And don’t get mixed up with that russian underwater missile also called “Shkval”!

Why now MD 900 Explorer. I think the Little Bird is based on the Hughes 500 and a little bit old. The Explorer has proven has a very reliable helicopter on both sides of the pond.

I think, this programme is planned to be cheap after RAH-66. That’s why, used concept instead of new concepts like EC-135, MD 900 etc. are favoured.

The USAF didn’t want another more Navy-designed fighter into its inventory.
Just remember F-4, A-7,B-66 Destroyer etc.
USAF Col John Boyd was brought to Pentagon to save the Air Force F-X fighter from the Navy ploys.

Source: USAF Col John Boyd: From fighter Tactics to the Art of War

In 1971, Grumman proposed the F-14 as a contender for the USAF’s Improved Manned Interceptor program, which was an attempt to find a replacement for the Convair F-106 Delta Dart. The proposed USAF F-14 looked very much like the Navy F-14 but had enormous conformal fuel tank on the belly and four external fuel tanks.

The USAF found this proposal attractive because of its very long range and the capabilities of its AN/AWG-9 fire control system and its associated AIM-54 Phoenix missiles. However, the IMI F-14proposal was ultimately defeated by its high cost, and nothing ever got off the drawing board.

Sources:
1.Grumman Aircraft Since 1919, Rene J. Francillon, Naval Institute Press, 1989.
2.Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Doug Richardson, Osprey, 1987.
3. F-14 Tomcat: Fleet Defender, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Vol 7, 1991.
4.Grumman F-14 Tomcat Variant Briefing, World Airpower Journal, Vol. 19, 1994.
5. Grumman F-14 Tomcat, Jon Lake, AirTime, 1998.

Source: F-14 for USAF

“The Final Countdown”

Where did I see those lightning flashes… Sometimes they make gorgeous girls out of paper (Weird Science)… Sometimes they alter history… That deck carrier going back to sto pJapan during ww2. Or that travelling in time (b2tf).

You mean the movie “The Final Countdown” aka “U.S.S. Nimitz: Lost in the Pacific” from the year 1980 starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino and Katharine Ross.

Here the plot:

The USS Nimitz, a modern-day nuclear aircraft carrier, is drawn through a time warp from 1980 to a couple days before the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor, and the crew must decide whether to launch a preemptive strike against the incoming Japanese carrier fleet with their more advanced air wing, or allow history to take its course, which might not happen since they had rescued Senator Chapman, who disappeared shortly before the attack, from his death.

Source: The Final Countdown at imdb.com

The plot is crap,your are right there.

But the flight scences in first 20 minutes are superb, especially when the two Jolly Rogers F-14’s flying low over Senator Chapman’s boat and climb high into the sky. :diablo: 😎

That F-14 flight refuelling woundn’t be shown these days, because the pilot’s comments are “sex discrimination”.

… all above mentioned is true… a fake canopy and the panther logo of 59th FW which is already known from their MiG-29s..
… serial No. is 39301..

Here a pic with the fake canopy!

More pic’s at http://www.gripen.com

Without IFF, “Missile Approach Warner”, “Radar Signatur Bibliothek” and BVR missiles,
the Austrian Eurofighter will be more a sports jet than a fighter jet.

Better a few well equipped three and a half generation fighters than such an Eurofighter!

Popular Mechanics site: “How They Raised The Phoenix”

Hi folks,

here a link to a Popular Mechanics site.

The site showes “How They Raised The Phoenix”!

It showes, which computer-generated (CG) imageries, full-size and scale models, vintage aircrafts and spare aircraft parts were used in the movie.

Production diagrams reveal how the Phoenix is built from the twin-boom C-119. 🙂
Very interesting!