Rick50

Couple more observations: unlike the previous two years, this year artillery is no longer being shot at every target received, but only in smaller numbers at key targets. And just a few shells, not big volleys. Not guided artillery, BASIC UNGUIDED 155mm shells !!! That's crazy considering all of NATO is supplying them. And that SOOOO many companies out there can make basic arty shells... Another issue.... why is it that most missiles are made by Raytheon ? Why do they have such a monopoly? Shouldn't another company want to get in on that business, take some market share? Maybe Anduril could start making long range AAM's to compete with Aim 260 on price and manufacturing speed so we can get inventories up quickly... make Raytheon feel the heat and give us more of them faster at a more reasonable price.

I was thinking about having the option of the flat rear ramp, or removed ramp/clamshells like they sometimes do. And maybe the nose armour seen in newer Hips... Wasn't there a few Hips that got ATGM's ? One article from way back called an ELINT variant with a missile "The Terminator", after being used to eliminate a tango leader on his cell phone... back in early 2000's Not necessary but maybe "nice to have" might be Mi-171 high horsepower variants with glass cockpits, be it Russian glass or Western glass. I think of the special versions bought for Western groups, like SF units, covert ops (yes they had some for real, pictures even exist), and commercial use. United Nations have operated these for many many decades, but I've no idea which variants they have used over the years... guessing most were very basic early models with a handheld GPS taped to the dash, but no idea if they are using fancier newer versions today.

So this was an early step towards what would become the 9X ? One that was developed but not bought?

Meteor has test flown on the F-35 for integration. This is NOT operational at this time, and likely not for at least a year or more. However, it's an interesting development that could be seen for future users. https://www.twz.com/air/f-35b-has-flown-with-meteor-long-range-air-to-air-missile It occurs to me that maybe the Meteor might be worth considering to add to the NASAMS system, to help spread the production and availability?

Meteor has test flown on the F-35 for integration. This is NOT operational at this time, and likely not for at least a year or more. However, it's an interesting development that could be seen for future users, such as the UK and Italians. https://www.twz.com/air/f-35b-has-flown-with-meteor-long-range-air-to-air-missile It occurs to me that maybe the Meteor might be worth considering to add to the NASAMS system, to help spread the production and availability? Please note: I'm deliberately excluding specific names of nations, to try avoiding awkward political discussions. One major problem that's not being discussed a lot these days, is just how much delay there is when purchasing missiles today, and taking delivery 5 years from now. I'm guessing that with several current and possible future conflicts, the number of orders being placed in 2025 may spike upwards, causing delivery delays to stretch to even a decade. Couple that with the reality seen numerous times in the 1990's and since, that no nation seems to have enough munitions in store for full scale combat for more than a few weeks, maybe focusing all on giant expensive stealth programs could be a trap of it's own. Examples include but are not limited to: not enough Sidewinders in the late 80's and early 90's for extended air war past a few weeks. Not enough LGB's after just 2 months air war over Iraq in 1991. Reports that there were never truly enough 155mm artillery shells for extended conflict in the 80's and 90's, which leads into 155mm consumption vs storage vs production for Ukraine and munitions storage replacement. We simply don't make enough shells, even at "war of the Black Sea overtime" rates, to feed their artillery, or to replenish our stocks already sent there. The shortages are so pronounced, that even basic artillery shells, and new armoured vehicles are being procured from Asia, to supply Europe. While intense, it's worth considering that this conflict on the Black Sea, is tiny in terms of area, and the number of military vehicles/weapons, compared to a large scale military operation... which makes me wonder just how quickly all sides of any near future conflict would run out of supplies. Not just the missiles, but all the supplies... they say an army runs on bullets, bread and diesel, but today I wonder about the absolutely gigantic amount of unique supplies parts, fuels, foods in various packaging, that modern militaries need. I wonder if this is perhaps the biggest deterrent to nations invading nations today, is maybe the limitations of being able to supply those violent expeditions. I'm not saying it's all impossible, clearly America's logistical capabilities are legendary since 1941 until today. But the Black Sea war has given many logistical surprises, not only to both combatants, but also to all nations supporting the effort.

A few comments without getting too deep: National arms purchases often are not about which product is best or suited to the nation's specific needs. Often it's more about this country's leaders wanting to have ties and make friends with the other countries' leaders. A nations' leaders might find old suppliers not being too grateful, or problematic for unrelated reasons, and might want to find new trading partners and "friends". They might want a ton of foreign investment, banking resources, so they abandon the "old jet supplier" and buy a new jet from a new "friend", for the benefits. Maybe it's about securing military support and cooperation, inviting a new military base for the other nation's military, to help bolster defences. Other times it's about trading deals: I buy your jets, you buy millions of tons of wood lumber and vodka. Or maybe I buy your tanks and you provide cocaine and lots of prostitutes, a yacht, or a private jet. Maybe a vintage Ferrari or extremely desired real estate property that's impossible to acquire even with unlimited money. Still other times it's about how many jobs will come about for this politician in his home province/state, compared to the other product's employment. The Bone had more than 1200 different suppliers spread across the nation... many suspect this was not a coincidence, but a deliberate move to help ensure the program wouldn't get cancelled because most of the politicians would stand to lose if they voted the Bone down. Sometimes, the top brass are not as honest as they should be, and choose the product based more on future job opportunities for themselves or their close family, at a company such as this. There are rarely times where an intelligence agency decides it wants this product to get the contract over a different product, and they put pressure to influence the final decision. Then there is the concern of long-term support/supply... if the buyer isn't so sure that a future political difference would remain steadfast, after facing significant public protest over an unpopular conflict, maybe getting tank engines from a particular nation might be thrown into question. Maybe they get passed over. Similarly, one country will sell arms to many countries, but not nations that are actively at war... so the deal goes through, then war breaks out, and now getting supplies/spares is thrown into question. Not helping the matter is that sometimes the critics of a particular system are not always totally honest, or their sources. For instance, the Bradley IFV story, and the movie it spawned "The Pentagon Wars", seem to hold both many true items and observations, yet also seemed to contain many falsehoods and untrue assumptions. So while the Bradley was a bit of a mess in development, the fact that it became one of the stars of Operation Desert Storm, shows that not all the criticisms within were really all valid. To put it another way, opinions are not rare, everyone's got one! It's important to try to inject context as much as possible. All the above are from real situations that I have heard of, specific cases. Also, it's probable that in almost all cases, there are multiple reasons, not just my own, but ALL those already mentioned in this thread, in combination.

I had to look up what the DCS Tornado project was going to represent... now I'm not sure if this is still current, but from 2022:

Impressive system! I guess it's only real shortcoming is the need to directly overfly the target at low altitude, prime bait for ZSU and Tunguska, Tor and Strella... must have been impressive to see with live munitions though! I'm guessing this system will feature in the Tornado under development for DCS ? Is it a GR.1 being made? Or a similar variant like the core IDS, maybe from Italy ?

Local and regional laws can sometimes be INSANELY punishing for people to "defend" themselves. In some countries, on paper it looks like you have the right to self defence. But unless you are seriously politically connected, if you defend yourself, you may find yourself facing prison. You might avoid prison, but get completely drained of money, investments, property and still require help, to pay for your legal troubles fees and such. The legal process itself is sometimes the punishment. Keep in mind that if the one robbing your home is injured or maimed, you may be sued by him for any kinds of injuries sustained, inability to hold certain jobs. I know, this sounds crazy... but we live in crazy world some times these days. It's worth checking, doing a deep dive, to find out what has ACTUALLY happened to people in your area after a self defence case. You might be surprised.

Seems to me nearly all of these "gaming chairs" are very poor comfort for "any:" length of time. They look cool, and feel nice at the store for 10 minutes, but after an hour your butt would be sore. By contrast, most regular chairs feel ok for two hours. But for the longest time for comfort, look to automotive chairs. Can find vehicle chairs for sale in any medium size city.... optimised for longer time than you ought to be at a computer. 12+ hours of comfort is easily achieved.

Well, sure... I guess that's not the biggest surprise, considering the high importance of stealth and sensor capability in modern air combat these days (no pun intended... or maybe yes, intended!). On the other hand, a Rafale is STILL a Rafale, and that still means an amazing jet in it's own right! In a world where there are still a few active duty F-4 Phantom's doing training missions, a Dasault Rafale or Eurofighter are amazing! Come to think of it, it's also amazing the Phantom still has a few users... first flight in 1958... Turkey intends to operate them until 2030 !!!

Good catch! Yea, seems they sold the F-16 and it's Fort Worth factory back in 1993...

At least that one on the pylon looks good!! That's one thing I find sad about Russia, I don't see as many of their aircraft and past prides on display... I mean yes, there are SOME... T-34's and some fighters, yet the Buran shuttles, one was on display in Moscow I think, and the rest abandoned to the harsh weather. Similar for their Ekranoplans. Sure, some may not have had tremendous success, but put them on display anyways, inspire younger generations who never heard about these aircraft, engineering challenges. I have to think it's not a case of lacking pride, but simply no money for displays. Kind of a shame really.

It's also worth looking at Police SWAT tactics with flashlights... they will sometimes use them as a distraction and blinding tool to momentarily incapacitate the two-legged monster, giving precious moments to "solve" the problem in some way. It may be that EW and modern radars can cooperate to do the same on an enemy fighter pilot... and considering how America was fielding many EW pods during the Vietnam war, and have not stopped dev since, have computing chips and storage on a scale unimaginable back in the 1960's now allowing for software defining processing changes on the fly, and absolutely massive libraries of vehicle and systems identifications, and probably 70 years of ELINT signatures collected, well, someone's gonna have a bad day... shoulda pizza'd instead of french fries!

In Canada we have a few Russian/Soviet era helicopters that were imported for commercial use. I think they all/most received updated attitude indicators to match what we normally use in North America. I think it had to do with certification, not just pilot familiarity. Mi-17's and 171's, and a few Kamov's were bought for heli-logging in British Columbia (between Vancouver and Alaska). I believe that some ended up getting a full glass avionics suite that is common today, along with iPad GPS maps and such. All very common today for many private pilots.

Ok but where can I order an authentic Klingon Bird Of Prey ? I mean, it's got cargo space, can go real fast, has a convenient cargo ramp, and even has visual stealth... oh and how much is a reasonable price? And could I special order an Improbability Drive with it?

F-24 Owl ? Sorry, I know nothing about this project... and a google search didn't give me anything of value. Is it 5th gen ? Not stealthy? Other nations haven't bought the Raptor because the Pentagon wants to keep it's stealth secrets, and it's also really expensive jet. So much so that America's replacement for the F-15c is the F-15EX, 128 have been delivered already. Nations looking for more capability than the F-16 seem to be choosing the F-35 for stealth, and F-15E or EX variants for longer distance bombing/attack. Keep in mind that many nations with F-16's can't afford to go to something much bigger... some of them the F-16 might have been a budgetary "stretch" to buy in the first place. Those who can afford to spend more, are buying F-35's seemingly in most cases. Those who can't spend lots more, are considering aircraft like the Grippen from your pictures! And maybe also the Super Tucano (though much different roles and applications). I'm curious to learn more about this F-24... What expertise would you be able to bring to the development of this new F-24 ? Are you an SME of some kind?

Seems that way to me... however, just like a flashlight, you CAN shine it momentarily and then turn it off. Or put in on very low... my daily flashlight I carry for work on a lanyard, is normally set to 65 lumens, but I can turn it down to 1 lumen for various reasons (making sure no glare), and can "Turbo mode" to 500 Lumens. (I'm talking Nitecore Tini 2.) So I imagine that in some situations, the stealth pilot might request a "Give me a ping, Vasili. One ping only, please." of his radar... and turn the active part of the radar off. This, much like with submarines, might give a location for the enemy to fixate on, while now dodging and planning to attack from another direction. When there is a lot of signals, the one super short stealth radar signal might get lost in the shuffle. Meaning, not relying purely on "not being seen", but rather, using deception and distraction. Remember also, subs have to fully prioritise stealth most of ht time to survive, partly due to their slow speeds, while jets can relocate quite quickly. Keep in mind these aircraft have datalinks, so maybe the Raptor that's 100nm away is actively tracking an enemy jet, while an F-35 that's just 30nm from that enemy now fires an AMRAAM completely stealthily, but using the data and radar reflection from the Raptor. The Raptor is safe due to distance, the F-35 is safe because his radar is not emitting, but still sees the big picture from the data link. The Amraam gets the coordinates, goes there, then goes mad dog and downs the enemy. 30 minutes later, the F-35 and Raptor might change roles due to an enemy near the Raptor who's now silent. So I picture the radio emissions as being something that changes many times in one flight, due to differing requirements from minute to minute.

He does great videos, I enjoy learning from them, when I have an hour to spare!

Well, last I heard was the B-2 wasn't going to be retired by the B-21, but that it might soldier on alongside the Raider for a decade maybe. However... realities of budgets and maintenance headaches will probably change that. Sure, it's smaller in size and payload. But instead of buying just 21 Spirits, the first order is for 100 Raiders, and the plan as it exists now, calls for 175 to 200 Raiders. There were/are several goals with the Raider: - much longer combat radius. They are not giving much hints... just that it'll be able to reach anywhere in the world. Also hints that could be considered a possible adversary. Talk that if needed, could be operated from less capable airfields, such as found in the South Pacific... - much faster simpler and cheaper to maintain the stealth coatings/ surfaces. Operating costs are a big factor, considering this takes a HUGE portion of the USAF budget for normal planes, and the Spirit is very expensive to keep running. - a LOT more ELINT and EW features, collecting data about the enemy is a major focus, just as it is with the F-35. They are talking about sometimes sending Raider on a pure "spy plane" mission, implying not carrying bombs or weapons on occasion, but to collect SAM site emissions, radio intercept and such. There was even speculation that there might be a dedicated purpose-built "spy" version.... but I suspect all of that capability will end up on all Raiders, just my opinion. Why? Because that's how the leading edge of air combat theory and development is evolving. See Reapers and F-35's, among others - it won't "JUST" be a "bomber". It'll be so adaptable to different kinds of missions, even ones not yet imagined. There is talk of arming it with long range air to air missiles. Also HARM type weapons, and possibly very capable EW to defend from S-400 SAM systems - will allow for easy integration with UCAV's like "Loyal Wingman" and other programs - though I've not seen this yet, but I'm sure someone at USAF will really talk up the benefits of artificial intelligence into the Raider - there is talk of making some or all of them "optionally manned". Meaning, you might not send it on a mission with a crew every time... you might keep the crew at home and fly it like Reaper pilot operators do from a container in Nevada. It's not clear if this capability will remain in the program - data networking comms will be a major part of the Raider program, to communicate with distributed sensors, Loyal Wingmen, manned wingmen, and assets in the kill chain that might be on different continents - the Spirit, after all this time, is still not anywhere near being obsolete. The Raider's capabilities and concepts are apparently largely the result of successful testing on Spirits the last 10 years. The Raider builds on the success and lessons learned by it's "Dad"

Good idea! I don't want to put this pressure on Fragger, he's got his hands full already, I'd imagine. However, maybe a "Hammer Character Creator V1.0" would be a worthy addition to all DCS modules? Maybe the Character would be created using a free 3d program, like maybe Blender... and while that takes a lot of skill, maybe we have a "off the rack" set of bodies of various size and shapes to choose from. Maybe you get your face scanned, and add it to the model. And then you "add" it to the aircraft model selections, much like you'd add ordnance. I dunno, not sure if that would work smoothly in DCS, but with software development, it does seem that if you have enough time, creativity and innovation, and the CPU GPU power, that nothing is "impossible"... but really I'm just a window shopper who's never been in the store! I don't think this concept project ought to pull from all the other development, but I also think the idea has a lot of merit

This is how I feel as well. I don't like some of the politics of the day. HOWEVER... if any young ladies get inspired to try "daddy's flying game", or adult women who have a love of aviation or just want to experience a little bit of virtual flight, I want them to be able to choose a female avatar... I don't want them to feel deliberately excluded. I want for them to be further inspired, to learn more. I want them to be inspired to join the ranks of the DCS squadrons... or REAL squadrons eventually, or fly civilian either as a professional or private enthusiast. Or aim even higher, to orbit and even Mars. We will NEED females to go on interplanetary expeditions, to be a part of new colonies from the start. The qualifications needed, for the early settlers of Mars, will be EXTREMELY high, to ensure just a CHANCE of mission safety. We need to inspire the young people of today, to embark on a lifetime of super intense education, qualifications, cross training in multiple disciplines...and then only pick the very best who can effectively be a part of a great team. That needs to start now, to ensure they are fully ready to launch by age 40. I understand the desire for absolute realism in DCS, it's part of the core, the soul of DCS itself. But in the real world, anyone might sit in a combat helo. Certainly many young boys and girls have had their picture taken in various helos, even if it's at an airshow and all power is turned off. But at the end of the day, we are all "Walter Mitty' imagining ourselves to be German attack helo pilots, yet I am not German, nor am I a licensed helo pilot.... and I certainly have not qualified to shoot TOW or HOT missiles on a West German military range, does that mean I'm not being realistic ? Look, as long as the aircraft is created with respect, beauty, full fidelity, and "game stability", anything else is a nice bonus IMO. Ok I'm rambling incoherently, time to log off!

LOL!! Agreed, she does look like a real world professional combat pilot, type Female. A tank hunter, Mk.1 Mod.0, all business in the business of defending Germany from endless tank columns. Great job Fragger! That said... if somehow Lt Ellen Ripley learned German and flew the Bo in the 1990's, I think she too would be appreciated by some! Sigourney does speak fluent French, I think she has family ties to the nation just to your West. Not the "pretty Ellen" of the first two films with beautiful hair, but maybe more from Alien3 or Resurection, a more intense and serious look. I know that'd be tough, a tall order, but also a nice tribute to perhaps the greatest female action hero of our time.

Well, it doesn't have bench seating, but there's already a Littlebird mod:

I remember reading somewhere that the PBY-5, though designed for water ops, had to undergo a lengthy cleanup process due to salt water ops, to prevent the aluminium hull corroding. In a Chinook doing water landing, some water would end up on the inside of the fuselage, and come into contact with all sorts of components that might not favor longevity!