Uxi

Bought the 930, the 3x SLI EVGA X58 board, and 6GB of Corsair XMS3 tri-channel DDR3 1600 and got it all set up last night. I'm surprised my old 8800 GT OC still gets me a 7.0 performance rating. I'm 7.2-7.4 on everything else except the HDD (standard 7200 rpm 500GB), which was rated at 5.9. Guess it's time to do an SSD and reinstall Windows later this week. I was just under $900 counting Windows 7 Pro OEM Sys Builders and $80 in tax I've been getting cheapie boards the last couple builds... forgot all the goodies and attention to detail a high end board gives you. Now to start contemplating which GPU setup I want to upgrade to

I believe the F-117 was retired not because it wasn't needed, but because it was fatally compromised. The F-117 shot down over Kosovo showed that modification to the RADAR let them see the F-117 for brief periods and it's stealth was likely fatally compromised, if not by that, then by the examination on site which also had Russian witnesses, IIRC. If we can't get 4th gen strike aircraft in to hit sites, F-35 is insuffcient, and there aren't enough F-22, then it means we're going to lose a bunch of pilots. UCAVs are still pie in the sky. Maybe they'll bear fruit... maybe they won't (jamming and other ECW against UCAV set up near said SAM sites).

It's not just the fighters, though PAK-FA could be an issue. How about the latest and greatest that Russian SAM systems (upgraded S300 and S400) that are just as much a threat to 4th generation fighters...

Is there a MW fanclub on Home? I'd hang out there and talk valks. We can put up pictures in our personal spaces...

Don't think anyone doubts the ability of the F-35 to replace the F-16... it's the fact that it's going to have to pick up slack in replacing the F-15 since there's been continued downdrawing of the F-22. Do you think the USAF has more F-15 than it really needs? That's the only possible satisfactory answer... unless you really think an F-35 can take the place of an F-15... Much less the A-10, F-117, etc. Uh, that's exactly what leadership is supposed to be doing. You have to win the fights you're in, sure, but you also have to plan for the future lest you get hit with a Pearl Harbor and get sacked from your command and your name and reputation scorned for decades.

That spanish site has the best variety of art, I think. The rest would be taking images of valkyries and maybe a screen shot or two and then playing with photoshop. We're doing 2 8-disc sets right? I'll see what I can work up in CS3...

God of War III coming up. Who else is excited for it?

The Legioss looks like what would be built in a 70s/80s design program with the appropriate technology (F-18 IIRC). I'd really like to see a Mospeada/Legioss follow up based on the F-35 and F-22). Kawamori went with YF-23 and Sukhoi for his future evolution of transforming craft after the initial F-14 and later on the F-117. The Takara/Hasbro Starscream/Seekers show what we can reasonably expect out of an F-15 (and a MiG-29 probably wouldn't vary much from that)...

What's the old saying that you're always fighting the last war, (instead of the one coming up)? There can be no question that US air superiority capability is diminishing from the unquestioned ability to achieve that anywhere today. Does anyone think that the capability today is needlessly overstrength today's environment? The F-35 + 187 F-22 are expected to replace all of the USAF F-15, F-16, F-117, and A-10. I'm definitely not as down on the F-35 as some (I think it IS a good 5th gen replacement for the F-16), just that it's not THAT versatile, especially at the F-15 role. An F-23 derived craft would be MUCH better at matching/replacing the F-15 and F-117 strike role, in addition to serving as a great air superiority fighter. But the simple math of it doesn't appear that the F-35 can match it while the undeniably diminished number of F-22 must lead to either a diminishing capability or perhaps our allies stepping up to the plate and bearing some of the burden more. The Brits new carriers look comparable... but what aircraft are they using? More F-35.

4-Mar-2010 Hong Kong The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 4-Mar-2010 5-Mar-2010 United States of America Arrived and is being processed. 5-Mar-2010 United States of America Pending customs inspection.

HK Post says my Legios/Tread set left yesterday 3/4. Purchase 2/28. Definitely not as fast ami-ami.

Articles? Prolly not, but haven't really been looking, either. Do you think the F-35 can do the job of all the USAF F-117, F-16, and F-15 - 187 currently planned/produced F-22A?

Gerwalk power-slides were always pretty cool to watch. Battroids were starting to do it more frequently in M7 but Frontier kinda went back to Gerwalk being the primary "slider"

It's been downhill since the 1/48 VF-1A Low Viz (v1) pilot. THAT is still one of my favorite pilots.

Get that digitized. I was converting a bunch of my wife's old VHS home movies into DVD on my VAIO. Set up the chapter breaks and all that. Was alot easier than I thought it would be.... only reason I keep the VCR around anymore (it's in the office/computer room closet). Just get that VHS if he won't do a digital form.

Love it! Much more detail on the gunpod. I can see the individual barrels. Thanks!

I do think they will produce them. Probably similar to their numbers of T-90 tanks. Definitely small-fry compared to their Soviet numbers. He definitely has agreed with it, since there was still Congressional effort and his threats to veto any bill that included further funding for it. If that's not agreement with that policy, I don't know what is.

They're not mutually exclusive options, though. Even assuming you couldn't focus the beam a bit more narrow like a bigger version of a "conventional" Macross-scale weapon, next logical tactic would be to not have friendly forces in orbit closer than a certain point. "Bogey force got through" - ZAP! "Roger control, eyes on enemy destruction - coming in to scan the wreckage, over."

Why wouldn't you rebuild/complete the Grand Cannons?

Depending how they did it, it could work with the Quarter, as well. I'm for it.

Beyond meeting certain benchmarks, I don't think exceeding one benchmark would have mattered particularly if the larger issue was confidence in the program management (I never really bought the politics angle in macro wrt ATF).

Well as much as he's biased against the F-35, Koop echoes cautionary that is being claimed in other circles. IOW, it's not just the threat that the PAK-FA may or may not pose, or the SU-35, etc but it's also the SAM systems that the Russians continue to push out, upgrades of S-300 and S-400 that they are more than willing to sell to Iran, for example that 4th gen fighter/attack craft will be at critical risk against and that there just may not be enough F-22A and B-2 for. B-2 numbers are especially limited. There was a period of a good 5 or 6 years between the F-117 reaching initial operating capability and it's actual public acknowledgement by the USAF IIRC. There are definite strategic arguments against maintenance of a Cold War sized/capable force... just like US Army Europe doesn't exist and the number of US Army combat brigades is down ~40% from say... 1987. So yeah, there probably wouldn't be 300 F-23 attack craft, but a dozen or so doesn't sound all that unlikely with the budgets we're talking about. A big push and/or public announcement would just require the right politics. Huge budget deficits didn't stop procurement of the Super Bug, etc. Official data is still classified, of course. Unofficial anecdotes about. Most any board where you see people claiming insider experience seems to indicate that the YF-23 wasn't just a bit faster but very obviously faster. Here's an example: http://www.f-16.net/index.php?name=PNphpBB...p;p=55492#55492 There are similar quotes from guys claiming to have been ATC controllers and that YF-23 was very quickly outdistancing F-15's at full AB. They could be full of hooey, of course...

On mine, it seems like it's one "big" click and then a more subtle second click to fully lock in, but yeah nice and tight and never fall out during barrel rolls, etc. One thing I have noticed with my YF-21 (landing gear almost always out, matching the YF-19 facing it) is that the front landing gear flap tends to open up on it's own. It needs a small tab/nub behind it. Prolly never going to pull out my Gamlin's landing gear...

What are the possibilities that a variant of the YF-23 is already being used in the role of the F-117 and it's just secret? I find it... interesting that the performance of the YF-23 apparently remains classified to this day. It seems pretty well accepted that YF-23 was significantly faster than YF-22... it's stealthy characteristics are well suited to the attack role and it could also double as a fighter. The rapid dropping of the F-22 numbers tell me it's not an economic reason, but either the USAF has something else cooking, there's some possible critical flaw in the design, etc.

And spring next year probably wouldn't be absurd, if end of the year is just a target.