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Member for

14 years

Posts: 8,850

In other words, he does not bow to the F-35.. :) I got it..
that's whole metric tonnes of sour grapes I am seeing ...

Member for

11 years 7 months

Posts: 3,156

In other words, he does not bow to the F-35.. :) I got it..
that's whole metric tonnes of sour grapes I am seeing ...

No, he is pretty uniformly awful, but everything is about the F-35 for you...

Member for

13 years 5 months

Posts: 9,579

David Axe is the "War is Boring" guy right?

That site is like the bubble gum of defense reporting.

Member for

14 years

Posts: 8,850

No, he is pretty uniformly awful, but everything is about the F-35 for you...

I have spent two mins googling about the guy, he was the one who has brought up the story about the F-35 having been dismantled by an F-16D with the drop tanks.
Well, that explains pretty much everything.. :)

Member for

12 years

Posts: 1,141

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) -- An F-35 fighter jet from the 461st Flight Test Squadron launched an AIM-9X missile for the first time over the Pacific Sea Test Range Jan. 12.

The flight sciences aircraft, AF-1, of the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Test Force, was piloted by David Nelson, the Lockheed Martin chief F-35 test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base.

The AIM-9X is an advanced infrared missile and the newest of the Sidewinder family of short-range air-to-air missiles carried on a wide range of fighter jets.

The missile was launched at 6,000 feet.

The shot paves the way for the F-35 to utilize the weapon's high off-boresight and targeting capabilities, increasing lethality in the visual arena.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii120/Duggy009/a%20and%20a%20two/F-35%20fighter%20jet%20from%20the%20461st%20Flight%20Test%20Squadron%20launched%20an%20AIM-9X%20missile%20for%20the%20first%20time%20over%20the%20Pacific%20Sea%20Test%20Range%20Jan.%2012..jpg

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,814

It’s Russia’s Turn to Learn That Stealth Warplanes Are Hard to Do (excerpt)

Not a great article. for example:

the Russian government is buying heavily upgraded versions of older planes — an approach the Pentagon has dismissed as wasteful.

Why would the American military keep buying new examples of F-15s and F-16s when they can continue to upgrade the the same airframe tyopes already in service - which what they are doing. In fact, the US military are far more adept at keeping older airframe types in service longer than most other countries' military (B-52, A-10, F-15C etc.)

But a competing theory of aerial warfare argues that stealth is overrated — and it’s better to buy greater numbers of cheaper, non-stealthy planes.

A competing theory advocated by who? Certainly not by any highly professional, well trained or experienced air force/air arm that I'm aware of?

Member for

12 years 3 months

Posts: 5,905

Lockheed Martin will not bid in Canada's FWSAR competition

“After following an extensive and thorough analysis of the RFP’s requirements, we decided to not submit a formal response to Canada’s FWSAR RFP. We remain fully committed to supporting the RCAF and its CC-130J fleet as it continues to perform the tactical transport role in Canada for decades to come.”

(Defense Daily):

Lockheed Martin’s lack of participation in the competition is said to have been in reaction to the saga revolving around Canada’s recent backing out of the F-35 program to launch a new procurement competition.

Source:
DefenseDaily.com
ottawacitizen.com/

Member for

14 years

Posts: 8,850

A competing theory advocated by who? Certainly not by any highly professional, well trained or experienced air force/air arm that I'm aware of?
Swedish AF is not professional? Luftwaffe is not experienced? French AF is not well trained?

Member for

10 years 4 months

Posts: 269

French AF is not well trained?

I hope it's ironic.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,814

Swedish AF is not professional? Luftwaffe is not experienced? French AF is not well trained?

Never said they weren't. Have these countries already examined - and rejected - stealth technologies in their combat aircraft? Have they already decided that the future replacement of the Rafale, Gripen and Typhoon will forego any stealth technologies? You do realise that these countries are developing stealth LO aircraft for eventual service in the near future - Barracuda, Nuron UAVs?

Member for

11 years 7 months

Posts: 3,156

Never said they weren't. Have these countries already examined - and rejected - stealth technologies in their combat aircraft? Have they already decided that the future replacement of the Rafale, Gripen and Typhoon will forego any stealth technologies? You do realise that these countries are developing stealth LO aircraft for eventual service in the near future - Barracuda, Nuron UAVs?

Exactly, fanboys are desperate to portray things as two different competing philosophies of air combat... stealth/5th generation fighters versus 4th generation fighters.

That is like saying that while -some- forces are embracing 4th generation fighters, others continue to prefer 3rd generation jets!

At this point essentially every clean slate design for a tactical military aircraft places a major emphasis on stealth. Stealth can't be retrofitted to older designs, so those older designs that remain in production lack it, but the day of 4th generation jets is ending.

Member for

18 years 1 month

Posts: 2,814


At this point essentially every clean slate design for a tactical military aircraft places a major emphasis on stealth. Stealth can't be retrofitted to older designs, so those older designs that remain in production lack it, but the day of 4th generation jets is ending.

Exactly: Found this video on a potential successor to the French AF Rafale - maybe even RAF Typhoon?

Member for

14 years

Posts: 8,850

Never said they weren't. Have these countries already examined - and rejected - stealth technologies in their combat aircraft? Have they already decided that the future replacement of the Rafale, Gripen and Typhoon will forego any stealth technologies? You do realise that these countries are developing stealth LO aircraft for eventual service in the near future - Barracuda, Nuron UAVs?

Yes, they have. All those forces have opted for a non-stealthy fleet for the next ~ two decades.. Of course with the promise to introduce LO/VLO once it becomes affordable.. You can't take stealth as face value without accouting for the cost involved. Whenever I am offered stealth for free I go for it, why wouldn't I? But whenever I am offered to buy and operate 30 F-35s for a price of 80 Gripens (lifetime cost), I say no, thanks... Easy as that..

Member for

14 years

Posts: 8,850

Exactly, fanboys are desperate to portray things as two different competing philosophies of air combat... stealth/5th generation fighters versus 4th generation fighters.

That is like saying that while -some- forces are embracing 4th generation fighters, others continue to prefer 3rd generation jets!

At this point essentially every clean slate design for a tactical military aircraft places a major emphasis on stealth. Stealth can't be retrofitted to older designs, so those older designs that remain in production lack it, but the day of 4th generation jets is ending.

The day of so called 5th gen is also ending before it has even started. The future of aerial combat is in large numbers of affordable and disposable UCAVs.. Planes like F-35, T-50 or J-20 are just intermediate steps from classic jets to these designs.. the rather focused emphasis on "stealth" features slapped on like airframe with lower RCS or discreet datalinks is not compensated by rather ridiculous achievements in suppression in IR or UV (even visible) spectrum.. An aircraft which is perfectly observable in any other spectrum than X-band is definitely not stealth, in my eyes, it's just an intermediate step enjoying its fifteen mins of glory until the countermeasures have caught up.

I personally think that the decision of Euro nations to skip this (rather costly) gen was a sensible one..

Member for

11 years 7 months

Posts: 3,156

Yes, they have. All those forces have opted for a non-stealthy fleet for the next ~ two decades.. Of course with the promise to introduce LO/VLO once it becomes affordable.. You can't take stealth as face value without accouting for the cost involved. Whenever I am offered stealth for free I go for it, why wouldn't I? But whenever I am offered to buy and operate 30 F-35s for a price of 80 Gripens (lifetime cost), I say no, thanks... Easy as that..

Which is like saying that buyers of the F-4 in the early 70s "opted for" a 3rd generation jet over a 4th generation jet for the next two decades.

Jets last a long time and nobody is going to just junk a newly purchased plane just because something better came out.

The Eurocanards are a product of the 1980s and as such no stealth design was available. Their production is winding down as 5th generation production is building steam. This is totally normal and to be expected as newer designs supplant older ones. The last buyers of 4th generation jets will no doubt continue to operate them for years to come, but 5th generation designs are taking over.

(..and if I were given the choice to operate 50 F-35As or 20 Gripens, lifetime costs, I would say no thanks... see how easy it is to make up numbers? )

Member for

11 years 7 months

Posts: 3,156

The day of so called 5th gen is also ending before it has even started.

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The future of aerial combat is in large numbers of affordable and disposable UCAVs..

Says who? You? :rolleyes: Why not post a picture of one of these new disposable UCAVs?

I personally think that the decision of Euro nations to skip this (rather costly) gen was a sensible one..

Those grapes were probably sour anyway...

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Member for

11 years 7 months

Posts: 3,156

WASHINGTON and DUBAI — Two powerful US senators have begun raising questions over why US fighter jet deals with Qatar and Kuwait have been delayed for two years — and placing blame for the delays on the Obama White House.

Qatar’s request for the F-15E Strike Eagle and Kuwait’s request for the F-18E/F Super Hornet are two years old. According to a congressional source, the Defense Department and State Department both support the sales, while the White House has put on the brakes.

...

That same day, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker attended a briefing on the matter and said he expected the White House to make a decision in the next month or two, then seek Congressional approval.

According to Corker, Qatar is seeking 73 jets, 36 in the first tranche, a buy that would take 42 months to be delivered.

"It's been open for two years, it's been rather unusual," Corker said. "Personally I'd like to see it move along."

A leading Democrat on the SASC Airland subcommittee, Sen. Claire McCaskill, said she was sure the fighter jet sales in question would go through. McCaskill hails from Missouri, home to Boeing’s US headquarters. Boeing would be the prime contractor for both orders, giving much needed work to the company’s St. Louis facility.

“I don’t think anybody is going to criticize anyone for being careful about who we sell weaponry to at this point — with the world such as it is, especially in that part of the world,” McCaskill told Defense News.

...

The pressure from lawmakers could not come too soon for Kuwait’s Air Force, which is sticking to plans to purchase 28 Boeing F/A-18E/F fighter jets, a deal valued at around $3 billion. US industry executives and military officials have reportedly grown concerned about delays.

"The lengthy US bureaucratic process is really not serving anyone’s interests,” said Abdullah al-Shayji of Kuwait University, also a lecturer at the Mubarak Al-Abdullah Joint Staff Command College. “Kuwait is fighting in two wars, one in Yemen and another against ISIS. The State Department, Pentagon and the White House need to expedite these sales.”

Support for the F-18 remains strong in Kuwait, which is good news for Boeing.

"The Super Hornet is one of the best solutions for us," Abdullah al-Foudary, commander of the Kuwait Air Force, told Reuters Jan. 21. "We have the legacy F-18s that we have to find a solution for in 2030-2040."

http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/air-space/2016/01/22/senators-begin-push-jet-sales-kuwait-qatar/79109014/

Sounds like Boeing has a huge order from Qatar and a smaller order from Kuwait on the way assuming Obama can make up his mind. (giant assumption obviously)