kalvasflam

I don't think anyone knows the answers, but at least according to the USN, the DF-21 has achieve initial operating capabilities, whatever that means. There hasn't been an over the water test from what people knows. I doubt if this thing is meant to turn itself into a cruise missile. The whole thing struck me as pretty unlikely to start with because basically, I still think of ballistic missiles as a giant rock with a roughly preset target and coordinates, yeah, may be you can change a bit of that on the fly, and to hit a moving target (that is probably maneuvering) means being able to adjust in the last few seconds. What I've read is that it's supposed to have satellite capability (don't have a clue what that means), but that's still a far cry from being able to hit a moving target. I wonder how the SM-3s will be able to take down something like DF-21, because it's supposed to be used for theater BMD, so in theory at least, it's specifically able to defend against these things. Of course, if this was the case, the logical conclusion for China is to MIRV the DF-21, I actually thought that would be the initial thinking anyway, but I wonder how tightly they can cluster the shots as it comes down. I would assume you need just a couple of hits from the top to disable a modern carrier. I wonder if China could conduct a test over water with the DF-21 against a maneuvering target, that would really force a rethinking on the part of the USN. Right now, I'm sure the threat is still more theoretical.

One side thought on this one, if the Chinese did put up this type of scenario, might it work with its millions of online gaming trained pilots (I know Koreans are better, but I'm sure the Chinese are catching up) and actually load up those antiquated Mig-21 with missiles, so that they're a little more like "dangerous". Of course, I'm only half serious here on this, the way the article read, it sounds like that whole scenario assumes one gigantic air battle one time, not a series of engagements where you could put the tankers much further out, and as for the AWACS and ELINT aircrafts, assuming a conflict in Taiwan straits, we would probably assume that there are still Taiwanese ground assets active in case the support aircraft gets killed, so that whole scenario is a bit disingenuous I think. The interesting question is what the real capabilities of the DF-21s (Chinese anti carrier ballistic missiles) are. The real threat is all about having carriers on station to project the firepower, if the DF-21s are good enough to deter the carriers from coming close, that's a more credible scenario. (which instantly made me think of gigantic submersible carriers as the next counter measure... protected by submarine escorts... my goodness, Macross Zero is full of goodies today) There was yet another article in Aviation week that talked about this in more credible terms, it was as much about the stealth fighter as it was about the DF-21.

Isn't that the equivalent of cancelled? Heh heh. The marines might be better off spending money on a VF-0 or a SV-51 prototype. That's real CAS; when the strafing run doesn't work, just transform and physically squash them.

An interesting quote in an article from that bastion of anti-F-35 sentiment, Aviation week. “China has got thousands of redundant MiG-21s,” Davies points out. “Why not make them into drones? What if each one absorbs one of the four missiles that an F-35 can carry. A MiG-21 drone is not a significant threat, but if you [face] a thousand of them and only [have] 200 missiles, you can be overwhelmed.” This is off an entertaining article on wargaming between China and US over Taiwan.

Ouch, wonder if it's someone who got RIFed at Lockheed or if it's someone in the Pentagon.

well, you're absolutely right since good parts of Chinese aviation industry is still heavily dependent on Russia. My understanding is that there are severe issues in doing local engines, and then all the radars and the more advanced weapons are still not quite indigenous. But give China another decade. Hell, who would have though in the early 90s that the Chinese would've been building their own knock off version of the SU-27, never mind even contemplating about a stealth fighter.

Oh, I do like aviation week articles. Finally, the Chinese version of the Stealth fighter is unveiled. I wonder whether it's a prototype like the T-50 and where this plane is in the development phase. Hopefully, this would eventually lead to China not buying Russian any more. Enough proping up of the Russian aviation industry I say.... let the indigenous designs begin. Here is hoping for more than 183.

But isn't that what the hero is supposed to be about, been able to overcome adversity... oh wait, I forgot, to be a hero today, you have to have better equipment or you're toast.

Hmmm, I agree about the relative ugliness of the wing mounted engines on the forward swept wing. I always thought that FSW type fighters are supposed to be "lighter and more agile" and those mounted engines make it look otherwise. This is nowhere near the same as the VF-27s which has a very heavy fighter look. The YF-29 feels like they tried to cross breed a VF-19 with a VF-27, and somehow they came up with this.

The only way tankers are ever going to happen is if the next major surge in military activities (Korea, etc) coincides with a sudden grounding of all the existing Stratotankers... and the USAF are only left with the Extenders.

The Business of 787 This is a very interesting read from flight global for those who are interested in the business of the 787. As everyone knows, the program has been a complete disaster given the 3 year delay in getting the launch customer. One would say that this was far far worse than Airbus's nightmare with the A380. But this article sheds some very interesting light on just how big and complete a disaster the 787 is for Boeing. It makes one wonder if Boeing commercial aircraft might survive this disaster. Hopefully they do a better job with the next version of the 737.

Speaking of CFTs, I think that the Super Hornets could benefit significantly from CFTs. Not sure how they would set it up, but if they can do it for a single engined F-16, they should be able to do it for the Super Hornets. I think it would fit best on top. Again, may be with a recessed bay for an AMRAAM on each tank.

Interesting, I wonder how many pax that thing is designed for. If they stretch this just a bit more, wouldn't it be a gigantic step backward? I agree perfectly with the DC-9 comment there If only one could enlarge the CFT a little more and slap a recessed missile bay on each side with an AMRAAM, that would do the trick. We can have a Silent Falcon, or should that be a Silent Viper?

So, instead of having a costed down average where lessons have been learned, let's just pretend we never learned anything, and proceed to make the same mistake again. What are you? A member of Congress? No, they bought Jaguars, Tornadoes, Harriers instead. And don't be so Eurocentric. The Western states weren't the only one buying fighters, or do you want to pretend to ignore the rest of the world? "the costs will drop significantly once it exits LRIP," replace LRIP with some other acronym and I can just ask the question, where have I heard that before. Wait, isn't the -22 out of that "LRIP" stage? So, you probably have a point there, but that just means it's better to keep up the production on the -22. Anyway, we're gonna go round and round on this, and neither of us will ever move from our position. The -22 is a better superiority fighter, and you can adapt that into other roles, it's just a bit harder to do that with the -35. Onto something more interesting next. Where is the Chinese Stealth fighter? I've seen that plane before... in the 90s... I think it was on GI Joe. Yo Joe... or something like that.

787 grounded after fire Well Boeing is truly cursed as far as the 787 is concerned. I can't see anything but another delay on the program at this point. That along with the slow down at Spirit in body deliveries, none of this can be any good. Three years delay on the product to customer, plus cancellations, plus the late fees. This is a much bigger disaster than the EADS problems with A380s. This is a golden opportunity for the A350XWB. If they hit their launch date or even is delayed by a year, they'll have an opportunity to really beat Boeing on this type. The only thing Boeing has now is to hope that Airbus screw up massively on the A350 as well. And hope is never a good strategy.

Who said anything about killing the JSF. I think my exact words were cost overrun and horrible procurement process. Oh yeah, and keeping F-22 production going, which was at the very least implied. I agree that killing the JSF is not in the cards for a number of reasons, including the few you mentioned. The other reasons would be having the light attack capability that the JSF offers, and the fact that the USN will need a fighter to replace its existing -18s, and the marines needing something to replace the Harriers still in service. On top of which the poor US decision to not have an export version of the F-22. But it is dishonest to say that there were less competitors to the US in the 80s, Dassault, Sukhoi, Migs were just a few of the names that were around back then too. All you have to do to confirm that is look at the number of Mirages and Migs that's littered all over the planet. The point is, no one can argue the fact that at the rate things are going, the F-35 costs won't be anywhere near as cheap as people originally thought, and that ongoing production of the F-22 make sense probably both from a reduction of per unit cost and air superiority point of view.

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/asd/2010/11/04/01.xml&headline=Gates%20Briefed%20On%20JSF%20Delay&channel=defense The latest and greatest from F-35 land... At this rate, may be the first F-35 will enter service in 2121... at the cost of... well, I think $5 Billion each sounds reasonable. Guys at the Pentagon shaped building, how about you just continue with F-22 production. Proven system and all that, probably lower cost, and you know what, may be modify it like they did the F-15 and make a Strike version of the Raptor. And somebody really should have fired Gates long ago, cost overruns on LCS and F-35 are just two more examples of the horrid Pentagon procurement process that he hasn't fixed. Speaking of which what happened to F-24 and F-34 designations, are we that eager to catch up with the Russian numbering systems on the Sukhois and Migs?

I like the word uncontained, it sounds so clean. May be the industry ought to go with something innocuous when the next airplane goes down. Call it an uncontained landing. I am now definitely going to put off flying the 787 when it rolls into service. Oh wait, that won't be a problem, since the earliest one that will go into the service in the states is in the middle of the next frigging decade. Hopefully by then, all the little details will get ironed out.

Saw the subbed version. Few thoughts echoing the others who already posted - decent visual eye candy (enough new animation to make it worth while) - too much pointless fan service - feeling that the story was slightly disjointed and didn't quite fit right - story could've been done better - a few corners got cut... like the macross attack into the Vajra ship... couldn't they have done one specifically for the movie and not cut and paste the one from the series I think overall, the story suffered a little, and the eye candy was set up almost like a distraction.

Cheaper alternative? Sure http://aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/asd/2010/06/03/01.xml&headline=Pentagon%20Recertifies%20JSF,%20Cost%20Increases&channel=defense So, the F-35 has a flyaway cost of $133M per unit, as opposed to $92.4M a few months ago. Geez, a couple more revisions, it'll cost more than the -22. So, less capabilities, not that much cheaper than the -22, one wonders why Gates was so adamant in shutting down the -22.

It was a great finale, and I'm very glad Chloe didn't get killed, she is one heck of a character. Poor Captain America, he survived Jack, but not the Prez. I hope Logan does not end up like a vegetable. It would be just so wrong. Itzin is a fantastic actor, he is Logan. I'd say in terms of presidents, it's either him or Palmer (the first one), Taylor though is a very close third. I'm definitely going to miss the show, but I did enjoy every season tuning in, even if some were not nearly as good as others. Definitely looking forward to the movie. (would be nice to see closure with Suvarov)

Chloe shot Jack. Potato face, you're pretty awesome... Logan is still f***ing awesome, and I loved Captain America begging for his life... I wish he whimpered a little more... actually a lot more. I did like the fact that Captain America got the Mike Tyson treatment... love it. Just finished... It's still possible for Logan to live... and hell, I even liked Taylor at the end.

I liked how they did the massacre, having it on screen would've not added to anything. But poor Charles, fooled twice... In spite of the poor stories, I think I'll miss this show. I'd also bet that Suvarov is dead by end of 23.

Oh my God... can't you people let peace just happen... warmongers Thank God that Charles is alive. Hmmm, let's see, this is the second time Jack has pulled off the same joke. Poor Charles. Ouch, they didn't even bother to show Jack shooting through Novokovich's guys. Just a hot poker out of the tummy... And Pillar, I'm going to call him Capt. America now, Capt. America is just inept.

Just curious, has anyone seen the new Romance of Three Kingdoms anime? Wondering if it was worth watching. On the other hand, FMA Brotherhood is definitely worth it. My only complaint is that they weren't as faithful to the manga in the beginning thanks to the 2003 version of the anime.