JediMaster

It's like a single-engine Beagle.

It works in FE2 anyway. Of course, that's not exactly the same.

Perhaps, but after all this time I no longer feel it. I'm now in the "it's out when it's out" zone. If he provided an actual date that might change, but otherwise my feelings are just "nice screenshots."

Yes, that would be my guess as well. Some "first" shots will be done by CA members posting THEIR screenshots.

Well, I'm not sure how close the Rafale A is to the current ones. It was like the YF-22 or X-35, just a prototype. Likewise the EAP flew around 1986 as well, but that's also pretty far removed from the current "Typhoon."

The Gripen, however, I got the impression was changed far less from first flight to service entry.

I guess the delay from last summer to now changed his mind.

The Gripen is also now the oldest of the "new generation" of fighters. That's why the NG is being developed of course.

It will shake the dirt too.

That all goes back to the mistakes made 20 years ago with the defense drawdown and industry consolidation combined with the other mistake of programs costing more and more for fewer and fewer planes.

It's been 30 years. At this point it's like waiting till the horses, cows, hay, and rats have left the barn, it's collapsed, burned, and been scattered to the wind as ashes to close the barn door.

This SHOULD have been taken care of 30 years ago.

As one who has made over 30,000 posts there in the last decade I can't necessarily agree unless you're referring to the SF forum alone.

That is a different matter entirely that doesn't bear repeating.

I'm still gobsmacked at the idea of spinning Mir for gravity.

Yes, I don't think VR/goggles is "there" yet at a cost-effective price. Triple monitors are.

No doubt their record with the Jaguar and Mirages worked in their favor and against the Russians.

You can lose yourself in a world of what-ifs.

Myself, I would've enjoyed seeing 100 B-70As fly over North Vietnam instead of B-52s.

Argh...I'm having Armageddon flashbacks!!! "All made in Taiwan!" Or in this case, probably Foxconn.

Depends on your definition. I suppose the question would be "how many Russian birds would you have to buy to have the same number fully opertaional at any one time as having X number of Rafales?" My guess is that number is close to 2X or higher!

Besides, India just got the MiG-29s and the carrier from Russia. They're showing Moscow they have other places to go. This follows on from their Mirage 2000s and older Mirages. The Typhoon loss doesn't really surprise me, as the Rafale I believe has done more multirole work than the Typhoon to date and the Typhoon is stretching the definition of "medium" fighter.

I was honestly more surprised when it and the Rafale were short-listed. Neither seemed likely to win at the time. I'm sure the Rafale was cheaper because France was desperate to make a sale and the EF group was probably far less focused.

Besides, we all know the money isn't the plane, it's in the consumables you buy later on! Wait till India sees how much the ink cartridges are!

H3 wasn't an official pro release, though, right? H2 was the last of that line?

Interesting that it was in Spain. Wouldn't have guessed that.

Uh...yeah. Guess the probe would've been fine...had they never launched it.

I don't care for the cockpit, but the 3D model is fine. The terrain is what I like and wish TK had!

What do they call those? If airplanes have dogfights, and women have catfights, what do tanks have? Hamsterfights?

The export part was designed into the program from day 1.

We can't have that pee here, it's exclusive to somewhere else.

Oh, did I go too far?

I'll never understand the obsession over meaningless lumps of rock. As shown, it can be very silly.