tflash

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19372299 BTW where did the "news" thread go?

Real men of course do not fly such electro-plastic arcade aircraft, but real machines like the Fairey Swordfish: The guy in the back first puts his hand in the waves to feel if they are cold enough for a good torpedo launch, after which the pilot cuts the torpedo lose with a pair of scissors.

The Typhoon sounds as well as it looks and looks as good as it flies!

Looking forward to FC3! For me, it will mean enjoying the DCS World from a higher altitude, I really like to fly high in the Flanker and F-15. It will also mean 64-bit, which is welcome.

Absolutely superb 2008 Typhoon demo:

I first thought it was the latest Glowing Amraam movie introducing the F-15E to DCS! But it's a South-Korean movie featuring F-15K, a romance with a female pilot and some mean-looking North-Korean bad-guy ace in a supernatural Mig-29! (No, we were not supposed to sympathise with a guy endangering civilians on the ground!) I liked the tailslide into the building: didn't see a Mig do that yet in an airshow!

Lets' make sure we do not end up with more killed tanks than the Iraqi had in the inventory. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1916&dat=19930816&id=AAYhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Z3YFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4042,2024274 In the same war, the F-111 is claimed by Wikipedia to have killed 1500 tanks and armoured vehicles on its own: "The F-111s were credited with destroying more than 1,500 Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles. Their use in the anti-armor role was dubbed "tank-plinking". Let's take all these numbers with a pinch of salt.

I mistook that with dust.

A little bit off-topic but I think a good addition to DCS would be the ability for MBT's to deploy smokescreens. Besides armour that is one of the very effective MBT protections. They also have IR jammers etc.

Three little points: - I wasn't talking about supercruise but on manoevrability; - It is of course both the form of the upper surface and belly together that creates the bernouilli-effect and thus lift of a lifting body, I agree - I wasn't talking about the computers the F-35 has on board, but the computers that were used to design it.

I'm not so sure about the "small wing area" claim for the F-35. I guess you took the data from Wikipedia? But how is it calculated? My impression is that F-35 has a blended wing + lifting body design. To me, about the whole underbelly of the aircraft is part of the wing area to a certain extent - and to a higher extent than on legacy planes, no? So, I'm not sure the wing loading is so high. Some people have compared it to F-105, which is absurd. The unprecedented massive computing used in its design wasn't only for stealth, but also for the aerodynamics which are not as simplistic as they might seem. The idea was to match the Hornets manoevrability at low speeds with the F-16's accelleration and dash speed.

Is that a JHMCS helmet?

Back to the rockets are useless topic: what are you guys loading, S-8KOM or S-8OFP2 ?

Very interesting read, thanks, I should change the subject of the thread :=) Coming back to my original post as an intermezzo, I think the new thing is that a second Hornet takes over the in-flight command of the JSOW. That offers some nice tactical possibilities. We should also understand that while the Super Hornet, building on 4th generation technology, matures at an amazing pace and now sports an incredible long list of combat tested weapons. It also has a very performant data bus and strong networked communications. When the F-35C will start to be operational around 2016, it will not at all be with a complete suite of weapons, most probably with only a couple of A2G weapons. I guess F-35 will only very slowly expand its mission portfolio, look at the F-22. That means an F-35 being able to do most Super Hornet missions is something for the late 2020's. By then Super Hornet will have had a midlife update and certainly have better integrated avionics than today. It will of course never be a stealth aircraft.

JSOW C-1 against ships. http://www.sacbee.com/2012/08/21/4744000/raytheon-us-navy-begin-jsow-c.html Another string on its bow. At this pace, by the time the F-35C can catch a wire, the Super Hornet will be able to do what? Fly underwater? Refuel an aircraft carrier? Visualize a stealth plane in 3D?

Count me in!

Raptor comes positively in the news with launch of SBD weapons: http://www.afrc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123314409

Super Hornet at Farnborough ... sorry if it was already posted.

What are the openings for on the fuselage right before the wing?

Probably a bird strike .. pilot is OK. If I find an english language link i'll post it. Dutch language link: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/regio/limburg/120816_F16_Peer

F-22 at Hickam F-22 at Hickam:

True, but designing from scratch is a lenghty and costly process, just as designing a fighter aircraft. No wonder that the idea comes to mind to build on what you already have. Gives you some commonality in maintenance, spare parts, etc. as a bonus.

And the Rafale is no lame duck either!

Su-27 !

Yes, but maybe the airframe already has a higher performance envelope which is now limited by the FBW to be within the limits of the human pilot?