MiGMasher

Excellent point! ...And I would add that, in my opinion, tactical and strategic airlift capability must be increased! I think it's a good idea to purchase significantly more C-17's and get an improved tactical airlifter with greater load capacity and better STOL perfromance than the C-130's. Max payload for C-130's is, what, like 45,000lbs? And combat vehicles are getting larger and heavier. Even the ones that are/were earmarked for air delivery have approached, and in the case of the Stryker, exceeded the C-130's capacity. Compared to the F-22, airlifters like the C-17 represent more value for money. The recent decision to cap the production of the F-22 Raptor at 187 examples was a good decision. The F-22 is a great aircraft. It has achieved extraordinary kill ratios in exercises. However it hasn't been used in combat, and since the name of the game these days is mudmoving it would be like using a gold-plated knife/fork/spoon set to eat a cheap meal, or any meal for that matter. The A-10's in Afghanistam can do the mudmoving job many times better than the F-22! The can fly low and slow, can take hits, can carry a wide assortment of weapons, and has good loiter ability! Sure the F-22 can drop JDAM's from 30K ft but as recent events have proved, it's not about the accuracy but real-time intel and on-scene observation that are more important. If there was an AFAC (maybe an OA-10) on the scene (last Friday?) do you think those 70-90+ non-combatants would be still alive today? And if those massive kill ratios are to be believed, then why do the Americans need anymore airplanes beyond the 187 that are budgeted for? I believe the F-22 program may have been a victim of it's own hype, amongst other things like rumours surrounding maintenance issues/problems with the aircraft! It is simply too expensive at this point in time and there hasn't been any return on investment. Many people have been vocal on the supposed stupidty of ending the Raptor production program. I like to ask those people, how many Raptors do you think the USAF needs, and how do you think it can be paid for? Where are you going to get the money? And please don't mention China! China is NOT a threat, and neither is North Korea! If anything the US is much more of a threat to them than they are to the US. Just take a look at how many bases the US military has near those two countries as opposed to them having bases near the US.

Just a question regarding angled flight decks... Can someone confirm for me what the exact angles are for each class of carrier. In particular I wanted to get the USS Midway's angle clarified as I read in a blog somewhere that it was 13 degrees after it's major rebuild of the 1966-70 time period. Before that it was stated as being 10 degrees. I've looked at wikipedia and it says a figure of 9 degrees in one of those flashy looking gif images for the Nimitz Class carriers. Nothing about the Ronnie having a different angle though.

So...13 degrees it is then! Thanks :)

Ok... according to the rules as set out by Charlie Lima: "Doggie Clementine" ...I never gave my fox terrier a name because I couldn't figure out a good one, so I ended up just calling it "Doggie"! It stuck. Well...my porn name will sure as hell NOT be "Little Richard"!

Quite catchy!

Happy New Year everyone! May it be safe and prosperous!

Did you press Ctrl-O?

Betty Page was the inspiration for the character Jenny Blake, played by Jennifer Connelly in The Rocketeer! And yes I agree with the statement about many of the women (especially in Hollywood) these days being slutted-up skeletons. Makes you wonder (actually, not really) why there's been no relief airlift mission to California like there was in Eithiopia in the 80's. Instead of "Feed The World" the song would be like "Feed The Girls!". Where have all the real women gone?

Beautiful! Just the thing to raise hell in the jungle tonight!

Where did she get this done? At the local vehicle mechanic shop? Consign her to the wreckers, I say!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Lol! You know very well not to put crap on us convicts since we flog your butts consistently in just about every sport imaginable! BTW So I do have a better chance of emmigrating to the UK if I claim asylum eh? Note to self...

LOL Coolness

Yeah, it sure would be nice, but like our world location, sometimes our brain location is also "Down Under" too. And as far as the ships that (if we got these a/c) would use them, well, I think it would have been better if we just purchased a modified "Wasp/Makin Island" LHD design. The RAN has made it known that it wants a third LHD for sea control purposes. If they were to go that route then at the very least they should consider the upcoming "America" Class LHA's - They retain the Amphibious Assault capability, plus their size is commeasurate with their more aviation centred role. In that respect they are better than having a 3rd Canberra class LHD to fullfill sea control duties IMHO.

That novel kicks ass! It would been nice to see Without Remorse on the big screen! Ben Affleck and the continuity issue are the two reasons IMHO that killed that movie. They picked the wrong book to adapt to film. I think we may yet see something in regards to Without Remorse in cinemas, is anything from the imdb website can be believed. If done right it will be the mother of all kick ass movies. I hope they cast the right person for the part of John Kelly/John Clark. But I reckon that if they adapted the book about the Son Tay Rescue Mission by Benjamin F. Schemmer, and do it before November 21, 2010 it would be totally awesome. Thing is I was hoping the USAF still had H-53's so as to make it realistic. A CGI animated version of the H-53's would be a total letdown for me though.

Sad! I love these helicopters! Twas a marvelous workhorse! So is the CV-22 going to replace it? I was kinda hoping that someone in Hollywood would finally get around to filming the story of the Son Tay prison raid and use some of the original aircraft that participated in this mission. Can't belive that operation has not being picked up at tinseltown! Oh well...

Sad:( He did have a great run though. A great man and a great talent! Everytime we lose one of these greats I feel the world is becoming more alien to me for some reason. I started feeling like this when Deborah Kerr died last year (her b'day Sept 30 coming up as well as the 1st anniversary of her death), and then we lost Chuck Heston as well, and others... RIP!

No worries, MigBuster! Yeah, I would think the AAR-34 would have been quite an economical piece of kit for the A-10, but alas, the U.S. Air Force wanted to get rid of the slow and ugly Warthog before Gulf War 91. It would have been low amongst dollars for upgrades at that time probably, I don't know. But judging by the sheer "frugality" of the A-10 in that point in time, it could be a fair statement to make. Love the A-10. Twas a smart move to keep it in service!

Okay MigBuster the system I was talking about is the Cincinnati AN/AAR-34 Infrared Tail Warning system. "...The bullet on the top of the vertical stabiliser houses the Cincinnati AN/AAR-34 infra-red tail warning system, which was the first ever Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS) fitted to a tactical fighter..." And this... "...The existing defensive avionic suite is built around the Dalmo Victor (General Instrument) AN/ALR-62(V) radar warning receiver, the Sanders (Lockheed) AN/ALQ-94 and 137 defensive electronic countermeasures (ECM), an AN/ALE-28 chaff/flare dispenser and the Cincinnati AN/AAR-34 Infrared Tail Warning system. When penetrating hostile airspace, the ALR-62 is used to detect and identify threat emitters. Where these cannot be avoided, the ALQ-94 or 137 in the G-model are then used to jam the threat, which is typically the acquisition or fire control radar for a Surface to Air Missile (SAM) or Anti Aircraft Artillery (AAA) system. Approaching missiles in the tail quadrant are detected by the AAR-34 and decoyed with flares or chaff dispensed by the ALE-28 equipment. This suite is conventional by modern standards, but in its time was the most comprehensive of its kind to be deployed in a tactical aircraft. The fact that no USAF F-111E/F aircraft were lost to hostile fire during the Gulf War reflects very favourably, but we should not lose sight of the fact the Iraqis used largely seventies generation Soviet AAA, SAM and acquisition radar systems, which the F-111 EW suite was specifically built to defeat..." And This... "...The tail mounted Cincinnati AN/AAR-34 infrared warning system employs a tracker with a cryogenically cooled detector to warn the crew of missiles in the aircraft's aft hemisphere..."

MigBuster, The info that you seek is available as an article written by a fellow named Carl Kopp about the F-111. You may have to google search this one as I forgot the link, however, I do know that it was published by Australian Aviation magazine years ago. Tomcat_ace, I believe the particular phantom that I have in the signature is one of three F-4's that were modified with a unique camera system called HIAC. One of these may have been lost in action. These particular birds' operational histories are not very well known.

In real settings the F-111 was equiped with an early, but crude version of a IR warning sensor system, but it really only detected the exhaust plumes of the missiles themselves. It would be interesting to have that duplicated in Strike Fighters.

Bloody Excrement Munching Organisms! All I can say is...Pop out the pills, crank up the generator and throw away the keys! Problem solved!

QOS Kicks butt!

I think in terms of Navy units, what remains of the A-6 units is VFA-115 (Pacific) and VFA-34 (Atlantic). I can't think of any other frontline U.S. Navy squadrons other than those two that survive to present day. I could be wrong though.

Thanks buddy! You're a legend!

I have a pretty American lady on my desktop right now holding a Tavor: Angela Barrett I believe her name is...so you might be right! I don't think the context for possible procurement of the Abrams was with the view of replacing the Merkava, tank for tank. The discussion was basically about closing the Merkava production line down/terminating Merkava 4 Production, with the M1 being the natural alternative. And according to Daniel Cohen, the webmaster of www.isayeret.com, the IDF doesn't officially use the MP5, but he did say it was evaluated by Israeli commandos, who said it was superior to the Uzi family of Sub-Machine Guns.