Re: NASA plans to de-orbit ISS in 2031

Presumably NASA has run this plan past the other international partners/owners of the ISS, with it being the INTERNATIONAL Space Station and all ? Russia has shown every sign of wanting out for some time, obviously events on Earth right now may affect that too, however it turns out. ESA are involve...

Re: Invasion of Ukraine - Military Aviation

Not too surprising given the state of the Luftwaffe over the past 10 years but the Bundeswehr sounds like it is'stripped bare' and offers little real support per it's commander. https://twitter.com/tobiaschneider/status/1496759242786852871 Don't you think it would be more appropriate now to get ups...

Re: Canada - Future Fighter Capability Project

Yeah, while they are at it they might as well also get some fast and awesome MIG-25s and TU-142 for maritime patrol you know because of the melting ice caps....

Seriously though, I hope what is happening in Eastern Europe now should make mr Trudeau stop hesitating like a teenager.

Re: UAE Air Force orders 80 Rafales from France

Will the UAE actually order F-35 or is this a compensation for the AUUKUS? https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2021/12/03/france-signs-18b-weapons-deal-with-uae/ They offer a shot in the arm for France’s defense industry after the collapse of a $66 billion contract for Australia to buy...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

possibly related They offer a shot in the arm for France’s defense industry after the collapse of a $66 billion contract for Australia to buy 12 French submarines that ultimately went to the U.S. https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2021/12/03/france-signs-18b-weapons-deal-with-uae/ but...

Re: Canada - Future Fighter Capability Project

A good thing is that the Norwegian budget and costs for F35 is public and can be found online. Here is an article about it, thoughts and comments? https://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/feature/216023/norwegian-defence-budget-reveals-real-f_35-costs-%3Ci%3E%28free-access%29%3C%C2%A7i%3E.htm...

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

This should be considered as credible confirmation that it was indeed a FOBS with hypersonic glide vehicle and kind of confirmed what I implied about possible violation of the Outer Space Treaty. If that is the case then we may will see another 1st Cold War treaty being abandoned and a new space arm...

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/10/hundreds-of-china-hypersonic-tests-vs-9-us-hyten-says-us-moves-too-slowly/ Hyten pointed to hypersonic technology as the “perfect example” of America’s acquisition problems. “We were developing hypersonics ahead of everybody in the world and the first test failed....

Re: SLS / Orion - Tests, Launches, & Developments

Has the first flight of Artemis I been delayed and is now scheduled to be launched in January 2022? I guess it's still better than Boeing's "Starliner"... and way more complex No date set yet. First quarter of ‘22 seems likely. NASA tweeted that launch is now planned for Feb 2022. For all...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

https://breakingdefense.com/2021/11/aussies-to-pick-mature-nuke-sub-design-is-uks-astute-class-frontrunner/ According to this article Australia will likely get the British Astute class because One major reason to go with the British Astute instead of the American Virginia or Los Angeles classes is t...

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

:ill: Y'all are making me think that Taiwan may be important enough for the US to fight a war over. :sorry: bt The Republic of China is way more important than it's electronics manufacturing industry. https://thediplomat.com/2015/05/taiwan-and-strategic-security/ When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on D...

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

Has anyone actually mentioned the fact that the glide vehicle is paired with a FOBS? A concept that was developed by the Soviets in the 60s and could potentially violate the Outer Space Treaty, I guess depending on if it completes an orbit around the earth or not. https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourw...

Re: China successful test of orbital hypersonic weapon

SeamanBeaumont wrote:

Perhaps that doesn't matter to Chinese politicians...

Re: Lucy on its way to the Trojans

It got some impressive looking solar panels. https://www.space.com/nasa-lucy-asteroid-mission-launch-success The design is based on the same design that currently powers the InSight Mars lander, only much larger. The solar panels will provide about 500 watts of power while the spacecraft is flying p...

Re: SLS / Orion - Tests, Launches, & Developments

Has the first flight of Artemis I been delayed and is now scheduled to be launched in January 2022?
I guess it's still better than Boeing's "Starliner"... and way more complex

Re: F-35 News and Discussion Thread - 2021

They are increasing cooperation with their former enemy because some other nation decided to become the new Empire of Japan. kind of ironic isn't it? Japan has been a formal US ally for 70 years. Japan's post WW2 Constitution (drawn up by the Allies, principally the US who occupied it after the sur...

Re: F-35 News and Discussion Thread - 2021

They are increasing cooperation with their former enemy because some other nation decided to become the new Empire of Japan.
kind of ironic isn't it?

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

Yeah, that's what those optimistic neo-liberals thought in the 90s and early 2000s which is also the main reason behind the rise of the PRC. Look where we are now... Don't forget that the European countries had considerable economic ties before the WWII. or Australia which is a major trade partner o...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

Unfortunately there are people in the West who still believe in a benign PRC and everyone should allow it to occupy islands in the West Pacific, crush student protests in HK, kill dozens of Indian soldiers in border clashes, keep threatening to invade neighboring countries etc. An arms race is exac...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

What's the difference between China pushing its weight around and the US pushing its weight around, both do it, what makes the US right and the Chinese wrong? When was the last time China started a war which lead to millions of deaths and the destabilisation of the middle east for 20 years and coun...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

considering the USN may not even have enough ships to counter the PRC and its allies. That is why the US is leaning in to its allies. As for the Chinese, what allies? Third point. Statistics may be used to inflate capacity. What is the nature of those Chinese ships and their capacity to operate in ...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

Yes, that's pretty much what the French want especially now that the UK has left the EU. Get rid of NATO and US of A and become the new dominant power in Europe https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-redraws-eu-alliances-coalitions-stop-france-and-germany-deeper-integration/ https://www.politico.eu/...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

The RAN will need those VLS if they want to take out the increasing amount of military bases in the West Pacific especially if/when the RoC is invaded. Not necessarily. The purpose of an alliance is shared responsibility. So without VLS, the RAN can perform other duties and free up the USN to perfo...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

The RAN will need those VLS if they want to take out the increasing amount of military bases in the West Pacific especially if/when the RoC is invaded. https://www.9news.com.au/world/south-china-sea-satellite-imagery-shows-china-expanding-bases/24c87cc4-5c16-4cf7-92e4-6966f369922b https://www.9news....

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

I'm expecting a shortened Virginia class submarine. The Virginia is skinnier than the Astute class so it will result in a lower overall size. The Block V Virginia class subs have been significantly extended in length as they have the additional VPM module which contains four large diameter tubes wh...

Re: New defence pact AUUKUS

Maybe the USN will sell them the early Virginia SSNs which should be quite a bit cheaper than the block V and a clean sheet design unless the RAN want to fire hypersonics from their SSNs will take is a return to Trump in the USA and the whole thing is finished. While Trump was in office, US-UK-AUS r...

Re: James Webb Space Telescope has a launch date: Dec 18 2021

Very interesting, but I was completely unaware that this was going to be launched by an Ariane 5..... why? I'm guessing something to do with its launch profile/location, and yes I know it's a joint ESA project, but... wouldn't an Atlas V offer similar performance with increased reliability? I guess...

Re: Mars 2021 Trio Of Missions

Excellent update on the Chinese Rover from Scott Manley, some fascinating video and images; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSSs6FfBlgY https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/us-blocking-more-chinese-students-from-its-universities/ It would be interesting to know how many of the engineers and scientists wor...

Re: C-17 departs Kabul with 800 passengers!

No, he's saying that a smaller C130 could've hauled those 7 people. Nonsensic argument, as even a C130 is much too large for that. The intention was to transport many more, which they did in subsequent flights after the organisation on the ground had been improved. It was also an attempt at humor.....

Re: C-17 departs Kabul with 800 passengers!

https://youtu.be/ZcIoQwf8qJg probably the funniest speech of 2021 It's like a fox blaming the chicken farmer for not locking the door to the cages And before that, people died clambering to a C-17. I hope their souls will torment the German armed forces. Care to share your intelligence? I mean, with...

Re: US military bases in Afghanistan after drawdown?

And of course the US will do little if nothing to support the Afghanistan that they destroyed for over 20 years and then abandoned in a night. I wonder how much the Soviets did for Afghanistan after their withdrawal in 1989. and how much did the Americans destroy during those 20 years compared to h...

Re: US military bases in Afghanistan after drawdown?

The trouble with continuing to use "drones like the MQ-9 to hunt down and kill Taliban commanders and provide air support to the government forces." is that you basically lay the groundwork for gradual takeover of the country (with a possible exception of Kabul) by Taliban "night gov...

Re: US military bases in Afghanistan after drawdown?

So a million dollars a sortie to maybe kill 9 or 10 $25/day rent-a-Taliban? Sounds like the war that is perfect for is the one on the taxpayer. In Taliban's case it has way more to do with determination and conviction than getting paid peanuts. The Vietcong was just as determined and look at all th...