So my cousin left for Libya last night...

[-danr-]

...well, Malta, to be precise. He's a fastjet navigator in the Royal Air Force, this
means he gets to ride in the back seat of our nation's Tornado GR4s:

I love American planes, could have wept when the Tomcats were shredded, but this is my favourite piece of British hardware.

I don't want to crack open a fresh can of worms here, it's up to you as to whether or not you want to give your opinion on the military action taking place in Libya. I just made this post to say, godspeed, cousin Justin, and to any other wingnut friends or family already in theater.

Also, why don't we make swing wing fighters any more?

 

[Aginor]

Yeah!
The good ol' Tornado. Also one of my favourites. Our (German) pilots won't join your cousin though, since somebody decided that we don't want or can't help or whatever. I'm not sure whether that was the right decision, since I think our air force could actually be of use there, but well, nobody asked me and that is probably the right thing to do .

Also, why don't we make swing wing fighters any more?

I think I read something about maintenance issues. You know: Don't use more moving parts than necessary.

 

[Madman]

Heh, I suspect the german government will have enough on it's plate justifying shutting down it's nuclear reactors, especially when the rolling blackouts come.

 

[Aginor]

Oh man, seriously, I'm not quite sure what they are thinking.
This whole discussion in Germany is becoming more and more ridiculous daily.
Guess it is the elections in some states this year and of course the tabloid press which has a HUGE influence.
Sometimes I'm really ashamed of my fellow Germans. From the media coverage in Germany you could think there hasn't been an earthquake with a tsunami and thousands of dead people but simply a reactor accident.

They talk in sentences like that:
"In Fukushima there is radiation" -- "10.000 people are dead" -- "IT COULD GET EVEN WORSE!!"
When you hear it you could think the people died of radiation. Of course there are also correct and good reports about Japan, but as always the bad ones are the ones who are loudest.

 

[t.c.cgi]

Good hunting and Godspeed, Justin. Make us proud.

Also, why don't we make swing wing fighters any more?

It's a lot of weight and complexity for advantages over fixed-wing aircraft that have been negated with other technological advances. Plus, the typical mission role of the military has shifted. We don't need to worry about whether our aircraft are fast enough and heavily armed enough to stop 1,000 nuke-laden Soviet bombers in a single sortie (or fast enough to evade Soviet interceptors and drop enough nukes to render half the planet uninhabitable).

 

[Bandit LOAF]

Best of luck to your cousin. That's a fine aircraft... and it'll make a great Rapier cockpit in the 2050 remake of the Wing Commander movie.

It's a lot of weight and complexity for advantages over fixed-wing aircraft that have been negated with other technological advances.

Well, sure, that's part of it, but I think we also got really really tired of the Japanese turning them into giant robots.

Sometimes I'm really ashamed of my fellow Germans. From the media coverage in Germany you could think there hasn't been an earthquake with a tsunami and thousands of dead people but simply a reactor accident.

It is exactly the same in the United States--the TV news is going out of its way to scare people, it's very sad.

 

[-danr-]

Thanks for all the well-wishes.

The good ol' Tornado. Also one of my favourites

I understand that Germany played the biggest part in the Tornado's developement, Britain was involved in the project, and Italy too I think, but I'm not sure

We don't need to worry about whether our aircraft are fast enough and heavily armed enough to stop 1,000 nuke-laden Soviet bombers in a single sortie (or fast enough to evade Soviet interceptors and drop enough nukes to render half the planet uninhabitable).

I think you're right, at least I hope so. I don't think the Russian bear will wake from her slumber any time soon.

 

[Aginor]

I understand that Germany played the biggest part in the Tornado's developement, Britain was involved in the project, and Italy too I think, but I'm not sure

That's right, it was a project between those three countries.

Interesting fact for me: Although the Tornado has turned out to be an effective and versatile fighter/bomber it was only exported to one country I know of (Saudi Arabia), sometimes I wonder why.

 

[TopGun]

Good luck to you cousin.

I think the situation in Libya with the no-fly-zone would have been made a lot easier with we still had the Ark Royal and Illustrious and their Harriers. Short sighted government

 

[t.c.cgi]

I think the situation in Libya with the no-fly-zone would have been made a lot easier with we still had the Ark Royal and Illustrious and their Harriers. Short sighted government

If you can hang in there for nine more years you'll have nuclear supercarriers, right?

Besides, we've got your back.

 

[-danr-]

Besides, we've got your back.

We're grateful, and I think we're basically relying on that now - TopGun is right, the forces cuts here (as part of the deficit reduction) have been pretty brutal on the Navy - looks like our Trident defence is ringfenced, but meantime we're without the carriers and jump jets for the best part of a decade when the supercarriers and J-35s are ready.

It's deeply political, but the whole thing's been mismanaged, we're going to be sharing a Navy with the French for a few years, although it's fair to say that's not the worst compromise given their hardware.

They might not be keen on getting involved if the Falklands flares up again, if that happens we've got a big quandry on our hands.