Jets & Planes but no UAV's here.

[Suhiir]

I can sorta understand why the USAF isn't thrilled with the F-35 (for that matter CAS aircraft in general) after all everyone is going to use it someone might think we no longer need a separate Air Force!

But the F-22? While I take the hype concerning it with more then a few grains of salt all indications are it really is top notch air superiority aircraft. Besides just what the heck do they think a new airframe is going to provide? As Lockheed Martin said, upgrade the various systems if and as needed, no reason for a new airframe.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

AUSA and others feel the F-22 in many respects and especially for stealth is about the best out there. However in many Top 10 lists it's easily in the Top 5. It should be noted that the Russians pretty much round out the rest of the Top 5 in combat maneuverability etc., which I fully can appreciate going back to the MiG-29. However the PAK-FA/T-50 appears from a stealth point of view to not be near as good as earlier reported, even the below is suggesting the same not surprised as the F-35 has fallen a little in this category as well. Bottom-line the F-22 will probably remain the only true 5th Gen fighter for many years to come. Next is one with a different take on the Top 10 list...
http://www.military-today.com/aircra...r_aircraft.htm
http://www.military-today.com/aircra...hoi_pak_fa.htm

We had a question I believe in the British OOB/or APC Threads on transport capability...
http://www.military-today.com/aircra...master_III.htm
You can carry one Warrior. The C-17 has a 48.3 ton cargo limit. Therefore from a cost point of view and the obvious risk factors it's unlikely to be used for that purpose.

The West has only one cargo plane to carry that out and it's the C-5A. The original C-5 can hold 2 x M1A1 tanks/16 3/4 ton trucks or 10 LAV-25 vehicles.
http://www.military-today.com/aircra...c_5_galaxy.htm

Now the real reason I'm here...Congratulations to the CORPS...yes they are the first ones to deploy the APKWS II on a fixed wing aircraft the venerable AV-8B Harrier II (And I take this moment to thank our friends "across the pond" for giving us such a GREAT DEAL on their fully updated almost 100 million dollars spent on the GR.7/9 Harriers. ). The USAF won't be far behind as it ran coordinated tests with, can you guess (?), you're right the A-10 WARTHOG. They had some issues with the jets that entailed a modified housing/FIXED. The USAF F-16 and USN F/A-18E/F were also used in testing. I have no data on the status with those jets.
http://www.janes.com/article/59175/a...-usmc-harriers

Time to "wind down" from work. Have a great day!!

Regards,
Pat