Muslim terrorism with a global reach and a sophisticated command and control structure: why do you consider that analysis as being correct?
Steve Rush
Steve TouchdownRight. The way I see it, the War on Terrorism extends to all countries that support, harbor, aid, etc. terrorists, anywhere.
So that would include the USA and Israel then…using your own definition. Or are there “good” paramilitaries and “bad” paramilitaries in Colombia?
When does the timeline for this oh-so convenient definition begin actually? When America woke up on September 10th, 2001 and realised that maybe it was time they stopped putting $10 and $20 bills in the IRA collection tins passed around Boston and New York bars?
Steve Rush
Steve TouchdownIvorian Frogfoots!!! 😀 😀 😀
Brand new photos from Gettyimages.com 😀
Very nice find, Starsign.
Certainly confirms them as being Su-25UB as reportedly supplied by Belarus as I posted earlier in this thread.
It also seems to contradict a couple of photos of supposedly FACI Su-25s that I’ve seen posted on the ‘net in the past couple of days: single seaters in a different camo pattern.
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownWhen even FRY pilots are disproving these delusions, you have to ask what is wrong with some people. Is anti-Western or anti-NATO hatred that strong in some places in Eastern Europe? Or are people just that easily swayed by propaganda that they have to stick with it or admit they were wrong?
In this case, Sean, smells like some misplaced macho Serbian pride after the pictures of the downed Fulcrum were posted.
You’re right, of course, when people are proved wrong they should stop digging even deeper holes to climb out of.
I think TJ has shown pretty incredible patience in explaining what he has. The cold, hard fact of the matter is that there aren’t any “extra” NATO aircraft shot down over any of the former Yugoslavia. End of story.
Steve TouchdownThe MiG-23 taking off from Abidjan I have seen was the same that this bulgarian one (same camouflage and sharkmouth) but without any roundel. It was in June 03.
Thanks, mpa.
That’s the first confirmation with a Mk.I Eyeball that I’m aware of for a FACI MiG-23 being seen in-country.
As I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread, two were documented as being supplied by Bulgaria in 2003.
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownSo the government bombed a rebel base. So what? French workers died. The French got mad and blew up some airplanes. Then they went and occupied the largest city. This one could go either way. This is why we should stay out of other nations’ internal problems. If it’s a civil war, then let them sort it out themselves.
Actually that was rather commendable.
Then you cannot fault action that the US takes to protect American lives. Too bad that preemptive strikes can fall under that heading.
Want to prove both halves of that statement?
Ooo, more veiled anti-Americanism :rolleyes: Muslim extremism attacked us. Now we’re exterminating it. Questions? Didn’t think so.
With reasoning like that no wonder the poison dwarf got back into the White House! You Yanks will buy anything you’re sold, won’t you? Jeez.
That OIF was such a huge lynch-pin of both Bush’s and Kerry’s campaigning made me realise once again what a truly laughable system you have across the pond. I understand there are 225,000 people in the state of Ohio alone that are unemployed, yet they’re more concerned with returning their “good ol’ boy” to office so he can protect them from all the Jihadists under their beds. :rolleyes:
Still, SOC, you’ll know that the World’s a far safer place now than pre-OIF: ‘cos Dubya said it…so it must be true.
Steve
Steve TouchdownFlying over “Jewish Settlements”? “disputed terrirtories”?
Excuse me, how about violating the airspace of the sovereign state of Israel?.
Nothing that the IDF/AF don’t do almost daily over Lebanon.
Steve Rush
Steve TouchdownDubya
As you say, you have no idea……
Everything you say applies in equal measure to the USA or any other country for that matter…….
The fact is that the French made the correct choice over Iraq, they saw through the BS and did what was right for France. In so doing they have saved many French lives. Now they have taken action to protect French lives. Again, you can not fault that. That is what one would hope from any Goverment.
Perfectly put, Mpacha, and I couldn’t agree with you more.
Some people are far too quick to forget that the French were still very actively involved in Iraq right up until the decision was taken to by-pass the UN with Mirage IVP overflights and supporting the denial of flight ops during both Northern & Southern Watch. The French forces are also still active today in ops in Afghanistan: as recently as a fortnight ago Mirage F 1CRs have been detached to Dushanbe in support of ground ops.
Amazing how people are so quick to bleat about “democracy” and “self-determination” but won’t accept it when it disagrees with their own dogmatic opinions.
Steve Rush
Steve TouchdownNot always the easiest thing in the World to do, but I have been trying to keep tabs on what hardware has been finishing-up in Africa over the past few years.
I had a quick look back through some stuff from earlier this year, and the Ivory Coast should have received the following fairly recently:
2 x Su-25UB in 2003 from Belarus
2 x MiG-23 in 2003 from Bulgaria
2 x Mi-24 in 2003 from Bulgaria
2 x Mi-24V in 2002 from Belarus
2 x IAR 330 Pumas (VIP-configured & delivered aboard An-22 from Bucharest May 16th, 2003)
2 x IAR 330 Pumas (SAR/multi-role configured)
If anyone knows of anything else that’s headed in that direction, please let us know!
Best regards
Steve Rush ~ Touchdown-News
Steve TouchdownJamal Uddin stripped of air marshal rank
Former Chief of Air Staff Jamal Uddin Ahmed has been stripped of the rank of Air Marshal yesterday.
The Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR), through an announcement yesterday described the promotion of former Air Chief to the post of Air Marshal as “unlawful.”
In spite of the non-existence of the rank of Air Marshal in the organogram of Bangladesh Air Force, the then Chief of Air Staff Air Vice Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed was elevated to the rank of Air Marshal just on the day of his retirement through an official order on May 27, 2001, it said.
“Since this promotion was not rational and contrary to the existing rules, the Defence Ministry’s order of May 27, 2001 has been amended to uphold the government’s set rules and regulations. As a result, the promotion order of Air Vice Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed has been cancelled,” the ISPR announcement said.
With approval of the President, a gazette notification was published yesterday to this effect.
Even the consent of the then President was not taken for the promotion of Jamal Uddin Ahmed.
It may be recalled that a few days ago, immediate-past Army Chief Mustafizur Rahman was also stripped of his four-star rank of General under the same ground as there is no rank of General in the organogram of Bangladesh Army.
It may be mentioned that charges against former Air Vice Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed and six others, including the former Prime Minister, relating to the purchase of eight Russian-built jet fighters for the Bangladesh Air Force have recently been submitted to a court in Dhaka by the Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC).
The BAC accused former premier Sheikh Hasina and six others including Jamal Uddin Ahmed for misappropriating nearly $120m of state money by purchasing the Russian MiG fighters three years ago through corrupt practices.
Source: The New Nation (18th October, 2004)
http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_13200.shtml
You guys seriously make me laugh at your ignorance. 😀
I’m sure I’m not the only one here similarly amused by your rose-tinted optimism, BD :diablo:
Steve ~ Touchdown-News
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