SayethWhaaaa

Are those really tiny vertical stabs or are they angled? It's messing with my eyes man!

The story I've been hearing is that the F-22 is the priority, but in the event they can't get the comfy number of 381, 183 will be the absolute bare minimum that will have to be built (in the air forces eyes). I think that's enough for ten 16 plane squadrons. Its not on the chopping block per se. If this turns out to be the situation, the USAF/DoD planners are looking to fill the gap with the "Golden Eagles", C model Eagles with the lowest airframe/flight hours. I know they'll be upgraded with AESAs and modern, standardised cockpits but I'm not too sure about engines, fire control or other avionic specifics. To the best of my knowledge, the USAF wants to keep all of the Mud Hens from the 80s and 90s batches, although Boeing offered to keep the production line open for future F-15 builds but the idea was rejected by either the USAF or DoD as it was seen to potentially threaten the F-22 program. There were a few articles about this. Online, I know there was one over at the Jane's website. And AFM in the UK did a piece on this about a year ago.

Yes and no. Part of the reason the Lebanese reactivated their Hunters was that the siege of Nahr el-Bared camp pointed out that they were lacking a fixed wing strike capability for situations such as that (In that situation, they modified a UH-1H to drop two 250kg bombs to provide close air support for the Army). Remember, Lebanon is still recovering from the De-facto Syrian control and occupation, so nation building, recovery and stability are still the prime motivations of the government. The aircraft will be more of a symbol that the government is taking seriously it's promise to restore order and protect the population from the threats from Hezbollah and other Pro-Syrian and Pro-Israeli factions. That said, the aircraft won't pose a threat to either Israeli or Syria (who have aircraft ratios of roughly 25:1 and 30:1 respectively), but even still, I would be surprised if it suddenly became very hard for them to import parts for the Migs over the next few years.

Alright peoples, dial the rants back a bit. The Pro/Anti-nationalist sentiment you guys are sinking your teeth into is off topic in relation to the question of the thread "Do you fly for your own nation?" Yes some people have stated why, but it's not important why. Everyone will have different reasons for doing so. Build a bridge, get over it. In that case, don't be playing GTA or Scarface. The drug dealing, car jacking and shootouts with cops could end badly for you dude.

Are you kidding me? Of course that's true. You guys have been here how long and you're just realising it now... sheesh! The person below me thinks man boobies are a beautiful thing...

Nah, I don't think so, purely on the grounds that the advantage over existing competing fighters is so massive that there won't be much, if anything that could compete with it. The F-22's biggest weakness is it's cost, no question. They'll probably continue low rate production for a while yet, but you're not going to see large numbers of F-22 entering service in the way of F-15s/F-16s (nor F-35s for that matter) when you have an air force whose average age per aircraft is around 30 years (the avg during Vietnam was 9) and you have major needs such as a new tankers, CSAR Helicopters, a decision on which heavy lift aircraft to invest in (C-5/C-17). If a knock off had been designed, or at least planned for in the first place, these costs could have been offset by export customers. I think defense planners may have shot themselves in the foot on this one. It'll be painful, but it could be done. ...plus a costly war in Iraq and a plethora of companies effectively giving free credit to people who weren't able to pay it back and eventually screwing the economy hasn't helped either.

I was only talking relative to Israel, ie, a specific model intended for a nation in particular like the F-15K or the F-15SG, etc. Personally, if there were an export model, I think there'd be more of a chance of seeing JASDF F-22s long before we'd ever see Israeli ones. Chinese officials may kick up a bit of a fuss, but there's more of a strategic threat to the US's interests in that region and the JASDF aren't guaranteed air superiority should the PLAAF muscle in on Japan during an hypothetical conflict. Israel's vital to the US too, but Israel would more than likely have air dominance with the assets and organisation they currently have. Not to mention the 250+ nukes they posess.

Can we keep all broad generalisations out of this topic please? Hezbollah only represents unthinking, idiots, and a very small number at that. That's like saying everyone south of the Mason Dixon is a member of the clan, Poms whinge or Kiwis shag sheep... and the latter is only true if they beat Oz in cricket! Any word on the condition of the Mig-29s that are being sold? Algeria recently signed a contract for advanced model Mig-29SMTs but were refusing to take them after two examples that were delivered were discovered to be overhauled 20 year old aircraft, not new builds (Even though their airframe was reduced close to zero hours flight time, or close to it.) I'm just curious to see how this plays out, especially considering the maintenance that's required for older model Fulcrums.

Personally, I wouldn't trust the Jerusalem Post. They've made a few claims in tha past that have had no basis, such as Iran having purchased 250+ Su-30 Flankers, then it was 100+ J-10s... If these claims had been true, there would have been a more serious consideration of IDF/AF F-22 purchases before now. Maybe an Israeli only Export model, sans sensitive US equipment, but that wouldn't be as issue for Israel since their avionics industry is one of the world leaders. The thing is, even the construction methods and materials are considered to be highly advanced and thus would be vetoed for export. The catch 22 of this situation is that exports means higher numbers of F-22s which means lower unit costs for the aircraft that are built and sold to export customers which in turn mean the USAF could fulfil it's bare minimum 381 aircrft requirement. But it's not going to happen... maybe.

Dammit! I'm a massive fan of Zombie and bought it a couple of weeks ago and haven't had a chance to play it yet. So it's not just humans/reanimated dead? It's monsters as well?? God I hope not! 90% of the time, when someone makes a Zombie game, they've always gotta do something to completely screw it up... Although, there is one that's a free download from Steam that seems pretty cool, although it's TDM only though.

...but even I have to draw the line at making kids cry... well, like this anyways.

Hey, it's Andy's gf. My two cents: Amen! Okay, bye now.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh... Do you actually sleep Veltro?

It's been reapproved. Give it a go now...

Damn... a link to us talking about Russian wild weasel aircraft shows how fun we are. Uhhh... lads, we gotta get out more! Muesli's buying the first round!

I was getting that in Firefox for a bit even though my Java and flash are up to date. I got it to work in Internet Explorer though.

The Vikhr's already available I think. Although, the one in Bunyap's weaps pack is just a dumbfire rocket, not guided. Try the more recent weapons pack releases.

There was definitely a wild weasel model, but I've just seen a webpage saying the opposite, that it was/is being built... Now I'm confused!

No, the Mig 31 was just an interceptor that was adapted to the SEAD role. The Sovs did the same thing with the Mig-25too. If anyone can prove me wrong, be my guest because I'd like to know, but to the best of my knowledge, mud movers like the Su-17/22, Su-25, Su-24, Mig-27 were the primary aircraft tasked with SEAD in the past. I think now the newer generations of multirole aircraft such as the Su-30/34, later generation Mig-29s have much improved SEAD capabilities as they were designed with these tasks in mind. But you're asking if there were specific variants equivalent to the F-16CJ, F-4G, Tornado IDS/ECR, yeah? It was my understanding that the proposed SEAD Mig-31 wasn't built, but the 31BM has a limited HARM firing capacity and can partly fill that role.

Nope. Not yet anyways. Although, it's not too hard to make a placeholder out of a Kfir C2/C7. The Mirage Factory Kfirs have skins that resemble the some of the SAAF Cheetah schemes.

Same here, but not as a rule. I find going toe to toe with the IDF/AF (The REAL IAF are the Indians! ) provides a good challange since the bastards are hard spot, especially with that Romulan-like camo of theirs! In general, I don't so much fly for a nation but for the aircraft I feel like flying at the time, but I do find myself flying in RAAF, IAF, RNZAF, JASDF, FAB, USN, RAF (I dare you to pry me out of the Vulcan! It won't end well for you! ) and VVS colours a lot of the time as well as a few nations I've added. I also do like to fly for the Empire of Paran to put those flithy Dhimari villians in their place for spreading slanderous and vile lies about the beautiful, peace loving Parani people! Warmongers!

The gods are smiling on us here in the Southern Hemisphere, quite literally. Have a looksee at this gallery of something that happened in our skies overnight. http://www.news.com.au/gallery/0,23607,503...07150-1,00.html So, yeah, you Northerner punks better lift your game, because the gods aren't happy with you lot it seems! All jokes aside, did anyone see this? I got home shotly after dusk and thought someone laced my Yiros with acid or something. There was a huge smiley face in the sky! From what I've seen, in the Northern Hemi, the stars could be seen below the moon and from the South, they appeared above.

Ditto. Looking good as always 101TFS team! I'm especially looking forward to the Berkut as well. As for the rest of you guys, simmer down or I'll turn this car around and none of you will get to go to Wally World!!

Yeah, last time I left the country, I was issued with a regulation jar of vegemite and had the choice between taking the Boxing Kangaroo or the Aussie flag. I believe DEFAT issues penalties if Aussies don't wave their national flags like complete nongs at sporting fixtures. Were those snaps from the Russian World Cup Victory? Hockey, that is. I mean, what other sports are worth watching?

FALSE!! I was the only one in my class who didn't make that mistake! The person below me can hit that high F in the song "Loving you"... consistantly.