JediMaster

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.

Well, you can put airplanes in pieces on cargo ships and reassemble them at the other end, but I don't think that's usually practical. Helicopters of course can be airlifted in cargo planes, but not other planes. Otherwise, the only ways are via midair refueling, hopping from airport to airport (like commercial/private planes do), or via carrier. Usually it's a combination of the first 2, as even countries with carriers often have larger numbers of non-carrier capable planes. In fact, most modern planes are so reliable that the limiting factor is crew endurance, not the planes or refueling. I know for Desert Shield in 1990 large numbers of F-15s and other types flew nonstop from the US to Saudi Arabia with just tanker support, no stops on the way. Others staged through England and Germany.

I'm sure they have a lot more flying Tomcats than they have fighting Tomcats. Just because the thing can take off and act like a 2-man business jet doesn't mean it's survivable against an enemy. Do the RWRs still work? Are they updated to handle modern threat radars? Do the radars work right if at all? Without new supplies, how old an AAM can you have and still be usable? Will a 30 yr-old Sparrow or Sidewinder do anything more than threaten the launching aircraft? How many of those missiles did they get on the black market that might be in better shape? In short, a flypast of F-14s only proves they're airworthy, not that they're still a threat.

Clancy's Debt of Honor has great bits in it with a 2-carrier fleet trying to avoid detection along with another created on the sly.

It was easier then.