How do swing wings like the F-111, Tornado, that have pylons on the swinging portions of their wing, manage to switch to the other wing settings? Do the pylons all swivel to match the sweep angle of the wing?

Looking at this F-111 and the loads on those pylons, the mechanics of swiveling all those pylons with such heavy loads on them must be incredibly complicated.

Israeli Advisors, and naval buildup

The Israeli’s are known for selling arms to the Georgians (it was an Israeli made drone which the Russian’s shot down a few months back). And apparently the Georgian forces are currently operating with Israeli military advisers.

“DEBKA, the Israeli strategy and military site, states that Israeli military officers are advising the Georgian armed forces in combat operations and that 1,000 Israelis are in-combat on the side of Georgia at this time.” (Also reported in Israeli newspapers)

Given Georgia’s close relations with Washington, and their apparent ties with Israel. Isn’t it possible that this entire conflict is a distraction for the Russians while the US and their allies bomb Iran? Especially considering the US buildup of naval forces in the Persian Gulf.

“Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.”

They’re huge winglets!

They look mighty big. You’d think the additional drag would outweigh any possible gains in efficiency.