NATO Joint Fighter Force

Why not? NATO does this for AEW, transport and to a lesser extent pilot training. Set up a pool of fighter resources, then base small amounts in each of the necessary countries.

Medevac

The helicopter’s greatest role in Vietnam was medevac and troop transport (air cav). Attack choppers grew out of the need for an armed escort and to soften LZ’s. The attack helo is going to be around for a considerable amount of time. A VTOL attack aircraft is very useful, especially when used alongside armed drones.

Lockheed Martin probably isn’t interested in competing with Lockheed Martin.

Better to sell some newer F-16s than nothing at all.

What about the F-16V?

If all the RDAF has to do is defend Danish airspace, then a more modern F-16 in a new airframe could do it. Pilot training could continue in earnest, along the same lines as is done now. Existing infrastructure could be used because the F-16V wouldn’t change from the F-16AM/BM in size.

It makes sense…

Great Photos

Thanks for posting. Wonder why the aircraft appear to be in primer and not painted.

premature classification

To be fair, there are a 2 types of accident reports, and only one is ever releasable to the public. You have an SIR which is privileged info and any statements made during the investigation are protected by the privacy agreements of the investigation. Not only is it not releasable to the public, it is also generally only released to the folks who have an immediate need to read it (ie same Type/Model as mishap). Then you also have the JAG investigation, which is a legal proceeding, not covered by the privilege umbrella. Anything disclosed, stated, or otherwise revealed in the course of a JAG investigation is subject to release via FOIA. These are the basis of any news release about a high profile accident (such as a Raptor crash), and may or may not actually reflect the findings of the SIR. Wanderlei is right that such releases of mishap info are generally only in the case of such high profile incidents where there is a lot of public interest. Again, these reports often only include partial information, and often lack key details. This isn’t a function of secrecy or any sort of conspiracy, but rather the idea of privilege in an SIR is to provide incentive for aircrew and others to be completely honest with their statements, without fear of legal retribution. If there is actual criminal misconduct or negligence found or suspected as a contributing factor, this is dealt with in the JAG investigation and anyone involved has the right to legal representation throughout the process.

In general, the purpose of an accident report is not to point blame at people and make public scapegoats…..it is so that other aircrew can learn from the mistakes of others, and not repeat. We rely on the concept of privilege to encourage honest assessments of accidents, and to point out where we have gone wrong. Bringing the public (and lawsuits/legal proceedings) into that process ruins that honest process.

That predetermines what the public would do with such information and how they would react. There are guesses to that end, but no one really knows. The public may not need the gory details and the where with all for any classified information, but they should get a concise version of the whole story. Being honest or even slightly open should shed light on such proceedings, that itself kills corruption.