MAKO69

2 more cities fell last night, more cities to fall ISIS promises to take Baghdad. Way to finish a job, we owed it to those people, for ripping their country apart. We needed to keep a presence for a few decades to give the country a chance and make sure the fledgling government makes it. http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/11/world/meast/iraq-violence/

Are you a U.S. Citizen?

I don't think its an over reaction alert, this sh!t happened, been happening.

We started this sh!t and it was half @ssed in finishing it. We have about 1000 defensive troops at the US Embassy complex w/support. I hate to send more troops but, we never should have left. This kind of action takes a generation or two to make sure it sticks. Thinking more to come.

5 American Special Operations Forces troops killed in Afghanistan in possible friendly-fire incident. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/06/10/nato-says-5-service-members-killed-in-afghanistan-attack/

City of Mosul falls to breakaway al Qaeda group, more extreme and ruthless than regular al Qaeda. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iraq-city-of-mosul-falls-into-hands-of-isis-jihadists-after-police-army-abandon-posts/

Boeing Aircraft releases photos of new F-4 Supah Phantom II. I'm in!

C'mon

I can only imagine the feeling of the impending fight that was about to occur. 30 seconds to Hell or Heaven. The Greatest Generation.

Welcome home Sundowner 100, Its millah time, Its gonnah beah millah thrillah!

Why not develop a stealthy weapons pylon for said stealthy pod? Anyways I think that one pod is enough as I posted in an earlier statement.

Don't forget people, wing mounted stores on the Super Hornet have to be toed out 4 degrees due to weapons having a conflict (wanting to smack the plane) with airflow during weapon separation from the aircraft. I think the one conformal weapons bay would suffice. If one is going to be doing a stealth mission most likely they are not going to be destroying a whole neighborhood, more like a single to a few strategic targets. If fighter escort is part of the picture then a battle buddy Super Hornet could be outfitted with the weapons bay set up for air to air. Fighter cover could be provided with F-22s and or Super Hornets that are not to far away loaded conventionally for CAP/BARCAP.

I'm sure for the right price it could become mounted on the wings, but its massive isn't it.

It appears we already have 2, The F-16 Falcon and the SU-27 Flanker.

I don't know that weapon pod looks real big compared to other stores, twice as big as a fuel tank.

Only time will tell, I was thinking the same thing. The only draw back would be the more stuff you hang the more parasitic drag the airframe would encounter with a loss of range.

The American Embassy in Iraq is more than just a few buildings, Its more of a mini base which can accommodate several thousand Embassy "Security" troops and support personnel. We did leave Iraq, but we really didn't there are a few thousand US personnel in Iraq both military and civilian contractors, but no combat troops, just defensive security troops. USAF will be providing training for the Iraqi AF in the US and in Iraq.

If the plane is going to be stealthed out to do a stealthy mission, I would think the plane would be cleaned up pretty slick with no external hung/mounted stores, hence the stealthy weapons pod. Think out of the box and quit being a devils advocate. Well what if you hang weapons on an F-35, doesn't make sense does it. So why put that out there.

Your wrong, the Superhornet by itself is stealthy, not as stealthy as an F-22 or the F-35, but still harder to detect and find than a legacy hornet It's not only the shape of the plane but what is used to build, coat the aircraft, and how the pilot flies the plane that adds to the stealth. Like Toryu said, you hang missiles, bombs, fuel tanks, with not so stealthy lines and materials, well you know what that means. However add a weapons pod that has stealth designed into it then you have a stealth strike fighter, once again maybe not as stealthy as the F-35, but still stealthy and harder to find. http://ninjapundit.blogspot.com/2013/09/ash-super-duper-hornet-external-weapon.html

Who is this directed to? I personally could care less about the other users of the F-35 that's on them. As for the other air arms who are going to get or contemplating to acquire the F-35 in any form It's on them to decide how to employ it, but for us it will be a strike fighter 1st and an air defense fighter 2nd. It may not have the best range, best performance, best war load, but its a stealthy plane that's the key ingredient all the other planes would out perform the F-35 in a conventional fight or fly off, but that wasn't what it was designed to do! It was designed to be really hard to detect so it can fly around drop bombs or shoot missiles at other planes, not to fight its way in drop its load and fight it's way out. It was designed to cheat which works for me. For the US the JSF-35 will be a Joint Strike Fighter, a cog in the giant war machine that will have the support to carry out it's intended missions. I just want my guys to have the very best tools to complete their task and get home safely. Is that so wrong?

Wait are you Toryu too? Anyways I miss read, my bad. As for the planes you mentioned you were just making a valid point with those. My beef was comparing the F-104 to the F-35.

The F-35C is not the A-7's replacement. The F/A-18 Legacy Hornet was the replacement for the A-7. The F-35C will replace the Legacy Hornets and the older Super Hornets. The last A-7 squadrons were retired in 1991.

What's up with the old school fighter comparisons to gen 4,4+ and 5 fighters still, this is about the F-35 and F/A-18 Super Hornet not warbirds, which is what all the century series and cousins are. A Japanese zero is way more of a dog fighter than an F-14, well yeah, but the Tommy cat will splash the zero every time. Didn't you guys see the movie.

Stop comparisons between the F-104 and F-35, there is a big difference. An F-104 in any form compared to an F-35 is like throwing a bullet. while the F-35 is the sniper who is BVR with a high powered .50 cal. sniper rifle. The 104 was forced on the fledgling NATO countries, oh well to bad so sad the price you pay for being on the "right" side of the wall. All the air arms that had the F-104 used them in their own ways, their own tactics, and even made their own upgrades to the planes. Good air forces can adapt and overcome, which is what they all did with the F-104. Now the F-35 may not fly as well as an F/A-18 Legacy, super hornet, F-16, Typhoon, Rafale, F-15, F-22 or any other contemporary fighter plane, but keep in mind it was designed as a stealth aircraft first, and I'm sure it won't be a dump truck in the sky in a dog fight either. With a stealth strike fighter their has to be compromise in performance. I said it before Warfare is not Fair, you must cheat to get the advantage and win. If that means you have a strike fighter that was not meant to get in a dog fight, oh well. The F-35 is a stealth/strike fighter. Stealth above all else will help this plane complete it's missions its part of the whole package which includes tactics on how to employ such aircraft. It may not be invisible, but the radar signature of an F/A-18 ( Super hornet has stealth built in maybe not as much as the following, but still incorporates stealth), F-22, and F-35 is a hell of a lot smaller than all other fighters out there. Why get into a dog fight when a pilot can simply select a BVR missile and fire such missile at a plane(s) who's pilot has no clue he's about to meet his maker, then drop his smart mud moving gear, and head back without breaking a sweat from ACM. Sounds a lot better than bringing in a "Bomb Truck" and having to fly like a fool whipping the ponies down low trying to avoid radar, and if you get into a dogfight, have to drop your war load and fight to just retreat. What would you prefer your expensive pilots fly an F-104 or an F-35? The USAF will not be using the F-22 as an SAED plane for a long time, that's other planes job to include the F-35 when they come on line. Is the F-35 going to be the perfect strike platform, no. Will it do a great job of the missions it will be tasked, yes. Is it going to be a world beater dog fighter, no, it wasn't designed to be a dogfighter, that's the F-22's job. The whole philosophy with stealth technology is to "Work smarter not harder".

We can only hope that the plane makes it to the finish line before it gets cut, because it is a vicious little plane that will be a great asset.