Re: Best CAS in 1970

OP forgot the A-7.

I concur with 'mechatnew'. The A-7 Corsair II was probably the best CAS platform in 1970. Great avionics as well and the first American combat aircraft to have a HUD which gave it excellent accuracy.

Re: Belgian F-16 Replacement RFI To Be Issued Soon

Maybe the real question that should be asked is does Belgium even need an air combat force? What’s the point if they need to get involved in air combat the shit has really hit the fan and whatever the have isn’t going to make much difference. And who would they be policing if air policing is a requ...

Re: Belgian F-16 Replacement RFI To Be Issued Soon

NZ has nothing to do with this and isn't relevant to the topic. I mentioned NZ since it is the only case in recent memory where a Western country axed its air combat capability entirely so yes, it was relevant in the context of this discussion. There are several NATO countries without a combat airf...

Re: Belgian F-16 Replacement RFI To Be Issued Soon

Maybe the real question that should be asked is does Belgium even need an air combat force? What’s the point if they need to get involved in air combat the shit has really hit the fan and whatever the have isn’t going to make much difference. And who would they be policing if air policing is a requ...

Re: Belgian F-16 Replacement RFI To Be Issued Soon

How old are the Belgian F-16's now ? The issue of the life extension is that there is not a lot of confidence in conducting a SLEP of F-16 Blk 15s or earlier and recent F-16 SLEP discussion has previously centred on C/D models. The MLU upgrade that occurred to A model Blk 15 and earlier already rai...

Re: Dutch government BBJ roll out.

Smart-looking scheme.

Re: Volga-Dnepr to withdraw from An-124 freighter contract for EU and NATO

Aesma wrote:

I didn't talk about USAF bases, just US bases. According to my quick search there are 100 000 US servicemen in Europe.

Re: Volga-Dnepr to withdraw from An-124 freighter contract for EU and NATO

Few units stationned with no heavy tanks or IFVs at their disposal (only Stryker wheeled APCs) and a limited number of artillery and attack helicopters. It is almost a token force nowadays... They have tanks, APCs and SPGs in the Netherlands, and the Marines have thousands of vehicles in Norway, se...

Re: Volga-Dnepr to withdraw from An-124 freighter contract for EU and NATO

Yes I do. In fact I started counting them and stopped because there were too many. Really? Count again. The USAF has only five (soon four) major bases in Europe nowadays: RAF Lakenheath RAF Mildenhall (due to close in 2023) Spangdahlem AB Ramstein AB Aviano AB Only three of those bases host combat ...

Re: ‘Sad ending’

I mean I can see for some people why it is a sad ending even though I would tell them they probably should have another drink and relax. But the fact is, well, the 747 has an aesthetic elegance and also a romantic, glamorous feel. I guess that's part of cultural association since many associate the...

Re: Volga-Dnepr to withdraw from An-124 freighter contract for EU and NATO

I was reading this recent French article on the subject of French/European reliance on An-124s for heavy airlift and this interesting piece of information caught my eye: According to our information, the European Defense Agency has studied the scenario of an acquisition of C-5 Galaxy, aircraft with ...

Re: Rafale Scam set to explode in India! Deal in trouble?

If India wants the best bang for their buck they should scrap the Dassault deal and buy the Mig-35. The Navy already operates the carrier capable variant so they already have some first hand experience of how good the aircraft is. Indian Navy is unhappy with its MiG-29Ks last i heard. They have poo...

Re: Canada may cancel F18 deal

Why doesnt Canada simply re-activate some its surplus Hornets instead of looking for second-hand examples abroad? Canada originally acquired 138 CF-18s. 77 are currently in active service while another 20 or so were lost through attrition. This should leave around 40 examples lying somewhere. What h...

Re: Belgian F-16 Replacement RFI To Be Issued Soon

SAS A340 wrote:

Still in the race for the contract are the French Rafale, European Eurofighter and the U.S. Super Hornet.

Re: Canada may cancel F18 deal

Incorrect. The Rafale's sensor fusion system is well regarded and is actually one of the aircraft's greatest strengths... The Rafale's 'sensor fusion' is dramatically inferior to the F-35's implementation. Love how you went from the "Rafale lacks sensor fusion" to the "Rafale's senso...

Re: Canada may cancel F18 deal

The Rafale is inferior to the F-35 in many respects; the radar is inferior, it lacks sensor fusion capabilities Incorrect. The Rafale's sensor fusion system is well regarded and is actually one of the aircraft's greatest strengths... the Thales Damocles targeting pod is dramatically inferior to the...

Re: Bloomberg: "Boeing to Dismiss Hundreds of Engineers Amid Sales Slowdown"

And Europe has an economy that grows at about 1% per year. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy typically grows at 2-3% per year. That apparently minor difference produces an incredibly different outcome over the course of an employee's career. The U.S. economy will literally double over the course of an em...

Re: Official: Dutch government buys a 737BBJ as Fokker 70 replacement

Will the BBJ be operated by the RNLAF on behalf of the Dutch government?

Re: Boeing’s Latest Advanced Super Hornet Pitch

Talk about putting lipstick on a pig...

Re: Gripen jet crash during air show.

RIP

First fatal accident involving a Gripen.

Stickers wrote:

Strange accident. I haven't found any real info on the crash, but it seems quite odd. I wonder what could have caused that sort of accident and prohibited an ejection. RIP

Re: France orders 17x Pilatus PC-21s

From what i heard, only the non-upgraded Alpha Jets will be replaced by the PC-21s. The Alpha Jets that went through an avionics upgrade in the early 2010s will remain in service for another ten years or more until probably replaced by an advanced jet trainer in the M346 class. This order puzzels me...

Re: Brussels Airlines, Business Class - Airbus A 320: London Heathrow to Brussels.

I am on my way back home after spending the weekend in London. to be honest, I am not really quite sure why, but for some reason I figured it might be a good idea to give Brussels Airlines a try. In hindsight, it wasn't really worth it. While there is nothing obviously wrong with Brussels Airlines,...