Neptunus Lex nails it.
He makes a trench run on F-35 critics with his latest post but instead of me telling you about it, just go over to his house to read it yourself. But to wet your whistle, here's a bit...
In the opening hours of Operation Odyssey Dawn, B-2 bombers flew from their base in the United States to Libya and back to provide the “unique capabilities” necessary to kick down the door for the NATO campaign. What if instead of a twenty hour mission requiring a billion-dollar asset and millions of pounds of jet fuel – you had an aircraft that could do the same mission in twenty minutes from the deck of a ship just off the coast? Whether operating in the denied airspace of an integrated air-defense system or striking fleeting targets in a failed state, the future of tactical aviation is about being readily available and flexible.
I can't help but wonder why the vaunted Typhoon or Rafales couldn't provide those "unique capabilities". ;-)
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ReplyDeletedon't post some backwater blog link here BB1984
ReplyDeleteSorry, just trying to save people some googling.
ReplyDeletePoint remains: first planes over Libya were Rafales and both Rafales and Mirage 2000s over flew before the B-2
no.
ReplyDeletethe B-2's led the way. you're wrong.
Sol, I don't want to start an argument with you, but UK media reported that the French jumped the gun, as it were, and started flying sorties before any other NATO partner over Libya. Do you know where NL got this information from as I haven't seen it reported anywhere else.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rest of his article, it makes sense. The B, despite it's current weight problems, will make a superb Harrier replacement. Should be a lot more survivable than the Harrier too over denied airspace. However, NL is also right in that STVOL drove the entire JSF design which caused big compromises for the USAF and USN.
I think LM has bungled the development, but I'm not sure if 3 separate aircraft, one for RN/US marines, one for USN and one for USAF could have been developed at the same time for less, even if they shared the same engines / avionics and other systems.
fight started.
ReplyDeleteyou're wrong and sorry but i don't care what the publicity grabbing European press, who are only now realizing how impotent their military power really is, tried to glamorize French and UK efforts in this war.
they don't have first day of war capability...you know it and so do i.
if they have such good ISR assets then why is the US providing it?
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ReplyDeleteOk then Sol:
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should clarify: The B2's fired the first shots of Odyssey Dawn, but the Rafale's were over Benghazi early on the 19th March.
Please check the link below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12795971
Admittely, when looking for other links to check this, not much came up, and it appears that Odyssey Dawn started very soon aftrwards. There was an article on Reuters which mentions it in passing:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-libya-misrata-idUSTRE72I3F420110319
but nothing firm.
As for first day of war capability, I agree. It was embarrasing how quickly the RN ran out of tomohawks after the opening few salvos. As for ISR assets, the UK has just gotten rid of the Nimrod R1's which were operating over Libya during the build up. By all accounts their sensor suite was pretty good. Same with the Astor aircraft which is also going to be scrapped. Stupid defense cuts...
the Nimrod R1's suite was superior. i'll give you the nod on the first day of war stuff. still fuzzy in myu mind. i remember reading the debate about first day combat when Apache pilots were claiming it along with F-117 pilots during the first Gulf war.
ReplyDeletethe ASTOR supposedly performed quite well too.
Thanks : ) Don't worry, after my first post I had doubts as to whether I had imagined the Rafale's involvement. As fot ASTOR, from what I've read, it's meant to have a fantastic sensor suite, but it's too heavy for the chosen airframe which severely limits hot and high performance. Since it's such a new system I can't believe that the MoD chose to scrap it as soon as ops in the 'stan end.
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