Posted on 11/09/2008 2:10:26 PM PST by decimon
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is slated to become the backbone of the U.S. tactical aviation fleet. This ambitious program aims to replace the combined U.S. Defense Department arsenal of F-16 Fighting Falcons, F/A-18 Hornets, A-10 Thunderbolts, and the AV-8B Harrier combat aircraft with a single platform capable of being adapted to the divergent needs of the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Marine Corps.
The new fighter will not only replace those rapidly aging aircraft in the colossal American inventory, but the jet is also expected to become the mainstay of Allied air forces in Great Britain, Australia, and a host of other nations.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Decimon,
You deliver.
No, you OVER-deliver. So much that I feel a bit of guilt about sounding
like a whiner!!!
I love this one:
http://www.jsf.mil/images/gallery/sdd/f35_test/b/sdd_f35testb_003.jpg
IIRC, the F-111's Terrain Following Radar's failure mode was to do an abrupt pitch-up maneuver, and apparently it was prone to a lot of false alarms. The pilot had an override switch (called "the paddle," I think) that he could use to override failure mode and apparently 'hitting the paddle' had become automatic reaction to sudden pitch-ups on stateside training flights. Unfortunately, Southeast Asia has lots of karst topography and several F-111s were supposed to have been lost by being flown (on override) into the sides of rock towers.
That failure mode maneuver may be what you're thinking of. The VC's making use of it by 'tossing things in the air' sounds apocryphal, though.
Now for the bad news...
You’ve linked to a classified site so you will soon be visited by three guys named Hal.
Yeah, that would be the reality but reality never makes for a good story. ;-)
Yeah,,, thats nonsense about the VC throwing things in the air. We were camping deep in the mountains in NM one night. Turns out we were under a Cannon AFB low-level training route.
To a modern AAA system, i understand the F-111 is vulnerable. To guys around a campfire its like this. You hear a strange suction sound and at about the same instant you are conscious of the sound,,it seems like the world explodes as it passes you. If we were charlie or haji around the fire, we would have known about a second before the bombs hit. Very eye opening.
A-10s are fun too. They worked over our Marine rifle company for fun once when we were on Ft Hood Army base. They turn so tightly that two of em kept us CONTINUALLY in their sights ,, presumably for as long as they felt like it! As one passed over and you raised to aim, his partner had already turned and was beginning his pass on you. Had to see it to believe it. Mixed in with Cobras or Apaches,, i just cant imagine.
I always felt pretty doomed as a grunt when i met up with our machinery.
I think you are very right about charlie throwing his hat in the air,,, sounds like a barroom joke that got out of hand.
chopping block.
Me? The guillotine? I'm innocent! Really!
The F35 along with a lot of other defense projects.
The F-35 is shiny, and can easily replace, the F-16, F-18 and AV-8 Harrier, but NOTHING can replace the A-10 but a better, specifically designed A-10 replacement. If it can’t go in low and slow, and still survive, it can’t replace the A-10.
Your defense projects are someone's pork.
I think you'll understand when I say I hope you're wrong.
There will be resistance, but resistance is futile. All will be assimilated.
I just want that they should keep the A10’s around...”for those up close and personal encounters, just in case”
(shades of Michael Biehn in “Aliens” keeping his beloved shot-gun close at hand)
Hope is nice, but F-16’s can’t do an A-10’s work and, IMHO, neither can F-35s.
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