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3 hours ago, 11bee said:

 

Thanks for that info CJ.  I'd never heard of these guys before.   From a quick peruse of their website, they seem like a pretty interesting outfit.  Hope things work out and this program changes things for the better.   As mentioned, that buddy of mine who is an SH maintainer is telling me some horrible stories about readiness rates down in Virginia.   Said pretty much everyone he works with is demoralized, most days only a few jets are able to fly, some days none of the jets can fly, etc.   I found this to be surprising because I though the Navy would have had better readiness given that it's SH fleet is still "somewhat" young.  

 

Didn't mean to go so OT on this thread, so getting back to main subject, here is an interesting article about F-35B deployments on Navy amphibious carriers.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/27253/u-s-amphibious-assault-ship-in-south-china-sea-with-unprecedentedly-large-load-of-f-35bs

 

I do wonder if that's a great idea, given that these ships are slow and much less well protected than regular carriers.   Still, it definitely seems to be a good force multiplier. 

 

This was one of the ideas behind the whole F-35B endeavor. Mix and match as needed. Flexibility, you may even add and subtract aircraft throughout the cruise.  Its the "harrier Carrier"  If you look at USS America, it doesn't even have a well deck its aviation only... 

 

Harrier-Carrier.jpg

 

"mini CVNS" if you will. 

 

59.jpg

 

ARGs are still pretty well protected because you have thousands of Marines, tanks, arty, and its a no joke big stick. its still a very serious asset. A CVN will bomb you, but an ARG will have people with guns kicking in your door, and hoisting flags everywhere...

 

 

Besides if you're going to lose one, whats 6 more jets?

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, habu2 said:

I thought ALIS was supposed (promised) to be the ultimate tool for maintenance, spares availability and flight readiness. Did I miss something? or is ALIS something else?

 

Its still under contstruction. Buddy of mine in had to go to Norfolk to give his say in it. a few weeks ago. Theres a lot of moving parts. 

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I like the idea of a LHA/LHD as a forward deployed light carrier.  But 10 on the flight deck seems awfully crowded.  I've read where 20 is the max, but I would think that you will need some helicopters for plane guard duty.  That likely brings down the number from 20.  

 

How much can they off load to other ships. The San Antonio Class can take 2 MV-22s.  But I am wondering if some scenarios an mobile off shore base can be assigned to the ARG.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Nice video of the F-35 demo team at work a couple of weeks ago in FL.   Have to admit, the display is impressive, particularly the "square turn" and that falling leaf / rudder pedal turn.   The flypast at what has to be around 50 AOA is pretty neat as well.  Check it out...

 

 

I'm too lazy to dig up the link but if you can find the AW&ST podcast site, they have a nice interview with the two demo team pilots.   These guys really go into detail about how the latest software really enhances this jets maneuverability, especially at high AOA.   

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2 hours ago, IrishGreek said:

That new paint is making me want to build one more, since the mastking level just dropped significantly!

Lol, I was thinking the same thing.   Only issue is that in most lighting conditions, the RAM is still visible, just not as distinct as before.   Gotta put some thought into this...   I do like the look of those canted weapons pylons. 

Edited by 11bee
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10 hours ago, Darren Roberts said:

If there's a seam down the middle of the kit canopy, you only have to clean up the front half. Yeah!

 

Edited original post because of a clunky sentence. The teacher in me couldn't let it stay that way. 😊

Edited by Darren Roberts
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I think the tactics and nature of the mission will be more important than a paint scheme, even for us modelers. I will say though that the F-35 does look pretty wicked in all black.

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22 hours ago, Alvis 3.1 said:

 

 

Like all the Canadian Drama, this was one that has an interesting backstory. 

 

From what I can tell. 

 

Long story short Canada which has been making F-35 parts for sometime now (to the tune of billions) wanted to exclude all that from the competition in the name of other industrial cookies the competitors would get to flash, (which is a violation of the JSF contract to boot) The US threatened to finally deep six the whole thing. 

 

Basically Canada was going to try and find a way to say all the JSF benefits wouldn't count because they aren't technically what they were asking for in the competition. 

 

I'm as dumbfounded as everyone else here as I was assured that Canada would be leaving this program and buying super hornets some time ago. You would think this would be Canada chance to finally get away from that program... 

 

canada.JPG

 

 

Superb article on the latest chapter of the Canadian F-35 Debacle by Canadian who's been on it from the start:

 

http://macdonaldlaurier.ca/files/pdf/20190502_MLI_COMMENTARY_Shimooka_FWeb.pdf

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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On 5/10/2019 at 7:05 PM, TaiidanTomcat said:

 

 

Like all the Canadian Drama, this was one that has an interesting backstory. 

 

From what I can tell. 

 

Long story short Canada which has been making F-35 parts for sometime now (to the tune of billions) wanted to exclude all that from the competition in the name of other industrial cookies the competitors would get to flash, (which is a violation of the JSF contract to boot) The US threatened to finally deep six the whole thing. 

 

Basically Canada was going to try and find a way to say all the JSF benefits wouldn't count because they aren't technically what they were asking for in the competition. 

 

I'm as dumbfounded as everyone else here as I was assured that Canada would be leaving this program and buying super hornets some time ago. You would think this would be Canada chance to finally get away from that program... 

 

canada.JPG

 

 

Superb article on the latest chapter of the Canadian F-35 Debacle by Canadian who's been on it from the start:

 

http://macdonaldlaurier.ca/files/pdf/20190502_MLI_COMMENTARY_Shimooka_FWeb.pdf

Unbelievable...the whole Mark Norman fiasco was basically just to intimidate RCAF members from leaking information about the F-35 purchase.

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On 5/10/2019 at 7:05 PM, TaiidanTomcat said:

 

 

Like all the Canadian Drama, this was one that has an interesting backstory. 

 

From what I can tell. 

 

Long story short Canada which has been making F-35 parts for sometime now (to the tune of billions) wanted to exclude all that from the competition in the name of other industrial cookies the competitors would get to flash, (which is a violation of the JSF contract to boot) The US threatened to finally deep six the whole thing. 

 

Basically Canada was going to try and find a way to say all the JSF benefits wouldn't count because they aren't technically what they were asking for in the competition. 

 

I'm as dumbfounded as everyone else here as I was assured that Canada would be leaving this program and buying super hornets some time ago. You would think this would be Canada chance to finally get away from that program... 

 

canada.JPG

 

 

Superb article on the latest chapter of the Canadian F-35 Debacle by Canadian who's been on it from the start:

 

http://macdonaldlaurier.ca/files/pdf/20190502_MLI_COMMENTARY_Shimooka_FWeb.pdf

Un fricking believable.

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On ‎5‎/‎10‎/‎2019 at 10:05 PM, TaiidanTomcat said:

Superb article on the latest chapter of the Canadian F-35 Debacle by Canadian who's been on it from the start:

 

http://macdonaldlaurier.ca/files/pdf/20190502_MLI_COMMENTARY_Shimooka_FWeb.pdf

Wow... that should be published in every major Canadian newspaper if it hasn't already.

 

Thanks for linking it!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Surprisingly, the US seems to be playing hardball with Turkey over their decision to keep moving forward with purchasing the Russian S400 SAM system.  The USAF has just grounded all Turkish pilots who were currently training on the F-35 at Luke, have ceased accepting any new Turkish maintenance / flight trainees into the program and have developed a roadmap to completely wind down Turkey's participation in the JSF program.  

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/politics/us-air-force-turkish-f-35-pilots/index.html

 

I have a feeling Turkey will end up reacting to all this in a most negative fashion.  Hope we finally decided to move all those nuclear weapons of ours out of Incirlik AFB...  May not be a bad idea to remove all our personnel from Turkey while we are at it. 

 

Going to be real interesting to see how this all plays out.

 

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 I hate the idea  of losing an ally but if you are going to be one , you should act like it's important .

 This could be the real reason for the Russians to be negotiating with Turkey .

 

 Guess if you're not suppose to push that button, there should be some consequences for pushing it.

 

 Cheers, Christian 

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The Turks had ample warning, they were offered other alternatives and instead want to swing their loyalty elsewhere. There is no way they would get the full capabilities of their S400 system(s). The Russians would make most certain of that and NATO cannot trust Turkey anymore.

 

Now, as far as Nukes in Turkey.............they are not there.

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19 minutes ago, Mr Matt Foley said:

 

Now, as far as Nukes in Turkey.............they are not there.

Did you see anything concrete on this?  If so, got a link?   I know the US typically doesn’t discuss nuclear weapons deployment but with relations with an unstable, anti-western regime apparently going further downhill, I really hope this is accurate.  

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