This from the Wiki page on Stinger:

If the Talaban do have Manpads then they are probably coming from elsewhere but to be honest I don’t recall any coalition aircraft getting shot down by SAMs.

I too can’t think off the top of my head of any helo’s or jets shot down by Manpads but if/when Manpads do end up in the Taliban hands expect a strongly worded letter to the supplier nation, other then that there’d be sod all we could do about it.

All out effort, with a lot of strain on the training and engineering system I reckon the UK could deploy 25 large troop lift helicopters, for a prolonged period, if the order was given today.

If we can’t then we have serious issues, I too suspect we could do it though, if there was the political will and competence but i have no faith in brown at all, zero.

Of course there is. The Taliban were given a whole bag of SAMs by the west to fight the Russians

I seem remember much breathless and panicky talk of Stingers in the hands of the taliban back in 2001/2002 time frame but from what i remember the general thought was that the chemical batteries the Stingers used had long since gone flat redering them useless.
Looking back I assume that was a correct line of thining as I can think of no allied helo’s that have been downed by Stingers.

5. After about day 2 or 3 the Georgian air defence network was no longer able to pose a significant threat to Russian aviation.

Yet Russia lost more aircraft in a far shorter space of time than did NATO forces. Its not hard to work out that had the conflict continued for a 3 month time period there would have undoubtably been more losses as Russia wasn’t able to hurt the tiny Georgian AD system apart from as SOC says destroying one EW radar (and they had no targets off limits either such as civilian radars unlike NATO)

I agree…

Fact 1: Nato needed to stoop down to bombing civilian infrastructure (in fact that’s its modus operandi) because it was unable to force the army out of Kosovo…..it took 3 months to do that.

Fact 2: The Russians didn’t bomb civilian infrastructure and yet managed to force the Georgians to pullback in 5 days

Georgia folded in five days thanks to a huge ground invasion, not through the almost useless Russian air assets operating overhead. Have you even seen the cockpit footage from the RuAF Froggfoots operating over Georgia? I ask because if you care to watch it you will see very clearly that airpower played no real part in that conflict. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY90V44aTqM&feature=fvw and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr_83dl7CIU&feature=related these appear to be less accurate then a WW2 IL2 attack aircraft. A real eyeopener.
The Serb campaign had so many targets put off limits for political reasons to therefore making allied targeting a more frustrating business, unlike the Russian-Georgian conflict. Russia also failed to destroy any Georgian AD assets, yes non at all, all made it through the conflict.

Anyway, come across as sour about it all you like but it won’t change facts, Serbia got a sound thrashing and so did Georgia (that should make you happy)

If you call spreading blatant BS as*marketing the product well*, then I agree with you, LM certainly do market their stuff VERY WELL. Both F-22 and F-35.

Are you of the opinion all aircraft manufactuerers are full of BS too or is it just LM? I ask because they all play the same game and know the rules.
I will say again that it is not LM’s fault the other companies have/had less successful marketing teams and have/had arguably inferior products on the market whilst LM picks up orders.

I’m extremely confident that if LM was, as you claim full of BS and selling a trash product (that you claim the F-35 is) that the partner nations would have caught wind of this and pulled out of the project yet none have done so, infact at a glance it would seem more and more countries want the aircraft.
Now, either they and there purchasing teams/MOD’s are extremely stupid to fall for LM’s con of the century (the F-35) or they know otherwise, ‘otherwise’ being that the F-35 is a sound investment and not a LM con job.

I know whose judgements I trust

Btw, aircraft kinematics become even more relevant where issues such as RCS are somewhat sidelined by the use of AWACS on either side.

USS

Hows Russias AWACS fleet doing?

There are more than enough customers which have raised their concerns about the numbers due the cost increasements over all the years.

Would you be so kind as to link to these statements by the representative MOD’s or Governments of the expected partner nations/cutomers.
I’ve never seen any reports officially voicing doubt but then again I don’t follow the program to closely.