hellohikaru

I haven't pick up my copy yet but how does the wingmen work ? Is there a way to say split up your wingmen(give them individual commands) like having Nagase cover you and Blaze going off to attack with Grimm as his wing ?

I gotta admit the Super Crusader does have the look of a anime series plane from the 70s like Space Battleship Yamato. Sharp angles and long ventral fins among other features. btw pictures were found in Vought website. http://www.vought.com/heritage/products/html/f8u-3.html A bit small though.

@David That F-23 rocks...where did they get pictures of the cockpit is it accurate ? And any idea how a production F-23A would have looked like ?

This one just for your laughter. Behold the Goblin Shark.

Here is the artist concept of a trio of Super Gators climbing. The J75 engine allows it to reach Mach 3. Notice the Sparrow recessed mounted in the centerline, which require the nosewhell to be offset to starboard.

Of course politics play a role as always. Vought never had a strong support compared with MDC or Grumman those days. I see no reason why the Super Crusader cannot operate side by side with the F-4. Heck would have given the Navy with a better photo recon plane than both Tarps and Vigilante. BTW here is the photo of the Super Crusader on the ground. Ventral fin is folded horizontal outwards.

Based on what i read about the Super Gator(F8U-3) i tend to agree with Shin that it will beat Phantom(any variant). That beast is extremely powerful. Maybe the Navy didn't like its complexities ..Or maybe the looks ? I don't think it will win any beauty contest though. Reminds me of 2 things the X-32 and the Goblin Shark(an actual species).

Yes David i would love to see the picture of their Black Widow. Any opening weapons bay ? It does cost an arm and a leg doesn't it.

@David Hintgen How do the rate the Collect-Aire models in terms of quality and accuracy ? http://www.collectaire.com/models.html

Admiral Gilchrist who wrote an article criticising stealth but i am biased so i enjoyed that article. Anyway the A-4AR is still in service with the Argentinean AF. Ex-A-4M BTW with ARBS replace with the APG-66. OA-4AR is the two seater version. Which version of the Phantom do you wanna compare ? I think the Crusader will owned it except perhaps in the vertical in most cases. Too bad they never fully tested the Super Crusader but test pilots were confident Mach 3 was attainable. Had Sparrow armament btw.

I think the Hawk 200 is a waste of money. It cost about 24 million each which i could spent on a F-16A/B. When compared with the A-4AR which probably cost about 1/3 of the Hawk 200...i am going for the upgraded Super Skyhawk. Not only is the payload smaller but the range is less and it is very vulnerable to anything more than manpads. OTOH the Hawk is better in a dogfight than the Skyhawk. The Hawk 200 may be a good CAS/COIN/Point Air Defence plane but cost too much for what it can offer.

Ever wondered why you never see pics of Tornadoes with their wings swept back on the ground ? A Tornado keeper mentioned that the plane will see on its tail unless some sort of stand is placed under it. The IDS Tornadoes always seem to carry their ECM/Expendibles in pods on the outermost pylons while the ADV is full internal. I wonder why can they just build the ECM into the IDS plane. BTW what do you guys think about the Hawk 200 series....they don't have reheat but have uprated engines and a new combat wing from the 100 Series. It has the APG-66H radar which is similar to that use in the F-16A but with a slightly smaller antenna. Weapons include a 30mm gun pod, AIM-9P-4/L, Mk. 80 bombs, Cluster Bombs and Matra 155 rockets. Can also be equipped for Skyflash and LGBs. Interesting thing is that the Hawk 200 had 25mm ADEN guns as an option but i think its probably no longer available since the ADEN got canned. Mauser 27 is about the same size though.

The Falken...ummm... i wonder if they let you fire missiles backward. Reminds me of the Ghost drone from certain angles.

The Tornado ADV is not really like the MiG-25. It can't fly as high and certainly can't climb as fast. It did enjoy an excellent rate of role. The engines aren't powerful enough at higher altititudes..being optimised for low-level work but provided good economy which the RAF needed for long range patrols over the atlantic. But ADV handles very well at low level even without TFR...have the Fishbed follow that

I think they tested a missile that explodes into fragments before the hit the fighter. What is the point of using buckshots when the weapons they have now are already so lethal.

Garoquel What happen to milcomnet ?

well...the Flanker/Fulcrum have the Gsh-301 30mm cannon. It is one of the lightest cannons out there yet it has a muzzule velocity of 860m/s. But it is said to be accurate due to the use of a laser rangefinder(won't want to blind the poor bastard) and can be set to fire automatically. Most powerful single barrel fighter gun is the KCA 30mm used by the JA37. Has a muzzle velocity of 1050 m/s. A few hits from those would tear any fighter to pieces. Here is some data comparing the various guns available. http://www.canit.se/~griffon/aviation/text/akandata.htm

I actually saw this from a documentary some time ago...probably discovery or BBC. Here is an article with some details on Du http://www.iacenter.org/depleted/fahey.htm Mislovit you aren't from the ammunition industry are you ?

Not sure about this but the Iraqis didn't have use DU shells for their ammo AFAIK. But Abrams tank crews who use DU Silver bullets and certain support personnel were reported to show symptoms of toxic poisoning. Many soldiers may have been expose when a fire erupted in an Army base at Doha when ammunition was set on fire. But those were just plans to replace the A-10's DU ammo...i doubt it will ever get carried out due to the high cost in restocking them with new titanium or tungsten ammo.

So how did the crew handling Du ammo get sickness similar to radiation poisoning ? Ever heard of Gulf war vets having babies with defects due to their exposure. Btw they are no A-10s in use with Kuwait or Saudi. They are operated solely by the USAF.

I hope they will have dedicated missions for the attacker and jammer class. In AC4 the enemy fighters and time pressure made the A-10 almost useless.

Those small missiles look like JASDF AAM-3 IR weapons.

Well...the article did mention the USAF would supply a certain amount of ammunition for the gun when they export the planes to Turkey. A-10 fire both armour piercing and high explosive incendiary shells. However due to the health hazards that come with the depleted uranium shells they were plans to replace them with tungsten alloy projectiles.

It can't be the gun...not that it is a death ray or anything. But back in the late 80s/early 90s A-10s were in fact offered to Turkey and South Korea. Both got the F-16 instead but yeah the A-10 was export marketed.

Shin You know i though since the Philippine AF is mostly concerned with COIN mission these days then they should try acquiring the A-10A Warthog to replace the OV-10s. Easy to maintain and good for fighting the rebels down south.