This is how the newly built versions look like
Posted on 01/02/2008 2:41:33 AM PST by Flavius
“why do I need a glass nose? So the bombadier can see where he’s going? So the navigator can get a good shot for his sextant?”
Cause it looks cool? Or perhaps the windows were just in the stolen plans and nobody knew how to change it.
Russia, now China
Who’s next? What’s going on?
Who knows... maybe the commie bombardiers held out for a solarium.
We have the B-52 which was designed for a shelf life of 100 years. We also have the B-1, B-2, and F-117. Now, we also have the F-22.
If China is able to detect the F-22, then I’ll be damned.
H-6K: China is continuously improving H-6 for Air-Striking Platform
http://cuteftpster.blogspot.com/2007/10/h-6k-china-is-continuously-improving-h.html
“.if I’m a bomber builder in the 21st century...why do I need a glass nose?”
So the navigator can guide the pilot to the runway when landing through the pollution in Beijing.
“Actually, in the past the Chinese army has found losing a few hundred thousand killed a completely sufficient incentive to back the heck down. Ask the Vietnamese, or a Korean war veteran. Hyperbolic yellow peril nonsense about supposed indifference to massive casualties is and always has been a delusion.”
Oh really? I guess its safe to ignore thousands of years of Chinese history then.
The Chinese leadership only cares about massive casualties if it impacts them. If its a means to the end then they will happily throw away lives. Unlike the US they don’t have to worry about the press or about popular opinion. Any disagreement is met with immediate and overwhelming force.
As soon as someone resists they drum up some kinda charges and throw them in jail or just shoot them.
I'm surprised they don't have twin .50 calibers in a top turret.
Never say never...
You've got a good point. How many dynasties have fallen in China? Did the people mostly know or care who was up top? Do they now?
As soon as someone resists they drum up some kinda charges and throw them in jail or just shoot them.
That equation only works as long as it works. When there aren't enough people to make the arrests or places to put/kill them, then the balance of power turns to the people.
...Tiannanmen was a drop in the bucket. Just a few kids, isolated, easy to mop up. You put everyone in Shanghai in a gas line and look out, brother.
The chinese are a unique lot. They aren't Dems or Republicans or commies or socialists. They're chinese. As long as the commies can ride the tiger, they'll be nominally in charge.
On the glass nosed version has what looks like a big radar dome there.
The new plane has what looks like an IR camera ball forward of that, but what else do they have?
“How many dynasties have fallen in China? Did the people mostly know or care who was up top? Do they now?”
Several have fallen and the common person didn’t have much influence in the process. Many many died during the process though.
“That equation only works as long as it works. When there aren’t enough people to make the arrests or places to put/kill them, then the balance of power turns to the people.”
Its worked for thousands of years.
“You put everyone in Shanghai in a gas line and look out, brother.”
Can’t remember who did it but one of the emperors took every teacher in his province and invited them to a special party. They ended up burying them all alive.
“The chinese are a unique lot. They aren’t Dems or Republicans or commies or socialists. They’re chinese.”
I agree, they are using communism because it fits their current need. They will change when deemed appropriate.
China would be a Japanese province today, but for the action of US arms.
There is no historical basis for the pretence that China has a special attritionist way of war and a boundless appetite for it, overwhelming less numerous foes. The entire notion can be traced to "yellow peril" scare literature in Britain around the turn of the century.
As a Korean war veteran once put it, "how many hordes are there in a Chinese platoon?"
“Thousands of years of Chinese history show China practically never winning any sort of major military conflict, other than internal ones. Draws and outlasting enemies sometimes, is about it.”
China has controlled the same area for about 5000 years. Thats better than anyone else has managed. Areas like Nepal have fallen to them where the Chinese essentially wipe out the existing culture and replace it with their own.
“China would be a Japanese province today, but for the action of US arms.”
Perhaps, the Japanese were brutal but did not have the size or population to control China for a long time. The Chinese tend to take the long view and would eventually kick the japanese out.
“There is no historical basis for the pretence that China has a special attritionist way of war and a boundless appetite for it, overwhelming less numerous foes.”
China could field more troops than any other country. They wouldn’t be the best armed but they would be dedicated.
The Asian mindset is much different than the European, Middle Eastern, or American mindset. They tend to think long term and don’t suffer from commitment anxiety like we do.
On top of their military is their economic power. They have reached out into the world and could do severe economic damage to other countries.
Indeed, they may have had these for some time.
No, it wasn't, and just how effective do you think they will be against a heavily defended nation that does have an increasingly sophisticated real air force?
We also have the B-1
Half have been decommissioned. The rest are all tactical now. Not strategic.
, B-2,
20 of them? You think we are going to risk them?
and F-117
Bush just retired them two years ago. Didn't think we could afford them.
Now, we also have the F-22.
Bush had Rumsfeld order that production completely end at the end of 2007 irrespective of how many had actually been built. That's approximately 180. They didn't think we could afford any more. Those are needed for strategic air defense. And our F-15s are now grounded.
To use the small force of F-22s in a tactical interdiction...without a continuing and hot assembly line...against a hugely superior numerical force, operating close to its bases, able to attack our forward bases, and thence "pre-empt" our F-22s....could be questioned.
So in effect, our stealth and strategic forces have been castrated?
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