12F :

It is said : “No aggressive action was displayed by the MiG-23 and the NATO fighters proceeded to force it to land back at the Benina airfield.” , then the pilot clearly IDeed himself as a rebel .
RoEs are very clear . 😎

Cheers .

you mean that the G4 that was destroyed attacked them? they blew it to pieces after it landed on its base

way too risky to go in low… the major problem si that by now, many gaddafi’s troops are dressed like rebels, so you never know who may shoot at you

guys, read what’s written: it’s a joke

besides, a pressurized “space” pen exists:

http://www.spacepen.com/originalastronautspacepen.aspx

😀

well, the whole “protect the civilians” issue was there just to get some legitimity, with a UN resolution accepted, in the eyes of local public opinions…

as someone said before, there are CIA guys with the rebels, who knows when they came first? who knows if these rebels weren’t a bit “pushed” or “encouraged” by these “embedded” guys because a few people in their government building haf way around the globe (or just across mediterranean) wanted to get rid of ghaddafi?

now, powerful nations intefering in smaller countries internal politics and “deciding” whether this or that leader is “good” or “bad” depending in their own interests is nothing new… but it’s politics and don’t belong to this part of the board I think… so, maybe we should just keep discussing aircraft and strikes without analysing too omuch about the “what’s behind”… 😉

just as the basis for the old USA/USSR joke:

for astronauts to write in space, the NASA gathered a whole bunch of scientists, engineers, etc, and spent $10 000 000 in development and research… and ended with a magnificent pen that could write in weightlessness, head down and in basically any position and pressure… the russians, on the other hand, used pencils

it’s about simplicity 😉

Layperson question:-

I wonder if it is even relevant, whether EF or Rafale will have more advanced AESA? Considering that the elephant in the room aka USA already has hundreds (?) of AESA radars flying on fighters and with F-35s will have thousands more. Can a few dozen radars for Rafale or EF make economic sense? Especially in almost all international bids, US is also competing. Is or will not US continue to be miles ahead?

as said by scorpion, it’s matter of independance rather than “price only”… with a single provider having a monopoly on a given component, the operators are completely dependant on his good will.

having a choice gives you the leverage to get better deals, financially and from the sovereighnity PoV

maybe they should look again into the development of “Novi Avion”?

It was supposed to be developed with the french, and used a bunch of french technologies in development at the time.

today these technologies exist and could possibly be integrated for a reasonable cost into an airframe that could interest both parties, Serbia to some work to its aeronautical industry, and the french to have a “partner product” with which they would, along with the serbs, target some export markets with that “Rafale Jr” where the “Rafale Sr” is way too costly.

It can sound nuts at first sight, but think about it:

engine (M-88), radar (you could use even the “old” RBE rafales use today, for a cheap fighter that should be way enough), ECM (“spectra light” of sorts) and flight controls coming from dassault into the airframe that has also been developed with them…

everything you’d need from the french is done today, and the integration work shouldn’t take ages since these technologies are rather mature by now. that way, the money for acquisition of fighters could stay in good part in serbian economy, and eventually even bring some benefits if it’s proposed in competition for light fighters markets