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DigitalSea

Re: Updated: U.S. Navy Considers Extending All Its Nimitz-Class Carriers

There is probably a faction that explored such a thing but the senior officers are all stuck in the 20th Century; I suspect they dream of WW2 every night. Probably the same ones who dream of their F-18 being shot down over Iran so they can sneak into the cockpit of an IAF F-14 and fly it back to th...

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DigitalSea

Re: Updated: U.S. Navy Considers Extending All Its Nimitz-Class Carriers

Didn't the US Navy explore fielding smaller dedicated UCAV carriers, with smaller escorts, for more coverage across the Pacific?

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DigitalSea

Re: Any replacement for the C-17 ?

In a world not engulfed in war, commercial airlifters can do a majority of the hauling well into the future until a new military bird is designed. They can also keep the C-17s and C-5s flying as long as necessary until that need arises. If we're talking about hauling during a hypothetical conflict w...

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DigitalSea

Re: Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider Production And Delivery Thread

There's no need to go beyond "good enough" when money and effort can be spent better on other areas. You know it's interesting you bring this up. I wonder where the US will be in 20 years as China explores employing a quantity over quality approach to overcome America's expensive technolo...

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DigitalSea

Re: The USS Nimitz should be kept for Marine air assault.

Because that is just how steel boats work. They don't go from fully operational one year to a risk of the hull snapping in half the next year. A modern steel military ship could float on the water for hundreds of years before corrosion or rust would become an issue. This is a quote for the scrapboo...

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DigitalSea

Re: Second tier advanced fighter projects news and discussion

Russia has initiated the groundwork for manufacturing the Su-75 ‘Checkmate’ stealth fighter aircraft, marking a crucial step in the production process for its single-engine fifth-generation fighter jet. The announcement of this development was made on November 13 by the press service of the Rostec ...

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DigitalSea

Re: So much for China keeping their word on no military expansion on reefs in SCS

China is full steam ahead with their modernization and development, the US media hardly ever touches up on the dire concerns of what's going on across the ocean. The Chinese is also heavily invested in Western Media to prevent any wrong think. Pre-WW2 all over again when Nazi Germany was influencing...

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF Tactical Tanker

Because the KC-46 will get shot down and you've lost 3 crew. B-21 or not, explain how you're going to pull off air-to-air refueling in a contested environment without being detected, lol come on... Please explain how stealth aircraft survive once their weapon bays doors open... So you would rather ...

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DigitalSea

Re: How to defend against slow unmanned strike vehicles?

Use the electromagnetic spectrum for threats that are dependent on it for targeting, communication, and navigation. Use kinetic means when they are too close for that.

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF Tactical Tanker

RJMAZ wrote:
DigitalSea wrote:
Why on Earth would the USAF need a B-21 tanker?

Because the KC-46 will get shot down and you've lost 3 crew.

B-21 or not, explain how you're going to pull off air-to-air refueling in a contested environment without being detected, lol come on...

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DigitalSea

Re: Ex-UK pilots lured to help Chinese military- BBC

They wouldn’t be the first, but I’m sure the door will swing both ways: me thinks DIA would love to debrief any one of these guys to get hands-on info on how the Chinese train. Especially for a few £. As far as treason, good luck proving they gave up classified information. It’s not like the Chines...

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DigitalSea

Re: Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider Production And Delivery Thread

America knows its strategic bombers will be flying a long way from home into truly sophisticated anti-access areas, but they won't be going alone.

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DigitalSea

Re: Ex-UK pilots lured to help Chinese military- BBC

They wouldn’t be the first, but I’m sure the door will swing both ways: me thinks DIA would love to debrief any one of these guys to get hands-on info on how the Chinese train. Especially for a few £. As far as treason, good luck proving they gave up classified information. It’s not like the Chines...

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF Tactical Tanker

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022/04/28/future-ngad-fighter-jets-could-cost-hundreds-of-millions-apiece/ So it is not cheaper to give an aircraft longer legs. It is actually cheaper to just buy one $300 million B-21 tanker to top up a dozen $100 million F-35 aircraft. For that same $1.5 billion ...

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF Tactical Tanker

It'd be cheaper to give next gen aircraft longer legs than to develop a tanker that can somehow pull of LO re-fueling.

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DigitalSea

Re: Possible first flight of Chinese stealth bomber ?

alberchico wrote:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/first-flight-for-chinas-h-20-stealth-bomber-could-be-imminent-report

Here is a much more detailed article.

Tyler's fanned the flames of the "H-20" before. I don't doubt the Chinese are working on it, but it'll fly when it flies.

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DigitalSea

Re: Should the F-35 (All variants) Require Self Destruct Capability?

It probably wasn't a smart idea to make an aircraft (that's supposed to do a lot of heavy lifting) so highly classified and technologically superior that any piece of it, no matter how small, would provide a lot of value to adversaries. After we fish out the F-35C from the South China Sea, I'm sure ...

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DigitalSea

Re: Lockheed Martin F-35 News, Production and Delivery Thread - 2022

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/25/crashe ... -china-sea

DigitalSea

Re: Lockheed Martin F-35 News, Production and Delivery Thread - 2022

https://news.usni.org/2022/01/24/f-35-l ... -china-sea

DigitalSea

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

That is what are well trained and equipped Taiwanese defence force is for, to meet that initial wave of attacks for the first 24 to 48 hours, before foreign help arrives. I truly doubt there is anyone who thinks that an invasion of Taiwan wouldn't ultimately be successful, but the damage to Taiwan ...

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DigitalSea

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

Why does everyone think this will be great war which is easy to win? It did not work in Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East as well as with the trade war. Because there isn't a land border where tanks and soldiers can just cross the border like in every war you mentioned. Every Chinese ship will be ...

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DigitalSea

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

I believe the driving reason for China's push to create an independent, internally consumer driven economy is precisely so they can have a freer hand to do what they will without the risk of ruining their economy and prosperity. Right now they are dependent on outside consumption and exports and re...

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DigitalSea

Re: F-15X has no mission!

Bean-counting is only one aspect to look at, not everything can be expressed from a strict financial point of view. There's intrinsic value that can't be quantified.

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DigitalSea

Re: USS Bonhomme Richard (Wasp-class amphibious assault ship) is on fire

LyleLanley wrote:
This event threw a huge monkey wrench into the Navy’s deployment availability forecast by severely disrupting the operational and maintainable periods of the rest of the gator carriers.

If that's true, I'd hate to see how the Navy would handle wartime losses.

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DigitalSea

Re: Could a SSBN launch on the surface?

What if a blue whale was skimming along above the SSBN when a missile leaves the tube?

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DigitalSea

Re: XB-70 variant proposals; including a tanker

You have to understand the thinking at the time, engineers were being pushed to accomplish the impossible. Big risks were made, they truly dared to dream. And that's why these proposals seem ridiculous to us today.

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DigitalSea

Re: RC-135W disguising as a Malaysian plane

Yes, because you can just go to the E/E bay and repin/reprogram your transponder in flight to another random number..... The lies in this article are as blatant as the news media. You assume a bog standard transponder on an RC-135W? Amusing. This is a SPY PLANE. I'd be surprised if they did not hav...

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DigitalSea

Re: RC-135W disguising as a Malaysian plane

Perhaps they were testing China.

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF PCA and other 6th gen fighters

Curious as to why the USAF felt the need to disclose this unless China 6th Gen Developments are farther along than the public knows.

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DigitalSea

Re: Russian SU27 buzzes the BUFF over the Black Sea

If we would have went forward with the XB-70 as the backbone of our strategic bomber force, this relatively minor incident would have never happened.

/s

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DigitalSea

Re: What do military pilots eat aboard?

Don't you want to keep food intake to a minimum on long deployment flights since, er..how do I put it nicely...what goes in, must come out? Being strapped into a cockpit of a fighter jet, you don't have that many options available when you have to go... Your body can hold it in for a while if you r...

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DigitalSea

Re: USS Bonhomme Richard (Wasp-class amphibious assault ship) is on fire

Yikes, I wonder what our adversaries learned about this. Sabotage & Arson are how you bring down the US Navy!

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DigitalSea

Re: F-35 News Thread - 2020

Probably taken offline for a refresh/hardware update lol.

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DigitalSea

Re: What airports does JANET fly to?

Tugger wrote:
Janet flights are a bit like Fight Club....

(Also I think DigitalSea is having a bit of fun with it.)

Tugg

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DigitalSea

Re: What airports does JANET fly to?

The Janet Flights you speak of, do not exist, please immediately cease all references to them.

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DigitalSea

Re: The F16 and Mach 2

For the F-16, Mach 2 is not necessary. It's a grocery getter and errand runner aircraft for the military. Interceptors like the F-15 & F-22 require it because they are policing the air-highways. The F-16 was designed as and entered the service as a lightweight Interceptor. Not to deliver grocer...

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DigitalSea

Re: The F16 and Mach 2

For the F-16, Mach 2 is not necessary. It's a grocery getter and errand runner aircraft for the military. Interceptors like the F-15 & F-22 require it because they are policing the air-highways.

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DigitalSea

Re: USS Bonhomme Richard (Wasp-class amphibious assault ship) is on fire

Maybe this was China's payback for the fire on their LHD a little while back.

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DigitalSea

Re: F-35 vs F-18 Growler for Penetrating Air Defense

Good point. I can be more specific. Let's suppose the US or France attack a large, technically capable peer. Something like Russia or China with S-400s and Su-35s and much more (even some P-18 low frequency radars, or pick something better). We want to win the air war and dominate the sky long term...

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DigitalSea

Re: Fictional scenario refueling

If you want realism, you should explore the Air-to-Air refueling variant of the F-117 that's similar to the one used in Executive Decision . It was used to hook up to various aircraft and perform LO refueling similar to how the variant in the movie offloaded passengers. https://thenerdsuncanny.files...

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DigitalSea

Re: F-35 vs F-18 Growler for Penetrating Air Defense

You can have stealth & jamming by having the F-35 performing EW while simultaneously striking the enemy targets.

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DigitalSea

Re: China claim they will sanction Lockheed Martin

I'm sure this will give the defense industry a good laugh across the sector.

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DigitalSea

Re: Updated: U.S. has formally kicked Turkey out of the F-35 JSF program

Maybe that was the plan the entire time lol.

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF PCA and other 6th gen fighters

Is there a possibility this is just smoke and mirrors? From which perspective? That the USAF/USN are further along than they are suggesting or that the House Armed Services Committee are just trying to justify their position and role in the process and the information requested isn’t required? Both...

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DigitalSea

Re: USAF PCA and other 6th gen fighters

Is there a possibility this is just smoke and mirrors?

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DigitalSea

Re: Germany cancels P-3C modernisation; looking for replacement

Maybe they could buy some Russian hardware to supplement their energy deals.

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DigitalSea

Re: P-8 Poseidon, fighter escorts needed?

889091 wrote:
If required, can/how does the crew bail out in-flight?

Crawl into the sonar buoy ports and egress the aircraft expeditiously.

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DigitalSea

Re: Second tier advanced fighter projects news and discussion

South Korea has completed the selection process for the precision-guided munitions and guidance kits that it plans to integrate with its future Korean Fighter eXperimental (KF-X) multirole fighter aircraft. https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/da27bd71-e47e-4cf6-81aa-456bf5824514 It sound...

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DigitalSea

Re: what are typical capabilities of missile propulsion systems -

[There are loitering munitions in service, although the lines between loitering munition/missile/cruise missile and "kamikazie" UAV are very much blurred and often arbitrary. It's no longer a technological limitation as it is a political one. There are major political ramifications to a m...

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DigitalSea

Re: P&W and the F-15EX?

SuperiorPilotMe wrote:
DigitalSea has proven himself to be an idiot of the highest caliber imaginable so I do not doubt at all he means GE90.

It was a joke

Lighten up there bucko!

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