Stopping China Would Take Two-Thirds Of All US Airpower.
(War Is Boring.)
I think RAND's estimate might actually be on the conservative side. There's a major firewall of information on Chinese actual capabilities and numbers.
Nevertheless, that's a fuckton of airpower needed really fucking soon. In all honesty, I don't think we could deploy that many air wings to the western Pacific if we wanted to. Not enough bases, not enough carriers, not enough time to get them in place before say Taiwan is overrun.
V
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
...but what about the fighters already there with countries already in the region?
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Tom: I tried to find some footage of the SU-25 doing gun runs for you but I couldn't find anything clear including the sound. Maybe my google-foo is too weak or I am not looking at the right alt sources. They however really like to do rocket barrages from them.
Who watches the watchmen?
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
Russians do love their dumbfire rockets when it comes to the whole close air support thing.
Oh really when?
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
I have noticed that. They like them more then bombs. Likely because they give decent stand off in the right conditions.
For you Russian plane fans look up Wings of the Red Star series. It is an older series but covers Russian aircraft.
edited 3rd Oct '15 4:04:51 PM by TuefelHundenIV
Who watches the watchmen?
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
That fits the Russians view on firepower to a T. Even their huge surface to air rockets are volleyed when they are not laser guided.
A aviation writer named Jeffery Ethell flew the Frogfoot alongside some other pilots and it was apparently a reasonably impressive aircraft according to them.
Now if you guys can find the Wings of the Red Star SU-25 some of the Americans say in some ways it is better then the A-10. It is more agile, faster, and more responsive in turns.
edited 3rd Oct '15 4:15:27 PM by TuefelHundenIV
Who watches the watchmen?
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
I always heard that although it lacked the BBBRRRRRRRRTT the Su-25 made up for it by being more agile, carrying all those rocket pods and that it was actually a fair bit tougher than the A-10.
edited 3rd Oct '15 4:23:27 PM by LeGarcon
Oh really when?
Yeah, the A10 is basically a solid brick of titanium with a slot killed out for the Avenger and an ejection seat glued on top.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
The SU-25 has a similar armored cockpit and protected craft set up interestingly. It is certainly a tough little plane. They would carry up to 8 rocket pods, multiple dumb bombs, or cluster bombs.
edited 3rd Oct '15 4:26:54 PM by TuefelHundenIV
Who watches the watchmen?
HA! That ain't true! Tell that to the Ukrainian Su-25s that got slagged by Iglas over Donbass. Hogs have taken Iglas and Strelas before dead on hitting them and stayed flying.
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
Relevant to current discussion. 50 targets destroyed by Russian air power over the past three days.
Source is RT so take it with a bit of salt but it seems like the Russians really are doing a lot of work down there.
Interestingly enough it seems they have a lot of drones in the area designating targets for their proper aircraft.
Oh really when?
The law in the night
If you judge by the footage it looks like "Russia strikes the same target 50 times"
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Tom: What about A-10's shot down by MANPAD's? It is a tough plane and can soak up some punishment but they have been downed by ground fire. In Desert storm one got smacked by a Igla one and two others by a Strela. Both are not exactly big Russian SAM's but managed to knock an A-10 down.
The Frogfoot doesn't have a big brrrt gun but its gun is good enough for most use just like the A-10.
Who watches the watchmen?
rollin' on dubs
Norway Welcomes First F-35, Signals More Purchases Likely
The government of Norway this week welcomed its first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet, in an elaborate ceremony in Texas.
The Sept. 22 event at Lockheed Martin Corp.‘s production facility in Fort Worth drew officials from the Norwegian government, the U.S. Defense Department and the manufacturer, including Norway’s Minister of Defence Ine Eriksen Søreide, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer Frank Kendall and Lockheed CEO Marillyn Hewson.
V
Bombardier seeking investors for all business units - sources
The Montreal-based company has hired investment bankers to look at a variety of financing options, the sources said, including selling aerospace or rail assets in full or in part, forming joint ventures or bringing in private equity investors.One source familiar with the company's thinking said Bombardier hoped to secure some additional source of cash, through the sale of a business unit or another arrangement, perhaps with a Canadian government, before its third-quarter earnings report on Oct. 29.
Two of the sources said Bombardier's board was expected to meet in the next few days, but it was not immediately clear what was on the agenda.
A banking source said the company is not desperate for cash but wants to be proactive and shore up its stock, which has dropped more than 50 percent in the last year as it pushes to bring the new C-Series jet into service, years late and billions over budget.
If Bombardier announces a financing deal in the coming weeks, it may surprise some investors, coming less than a year after the company's last multi-billion dollar cash infusion. In February, Bombardier raised C$1.1 billion in equity and $2.25 billion in debt.
In May, the company said it planned to file late this year to launch an initial public offering for a minority stake in its rail unit, Bombardier Transportation.
Spokeswoman Isabelle Rondeau said on Wednesday that plan had not changed.
"Everything is on the table," said the source familiar with the company's thinking. "They're aggressively looking worldwide for some sort of capital infusion. At the end of the day, they need more cash to keep the C-Series going, because the future of the company depends on that plane."
That's how much a new aircraft costs these days — it can even drive multinationals into financial difficulties. Mind you, it doesn't help that the company also had the Global Express 7000/8000 under development. It might not be able to do both at once.
edited 4th Oct '15 2:19:34 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
Now The F-35 Has Ejection Seat Problem.
Not enough Facepalms in the Universe for how much of a fuck up the F-35 is. It is actively trying to be the worst fighter ever built.
Lead Project Designer and Lead Procurement Guy on the Pigeon are taking money from the Chinese and Russians. It's the only reason why it is so shitty. This isn't just Hanlon's Razor this time.
You mean it's not just them hamstringing it so the operators have to keep paying them money to keep it up to date and functional?
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Or that you lot are still on the hyperbole train. Oh no it excludes a class of very small pilots whatever shall we do. Oh wait there are more then ample number of pilots above that weight limit.
Who watches the watchmen?
The law in the night
Yeah, it isn't like all the other jets had issues with ejecting it occupants one point or another.
The article states quite clearly most of the problems come from the new heavier helmet and this was found during the testing, not thankfully when a lightweight pilot ejected.
Inter arma enim silent leges
V
...and one reason why the ejector seat was invented.
Incidentally, the ejector seat is one part of the international nature of the F-35 project, as Martin-Baker are a British company (and operator of two of the last working Gloster Meteorsnote ).
edited 5th Oct '15 9:03:44 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
Night Clerk of the Apacalypse.
Ejector seats are actually kind of scary. Injury from them is frighteningly common. Many you can't punch out at certain speeds without inflicting injury or death.
Who watches the watchmen?
^ This is not punching out at Mach 2+ from a burning about to disintegrate airframe over the cold ocean.
The flaw is present at slower speeds. As in speeds more reasonable for punching out than balls to the wall supersonic.
Chigwell air crash: Two dead as aircraft bursts into flames
A fire service spokesman said: "On arrival crews reported that the aircraft was 100% alight." Essex Police said the plane was an eight-seater, but there were only two people on board. A police spokesperson said: "We now believe there to have been two people on board the light aircraft which crashed in the field off Gravel Lane in Chigwell. Sadly they both died."
The plane was owned and operated by London Executive Aviation (LEA), who said it had just taken off from nearby Stapleford Airfield and was heading for Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.