Jets & Planes but no UAV's here.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

I know I brought this up awhile back but are we going to see the Ukrainian jets armed with the "standoff" weapons they've gotten since last Fall?

Also, tracking down "bits" saying their HINDS have been modified for HELLFIRE. I'm not seeing what I want to at this moment to ask for them.

I know your clock is fast running out.

Regards,
Pat

[DRG]

Originally Posted by FASTBOAT TOUGH

I know I brought this up awhile back but are we going to see the Ukrainian jets armed with the "standoff" weapons they've gotten since last Fall?

Also, tracking down "bits" saying their HINDS have been modified for HELLFIRE. I'm not seeing what I want to at this moment to ask for them.

I know your clock is fast running out.

Regards,
Pat

It would be helpful to know which "standoff weapons" you are specifically referring to.

There are no hellfires in the UKR OOB yet although...

https://dsm.forecastinternational.co...duction-fades/

Suggests I should add it but that link also suggests it's production is coming to an end

the HELLFIRE is operational in Ukraine, engaging targets it was originally designed to defeat instead of destroying pickup trucks full of wannabe terrorists. Yet, history is unlikely to repeat itself (at least this time). Any spectacular combat success gained by HELLFIRE in Ukraine will not stop its eventual production conclusion.

They are also using the Swedish RBS-17 which is a Hellfire derivative which is also not in the UKR OOB BUT ..........surprise, surprise, surprise. The Dumping ground OOB for the worlds weapons is running out of free weapons slots so for the RBS-17/Hellfire we may need to amalgamate them into one to conserve space and that won't make anyone happy as Hellfires have two weapons classes as they have different uses some are ATGM and some are air to surface missiles and the RBS-17 was designed to be an anti-ship missile\

And to give all the error ferrets something to chew on in the Swedish OOB the "Hellfire Team" fires a "RBS-17 AntiShip" WC 13 ( ATGM ) and that may very well be what ends up in the Ukraine OOB ONCE I FIX THE DAMNED THING as it has no HEAT pen so it's useless as an ATGM and it's been like that FOR TWENTY YEARS. There may be a reason lost in the mists of time that explains why a WC13 ATGM was given 0 HEAT pen but I don't recall what it might be

I SUSPECT it was set up this way as it was not intended for AT work. What they are good for in a ground role in Ukraine is unknown to me at this time

And yeah Pat.....it's all getting ( really, really ) old

[MarkSheppard]

https://twitter.com/Korea_Defense/st...88577479946710

The Republic of Korea Air Force paid tribute to its remaining F-4E Phantoms at Suwon Air Base on 08 March 2024.

As of March 2024, only 10 F-4E Phantoms remain, having been mostly replaced by F-35A. The remaining aircraft are scheduled to be fully retired in June 2024.

Going from F-4E to F-35A must be a huge for the pilots

[MarkSheppard]

Originally Posted by DRG

And to give all the error ferrets something to chew on in the Swedish OOB the "Hellfire Team" fires a "RBS-17 AntiShip" WC 13 ( ATGM ) and that may very well be what ends up in the Ukraine OOB ONCE I FIX THE DAMNED THING as it has no HEAT pen so it's useless as an ATGM and it's been like that FOR TWENTY YEARS. There may be a reason lost in the mists of time that explains why a WC13 ATGM was given 0 HEAT pen but I don't recall what it might be

I think it comes down to what the RBS-17 was intended for use against -- Sweden bought it for their Amphibious Corps (Amfibiekåren).

Seems that the idea was that helicopters or fast boats would drop off Amfibiekåren units who would quickly set up defenses on otherwise uninhabited or sparsely inhabited areas.

https://www.militaryfactory.com/smal...llarms_id=1341
https://web.archive.org/web/20070101....com/rb17.html

The robot platoon in the AMF consists of 3 fire units which in turn are divided into robot and illuminator groups.

An illuminator group consists of 4-5 men who move with a G-boat.

The robot group consists of 9-10 men and moves with Stridsbåt 90H.

The entire robot platoon groups the advance along the enemy's likely path of advance, that way you can quickly open fire when/if the enemy shows up.

As part of the development of the HSDS (HELLFIRE Shore Defense System), the HEAT warhead of the normal Hellfire was replaced with a blast-fragmentation warhead to be more effective against small boats and landing craft. (it's why it has HEAT=0 in the OOB)

Additionally, the control logic of the missile guidance computer was changed to better work against surface (ship) targets.

This isn't the only specialized anti-landing craft ATGM made -- the South Koreans, Taiwanese or Japanese (I forget who) had a special TOW made with a different guidance wire section in order to use the missile at longer ranges over open water against incoming landing craft -- normal TOW can't operate over water over 'x' meters, because the guidance wires eventually touch the ground.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

This has been in the works since Oct. 11, 2023, when the State Department approved the foreign sales request from Denmark to Argentina of their F-16 fighters the same one the Ukraine will be receiving.

What strikes me was Britian did not block this sale as they have done in the past since the Falklands War of any Fighter aircraft foreign sales to Argentina.

Also, these fighters are much more modern with an arms package we're also selling them being more "modern" then expected.

I already knew that since 2015 when the MIRAGE III fighters where retired from service that the ONLY fighter they were flying was the A4 SKYHAWKS.

What I didn't know however was that in 1994 they bought 36 UPDATED A4's from us that were flown by the USMC. They've had some updates along the way but, from the time of purchase those jets would be known as the A-4AR Fightinghawk.

The A-4AR will be replaced on a "one-to-one" which for RL & Game will keep them operational until DEC 2025.

What drove this? See the "breaking news" Argentina wants to join NATO and the talks have been ongoing. We have also sold them our latest version of the P-3 ORION Anti-Submarine and Surface Maritine platform.

There also up until a little over a year ago was the Chinese effort to sell them the JF-17 Fighter as flown for some time now by Pakistan.

Some "Cut and Paste" to make things easier for "The Boss"...

"After the signing of the deal, the first F-16 with the insignias of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina was unveil unveiled. The aircraft, the F-16BM 86-0199/ET-199, is painted in dark grey “Have Glass” color scheme, with full color Argentine flag and roundel. Interestingly, the F-16 was also armed with an inert GBU-31 JDAM and BRU-61 rack with four GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs. " (They are getting these. )

"According to Argentine newspapers, the package also includes AIM-120 and AIM-9 missiles (Non-starters for us.), while other weapons will be acquired directly from the United States. The whole deal is worth about $ 300 million which, according to a government spokesperson, is below the market cost of the aircraft."

"In their current configuration, the F-16s sold to Argentina were initially delivered in the Block 1, Block 5 and Block 15 configuration and later upgraded up to the Block 20 Mid Life Update configuration, with capabilities considered comparable to the F-16C Block 50/52 configuration.
https://theaviationist.com/2021/02/0...f-16-aircraft/"

By the way we are currently building those new F-16's.

From some other sources they should have the first six by the Fall also it is my understanding their Pilots are in Denmark training already.

I would expect it more than "reasonable" for FOC START Argentina in OCT 2024.
https://theaviationist.com/2024/04/1...-breaks-cover/

Regards,
Pat

[MarkSheppard]

F-4E retirement moving forward:

https://theaviationist.com/2024/05/1...r-south-korea/

On May 9, 2024, the Republic of Korea Air Force’s (ROKAF) F-4Es flew in formation with KF-21s to mark the type’s upcoming retirement. A sole F-15K served as chase plane and took photos of the flight. The formation, consisting of four F-4Es and two KF-21s flew around the Korean peninsula, covering all major cities outside of Seoul. The three-hour flight covered the following regions of Gyeonggi-province (Suwon, Pyeongtaek), Chungcheong-province (Seonghwan, Cheonan, Cheongju, Chungju), Gyeongsang-province (Uljin, Pohang, Ulsan, Busan, Geoje, Daegu, Sacheon), and Jeolla-province (Yeosu, Goheung, Gageodo, Gunsan).

...

During part of the flight, two KF-21s joined the formation over the skies of Sacheon, home to Korean Aerospace Industries’ manufacturing plant and headquarters. The formation symbolised the KF-21 taking over the F-4E’s role of protecting the nation’s sky. The first batch of KF-21s are expected to be come out later this year 2024 and achieve Initial Operating Capability (IOC) by 2026. Current F-4 and F-5 squadrons are scheduled to be the first ones to receive the new KF-21s.

...

A Korean Spook wearing a red scarf has and a Spook holding an AGM-142 Popeye missile were specially created for this occasion. Specifically, the Spook holding the Popeye missile is wearing the traditional battle gear of a Chosun dynasty military officer. The F-4Es were the sole operators of the AGM-142s and the remaining stockpile of munitions were all fired prior to the aircraft’s retirement

...

With the official retirement ceremony of the F-4E scheduled for June 7, 2024 at Suwon Airbase, the remaining 19 ROKAF Phantoms are still scheduled to fly around until the last few days.

[MarkSheppard]

Another OOB slot going *poof* in Ukraine.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-new...lots-in-france

“Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation and announce the transfer of Mirage 2000-5” fighter jets to Ukraine made by French manufacturer Dassault and train their Ukrainian pilots in France, Macron told French TV.

Macron said he would offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky when the two meet for talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Friday that the pilots be trained from this summer.

“You need normally between five-six months. So by the end of the year there will be pilots. The pilots will be trained in France,” he said.

[MarkSheppard]

Portugal has apparently backed out from a potential F-35 buy per news on Twitter -- breaking in the last hour -- nothing had been officially signed up to this point, so there are no cancellation costs.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

They are NOT likely to be the only ones.

Portugal's dropping out will now mean everyone else's cost for their F-35 fighters for a single fighter has just increased by millions of dollars more considering the cost of each is in the 90 million dollars per unit price point.

The GAO and DOGE "Boss" Elon Musk have been pointing out that with all the groundings (+Crashes), production delays, technical delays, at least three different engine replacements etc. etc. have made not so much a "rabbit hole" as to be instead several "rabbit holes" all at the same time.

Our Maintenace costs alone for the "fleet" we have now will be at least 2 TRILLION Dollars.

With Musks feelings about F-35 (Google it.) and with further countries possibly still to drop out it won't take long for DOGE too go HMmm!?!. They are already looking at the DOD.

We await the outcome.

This is a good article that's up to date thus far on the situation. The video is worth a look as well on the differences of each F-35.
https://reason.com/2025/03/17/allies...st-2-trillion/

And who won the "Battle in the West"? Though redacted there's enough there to surmise it was the A-10 even though no Forward Observers from the USA, USAF or USMC were allowed to be there for the full competition or not at all. That for another time.

Regards,
Pat