>>14172
The Storm Shadow is a British, French & Italian air-launched cruise missile developed by MBDA. This long-range air-launched and conventionally-armed missile equips RAF Tornado GR4 squadrons and saw operational service in 2003 with 617 Squadron during combat in Iraq, prior to entering full service in 2004. Post deployment analysis demonstrated the missile's exceptional accuracy, and the effect on targets was described as devastating. Based on this performance, it is arguably the most advanced weapon of its kind in the world.Feasibility studies on a possible UK requirement for a Long Range Stand- Off Missile were originally commissioned in 1982, and work was eventually subsumed in 1986 into the NATO seven-nation Modular Stand- Off Weapon programme. This project was however aborted, and the UK subsequently withdrew. With the end of the Cold War the UK’s continued need for a stand-off requirement was reviewed and endorsed as part of the ‘Options for Change’ exercise. An international competition was launched in 1994 to meet the UK’s Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile (CASOM) requirement, and seven companies responded.

111 Squadron Tornado F3 from RAF Leuchars patrolled the skies at Kecskemet Air Base, Hungary during Ex Dragons Nest 2005. The aircraft was being transferred from 43 Squadron, and was still showing the squadrons markings.

The exercise was aimed at further developing the relationship between the Hungarian Air Force and the RAF, as part of the UK's overall defence diplomacy initiative.

A Typhoon F2 fighter aircraft (top) from 11 Squadron, RAF Coningsby in close formation with a Tornado F3 aircraft formerly from the same Squadron.

Tornados first flew with this historic Squadron in 1988. In Oct 2005 the Squadron was disbanded but reformed again at RAF Coningsby on 29 Mar 07 as the RAF's second frontline Typhoon squadron. As the multi-role lead squadron, it spearheads the development of Typhoon’s air-to-surface capability, which was ready for deployed operations by the summer of 2008.

Image of a 15 Squadron Tornado GR4, seen here with training munitions attached.

A Tornado GR4 aircraft with 617 Squadron based at RAF Lossiemouth is pictured fitted with the Storm Shadow cruise missile directly under the fuselage.

This long-range air-launched and conventionally-armed missile equips RAF Tornado GR4 squadrons and saw operational service in 2003 with 617 Squadron during combat in Iraq, prior to entering full service in 2004. Post deployment analysis demonstrated the missile's exceptional accuracy, and the effect on targets was described as devastating. Based on this performance, it is arguably the most advanced weapon of its kind in the world.

Feasibility studies on a possible UK requirement for a Long Range Stand- Off Missile were originally commissioned in 1982, and work was eventually subsumed in 1986 into the NATO seven-nation Modular Stand- Off Weapon programme. This project was however aborted, and the UK subsequently withdrew. With the end of the Cold War the UK’s continued need for a stand-off requirement was reviewed and endorsed as part of the ‘Options for Change’ exercise. An international competition was launched in 1994 to meet the UK’s Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile (CASOM) requirement, and seven companies responded.
http://www.defenceimagery.mod.uk/fotoweb/

So are we posting european shit?

There were a couple reports earlier this month that Saab and Boeing were going to propose the JAS 39F for the T-X program to replace the T-38. Boeing and Saab later denied this.

You know what fighter I'm really starting to like? The KAI FA-50, developed from the T-50 trainer and is going to replace South Korea's F-5 fleet. The Korean version has an Elta EL/M-2032 pulse-Doppler radar but can be ordered with a variant of the AN/APG-79 AESA radar or Lockheed Martin's SABR, which is an AESA radar being developed to replace the radars on USAF F-16s.

They look like tiny F-16s.

Here's a throwback A-4 for ya. I've always liked these aggressor paint schemes.

Gettin' invaded by fake commies.

Step up, BLUFOR.

Requesting Century Series and Anything French!

>>14197
French Leduc Model 0.22, 1956 experimental ramjet Mach 2 interceptor, could take off normally or off the back of a modified transport aircraft.
The Leducs just could make it to supersonic speeds because of the drag of the fuselage, even though it had a minimum canopy where the pilot laid back to operate it.

French Leduc Model 0.21 1953 experimental ramjet interceptor, pre-launch.

French experimental aircraft Leduc 022 (Musée de l'air et de l'espace, Le Bourget, France)

The Leduc 0.22 was the prototype of a Mach 2 fighter built in France in 1956.

It was the first attempt at a practical application of the ramjet technology that had been developed in the 0.10 and 0.21 research aircraft over the previous years. Unlike all previous Leduc aircraft, it featured swept wings and a coaxial turbojet-ramjet powerplant to enable unassisted operation.

First flown on 26 December 1956 on turbojet power alone, the ramjet was finally fired on the 34th flight, on 18 May 1957. Another 80 flights took place before the cancellation of the project in favour of the more conventional Dassault Mirage III. A second prototype was under construction at the time.

Although intended to be a supersonic fighter, the 0.22 proved unable to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1) because of the prohibitive drag induced by its non-area-ruled fuselage at near-sonic speeds. The cancellation of the project marked the end of René Leduc's aircraft development activities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leduc_0.22

The Leduc 0.10 was a research aircraft built in France, one of the world's first aircraft to fly powered solely by a ramjet.

Designed by René Leduc in 1938, it was built at the Breguet Aviation factory after a protracted, semi-secret construction phase kept at arm's length from German occupation authorities, and was finally completed in 1947. The aircraft featured a double-walled fuselage, with the pilot controlling the aircraft from within the inner shell. The circular gap between this and the outer, cylindrical shell provided the inlet for the ramjet.

It could not take off unassisted (ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill) and was therefore intended to be carried aloft by a Sud-Est Languedoc mothership and released at altitude. Following test flights of the Languedoc/0.10 composite, independent unpowered tests began on 21 October 1947. After three such flights, the first powered flight was made on 21 April 1949 over Blagnac at the hands of Jean Gonord. Released in a shallow dive at an altitude of 4,000 m (13,000 ft), the engine was tested at half power for twelve minutes, propelling the aircraft to 680 km/h (420 mph).

In subsequent tests, the 0.10 reached a top speed of Mach 0.85 and demonstrated the viability of the ramjet as an aviation powerplant, with a rate of climb that exceeded that of the best jet fighters of the time—39.6 m/s (7,800 ft/min).

Of the two 0.10s originally built, one was destroyed in a crash in 1951 and the other severely damaged in another crash the following year. Both pilots survived with serious injuries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leduc_experimental_aircraft

French experimental aircraft Leduc 010 with aerial launcher (Musée de l'air et de l'espace, Le Bourget, France).

Looks like a Romulan attack shuttle.

French experimental ramjet aircraft Leduc 016 (1947), Museum of Air and Space Paris, Le Bourget (France).

In addition to these, a third aircraft was built, designated 0.16. Generally similar to the 0.10, it featured a Turbomeca Marbore I turbojet on each wingtip, to provide better control during landings. This first flew on 8 February 1951, but was converted back to 0.10 standards a few months later after the powerplant synchronization and wing deflection issues caused by the turbojets proved insurmountable. The engines were replaced by inert mass balances. This aircraft is preserved at Le Bourget.

French Nord 1500 Griffon II Mach 2.19 ramjet powered prototype, 1958.

The Nord 1500 Griffon was an experimental ramjet-powered fighter aircraft designed and built in the mid-1950s by French state-owned aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation. It was part of a series of competing programs to fill a French air force specification for a Mach 2 fighter.

Design of the Griffon originated in a late 1940s requirement for a high speed interceptor. Engineers at Arsenal de l'Aéronautique instigated studies into swept and delta wings using supersonic gliders, the Arsenal 1301 and Arsenal 2301. Results from these flight tests favoured the delta configuration, which was incorporated into design studies using a variety of power-plants. By this time Arsenal had been privatised as SFECMAS - Société Française d'Etude et de Construction de Matériel Aéronautiques Spéciaux. Powered by a large ramjet with turbojet sustainer, the Griffon was renamed from the SFECMAS 1500 Guépard (Cheetah) after SFECMAS was merged with SNCAN to form Nord Aviation.

Two prototypes were ordered initially in a letter dated 24 August 1953, with the final contract, (No. 2003/55) in 1955. Although intended to eventually fulfil a requirement for a light interceptor capable of operation from 1,000m grass runways, the two prototypes were ordered without military equipment for research purposes only.

Constructed mainly of light alloys, the Griffon comprised a large tubular fuselage which supported the middle set delta wings, fin with rudder and the forward fuselage, which extended forwards over the turbo-ramjet air intake. The forward fuselage housed the single seat cockpit and carried small delta canards either side of the cockpit. The tricycle undercarriage retracted into the wings and the underside of the air intake.

The design of the Griffon featured a dual turbojet-ramjet powerplant, with the turbojet enabling unassisted take-offs (ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill) and the ramjet producing extra thrust at airspeeds above 1,000 km/h (600 mph). To reduce risks in using the relatively new Turbo-ramjet powerplant, the first Griffon (Nord 1500-01 Griffon I) was completed with only the 3,800 kgf thrust ATAR 101F turbojet component. First flown by Andre Turcat on 20 September 1955, the Griffon I proved to be underpowered but plans to install the planned ramjet component were never realised. Despite the lack of power the Griffon I still managed to reach M1.7. Flying with the Griffon I ceased in April 1957 in favour of the ramjet equipped Griffon II. Visible differences between the two aircraft were limited to the smaller intake and two position exhaust nozzle of the Griffon I.

After proving the aerodynamic aspects and systems of the Griffon, the 1500-01 was retired in April 1957. Flying continued with the Griffon II after its first flight on 23 January 1957. With Major André Turcat at the controls, the Griffon II reached a top speed of Mach 2.19 (2,330 km/h or 1,450 mph) in 1958, thus proving the soundness of the basic design. But the aircraft met several technical difficulties, such as kinetic heating, due to the lack of temperature resistant materials, such as Inconel or Titanium, in the parts of the airframe experiencing the highest temperatures. The ramjet was found to work well at high speed, but was unstable at medium speeds.

Production of operational versions, dubbed Super Griffon did not take place as it was found that the requirements could be met and exceeded with less complex and cheaper aircraft such as the Dassault Mirage III. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_1500_Griffon

Ramjet-powered fighter aircraft Nord 1500 Griffon II prototype (1957), Museum of Air and Space Paris, Le Bourget (France)
Nord 1500 Griffon II

>>14201
>pilot inside the spike inlet

>>14208
French Leduc Model 0.21 1953 experimental ramjet interceptor, cutaway.

And here's the "improved" Leduc Model 0.22 of 1956.

Leduc 0.22 dat ass

French experimental aircraft Leduc 022 (Musée de l'air et de l'espace, Le Bourget, France)

A piloted ramjet, first flown in powered flight on April 21st 1949. As a ramjet needs forward speed to operate, it was carried aloft by a Sud-Est Languedoc mothership and released at altitude. In flight testing, it reached speeds as high as M=.85. On display in the Musee de l'Air et de l'Espace. Of the two names on the aircraft, Rene Lorin was the inventor of the ramjet and Jean Villey published the detailed theory of the ramjet. http://www.airliners.net/photo/Leduc-010/1492573/L/

>>14221
That thing is sweet!

FUCK THIS THREAD, MAVERICK CAN'T HOVER.

FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU
FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU

BITCH

NICE JETS YOU HAVE THERE, IT WOULD BE A SHAME IF SOMEBODY WAS TO MASK BEHIND TERAIN AT 25FT AGL AND SIDEWINDER YOUR ASS

FU

FU

FU

FU

>>14300
You are correct. The Maverick missile cannot hover. But she does fly at 1,150 kilometers per hour (620 kn) while the Bell AH-1Z Viper (aka Zulu Cobra) is agonizingly slow with a maximum speed of 222 knots (255 mph, 411 km/h) in a dive. So yeah, you can fly nap-of-the-earth, but airbase perimeter defenses can hear you coming from miles out.

- US Northrop F-20 Tigershark in flight firing a Maverick missile.

>>14303
Dude the quad rotor is way quieter, especially in a turn.

If you're over 100agl enroute to a strike you're wrong, the first thing your target should hear in a SEAD situation is the sizzling freedom of a 114 off the rack.

>>14303
Be wary of easy helicopter kills, oh ye mighty fighter jock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-CATCH

>>14330
There are still some places helos learn A2A maneuvering.

Out in the flat desert helos might have a bad day, but if there's terrain it's not at all a one sided match, especially all the helo is trying to do is get away.

Given the high powered attack helos now mounting sidewinders, including the zulu that loses none of its primary load in doing so, things could get interesting very quick.

In February of 1977, in a well-meaning but ultimately futile gesture, President Jimmy Carter announced a new arms transfer policy in an attempt to reduce arms proliferation throughout the world. Under this policy, American manufacturers could no longer sell to foreign air forces any combat aircraft that were the equal of those in the US inventory.

There were significant exceptions to this rule, e.g. the four NATO users of the F-16 and, as a special exception, the nation of Israel. Exceptions were also made for arms deliveries to Iran so that the Shah could continue to act as a bulwark against Soviet expansion in the Persian Gulf region.

At first, South Korea's request for F-16s was turned down under this new rule, but was later approved as a quid pro quo for pending US troop withdrawals from Korea. However, nations such as Jordan, Taiwan, and Venezuela were denied access to the F-16. To cater for the 'embargoed' air forces, the FX Export Fighter Program was proposed, calling for an aircraft satisfying the following criteria:

-Performance, cost & capabilities should be between those of the F-5E and F-16A
-Multirole design (but optimized for the air-to-air role) and deliberately limited strike capabilities
-Payload/range performance had to be substantially inferior to that of contemporary fighters in the US inventory
-Deployment and maintenance had to be easier.

Finally, the design was to be such tat it was not easily upgradable without US help or permission. The DOD had no intent to sponsor the program, so the development of the FX Export Fighter depended entirely on the will of companies to take the financial risk.

Because of the high financial risk involved with the FX program, only two proposals were ultimately submitted: Northrop entered the F-5G/F-20, while General Dynamics teamed with General Electric to produce a less-capable export version of the Fighting Falcon, powered by a derivative of the J79 single-shaft turbojet. This project was announced by General Dynamics in November of 1979.

Although the J79 production in the states came to an end in 1979 (13,686 engines built) and the license production in Japan ceased the following year (while production in Israel still continued for use in the Kfir), the GE engine was the obvious choice to power a low-cost, easy-to-maintain export fighter. Used to power the B-58 Hustler, the F-104 Starfighter and the F-4 Phantom, the latter two were already in widespread service with large numbers of foreign air arms.

GE made some changes to the original design for use in the F-16/79 and designated it the J79-GE-17X. Obviously, the shape of the engine had to be altered to fit in the F-16s engine bay, furthermore a new feature was added to the engine, called Combat Plus (originally intended to boost the F-4 performance). When engaged by the pilot , Combat+ increases momentarily the fuel flow to the engine, in the mean time closing the engine nozzle slightly. This results in a net increase of the exhaust gas temperature by 100°F (56°C), producing a useful amount of extra thrust.

Even with Combat Plus, performance of this new version of the J79 was significantly inferior to the F100, and Combat Plus could only be used for short periods of time when specific operating conditions were met: the engine had to be running in full AB, compressor inlet temperature should not exceed 15°F (-9°C) and certain combinations of high speed / low altitude would result in excessive internal pressure build-up (due to high airflow involved) and would place extremely high strain on the engine casing. Combat Plus was eventually fitted to Israeli Kfir C-7 aircraft, which were powered by a J79 variant.

The main drawback of the uprated J79-GE-17X, however, is its military power fuel consumption, which is far higher than that of the F100. This was not considered to be a mission-critical factor, as the FX requirement restrained the range of the export fighter (limited strike capability). Another modification was the mating of the engine to the fuselage-mounted gearbox in the F-16, driving generators and hydraulically pumps. This problem was solved by adding a transfer gearbox to the powerplant.

A total of 3 development engines were built, the first being used for 60 hours of Preliminary Flight Rating Tests, running for 5 hours under simulated Mach 2.0 conditions. The two others were supplied to GD, where one of them was installed as the J79-GE-119 in F-16B serial number #75-0752 (acquired form the USAF in June 1980), one of the two original FSD F-16B aircraft.

Since the J79 engine required a lower airflow than did the F100 turbofan used on all production F-16A/B's, the shape of the air intake was altered. Only external difference between the original, modular designed (and thus easily replaceable) intake section and the new one is the lengthened upper surface of the intake, which extends much further forward, making it an obvious recognition feature. As the J79 engine was also 18 inches (46 cm) longer than the F100, the rear fuselage had to be extended.

In order to limit the required changes to a minimum, the front face of the engine compressor was located at almost the exact same position as with the F100 resulting in a lengthening of the fuselage by 18 inches aft of the stabilator pivot point.

Internally, the new intake incorporated a fixed compression ramp in its roof, and, because the J79 turbojet ran a lot hotter than the F100, a bypass valve was added to supply the engine bay with a cold air flow. As an additional protection measure against the extra heat, a steel shield weighing almost 2,000lbs (900kg) had to be installed around most of the length of the new engine. The aircraft came to be known as the F-16/79.

It was projected that the F-16/79 would have a unit cost of a million dollars less than that of a standard F-16A, the unit flyaway cost being about $8 million in 1980 prices. The total program cost (development, construction & flight testing) was split between GD and GE, and amounted to an estimated $18 million.

The minimal modifications necessary to convert an F-16A to an F-16/79 ensured its assembly could easily be fitted in the Fort Worth production line, and no new fatigue or structural testing was needed. These factors resulted in a fast completion of the conversion task, and the F-16/79 first flew on October 29th, 1980 with company test pilot James A. McKinney at the controls.

The J79-powered F-16 was initially offered to Venezuela as a substitute for the F-16A/B's that had originally been ordered. An evaluation team from Venezuela flew the F-16/79 in February of 1981. It was considered by as many as 20 other air arms, and briefings on the F16/79 were given to Austria, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

By June of the following year, a total of 122 flying hours, spread over 131 flights, was accumulated and the F-16/79 had proven to be a reasonable performer, achieving a top speed of Mach 2.0, max. altitudes of 50k feet, and demonstrating 9g maneuvers. After 9 months of testing, a total of 28 pilots had evaluated the aircraft. The future of the F-16/79 looked promising, and looked even better when the formal DOD policy on the FX Export Fighter was spelled out in a letter from Deputy Defense Secretary Carlucci to Air Force Secretary Verne Orr and Navy Secretary John Lehman:

"There are several friends and allies that are now, or soon will be, engaged in the process of modernizing their respective tactical air forces. Only a few can afford first-line fighters, and because of fiscal and other restraints it is important that the United States has alternatives to front-line aircraft available for export. (...) The alternative is the FX either as a stand-alone capability or as an element of lo/hi mix. It is clearly in the US national security interest to have our friends and allies equipped with systems that will still be military capable in the late 1980's and into the 1990's. (...) For this reason, we must selectively, but actively, encourage the foreign procurement of the FX, not leave this marketing effort just to the manufacturers. Wherever possible and appropriate, your departments will encourage representatives of foreign governments and defense establishments to include the FX in their aircraft modernization plans.".

However, most air arms were less than enthusiastic about the F-16/79. Not only was the F-16/79 less powerful than the standard F-16A/B, it was also significantly heavier because of the additional thermal shielding that had to be carried. This made the performance of the F-16/79 distinctly inferior to that of the F-16A/B.

The F-16/79 was attractive to other air arms only so long as politics and funding prevented them from purchasing the F100-powered F-16A/B. In 1980, President Carter relaxed his policy and allowed the delivery of some export F-16A/Bs to proceed, and the election of President Ronald Reagan later that year ensured that most foreign customers would have no problem in purchasing the F-16A/B provided they could come up with the cash. Consequently, no F-16/79s were sold.
Specifications

Engine: One General Electric J79-GE-17X turbojet, 18,000 pounds with afterburning.

Maximum speed: Mach 2.0 at 40,000 feet.

Dimensions: wingspan 32 feet 8 inches, length 49 feet 5 inches, height 16 feet 4 inches, wing area 300 square feet.

Weight: 17,042 pounds empty, 25,646 pounds gross, 37,500 pounds maximum takeoff.

http://www.f-16.net/f-16_versions_article12.html

>>14333

>...in a well-meaning but ultimately futile gesture, President Jimmy Carter announced a new arms transfer policy...
>well-meaning but ultimately futile

Yeeeah, is it just me, or is that pretty much the story of Jimmy Peanut's entire life?

Zarconian Macross the F-4 Phantom will be carried on to our empire and a variant made that has alien technology from Zarconian technology.We will have a brand new F-4 that will combiner to pilot and be complicated with electronics throughout the design.It will be like a complicated module space fighter with space weapons missiles,payload and rockets.It will have its mm cannon to a laser mm cannon.It will have 3d tracking systems and many more alien upgraded instruments that make F-4.It will be more advanced than Ghost fighter.Play a role of having its weapons packs and commands to completed its missions and have delivery of its weapons and effectiveness in action.It will be on SDF-1.Bases and space carriers as a spacefighter design.

>>14454
Continuous rod warhead test?

Nothing says "fun times" like a flying ring-shaped wire guillotine.

>>14455
>>14454
never mind, my bad it's a self-destruct system for F-16 target drones.

>>14453
Northrop F-89 "Scorpion", Convair F-106 "Delta Dart", North American F-86D "Sabre", McDonnell F-101 "Voodoo", Convair F-102 "Delta Dagger" and Lockheed F-104 "Starfighter".

- Convair F-106A Delta Dart of the 5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron

A QF-106 Delta Dart shows its area ruled fuselage to achieve supersonic speed in level flight.

Contributin'.

mmph

Ukrainian Air Force Su-27UB in July 2011

Su-27 of the Russian Knights aerobatic team

Sukhoi Su-27P fighter of the Russian Knights aerobatics team, 2010.

"The Big Nine" - flight groups "Russian Knights" and "Strizhi" (the international aerospace salon MAKS-2007)

Swifts (Strizhi), a Russian aerobatic performance demonstrator team.
Appear to be flying MiG-29UB Fulcrum jets.

If only all of Russia's aircraft look that good. Their operational units are... a little dilapidated.

An Antonov An-124-100 (RA-82028) of 224th Flight Unit in flight with 2 Sukhoi Su-27s of the Falcons of Russia aerobatic team, as part of the flyover contingent for the 2010 Moscow Victory Day Parade.

Another interesting F-16


>n the late eighties, the Advanced Fighter Technology Integration (AFTI) F-16 testbed (formerly the 6th FDS aircraft) was fitted with a dorsal spine, wing-root mounted Lantirn-style pods, and FLIR turrets on the nose. It was also upgraded with an F-16C block 25 wing and with block 40 F-16C features such as APG-68 radar and a LANTIRN interface. It was used as a CAS testbed in support of the proposed A-16, testing low-level battlefield interdiction techniques such as automatic target handoff-systems. This program lasted untill January of 1992.

http://www.f-16.net/g3/f-16-photos/album11/album26/aae

The same plane, 10 years earlier, with s APG-65 radar from an F/A-18.

>>14552

why weren't these upgrades incorporated anyways? the lantirn pods especially.

>>14555
Most of the upgrades were used. The F-16 already had two dedicated hardpoints for targeting and navigation pods. My guess is that the cost of retrofitting every plane with LANTIRNs in the wing-roots isn't worth the benefits, marginally lower drag.

FLIR was incorporated into the block 60 F-16s. You can see it above the nose. This F-16F also has every external fuel tank in Fort Worth bolted on to it.

>>14555
>>14557
He might be asking why these aren't in the American jets.

The answer to that question is shut up.

>>14557
Are the wing-root fuel tanks ejectable?

>>14589

CFTs generally take a half hour to install on the aircraft, so I'd be very surprised if anyone had built ejectable CFTs between that and their unit cost.

>>14584
there's more to it than that. The UAE paid for the entire development of the Block 60s. It's essentially their aircraft, if anyone else buys it they have to pay royalties to the UAE.

The USAF doesn't want or need the E/F. The three big things about the Block 60s are the AN/APG-80 AESA radar, the FLIR, and the F110-GE-132.

Over the next couple years the USAF will be upgrading almost 400 of their low hour F-16s. They'll get their own AESA radar, the Northrop Grumman SABR, along with other avionics upgrades. And the SNIPER ATP already gives the F-16 FLIR and IRST. As far as I know, thew won't get the new engine.

I would love to see an actual Super Bug with this load out.

Lockheed Martin has a fantastic Flickr account.

NASA's F-18 from the Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, soars over the Mojave Desert while flying the third and final phase of the HARV (High Alpha Research Vehicle) program. A set of control surfaces called strakes were installed in the nose of the aircraft. The strakes, outlined in gold and white, provided improved yaw control at steep angles of attack. Normally folded flush, the units -- four feet long and six inches wide -- can be opened independently to interact with the nose vortices to produce large side forces for control. Testing involved evaluation of the strakes by themselves as well as combined with the aircraft's Thrust Vectoring System. The strakes were designed by NASA's Langley Research Center, then installed and flight tested at Dryden.

Flow visualization smoke marks vortex flows along the leading edge extension on an F/A-18 flown by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, in its High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) program. The aircraft is at a high angle of attack in this photo. The aircraft was modified with a thrust vectoring system to further investigate high angle of attack flying. The program was conducted jointly with NASA's Langley Research Center.

Dana D. Purifoy is an aerospace research pilot at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. He is seen here with the F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle. He joined NASA in August 1994. Purifoy is a former Air Force test pilot who served as a project pilot in the joint NASA/Air Force X-29 Forward Swept Wing research program conducted at Dryden from 1984 to 1991.

The High Alpha (angle of attack) Research Vehicle was a modified F/A-18 Hornet used by NASA in a 3-phase program investigating controlled flight at high angles of attack using thrust vectoring, modifications to the flight controls, and with actuated forebody strakes. The program lasted from April 1987 to September 1996.

NASA reported that in one phase of the project, Dryden Flight Research Center "research pilots Bill Dana and Ed Schneider completed the envelope expansion flights in February 1992. Demonstrated capabilities included stable flight at approximately 70 degrees angle of attack (previous maximum was 55 degrees) and rolling at high rates at 65 degrees angle of attack. Controlled rolling would have been nearly impossible above 35 degrees without vectoring." Performance figures were not listed for other phases.

The exhaust plume from the left engine of NASA's F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) is deflected upward by the paddle-like vanes of the aircraft's thrust vectoring system during an early morning "hot loads" ground test of the system at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The thrust vectoring system was used to enhance maneuverability and control in flight regimes where conventional controls are ineffective.

During the tests Feb. 15-22 1991, the thrust vectoring vanes were tested with both engines running and individually, and validated the structural loads and thermal profiles on the three vanes surrounding each engine. The tests paved the way for later thrust vectoring aircraft.

Data from the NASA high angle of attack program is producing technical data to validate computer codes and wind tunnel research about airflow phenomena at high angles of attack and is expected to lead to better maneuverability in future high performance aircraft and make them safer.

>>14692
Awesome, is there NASA site that has more of their experiments, I fail at find it through google.

>>14693
http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/index.html

Here's where I got them.

The Mikoyan MiG-31 (NATO designation Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor that is the descendant of the MiG-25 Foxbat. The Foxhound can fly at Mach 2.83 (3,000 km/h, 1,860 mph) at high altitude and has a phased array radar that can track many targets at great distances. The MiG-25 high altitude interceptor was designed in 1959 to intercept US Convair B-58 Hustler Mach-2 bombers (featured in the 1964 movie Fail-Safe) and the proposed Mach 3+ 70,000 feet (21,000 m) altitude North American B-70 Valkyrie bombers. The MiG-25 interceptor was required to reach 3,000 km/h and heights of up to 27 km (88,583 ft) in order to do this. The US B-70 bomber was cancelled in 1961 as high altitude SAMs seriously threatened high altitude bombers and nuclear attack was progressively given over to ICBMs. The Soviets still produced the Foxbat in 1964 and used them mostly for high altitude reconnaissance. Those gigantic interceptors could fly at a top speed of Mach 3.2 (3,470 km/h, 2,170 mph), but that would ruin the engines.

So the Soviets made fighters to intercept bombers that were cancelled. Well, everyone likes to be prepared.

The MiG-31 was the world's first operational fighter with a passive electronically scanned array radar (PESA), the Zaslon S-800. Its maximum range against fighter-sized targets is approximately 200 km (125 mi), and it can track up to 10 targets and simultaneously attack four of them with its Vympel R-33 missiles. The radar is matched with an infrared search and tracking (IRST) system in a retractable undernose fairing.

Radars:
Adopted in 1981 RP-31 N007 backstop (russian -Zaslon).
the range detection of air targets: 200 km (for the purpose of with the radar cross-section of 19 m² on a collision angles with probability 0.5)
target detection distance with radar cross-section of 3 m² in the rear within 35 km with a probability of 0.5
number of detected targets: 24
the number of targets for attack: 8
the range of automatic tracking: 120 km
detection of thermal goals - 56 km
The basic differences between versions МiG-31BM:
The onboard radar complex MiG-31BM can track 24 airborne targets at one time, 8 of which can be simultaneously attacked by R-33S missiles.
Modernized variants of the aircraft can be equipped with anti-radiation missiles Kh-31S, Kh-25MR or MPU (up to six units), anti-ship UR Kh-31A (up to six), class missiles air-to-surface Kh-29 and Kh-59 (up to three) or Kh-59M (up to two units), up to six precision bombs KAB-1500 or eight KAB-500 with television or laser-guided. Maximum mass of payload is to 9000 kg.
The MiG-31M-, MiG-31D-, and MiG-31BS-standard aircraft have an upgraded Zaslon-M radar, with larger antenna and greater detection range (said to be 400 km (250 mi) against AWACS-size targets) and the ability to attack multiple targets — air and ground — simultaneously. The Zaslon-M has a 1.4m diameter (larger) antenna, 50% to 100% better performance than Zaslon. In April 1994 it was used with an R-37 to hit a target at 300 km distance.[citation needed] It has a search range 400 km versus a 19/20 sq m RCS target and can track 24 targets at once, engaging six (282 km for 5m2).

- MiG-31 showing its Zaslon phased-array radar.
A Soviet MiG-31 Foxhound aircraft, its radome removed, sits on display at the 1991 Paris Air Show. Four AA-9 Amos long-range air-to-air missiles are displayed in the foreground; two AA-8 Aphid short-range air-to-air missiles and one AA-6 Acrid medium-range air-to-air missile are at left.

The MiG-31's main armament is four R-33 air-to-air missiles (NATO codename AA-9 'Amos') carried under the belly. The R-33 is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Navy's AIM-54 Phoenix.

Unlike the MiG-25, the MiG-31 has an internal cannon, a six-barrel, 23 mm GSh-6-23 with 800 rounds of ammunition, mounted above the starboard main landing gear bay. The GSh-6-23 has a claimed rate of fire of over 10,000 rounds per minute. However, after two Su-24 were lost because of premature shell detonation in 1983, plus some different problems with gun usage (system failures, etc.), usage of the GSh-6-23 was stopped by a decision of the Soviet AF Command. The aircraft in the Russian AF were flying with fully operational guns, but without ammunition in January 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan_MiG-31

>>16148
>>16149
>>16150
>>16151
>>16152

Russian fighters like these, are how I always envisioned Earth spacefighters; tiny cockpit surrounded by a huge airframe with lots of ordnance hanging off the wings...

>>16164
If anything, I'd see a Space Foxbat being more akin to a relatively short-ranged spacefighter meant to operate in closer proximity to larger capital ships with fully-independent spacefighters being closer to the size of a B-52 or Tu-95 with a full-sized crew.

>>16164
It's more or less how they would be, once precooled engines go mainstream

>>16171
I remember reading a scifi book that described space fighters as basically being an engine, cockpit, a hand full of thrusters to reorient the ship, and a bunch of missiles. The ships would be launched from the mothership in straight lines at high speeds at their targets, make one pass then try to turn around and use their big-ass engines to reverse their course back the way they came. If that didn't work they'd have to try to slingshot around a planet or moon and hope someone would come get them.

So yeah, basically a foxbat.

>>16200

>>16164

>>16202

>>16203

Oh man, Coolhand, those meshes. That brings back some memories. There were some great WIPs/builds on scifi-meshes in the early '00s

Some well armed Finnish Hornets.

>>16206
Finland, Switzerland, Australia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain and Canada have bought Hornets.
Though U.S. Navy aircraft have generally not sold well on the export market, the F/A-18 has been purchased and is in operation with several foreign air services. Export Hornets are typically similar to U.S. models of a similar manufacture date. Since none of the customers operate aircraft carriers, all export models have been sold without the automatic carrier landing system, and Royal Australian Air Force further removed the catapult attachment on the nose gear.[22] Except for Canada, all export customers purchased their Hornets through the U.S. Navy, via the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Program, where the Navy acts as the purchasing manager but incurs no financial gain or loss. Canada, the largest Hornet operator outside of the U.S., ordered its aircraft directly from the manufacturer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_F/A-18_Hornet

The F-18 Hornet is the Finnish Air Force variant of the Boeing IDS F/A-18 Hornet multi-role attack and fighter aircraft. The aircraft is almost identical to a late F/A-18C/D used by the US Navy, as well as the Hornets used by the Swiss Air Force, although no air-to-ground equipment or weapons were purchased with the aircraft. The decision to rename the aircraft to F-18 was mainly a political decision to underline the air defense role of the fighters.
The decision to purchase the aircraft (64 in total, with 7 two-seat F-18D models and 57 single-seated F-18C models) was made in 1992, soon after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. The original plan was to buy about 40 western fighters and about 20 Soviet fighters due to political reasons, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union this was no longer necessary. The plan changed to 60 single-seat + 7 dual seat fighters of the same type, and the F-18 won the contest. To keep the budget the number of fighters to be purchased was decreased by three, to 57+7. The 57 single-seat aircraft were produced in Finland by Patria.
A key goal in the Finnish foreign policy of that era was to take no action that might be interpreted by the Soviets as a security threat; a weapons purchase of this magnitude certainly applied. Buying only NATO-compatible, American fighter jets was not possible for Finland before the U.S.S.R.'s collapse.
The F-18 Hornet is the second U.S. Navy fighter in the Finnish Air Force, following the 1939 purchase of the Brewster F2A. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Air_Force

- HN-418 Finnish AF Boeing F-18C Hornet of HäLLv 21

If you were the purchaser of the Finnish Air Force, what multi-role aircraft would you choose?

A U.S. Navy McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C Hornet (BuNo 163777) of Strike Fighter Squadron 146 (VFA-146) "Blue Diamonds" conducts a combat mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The aircraft was sporting a new "patriotic" paint scheme and is armed with a 227 kg GBU-12 laser-guided bomb, AIM-7 "Sea Sparrow" medium range and AIM-9M "Sidewinder" short range air-to-air missiles. VFA-146 was assigned to Carrier Air Wing 9 (CVW-9) aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) for a deployment to the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean from 12 November 2001 to 28 May 2002.

Using multiple ejector racks: ten AIM-120 AMRAAMs and two AIM-9 Sidewinders.
An underside view of an Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 4 (VX-4) F/A-18C Hornet aircraft in-flight. VX-4 is testing and evaluating the AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM). The Hornet is armed with eight AMRAAMs on four wing pylons and two AMRAAMs on the fuselage. The Hornet also carries two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles, one on each wing tip.

Boeing F/A-18C Hornet HN-452 Finnish Air Force

More Finnish Hornets:
http://www.puolustusvoimat.fi/wcm/Erikoissivustot/Ilmavoimien+kuvat/Suomeksi/Hornetin+elinkaaripaivitykset+sivusto/

>>16207
The Aussie haven't taken the cat bar off, picture related is taken from Red Flag 14-1 earlier this year. They tried but have since reversed on the decision.

Source:
http://www.nellis.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123377890

>>16215
Carrier planes without an aircraft carrier?
You guys can't land 'em on the Melbourne, you know.

The HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Operating from 1955 until 1982, she was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier to serve in the RAN. Melbourne was the only British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions. The crew of the destroyers HMAS Voyager and the USS Frank E. Evans learned not to sharply turn across the path of the Melbourne.

- The Australian carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) underway in 1967.

Australian carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) off Pearl Harbor in 1958.

And moored at Pearl.

Australian carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) off San Diego in 1977.

A Royal Australian Navy Douglas A-4G Skyhawk lands on the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) in 1980. This Skyhawk was originally delivered to the U.S. Navy as A-4F BuNo 155063. It served in Vietnam on the USS Ranger (CVA-61) with attack squadron VA-155 Silver Foxes from 26 October 1968 to 17 May 1969 (Attack Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2)/NE-416), and on the USS Hancock (CVA-19) with VA-212 Rampant Raiders from 02 August 1969 to 15 April 1970 (CVW-21/NP-4XX).
155063 was then delivered to the Royal Australian Navy in August 1971 as A-4G N13-155063, No. 876. It was unloaded from HMAS Sydney onto RAN lighter AWL 304 at Jervis Bay on 11 August 1971, then transported by road to the RAN base Nowra. It served with RAN fighter squadron VF-805 starting on 13 May 1974. "876" was deployed on board HMAS Melbourne for the "Spithead Deployment" from 28 April to 04 October 1977. There, it took part in exercise "Highwood" from 5 to 20 July 1977 in the North Sea. Other exercises included "Tasmanex '79", "Kangaroo 3", and "Sandgroper '80" (25 August - 5 September 1980) off the Western Austrailian coast. "876" was withdrawn from RAN service on 30 June 1983 and stored for sale.
In July 1984 it was delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) as NZ6217, designated A-4K. It received the "Kahu"-upgrade and was retired by the RNZAF in 2001/2002.

Australian CA-15 Kangaroo, a 1946 fighter by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC).

Eight Fairey Firefly FR.1 and seven Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 overfly the Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney (R17), circa 1949.

HMAS Sydney (R17/A214/P241/L134) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built for the Royal Navy and launched as HMS Terrible (R93) in 1944, but was not completed before the end of World War II. The carrier was sold to Australia in 1947, completed, and commissioned into the RAN as Sydney in 1948.
Sydney was the first of three conventional aircraft carriers(I) to serve in the RAN, and operated as the navy's flagship during the early part of her career. From late 1951 to early 1952, she operated off the coast of Korea during the Korean War, making her the first carrier owned by a Commonwealth Dominion, and the only carrier in the RAN, to see wartime service. Retasked as a training vessel following the 1955 arrival of her modernised sister ship, HMAS Melbourne, Sydney remained in service until 1958, when she was placed in reserve as surplus to requirements.
The need for a sealift capability saw the ship modified for service as a fast troop transport, and recommissioned in 1962. Sydney was initially used for training and a single supply run in support of Malaysia's defence policy against Indonesia, but in 1965, she sailed on the first voyage to Vũng Tàu, transporting soldiers and equipment to serve in the Vietnam War. 25 voyages to Vietnam were made between 1965 and 1972, earning the ship the nickname "Vung Tau Ferry".
Sydney was decommissioned in 1973, and was not replaced. Despite several plans to preserve all or part of the ship as a maritime museum, tourist attraction, or car park, the carrier was sold to a South Korean steel mill for scrapping in 1975. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Sydney_(R17)

- PORT SIDE VIEW OF THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER HMAS SYDNEY (III) PREPARING TO COME ALONGSIDE AFTER HER DELIVERY VOYAGE. NOTE THE TYPE 960 AIR SEARCH RADAR AT THE MASTHEAD, TYPE 293Q AIR/SURFACE SEARCH RADAR JUST BELOW IT AND TYPE 277Q HEIGHT FINDING RADARS ABOVE THE BRIDGE AND BEHIND THE FUNNEL. 40MM BOFORS AA GUNS ARE MOUNTED IN SPONSONS DOWN HER SIDE. SHE IS CARRYING A DECK CARGO OF SEA FURY AND FIREFLY AIRCRAFT COCOONED AS AN ANTI CORROSION MEASURE DURING THE VOYAGE. THE SHIP'S COMPANY ARE MANNING THE SIDE FOR ENTERING PORT. PORT MELBOURNE, VIC. 1949-05-20

Twenty A-4G skyhawks were operated by the Royal Australian Navy for operation from HMAS Melbourne. These aircraft were acquired in two batches of ten Skyhawks in 1967 and 1971, and were primarily used to provide air defence for the fleet. Ten of the A-4Gs were destroyed in accidents, and all of the survivors were sold to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1984.

In 1970, 14 A-4K aircraft were delivered to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. These were later joined by 10 A-4G Skyhawks from the Royal Australian Navy in 1984; all were converted to A-4K Kahu standard.
The RNZAF withdrew the Skyhawks from service in 2001 and put them in storage awaiting sale. Draken International signed an agreement with the New Zealand government in 2012 to purchase eight A-4Ks and associated equipment for its adversary training services. The buy was later increased to 11 A-4Ks. These were subsequently relocated to the U.S. at Draken's Lakeland Linder Regional Airport facility in Lakeland, Florida. The other A-4K aircraft were given to museums in New Zealand and Australia.

More A-4 Skyhawk stuff:
http://www.operatorchan.org/v/res/13655.html#13748

- Royal New Zealand Air Force Douglas A-4K Sykhawk (s/n NZ6201) from No. 75 Squadron on the flight line at Clark Air Base, Philippines, during the air combat training exercise "Cope Thunder '83-1" on 1 November 1982.

They have the most hardcore air force roundels.
Featuring a funny, fuzzy, flightless bird, the kiwi.
Reminds me of hearing of the new US nuclear-powered super-carrier, the USS Ford, would be named after President Gerald Ford and the ships in her class would be named after other US Presidents. I was against this, naming warships after politicians. Especially US Presidents; they are a bunch of pricks exploiting a grotesquely corrupt system. Better if the US Navy named their ruinously destructive warships silly names, like the USS Happy Flower, USS Pretty Poem, USS Cute Kitten, etc. Would show how totally confident the US Navy is.

- New Zealand Air Force Killer Kiwi logo.

More kiwi stuff: http://www.operatorchan.org/t/res/83009.html

SU-34 had a small galley and toilet behind the seats.

  >>16252
it's no small feat for so much open room in something that can do this

>>16252
Probably similar to the facilities of this Russian Tu-160 Blackjack bomber with kitchen & toilet.

Eurofighter Typhoon, a twin-engine, canard-delta wing, multirole fighter, designed and is manufactured by a consortium of three companies; BAE Systems, Airbus Group and Alenia Aermacchi.

An RAF Typhoon in flight
Royal International Air Tattoo 2012

Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon fighter takes off during Green Flag 08-07 at Nellis AFB, Nevada, USA.

Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4

A Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) Typhoon F2 from Number XI Squadron at RAF Coningsby pictured escorting a Russian Bear-H aircraft over the North Atlantic Ocean.

Royal Air Force Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon F2 (ZJ910) at the 2008 Air Day, Kemble Airport, Gloucestershire, England. Under the small roundel below the cockpit it says "Royal Air Force celebrating 90 years". This Aircraft is from 29 Squadron.

Eurofighter Typhoon in Austrian service.
Eurofighter Typhoon No. 7L-WE of the Austrian Air Force

Austrian Air Force Eurofighter EF-2000 Typhoon S

Eurofighter Typhoon in German service.
German Eurofighter EF2000 30+92

Korean Air Force F-15K Slam Eagles participate in 'Red Flag Alaska' Training.

US F-15E Strike Eagle breaking away from a tanker.

US F-15E Strike Eagle over Afghanistan in 2006.

I read that South Korea cancelled their buy of the F-15SE Silent Eagle in favor of the F-35 Lightning II JSF. Perhaps from pressure and sweet deals pushing international sales of the F-35 else production will go into a death-spiral?

- US F-15SE Silent Eagle proposed stealth upgrade of the F-15E Strike Eagle.

Eurofighter Typhoon with Brimstone missiles.

Chinese Su-27 Flanker.

F-22 takes off during the night of September 23rd on the way to strike targets in Syria. Formation lights are visible in this rare night-time image of the Raptor. This is the first combat assignment for the Raptor.

>>17378
I wonder if they used the maligned F-22 Raptor stealth tactical fighter out of concern of the Syrian SAMs and air defenses or if they used it just to say it has flown combat missions.

Whats the guard thing over the end of the cannon?

>>17380
Looks like it's an anti-fouling bracket, to keep things from wedging in between the barrel and fuselage.

US Lockheed F-104G Starfighter of the German Navy.
Germany had an aircraft carrier that could launch and recover Starfighters?

Pasta stronk

>>14181
>>14183
>>14184
God the Gripen makes me moist.

F-105 Thunderchief. Because it has a cool name.

SPAD XVI flown by Gen. Billy Mitchell in WWI.

LFG Roland CII, German Empire reconnaissance fighter in 1916.

US YF-107A experimental mach-2 fighter-bomber, 1959.
In June 1953, North American initiated an in-house study of advanced F-100 designs, leading to proposed interceptor (NAA 211: F-100BI denoting "interceptor") and fighter-bomber (NAA 212: F-100B) variants. Concentrating on the F-100B, the preliminary engineering and design work focused on a tactical fighter-bomber configuration, featuring a recessed weapons bay under the fuselage and provision for six hardpoints underneath the wings. Single-point refuelling capability was provided while a retractable tailskid was installed. An all-moving vertical fin and an automated flight control system was incorporated which permitted the aircraft to roll at supersonic speeds using spoilers. The flight control system was upgraded by the addition of pitch and yaw dampers.

The aircraft's most distinguishing feature is its dorsal-mounted variable-area inlet duct (VAID). While the VAID was at the time a system unique to the F-107A, it is now considered to be an early form of variable geometry intake ramp which automatically controlled the amount of air fed to the jet engine. Although the preliminary design of the air intake was originally located in a chin position under the fuselage (an arrangement later adopted for the F-16), the air intake was eventually mounted in an unconventional position directly above and just behind the cockpit.The VAID system proved to be very efficient and NAA used the design concept on their A-5 Vigilante, XB-70 Valkyrie and XF-108 Rapier designs.

The air intake was in the unusual dorsal location as the USAF had required the carriage of an underbelly semi-conformal nuclear weapon. The original chin intake caused a shock wave that interfered in launching this weapon. The implications this had for the survivability of the pilot during ejection were troubling. The intake also severely limited rear visibility. Nonetheless this was not considered terribly important for a tactical fighter-bomber aircraft, and furthermore it was assumed at the time that air combat would be via guided missile exchanges outside visual range.

In August 1954, a contract was signed for three prototypes along with a pre-production order for six additional airframes. http://claspgarage.blogspot.com/2013/11/north-american-f-107.html

US Grumman F11F-1 Tiger that shot itself down in 1956. Firing the 20mm guns and then going into a steep dive, the shells had been slowed by gravity and air friction ended up hitting the plane that fired them.

Thomas W. Attridge Jr., flying a Navy Grumman F11F-1 Tiger, was at 20,000 ft and ready to initiate a gunnery test. Pushing the stick forward gently, he put his Tiger in a shallow dive and triggered a four-second burst of around 70 rounds at 13,000 ft, and then another four-second burst at 7,000 ft to clear the ammo belts on the cannons. Almost immediately after finishing the second burst, the Tiger shook violently as if it had been hit by something.

The 20 mm Colt Mk12 cannons dished out their shells with a muzzle velocity of around 3000 feet per second. That with the speed of the aircraft factored in pushed the velocity of the bullets to around 4,300 feet per second. The Tiger, already supersonic at 880 miles per hour, releasing these bullets at that speed meant that the bullets encountered extreme air resistance and slowed down fairly quickly. Had Attridge kept his jet flying on that same angle and at the same speed, the bullets would have never made contact. However… the Tiger entered a steeper dive and intersected with the bullets’ trajectories. http://tacairnet.com/2014/09/21/tigers-dives-and-20-mm-cannons/

Convair B-58A-10-CF Hustler (59-2458). This aircraft set transcontinental speed record on 03/05/62 by flying nonstop from Los Angeles to New York and back again. First leg at average speed of 1214.71 mph; return leg at average speed of 1081.77 mph. Return leg was first transcontinental flight that moved across the country faster than the rotational speed of the earth. ("Chasing the Sun.") Crew awarded Bendix and Mackay Trophies. Now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

US Convair XB-58 prototype during takeoff.

I always wondered why everyone hates the tornado, it is the most despised aircraft in the entire aircraft aficionado community. It's such a huge program, and yet... has it ever even graced the cover of any magazines?

>>20371
This some kind of European thing? I have not heard of Tornado hate. I know the Tornado replaced a bunch of European planes because of the Tornado's multi-role nature in her three variants, fighter, interdiction strike bomber and recon. And there was squabbling between the British, West German and Italian companies making the Tornado.

- A USAF F-15C flanked by Luftwaffe and RAF Tornados in 1987.
A Boeing F-15C Eagle flying over Germany with two Panavia Tornado IDS on 6 Apr 1987. The U.S. Air Force F-15C-27-MC (s/n 08-0005) was assigned to the 36th Tactical Fighter Wing at Bitburg Air Base, Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany). The right-hand Tornado belonged to No. 14 Squadron, Royal Air Force Germany, based at RAF Brüggen, Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany), the left-hand Tornado (s/n 44+37) was from the (then West-) German Luftwaffe Jagdbombergeschwader 32 (JaboG 32) (32nd Fighter-Bomber Wing) at Lechfeld, Bayern (Germany). These aircraft were part of a larger, 15-aircraft formation taking part in an aerial review for departing General Charles L. Donnelly Jr., commander in chief, U.S. Air Force, Europe (USAFE) and commander, Allied Air Forces Central Europe.

>>20371
The accounts I have read of those who flew it say it's not a bad aircraft. It's a bomb truck. The best comparison I read, someone compared it to an F-105 Thunderchief, but swing-wing. But whether that's praise or condemnation is anyone's guess.

I think most of the dislike comes from the same shit that's bugging the F-35. Multinational program, too many compromises, and way too long to complete it and get it in the hands of the parties involved. Italy didn't get it's first planes until 1981, 11 years after the original agreement to develop the plane internationally was signed, and 2 years after Britain and Germany got their first shipments. Britain even began a pre-emptive upgrade study in 1984, 5 years after receiving the planes.

I don't know. I'm an American, and don't know anyone who has first hand experience with them.

German Panavia Tornado ECR.

Two ship formation of local colorful ASSTA 3 test beds during take off. ASSTA 3.1 represents the latest upgrade for the German Tornados. Rare sight.

>>20373
Comparing anything to the Thud is an insult from looking at the poor performance she had in the Vietnam War.
- Russian MiG-25RB Foxbat.

Russian Yak-130 Mitten jet trainer & light-attack aircraft.

A Tornado jet flies with 3D printed components.
British fighter jets have flown for the first time with parts made using 3D printing technology.

BAE Systems said the metal components were successfully used on board Tornado aircraft that flew from the defence firm's airfield at Warton, Lancashire, in late December.

The company said its engineers were using 3D technology to design and produce parts that could cut the Royal Air Force's maintenance and service bill by over £1.2m over the next four years.

BAE Systems is working at RAF Marham, Norfolk, to engineer ready-made parts for four squadrons of Tornado GR4 aircraft, including protective covers for cockpit radios and guards for power take-off shafts. Some of the parts cost less than £100.

Mike Murray, head of airframe integration at BAE Systems, said: "You are suddenly not fixed in terms of where you have to manufacture these things. You can manufacture the products at whatever base you want, providing you can get a machine there, which means you can also start to support other platforms such as ships and aircraft carriers.

"And if it's feasible to get machines out on the front line, it also gives improved capability where we wouldn't traditionally have any manufacturing support." http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/06/fighter-jet-flies-with-3d-printed-parts

Eurofighter Typhoon laden with six GBU-12s & two AIM-9 Sidewinders.
GBU-12 Paveway II is an American aerial laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 82 500-pound general-purpose bomb.

A British Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 fighter aircraft flying over the skies of Iraq in 2006.

>>20371
I think it's mostly hated from the fact that when Tornado was going into service Americans and Soviets were flying much hotter aircraft and introducing even better ones on top of that.

Before the kinks were worked out, Tornados were flying with concrete ballast in the nose instead of a radar for FIVE YEARS after they entered service. Most of the targeting was done with systems in pods, and even the official antenna was third-generation twist cassegrain antenna instead of a regular solid-state PESA or AESA.

After all the initial kinks were worked out, Tornado barely outperformed the Su-24 which came ten years before. This is a huge reason why Russians even kept that piece of shit, they kept looking at Western Europe and not seeing a reason to upgrade.

Tornado should really be considered third generation. It does not have relaxed static stability, it uses obsolete control systems and is definitely not built for maneuverability, avionics are shit as I've already mentioned. The only reason it was considered "fourth" generation was to spare Euros feelings.

Euro pilots were stuck with this trash third gen piece of shit while they kept watching Americans and Soviets have all the fun, all the Euro pilots could do was deep inside get progressively more bitter as time went on. In fact they had no exciting fourth generation to play with until the F-16, and the early block F-16 fell short of the bees knees.

In reality it wasn't until Tornado F3 in 1986 that the Tornado was even as functional as a F-4 Phantom that first flew in 1958, almost a 30 year gap in technology. If you pause to think about it during the Cold War, Europe was further behind USA/USSR than modern day India or China are behind modern day USA/Russia, and you already know how butthurt Indians and Chinese can get. In fact this actual lag in European performance (especially the British butthurt at the Canadian F-5 Freedom Fighter) is why the major NATO countries in Europe held a competition between Mirage F1, F-16, F-17 and Viggen.

>>20393
Are those GBU-12s? They look like a bit like GBU-16s.

>>20396
>Are those GBU-12s? They look like a bit like GBU-16s.

GBU-16 is 12" in length with guidance fitted, AIM-9 is 9' 11". There'd be a noticeable difference in length between the missile and bomb if they were 16s.

GBU-16s next to AIM-9s on an aircraft carrier deck. Compare where the yellow nose plug on the AIM-9 is versus the red flag on the GBU-16. Noticeable length difference.

GBU-16 Paveway II laser-guided bomb based on the Mk 83 1000-pound general-purpose bomb are indeed much longer than the 500-pound Paveways.
- A U.S. Air Force McDonnell F-4E Phantom II assigned to the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing in flight at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada (USA), on 1 May 1980. It carries auxiliary fuel tanks on each wing and two AIM-9J Sidewinder missiles are mounted on the right wing, a GBU-16 Paveway II bomb is carried under the left wing. A Pave Spike airborne laser designator is mounted on the left side of the fuselage and six Mk 82 227 kg low-drag bombs on the centerline.

Raytheon's Paveway Laser Guided Bomb Page:
Converting Bombs Into Precision-Guided Weapons.
The Paveway™ family of laser guided bombs has revolutionized tactical air-to-ground warfare by converting "dumb" bombs into precision guided munitions. Paveway bombs have been put to the test in every major conflict and proved themselves, time and again, as the weapon of choice by the end-users. Paveways made up more than half the air-to-ground precision guided weapons used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Newer versions of Paveway include GPS/INS guidance capabilities. This innovation combines the accuracy and flexibility of traditional laser-guided weapons with the all-weather capability of GPS guidance, resulting in a weapon that decreases the required sortie count and weapon inventory while simultaneously increasing the mission success rate.
http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/paveway/

- The U.S. Air Force drops a Paveway™ II laser-guided bomb from an F-35A at the Utah Test and Training Range. Paveway is the weapon of choice for more than 40 customers.

Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) - Paveway II
The Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) utilizes a Mk82 500-pound general purpose warhead. The operator illuminates a target with a laser designator and then the munition guides to a spot of laser energy reflected from the target. The GBU-12 is a member of the Paveway II series of laser guided bombs (LGBs). These weapons are hybrids. At the core of each is a bomb: a 500-pound Mk 82 for the GBU-12, a 1,000-pound Mk 83 for the GBU-16 and a 2,000-pound Mk 84 for the GBU-10. A laser guidance kit is integrated with each bomb to add the requisite degree of precision. The kit consists of a computer control group at the front end of the weapon and an airfoil group at the back. When a target is illuminated by a laser - either airborne or ground-based - the guidance fins (canards) react to signals from the control group and steer the weapon to the target. Wings on the airfoil group add the lift and aerodynamic stability necessary for in-flight maneuvering.

As the Vietnam War progressed and experience with laser guided bombs increased, Air Force leaders discovered the need for a greater variety of LGBs to increase effectiveness against certain targets. A smaller bomb with greater maneuverability was also required to attack the many small and moving targets on the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Air Force adapted the 500 lb Mk-82 GP, later called the GBU-12, for this purpose and the M-117 LGB was phased out of production in 1968.

In the early 1970s, the initial PAVEWAY was replaced by the PAVEWAY II, which featured an enhanced but also simpler and cheaper seeker head and pop-out fins to improve the weapon's glide characteristics and make it easier to fit to an aircraft. The new LGBs based on the PAVEWAY II were given the designations GBU-12 (225 kilograms), GBU-16 (450 kilograms), and GBU-10 (900 kilograms). The PAVEWAY II required the launch aircraft to operate from medium altitude, leaving the aircraft vulnerable to ground defenses. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-12.htm

The munition was used during Operation Desert Storm, and, according to the Air Force, hit 88 percent of its targets. During Desert Storm the GBU-12 was dropped by F-111Fs, F-15Es, and A-6s, mostly against fixed armor. It was the F-111F tank-busting weapon of choice. Of the 4,493 GBU-12s employed, over half were dropped by the F-111F. An aircraft using an unguided general-purpose (GP) 500-pound (lb) bomb (i.e., a Mk-82) to attack a dug-in tank has a low probability of success in comparison to a laser-guided 500 lb weapon (i.e., a GBU-12) because the accuracy of the latter is much better. Tank plinking, expending a single 500-pound GBU-12 worth $10,000 to destroy a $1.5 million T-72 tank, is not a bad return on tax dollars.

There are two generations of GBU-12 LGBs: Paveway I with fixed wings and Paveway II with folding wings. Paveway II models have the following improvements: detector optics and housing made of injection-molded plastic to reduce weight and cost; increased detector sensitivity; reduced thermal battery delay after release; increased maximum canard deflection; laser coding; folding wings for carriage, and increased detector field of view. (Paveway II's instantaneous field of view is thirty percent greater than that of the Paveway I's field of view).

On 05 January 2000 Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $43,537,250 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 3,420 MXU 650/B Air Foil Groups, 2,245 MAU 169 H/B Guidance Control Sections, and associated data, in support of the GBU 12 Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is April 1, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Dec. 29. 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-00-C-0005).

The MQ-1 Predator can carry AGM-114 Hellfire missiles capable of piercing armor. The next generation MQ-9 Predator is designed to haul up to 3,000 pounds of external ordnance to include the GBU-12, GBU-38, AIM-9 missiles and small diameter bombs. The Predator's missions include ISR, close air support, interdiction, damage assessment, combat search and rescue (locating downed pilots), force protection (locating improvised explosive devices) and remote operations video enhanced receivers operations. The MQ-9 will provide a hunter-killer capability and will feature the ability to use synthetic aperture radar to hunt for targets. It will be able to cross-cue targeting data to the electro-optic/infrared sensor.

The Enhanced-GBU-12 [EGBU-12] is a dual-mode guided bomb designed to effectively operate in all-weather conditions. Enhanced Paveway II features a GPS-aided Inertial Navigation System as well as a laser guidance system to offer one precision guided weapon for all situations. The resulting dual-mode capability offers true all-weather operational flexibility not found in other weapons systems being produced: GPS guidance for poor weather conditions and precise laser guidance when required for mobile targets of opportunity. Combat proven by the RAF during Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB combines the strengths of both laser guidance and GPS/INS guidance to create a low-cost, all-weather, precision strike weapon. The result provides the warfighter with the option for autonomous GPS-aided guidance in addition to laser terminal guidance. All-Weather

The addition of the GPS/INS system to the PavewayT II LGB weapon provides increased delivery accuracy, better in-flight wind corrections, increased low-level performance, and expanded delivery envelopes. The unique dual-mode capability of the Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB offers considerable operational flexibility not currently available with any other weapon outside the PavewayT II family of weapons. Specifically, GPS guidance can be used for all-weather attacks of known targets; and laser guidance provides an option for improved accuracy, man-in-the-loop, moving targets, and targets of opportunity when GPS is denied. Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB is currently fielded in the RAF inventory and has already proven itself in combat as the weapon of choice for the RAF in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On 07 June 2006 two F-16Cs dropped two precision-guided 500-pound bombs - a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb and a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition - destroying the terrorist safe house where Al Zarqawi and other terrorists were meeting.

- A U.S. Air Force General Dynamics F-16C Block 30K Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 160th Fighter Squadron, 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard, releases a GBU-24A/B 907 kg laser guided bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range during exercise "Combat Hammer", an air-to-ground weapons systems evaluation program (WSEP), hosted by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (USA), on 30 July 2002.

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Fighter Squadron flies loaded up with a GBU-12 and a GBU-28 during a Combat Hammer mission at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is an air-to-ground Weapons System Evaluation Program maintained by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. Combat Hammer marked the first of three weeks of evaluation at Hill AFB by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. Combat Archer, an air-to-air evaluation, is the second week, followed by a combined air and ground WSEP in the final week. The WSEP program is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat.

A 4th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagle soars over the Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., range during a Combat Hammer mission Feb. 3. Combat Hammer is an Air-to-Ground Weapons System Evaluation Program controlled by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. The F-15s from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., participated in the week-long evaluation dropping GPS and laser-guided weapons. The WSEP was the first evaluation of Small Diameter Bombs at Eglin and first evaluation of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions in a Combat Hammer. The WSEP program, run by the 53d Weapons Evaluation Group, is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat. http://www.eglin.af.mil/photos/media_search.asp?q=F-15E&page=5

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Fighter Squadron drops a Guided Bomb Unit-28 during a Combat Hammer mission at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is an Air-to-Ground Weapons System Evaluation Program maintained by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. Combat Hammer marked the first of three weeks of evaluation at Hill AFB by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. Combat Archer, an air-to-air evaluation, is the second week, followed by a combined air and ground WSEP in the final week. The WSEP program is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat.

The Guided Bomb Unit 28 (GBU-28) is a 5,000-pound (2,268 kg) laser-guided "bunker busting" bomb nicknamed "Deep Throat" (and unofficially nicknamed "The Saddamizer" by a design team worker, alluding to its initial purpose of bombing a bunker believed to be then-occupied by Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm) produced originally by the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, New York. It was designed, manufactured, and deployed in less than three weeks due to an urgent need during Operation Desert Storm to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. Only two of the weapons were dropped in Desert Storm, both by F-111Fs.

The Enhanced GBU-28 augments the laser-guidance with Inertial navigation and GPS guidance systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28

These bombs were first made by chopping up old 8-inch howitzer barrels, fitting end caps on them and then filled with explosives.

The initial batch of GBU-28s was built from modified 8 inch/203 mm artillery barrels (principally from deactivated M110 howitzers), but later examples are purpose-built with the BLU-113 bomb body made by National Forge of Irvine, Pennsylvania. They weigh 4,700 pounds (2132 kg) and contain 630 pounds (286 kg) of high explosive.

- A US Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft from the 492nd Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath, United Kingdom (UK) releases a GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" 5,000-pound Laser-Guided Bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range during a weapons evaluation test.

Yeah, they cut up the barrels of these 8-inch (203mm) guns and turned them into bunker-busting bombs. Better than just parking them out somewhere to rust as these big guns are no longer fielded nor ammo manufactured.
- US 203mm M110 A2 self-propelled howitzer.

US GBU-28 5000-lb laser-guided bunker busting bomb.

An Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon from the 78th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., releases a GBU-31 1,000 pound Joint Direct Attack Munition over Eglin's land range during a test mission in 2003.

The military likes the JDAM GPS-guided bomb as it's a relatively cheap package to strap on existing dumb bombs and it reportedly works better in bad weather conditions that interfere with lasers (rain, sand storms, etc.).

- An F-16 from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron releases a GBU-31during a Combat Hammer mission during a two-week large-scale evaluation at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is also known as a Weapons System Evaluation Program for air-to-ground weapons. Almost every fighter in the Air Force inventory participated in the evaluation, which also included bombers and unmanned aircraft systems. The 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron executes the 'Hammer' missions by evaluating the entire weapons process from loading to flight to the target.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Al Weimorts, the creator of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, left, and Joseph Fellenz, lead model maker look over the prototype before it was painted and tested.

A Massive Ordnance Air Blast- or more commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs -(MOAB) weapon is prepared for testing at the Eglin Air Force Armament Center on March 11, 2003. The MOAB is a precision-guided munition weighing 21,500 pounds and will be dropped from a C-130 Hercules aircraft for the test. It will be the largest non-nuclear conventional weapon in existence. The MOAB is an Air Force Research Laboratory technology project that began in fiscal year 2002 and was scheduled to be completed in 2003.

  MOAB - Mother of All Bombs GBU-43/B https://youtu.be/i9H50tHiHjs
Published on Mar 18, 2015
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB, aka Mother of All Bombs, most powerful non-nuclear bomb made so far) deliver a hell of a punch & blast radius of up to one mile(on each side)

>88 percent of its targets
That's pretty dismal, the analog bombsight on the Su-24 has an 50% hit rate within 3m radius. This thing is unjammable, works at night or in bad weather, and it doesn't explode with the bomb.
http://thesaker.is/technology-sitrep-how-russian-engineering-made-the-current-operation-in-syria-possible/
A pair of $500 bombs > $10,000 Paveway, and the guy on the ground isn't going to care about the sliver of accuracy difference between them because there is a 100m lethal radius anyway.

Paveway is a piece of shit and it should be phased out in favor of GPS guided bombs. Or maybe replace the shitty laser guidance system with even a cheap radar, for all-weather capability.

>>20426
1) That was 88% strike accuracy back in 1991. Things have much improved since then, both in laser guidance and laser tracking.

2) The GBU series have been upgraded for simultaneous laser and GPS guidance. Read up on it a bit before you complain about shit you don't know about.

http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/paveway/

>>20426
The F-4 had an analog bomb sight, I think that's the last bomb sight we used. Since then it's all radar and computers.
For example the synthetic aperture radar on the B-1 Lancer which has 10-160ft resolution and can probably drop a dumb bomb at the lower end of that.

>>20427
In his defense that isn't in service with USA, and his suggestion to add GPS and milimeter wave radar (on SDB) is exactly what the military did.

>>20428
>In his defense that isn't in service with USA, and his suggestion to add GPS and milimeter wave radar (on SDB) is exactly what the military did.

Yes it is. The EGBU-10 and EGBU-24 and 28s aren't in service with the US, but the 12 and 16 most certainly are. The Navy uses Lockheed-Martin contracted versions, which to my knowledge include a different method of GPS/laser tracking than the Raytheon but it's still giving both Naval and Air Force versions improved tracking and error probability.

We don't need the larger versions because it's cheaper now to fit JDAM systems to the big bombs, and we have things like the JDAM-39 SDB on the small end of of the spectrum, again all with laser, GPS and inertial gudiance.

And the GPS guidance was added back before OEF/OIF kicked off, like 1999 or 2000. So, his method of thinking is just about 20 years too late to actually be anything new in GBU guidance.

  >>20429
Nah man, all of the Paveways, JDAMs and even unguided munitions are getting replaced with SDBs. This is to increase carriage when the every supersonic airplane in American arsenal is either one of 200 F-22 or one of 2000 F-35. The future is SDB.
Boeing is even taking a page from the kebab removers book and fitting SDBs to rocket launcher systems.

Kebab removers idea which seemed insane.

>>20426
>page has "select 9/11 truth links" section and "stop the empire's war on Russia" header

But anyways, of course as seen by actual bomb footage from Syria, actual accuracy outside of manicured test-ranges under perfect conditions where the pilots know exactly where the target is, is more around 30-40 meters, or about the same as CCIP/CCRP or the F-111's bombing computer.

>>20429
>>20430

During Desert Storm the USAF dropped close to 250,000 unguided bombs and 14,000 or so guided bombs. During OIF they dropped 20,000 or so guided bombs and around 9,000 unguided bombs. And most of the unguided bombs were used in show-of-force attacks by B-52s during the opening stages, they'd scare the pants off some Republican Guard division on the way into Iraq and then hit the rest of their targets with JDAMs.

>>20426
3 meters of accuracy but still unable to stay out of Turkish airspace.

>>20433
Doesn't matter if they're selling those coat hanger wire prisms for food preservation in other articles, the page quotes primary sources (a general and manufacturers certs) and is legit. Accuracy is 3-5m and the Su-24M bombing comuter seems to be very different from the various CCIP/CCRP capabilities.

CCIP uses radar to range the target, does some basic inertial calculation internally, then puts a crosshair on the pilots helmet at where it believes the bomb will strike. The pilot must manually guide the crosshair onto the target, where a huge portion of inaccuracy could just be man-to-stick error. CCRP is where the pilot inserts a GPS coordinate and the computer will calculate a release point given proper topographic maps are loaded, but the pilot still has to manually release the bomb where even a milisecond matters.

The system on the Su-24M combines qualities of both of these, although it is a bit closer to CCRP. On top of what CCRP has, SVP-24 adds datalinking to other aircraft, ground stations, weather reports and so on which would improve accuracy somewhat. Finally instead of making it manual like CCIP/CCRP the Su-24M system automates the process eliminating as much as possible of the pilot error that probably accounts for ten times larger F-111 CEPs.

I would rate it as a MUCH improved variant of the CCIP/CCRP and I really wish the F-22 or F-35 have this added, it would allow for a low-emissions strike capability even in completely shitty conditions.

>>20434
>turkey gives missiles to turkmen in syra
>complains when jets who have to avoid missiles stray 0.001 inch for 1 second into their airspace

>>20433
Ad Hominem fallacy.

>>20428
Being able to resolve 10 feet with radar doesn't mean the bomb will drop in those 10 feet. There are more factors than being able to see the target.

>>20427
>Things have much improved since then, both in laser guidance and laser tracking.
No they haven't, there is no laser invented yet which can penetrate a dust cloud or work well in conditions with any sort of precipitation. GPS has become the mainstay for a reason.

>The GBU series have been upgraded for simultaneous laser and GPS guidance.
Which is exactly what I wanted, thanks for proving my point.

>Read up on it a bit before you complain about shit you don't know about.
Can I complain about the way your mom gives blowjobs? I know a lot about that.

>>20444
>Which is exactly what I wanted, thanks for proving my point.

It didn't prove your point. You said,
>Paveway is a piece of shit and it should be phased out in favor of GPS guided bombs. Or maybe replace the shitty laser guidance system with even a cheap radar, for all-weather capability.

Is, present tense.

They fucking upgraded it 20 years ago, meaning all your perception of the failings on the Paveway missiles has been outdated since GPS was added in 1999.

Again, complaining about shit you knew nothing about. They didn't add GPS capability in the few days since you posted>>20426
Paveway has had GPS capabilities for almost 2 goddamn decades, and for the entire Afghan/Iraq campaigns.

They didn't do it because you wanted it, they did it far before you even fucking figured out they needed it.

Convair RB-36H Peacemaker The largest bomber ever built. It could carry 72,000 pounds of conventional and/or nuclear bombs.

Convair RB-36H Peacemaker with an MK-17 Thermonuclear bomb.
US Mark 17, a 21-ton, 25-foot long hydrogen bomb, 10 to 15 megatons, 1954-55.

>>20547
>The largest bomber ever built.
Largest piston engined bomber, yes.

The largest bomber (and combat aircraft) ever is the Tu-160 White Swan, NATO codename Blackjack.
177 ft 6 inches long, which is 15 ft 5 inches longer than the B-36. B-36 still has the advantage in wingspan, and height due to it's tail, but only by 3 feet on the tailplane.

B36 had a loaded combat weight of 262,500lbs, and 72,000lb payload.

Tu-160 combat loaded weight 589,950lbs, payload of 88,185lbs.

MiG-31s, Il-76 tanker, and Tu-160.

>>20549
Yes, The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft (70.1 m). The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km) and a maximum payload of 87,200 lb (39,600 kg), the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range. The B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (which first became operational in 1955). The B-36 set the standard for range and payload for subsequent U.S. intercontinental bombers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker

- The huge new XB-36 alongside the first superbomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress in 1948. The wings of the 'Peacemaker' were 7 feet (2.1 m) thick at the root.

Tupolev Tu-160 Beliy Lebed (or White Swan, NATO reporting name: Blackjack)
In response to the American development of the swept-wing supersonic B-1 bomber, the Soviet Union pushed for the development of their own high-speed modern strategic bomber during the 1960s and 1970s. Entering service in the late-1980s, the Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ shared many features of the B-1 ‘Lancer’ but it was much bigger. The Russian bomber has a 189 foot wingspan when the wings are not swept back and is 177 feet long. Currently, the Blackjack is the world’s largest combat aircraft. Cargo planes aside, the Tu-160 also sports the heaviest take-off weight of any military plane – maximum takeoff weight is a staggering 300 tons. This beast can fly at twice the speed of sound and carry up to 44 tons of bombs and cruise missiles. There are currently 16 in service with the Russian forces although recent reports indicate production could be switched back on. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/top-10-largest-military-planes-ever-built/?view=all

A Tu-160 (escorted by a Su-30SM) launching a Kh-101 cruise missile against targets in Syria, November 2015.

Kh-101/102 (Izdeliye 111) - developed as a very stealthy replacement for the Kh-55SM in the late 1990s, the Kh-101 has a conventional warhead and the Kh-102 is nuclear. This missile weighs some 2,200 - 2,400 kg, the weight of warhead is 400–450 kg. According to reports, the Kh-101 has a maximum range of 2000–3000 km and a variable flight profile at altitudes ranging from 30 – 70 m to 6000 m, a cruising speed of 190–200 m/s and a maximum speed of 250–270 m/s. The missile is equipped with an electro-optical system for correcting the flight trajectory and with a TV guidance system for terminal guidance. The missiles are expected to be accurate within 10–20 m CEP. They are expected to be in service in those numbers by 2023. The new missile complex has been successfully tested and in recent years put into series production to equip modernized Tu-160 and Tu-95MSM bombers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-55

Another big Russian swing-wing strategic bomber is the Tu-22 (NATO designation Backfire) bomber.

Back to little fighters.