Mark, thanks a lot for all the feedback and ideas!
My US OOB will need a full-scale facelift in the near future anyway, so glad you can help.
Just a few words on most of the points:
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Is there even a plausible need for the Stryker? Suggest you delete it from the US Army OBAT for RC 0.5, because what's the point of it when you have the M-8 Buford AGS in service; and there's no mania for a lightweight combat team?
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Well, I have kept the Strykers for now, but I was considering a new icon series and a whole new identity. The need for light deployable brigades would still be here no matter what, but I may go for a more sophisticated (think Piranha-IV or Pars/Colonel) design and remove the whole "interim" backstory that's still supposed to remain attached to the Stryker (as in Interim Armored Vehicle).
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All M163A2 Vulcans (Unit 208) would have long been retired before 2007; and replaced with Bradley Linebackers.
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I'm keeping it up alongside the other basic M-113 series (until 2010 or so, Reserve and NG included), to balance the unbearable cost of the Bradley/block-III equivalents.
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LOSAT would have entered service on Humvees and on LOSAT Bradley.
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Currently considering the Buford-based version, Bradley is an option if there remains room in the OOB. It will also depend on my ability to come up with either a Buford icon series or decent Bradley derivates.
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USAF B-52s most likely would have been selectively retired beginning in the 2000s with a full production run of 132 B-2s (and perhaps more); making the B-2 a cheaper unit in terms of picklist cost
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Good point, but not much incidence since the level bombers are player-only units. So keeping some old B-52 available till the end of times can be interesting.
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The USAF F-22; hmm, I'm assuming it IOCs in 1995, as a pure fighter, with no budget delays, programmatic restructurings; etc.
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Why no fighter-bomber role? What else could replace the F-111 and F-15E on short notice? Both the FB-22 and A-12 are largely more expensive and less devoted to tactical missions. I still need a first-line support fighter to go in-between the A-10 and FB-22.
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Suggest you rename units: 151, 158, 870 and 917 to A-10A Warthog, 871 to A-10C Warthog (representing a complete systems upgrade of the A-10 to have thermal imagery, etc etc)
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Good idea, I'll see what kind of upgrade can go in on top of the TI.
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Create a new "A-10B FAC" unit based on this
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No armed spotters allowed and no need for that one when there are UAVs aplenty. If room allows, some OA-10 could be used as strike/COIN fighters using lighter weaponry based on WP rockets.
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F-14 Tomcat is replaced from 2000s onward with the Naval Advanced Technology Fighter
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I'm keeping track on this one, but that's OOB13 stuff only. I'll see which version I can come up with, but don't worry, it's somewhere on my drawing board.
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F-35......would it EVEN exist as we know it in a Continued Cold War?
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Thanks for the info on the Lockheed program, that's one I didn't know about. Mmh... you're right, I'll certainly stick with it for the USAF, I'll need something to replace the F-16. The USN is another matter. I still think the JSF or whatever replaces it is needed in a niche inbetween the A-12 and the F-14 replacement, say as a follow-on to the A-7. The Super Hornet is a no-go for the US market, just not good enough compared to Air Force stuff. A common program still makes sense IMO, big budgets or not. An interesting point in the current JSF program is that it is supposed to be as much a Century Deal as the F-16, and an ever-strong NATO is a good frame for that.
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There's also a bunch of other what ifs
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As always, thanks for the info. A replacement for the B-2 is low priority enough I'd say because strat bombers aren't that much used in the first place, and the B-2 is able to hold the line well enough until 2020.
The Sea Apache is interesting, and it hits a sore point on my USMC to-do list: which attack helo would the Corps go for, given a choice? I heard they were quite interested in the Apache, so a navalized version could be interesting, if technically feasible. That would only be a sea-based AH of course, not the full-fledged multitask chopper depicted in your document (not exactly the scope of the game).
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A competition for a COIN aircraft similar to the American OV-10 Bronco was initiated in 1980 to meet the demands of the war in Afghanistan.
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Thanks, I hadn't spotted that one yet. I was aware of Soviet COIN fighter projects, but I was keeping them mostly for export in insurgency-prone or low-budget countries (think Sudan, Yemen, Angola, Vietnam). I'll patch up at least one of them for the next release, which will find its way in the Soviet OOB, as always, if room allows. I've already come up with dedicated icons for the Su-25 replacement (Il-41 Flintlock for now, if anyone can find something better...), which will do for CAS missions in most cases:
Re: Fixed: New Cold War 2020 mod release! (RC 0.4)
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