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Valkyrie Driver

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  1. Valkyrie Driver
    I tried to put the missiles from my new VF-171 Super parts on my VF-19Adv. They don't all fit logically...
  2. Valkyrie Driver
    VF-27, YF-30, VF-1JGBP-1, VF-1A, YF-25 several more, but I don't know where to put the ones I have in my tiny apartment...
  3. Valkyrie Driver
    Given that the VF-25, VF-27, YF-29, YF-30, and VF-31 are all 5th gen fighters, how do their specs stack up in relation to each other? Do you think that their performance is all in the same ball park?
  4. Valkyrie Driver
    I liked it, sure it was predictable, but it was a necessary episode. They can't all be gems you know...
  5. Valkyrie Driver
    It's not a Kulbit, as the kulbit is a tight diameter loop, and is supposed to be planar. Here is a video of the kulbit: I'm thinking more along the lines of what Master Dex said. It looks like he stalled out and had to recover. I guess it could have been a variation on the cobra turn, but the cobra turn actually implies a change in direction, which this pic didn't do. I'm betting the pilot had wished he'd worn his brown pants... It's more likely that the pilot induced it. Not a fail, per se, as the pilot recovered. More likely it was a demonstration of the aircraft and pilot's ability to recover from a post stall situation. A fail would have resulted in a fireball.
  6. Valkyrie Driver
    Um a few points: 1. It's Grigolosi, if you're going to criticize someone, at least get the name right. Also, it's discourteous, and shows your arrogance. If you can't be polite, be quiet. 2. He's a retired F-16 crew chief. And he's going to go into details when it's relevant. 3. Cooling systems are very important, since even at higher altitudes, friction on the airframe will cause the whole thing to heat up. Also, jet engines generate a tremendous amount of heat, far more than a typical reciprocating engine. 4. When we've mentioned cooling systems on missiles, it's been specifically in reference to IR seekers, which require cooling for the all-aspect functionality. Keeping things properly cooled and operating within a specific range of temperatures is important to ensure proper function. 5. It's not just the Middle East. Our military Aircraft need to be able to operate anywhere, and maybe you don't realize just how hot it can get in the US. The Gulf coast is damn near tropical. And not the fun kind. Florida is down right unpleasant in the summer, and you can set your watch by the thunderstorms near the coast. There's a place in California, called Fort Irwin, where the US Army sends people to get training in desert environments. It can routinely get hotter there than it gets in Afghanistan and Iraq, and it's equally as land locked. It's in Death Valley, not too far from Edwards AFB. These places are damn close to being hell on earth, and when you have places like that in your own country, your aircraft should be able to operate in those areas. 6. And finally, Some of us actually find those "boring" details rather interesting. It gives us more knowledge on a subject we're interested in, and with that comes a limited understanding of how it works in order to make better judgements regarding an airframe's performance. Which I find far better than making judgements based off of simply looking cool, or being ugly. But hey, what do I know? You keep on making those dismissive comments, snide remarks, hasty generalizations, straw man arguments, and unsubstantiated claims, as if they were the gospel truth. When he stops sharing his knowledge, our understanding will suffer, and all this thread will be reduced to is, "Hey, look at the new shiny"...
  7. Valkyrie Driver
    Um... The Block 60 F-16E is a UAE contract. All of those planes are destined to go to the UAE. By nature of the fact that the UAE paid for the program development, and is paying for the actual airframes.
  8. Valkyrie Driver
    Yep now me too.
  9. Valkyrie Driver
    Ok. Well, that paints a disturbingly Earth-centric and authoritarian picture of the NUNG. THat's just full run production though right, not aircraft produced as technology demonstrators and testbeds? Hmmm. Interesting. Was MtR a manga or light novel or something? I'd love to have a look at it. I don't really get what the story is, I see lot's of references to air racing, but also combat. I'm confused.
  10. Valkyrie Driver
    Nuts. I was hoping for it sooner. I'm getting all antsy in my pantsy over it.
  11. Valkyrie Driver
    Funny thing about Export restrictions is, that it doesn't prevent you from modifying with locally produced components to meet or exceed original performance... Except for cost, nothing would have prevented the Frontier Fleet from producing VF-19EF's with many of the enhancements from the VF-25, by simply using locally produced off the shelf components. That just makes it a local variant. On a related note, is there any info on the VF-0 "Zeak" custom? Pictures of the same?
  12. Valkyrie Driver
    To paraphrase Deadpool, "I don't take the craps, I just disturb them..."
  13. Valkyrie Driver
    When is the new series coming?
  14. Valkyrie Driver
    Really quick on this, DoD has cut back a ton of the civilian support staff that take care of a lot of ancillary work that military members are now having to do. Not to mention that has put a serious crimp on our ability to function stateside while personnel are deployed. As for funding, I asked for smart spenders, not more money. $600T is plenty, be just need to stop spending so foolishly (i.e. not trying to build an entire air force around stealth fighters, which are currently long on promise, and short on delivery). Not trying to start another argument, just saying that we need to be looking at more sustainable replacements for aging airframes like the B1, B-52, F-16, F-15, and A-10. Take the F-22 and F-35 as tech demonstrators and limited duty active airframes to supplement conventional replacements that lack the stealth capabilities. We need a sustainable spending plan, is what I'm saying. We're (the taxpayers) seeing no return on our investments. I agree. However it's been very hard not discuss politics, since these topics are so mired in politics, lobbying, and policy decisions. I've said my piece, and I'll leave it there. I do hope the mods don't delete this post, as I've tried to tie it up as neatly as I can. If you desire to continue the debate, I'll be glad to take it to PM. The pods wouldn't have nearly the drag that exposed weapons would create, as there is far less surface area to create turbulent flow. Either way you're going to have some added weight, and slightly reduced capacity or increased cost. It's not a perfect solution, but it's definitely a possibility. Stealthy weapons pods, and some RCS reduction measures in construction isn't going to be a substitute for stealth, but every little bit helps. I'm of the mind that stealth aircraft should be in the minority of our aircraft fleet, as they tend towards being costly, both to acquire and operate. I'd rather see drones and stealth aircraft used to supplement a conventional (read; not stealth) fleet. Since the Biggest concern is that currently the F-22 and F-35 have no enemy. Russia, China, and Iran (our biggest enemies at the moment) are developing stealth fighters, but they are still a fair bit of time from deploying them. We rushed into an arms race that had no other contenders, and now that our designs have had their shortcomings made abundantly clear, those countries can afford to take their time in developing their fighters. I also doubt that Russia, China, or Iran will build significant numbers of their stealth fighters, because they seem to understand that it's not a cost effective use of their monetary resources. Don't get me wrong, I think the F-35 is a sexy bird. I like it, i think it has some flaws, but I think it will be an excellent addition to our inventory regardless. I do however think that a multirole fighter is something you discover, rather than something you design.
  15. Valkyrie Driver
  16. Valkyrie Driver
    I served under 3 different Secretaries of Defense, Gates pushed the use of drones way to much, and had to deal with the fallout from Rumsfeld, whom I think was a pompous ass. Rumsfeld horribly mismanaged the entire planning and execution of the war on terror. Waging war on terrorism has no victory condition. It will never end. As I said, Gates wanted a drone focused military, which proved him to be risk averse. Panetta's tenure resulted in curtailing many benefits and entitlements which put retention rates into the toilet. His tenure was remarkably unremarkable, at a time when the DoD faced the most uncertainty and flux. Hagel was hamstrung by white house policies during the annexation of Crimea, and Ukranian unrest. All three of them oversaw the dramatic reduction in force that we have seen over the last 8 years, and are all to blame for the current state of disrepair and undermanning in the US military. It's a sad time. Maybe with a new president, we'll see the DoD get some smart spenders, get the military back to proper manning, get parts and planes the military desperately needs, and maybe we can see some of the entry requirements relaxed (I want to go back, but my 40% disability prevents it).
  17. Valkyrie Driver
    Grigliosi, you're right. It's a sad sight to see how mismanaged the USAF is these days. This is what happens when the corporate mentality ends up running the military. I think that service in a component in your department should be a requirement to be secretary. At least in the DoD. I'd actually like to make it the war department again.
  18. Valkyrie Driver
    Whatever happened to the Megaroad-01 and Hikaru Ichijo and Misa Hayase?
  19. Valkyrie Driver
    So if someone were to revisit the VF-19 design, and redesign where necessary, and upgrade the design to use the linear actuators, better armor, better armaments and an ISC, as well as upgraded engines, you could make the VF-19 competitive to current 5th gen fighters? Basically give the VF-19 a drawing board upgrade to gen 4.5. similar to the way the F/A-18E/F was to the F/A-18C/D?
  20. Valkyrie Driver
    Right, I'm not saying It can't be done. Just like the Eurofighter Typhoon Could be produced locally (which is probably my favorite of the Gen 4.5 fighters). A couple of reasons why the US likely won't procure the Gripen (or any other European fighter), first we don't seem to be in the market for a Gen 4.5 fighter (though we need one), and second, when we do decide that one is needed, we'll likely go to our old standby manufacturers like Lockheed-Martin or Boeing or Northrop-Grumman. The big reason we procured the Harrier, is because it was already in production, and was better than any of our own prototypes. Combined with the Fact that we weren't really designing anything like it at the time. The F-22 and F-35 have caused a huge budget crunch, which has led the Air Force to downsize it's manning, and Robert Gates wanted more drones in service. I don't like the idea of replacing manned aircraft with drones. Drones can be useful, and a tremendous force multiplier, however, they cannot replace manned aircraft. From a philosophical standpoint, wars must be fought by humans, because wars fought with robots is not war at all, it's a game. If you fight wars with robots, you reduce war to a game. Now that's greatly simplified, and the language might not be entirely correct, robots are programmed to do a task, and drones are generally remotely operated and have no real programming (some actually can perform mission operations with minimal human input, and automation is an end goal). If you reduce warfare to a game, you'll be more likely to resort to it. Then you end up with something right out of Star Trek (A Taste of Armageddon). The biggest issue with stealth fighters is their complexity, and the need for internalized weapons loads. This creates complexity, which means there are going to be a lot of teething problems, and that means budget overruns. If you take a Gen 4.5 fighter, with some Low Radar Observable construction, and add the contained weapons pods made by Boeing, you can get the lower RCS, you want, without relying completely on stealth fighters. Will that replace the need for stealth fighters, no, but it will decrease the demand, and thus save money. I get the large, efficient, and capable USAF I want, and everyone else gets the technologically advanced USAF they want. Best part is, you can mount those stealthy weapons pods on stealth fighters too, and then they can carry lager payloads without breaking stealth. If only I were in a position to fix these issues. Alas, all I can do is write my congressmen (for now).
  21. Valkyrie Driver
    Maybe the ammo storage isn't in the head itself, but fed there from [a] magazine(s) located in the torso?
  22. Valkyrie Driver
    Well, that's new to me. Apparently the Stinger is indeed all aspect. Though it is stated the the Igla series (SA-18) MANPADS have similar capabilities to the current gen stingers, it's not clear to me if that means it has all aspect capability. Still, the A-10 was designed for the sole purpose of CAS, and we have seen A-10's return to base after taking tremendous amounts of damage. The design has a tremendous amount of redundancy built in. I don't know much about the falcon. My father carried them when he flew the F-106, and he's told me on a few occasions that it was passable, but was outclassed by the AIM-9 in every regard. The F-106 never had the ability to carry AIM-9's (though there were proposed plans in the works for it), so they were stuck with the falcons. When you talk about IR guided anti tank missiles I'm going to assume you're talking about shoulder fired missiles like the Javelin. As to that I can't say, though a tank generally has a huge IR signature coming from the rear end of the chassis. IR has a whole slew of issues when targeting things on the ground. At sun up and sun down you have a phenomenon called thermal crossover, at which the ground temperatures can obscure vehicle heat signatures. That's because IR works off of emitted light. It's more complicated than that, but without going in depth into the concept of blackbodies, emissivity and albedo, that's the best I can do. Well, as I stated with the A-10, the tail configuration and engine placement, as well as their type, results in a well diffused heat signature. The best angle to shoot down an A-10 is from above and behind. Which is very difficult considering how tightly the A-10 can turn. Which is an advantage in and of itself in a CAS platform. A modern AA system like a CWIS or Goalkeeper, or patriot SAMs, will shred an A-10. Even an older AA system like the ZSU 23-4 would likely bring down an A-10 if it got a lock. MANPADS require a fair amount of luck, and skill to be used effectively. The primary threat MANPADS pose is take off and landing, when the aircraft is more vulnerable. Also, to effectively engage a fast mover with a MANPADS system is going to take much more skill than the average Jihadi has. I'll be more frightened of MANPADS if we go to war with Russia. At the very least, an A-10 is going to be out of action for a week or more after taking a hit from any sort of modern AAA system. Though at this point it should be noted that, to date only 4 A-10's have ever been shot down, and those were shot down by larger SAMs. Oh, stealth can be value added sure. And any replacement fighter for the F-15 and F-16, should include some low observable construction. Leading edges made of composites, and the use of stealthy intake geometry. Integrate what you can without jacking the cost way up. The majority of the Aircraft skin should probably still be aluminum, and let the gun port be exposed. All told the F-15 and F-15 should really be replaced with a new Gen 4.5 aircraft. I think it's folly to try and build an Air Force around Stealth Fighters, It's too expensive, and you'll end up with too few, and won't want to risk losing them. It's a fantastic capability, and we should leverage it, just not at the expense of having a fully mission capable Air Force. The Gripen would be a fine compliment for the European market. However, it is DoD policy to "Buy American" whenever possible. We can't, and understandably so, allow our military to be subject to another nation. We have to be able to supply our forces in the face of sanctions, or God forbid, isolation. If we adopt a foreign design, for anything, it must have the capability of being produced in the United States, before the DoD can take delivery. There are a few exceptions, however the capability can be easily replaced in almost all of those cases. This is the problem you get into when you try do design a single fighter to do everything. Look at the F-111. It was supposed to be one airframe to suit every branch's needs. It ended up being too heavy for the Navy, and thus the marines as well, and it lacked the air to air capabilities the USAF wanted. In the end it turned out ok, because as fortune would have it, the F-111 was a pretty good bomber. The F-35 isn't being asked to replace the F-14, since the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet has done that. The F-35 is being asked to replace the F/A-18C/D, F-16, AV-8B, and A-10, which is more because of politics than any real requirement. The requirement was for a Multi Role fighter, in three variants to support the USAF, USMC, and USN's individual requirements. The Media and Politicians who don't know spit from shinola, spun it as what we know today. Nah, it was coherent enough. I just hope I didn't ramble too much.
  23. Valkyrie Driver
    Good point JB0, I have not yet heard one reference to "tachyon field inversions in the subspace matrix" or some nonsense in a Macross show. Though that is pretty good technobabble if I do say so myself. Macross seems far less concerned with the Hard Sci-Fi stuff in the shows, and gives it more in the reference books and other media. I think that Technobabble would turn off a lot of viewers, as it would start to sound less like Macross and more like Star Trek. Anyhow, enough off topic-ness. Could such actuators be retrofitted into an existing design? For instance could the VF-19 be redesigned to use them (Say as a new model)? Or do the 5th gen fighters owe their transformation scheme to that technology?
  24. Valkyrie Driver
    Then my info is a bit out of date. If I'm not mistaken the AIM-9L used nitrogen, perhaps it's been updated since then. Still the fact remains that a coolant system is too bulky for a shoulder fired missile correct?
  25. Valkyrie Driver
    I'd almost be tempted to buy a toy of it...
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