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2005-07-20 Europe
F-16 Shoots Down Greece's $6B Eurofighter Typhoon Order
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Posted by Steve 2005-07-20 11:42|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07]  Top

#1 HAHAHAHAHA!!!
I think a new arms race is coming about....
Posted by mmurray821 2005-07-20 11:53||   2005-07-20 11:53|| Front Page Top

#2 Jeez, when did Turkey get in on the F-35 program? It's gonna absolutely dominate the airspace in that part of the world. Looks like Greece has already decided on their next gen fighter. Now to get an invite to buy it.
Posted by ed 2005-07-20 12:15||   2005-07-20 12:15|| Front Page Top

#3 Holey Moley.... didn't see that coming at all.
Something gone real bad with the EuroFighter?
Posted by Shipman 2005-07-20 12:17||   2005-07-20 12:17|| Front Page Top

#4 I wonder if AK was on the evaluation committee.
Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-07-20 12:18||   2005-07-20 12:18|| Front Page Top

#5 Mrs D - I think he's still getting his ass chewed by some sergeant. ;)
Posted by Desert Blondie 2005-07-20 12:32|| http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com ]">[http://azjetsetchick.blogspot.com ]  2005-07-20 12:32|| Front Page Top

#6 Mrs. D, DB - he did a drive-by here sometime in the past couple of days. Surprised the hell out of me - I thought they had him incommunicado.
Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut  2005-07-20 13:21||   2005-07-20 13:21|| Front Page Top

#7 Not right now. Medical leave for a foot injury.
Posted by Pappy 2005-07-20 13:22||   2005-07-20 13:22|| Front Page Top

#8 What happened, Pappy? Did he accidently bite down? ;-p
Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut  2005-07-20 13:31||   2005-07-20 13:31|| Front Page Top

#9 ouch Barb! Wish I'd said that... :-)
Posted by Frank G">Frank G  2005-07-20 14:10||   2005-07-20 14:10|| Front Page Top

#10 JAS 39 Gripen is a great platform. Worth considering in any airforce. The Eurofighter is not such a great plane when you take everything into consideration. The Greeks are being frugal with their money. That has to hurt EADS.

Looks like the lifetime of the Eurofighter will be limited due to it's falure to garner much market share.
Posted by Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-07-20 14:20||   2005-07-20 14:20|| Front Page Top

#11 Yah, I like the Gripen too. I wish I could afford one. :-)
Posted by Phil Fraering 2005-07-20 14:24|| http://newsfromthefridge.typepad.com]">[http://newsfromthefridge.typepad.com]  2005-07-20 14:24|| Front Page Top

#12 Barb S

9.98
For off the cuff shooting.
Posted by Shipman 2005-07-20 15:22||   2005-07-20 15:22|| Front Page Top

#13 Nice one Ms Skolaut.
Posted by Mrs. Davis 2005-07-20 16:30||   2005-07-20 16:30|| Front Page Top

#14 F/A-18E/F Super Hornet

Best multirole US Aircraft in existence these days. F-22 might top it for air superiority, but the higher thrust engines (fantastic >1 TW ratio now, unlike the old A/B models), upgraded electronics, and added airframe improvements (perfomance enhancements and radar reduced visibillity) make the F/A-18 better than the F-16, F-15E, and the F-22 (excepting the Air-to-Air role for the F22). The updates also give the new F18 longer legs.

The USAF ought to be picking up F/A-18's if it were not for their parochial attitude against naval fighters.
Posted by OldSpook 2005-07-20 21:38||   2005-07-20 21:38|| Front Page Top

#15 Thankew, thankew, thankew - #9, 12, 13.

Try the veal. I'll be here all week. ;-p
Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut  2005-07-20 21:50|| http://www.ariellestjohndesigns.com]">[http://www.ariellestjohndesigns.com]  2005-07-20 21:50|| Front Page Top

#16 I love the Electric Jet (F-16), my dad was a GD Veep (and it's weird to see it referred to as a Lockheed Martin jet) and in the traveling roadshow that sold the co-development contract to the NATO members, but that was loooong ago. OS is dead right: The F-18 Super has been upgraded constantly and is surely the best platform out there, AFAIK.

Can the F-18 accelerate in a pure vertical climb, now? I though that was solely an F-22 claim to fame.
Posted by .com 2005-07-20 22:03||   2005-07-20 22:03|| Front Page Top

#17 Old Spook,I beg to differ regarding the F-18E(so-called)Super Hornet. It is inferior in performance in every category to the F-18A/C it is supposed to replace. Yes it has better range-w/2 450 gallon drop tanks in use compared to 2 300 gallon tanks used on F-18A/Cs. W/300 extra gallons of fuel it should have better range! The stealth advantage is minimal for an aircraft costing 2-3 times as much as an F-16. The only edge the F-18E has is the latest electronics,which could be retrofitted to F-16/F-18A/C a/c.More importantly,the F-18e electronics suite was designed before the GPS revolution in smart bombs,rendering its systems irrelevant. The F-18 family has very short "legs" for a US a/c and in Afghanistan the F-14 had to be used to bomb distant targets. In the initial phases of the Iraq War,on a carrier that had both F-18Es as well as Cs,the TF commander had the Es used as airiel refuelers,while the Cs conducted the strike missions! The E version had such a reputation as a dog and so many vet navy pilots were doing all they could to keep from getting assigned to E squadrons,that the Navy had to take the drastic step of offering accelerated promotions to experienced pilots to get them into E squadrons. New pilots had no choice-they were assigned to the Es automatically.(The US Navy officer assisgned to oversee the E program told a bunch of retired naval aviator admirals that other than being slower,less manueverable,slower to accelerate and not being able to roll as fast as As and Cs that it was a better airplane. Needless to say,he has since been promoted.) The USN has unofficially conceeded the E is a dog by scrapping plans for all E Carrier Air Wings. Now thet plan on 2 E and 2 C squadrons. IMHO,the it would be much smarter if the USN cancelled the F-18E program and started making updated F-14s until they decide what the future will hold for aviation. New avionics,updated Phoenix,new engines as in F-15/16 and the Phoenix weapons pallets made permanent universal weapons stations and the fleet might have a chance at stopping a mass Chinese attack on a CV group.(As to the F-16/F-18 debate,count the number of F-16 users vs F-18 users. It is also noteworthy Japan,Taiwan and China all used the F-16 as the pattern for their new fighters-Japan an F-16 w/bigger wings,the other two,mini F-16s.

The F-35 is a strike a/c. It is optimised to attack ground targets. Its' wing is not designed to engage in aerial combat. It is inferior to F-15/16/18 a/c in dogfighting abilities. The F-25 is the 21century F-105. In the 50's when F-105 was designed,speed was that era's stealth and a tactical nuke was that era's smart bomb. The plane was designed to go like a bat out of hell and drop its' nuke and then run,it wasn't going to have to get dirty and dogfight because that was a thing of the past. Just as today the F-35 is going to sneak in in a cloud of stealth,drop its PGMs and if anybody should dare to interfere will dispatch them w/its Amraams. Nice theory,until radar jamming comes into play and the bad guys send up a bunch of planes,not one or two and then the pilots better be good,because Mig 29s,Su 35s,Rafales,Eurofighters as well as any US built a/s are all better air-to-air fighters.

In the sad event I was runnimg Pentagon,the F-35,F-19E and Ospreys would all be cancelled. The AF would get more F-22s,the Nat Guard would get F-16s w/larger wings to restore manueverability lost w/weight gains,updated F-14s would be built,the Navy and AF would have to jointly build a 2seat F-117 replacement that could carry bunker buster bombs(and have the ability of back seater to fly/direct tag along UAVs)and an A-10-type UAV w/long loiter and large payload would be on the way for USMC and Army and existing A-10s would get a service life extension and conversion into OA-10s,and an order of reinforced C-17s that can-and will-actually carry M1s.
Posted by Stephen 2005-07-20 22:41||   2005-07-20 22:41|| Front Page Top

#18 OldSpook, I thought the AF was going to buy some F-18's modified to act as jammer aircraft (as was the Navy).
Posted by Phil Fraering 2005-07-20 22:42||   2005-07-20 22:42|| Front Page Top

23:59 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:52 jules 2
23:49 .com
23:41 bigjim-ky
23:41 jules 2
23:36 macofromoc
23:34 bigjim-ky
23:34 Death B4 Dhimmi
23:32 Phil Fraering
23:23 Alaska Paul
23:20 Alaska Paul
23:11 AzCat
23:00 Alaska Paul
22:59 Alaska Paul
22:58 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:51 ed
22:48 ed
22:48 Alaska Paul
22:44 .com
22:44 Alaska Paul
22:42 Phil Fraering
22:42 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:41 Stephen
22:39 Phil Fraering









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