Edit: Likely a modified HH-6o “Pave Hawk”, not MH-60.

We still use them because they’re phenomenal. It’s was the only rotary wing asset we had in Afghanistan that was capable of operating at very high altitudes. I’ve see them sling-load entire Apaches and HMMWV at altitudes other helicopters can’t even operate at, much less sling load multi-ton loads with 20+ combat…

This meshes well with everything I know (not much), and everything I’ve heard (100x more) about these aircraft.

Ah ok cheers. Putin knows the country will never stabilize with Assad in power. I think that he’s going to help retire Assad so long as they can put another puppet into office. In return we won’t challenge the implementation of another Moscow puppet. Other than ISIL, it’s a win-win for everyone.

Ahhhh that makes sense. I’ve never played any of the games in that series but I see it constantly referenced on the internet. Not a surprise that is where most of the chairborne Rangers are getting their info...

The Russian nickname for it is “Platypus”.

I caught a snippet of it a few weeks ago on the BBC. After that their news got bogged down with the Pope, Xi, Obama & Putin, and the refugee crisis.

While they’re a NATO member, they have pretty strong ties to Moscow. It’s not surprising at all that Greece would be ok with this. Any wavering they did was probably because of Western pressure.

Well said. I just finished a month in Estonia, Romania, a few days in “Budapesht” and a few other places.

Lol the Russians call it the “Platypus” for a reason. That being said, I really like this puppy. None of it’s little brothers have ever impressed me much, but as a tactical bomber/heavy fighter-bomber that thing is tits. Even if munitions strike the bottom of the aircraft when coming off the racks :P

I detest the guy, but he’s not painting us into a corner. Russia will be a key player in ending this conflict. Don’t have to take my word for it, just watch.

Thank you thank you. So tired of that myth. The aircraft does have an electric hot water heater for making some coffee or tea, a little chemical heater for chow (like MRE heaters) but other than a piss tube/sketchy chemical can, that’s about it. I heard an interview where a crew said that if they got a cramp or…

I visited that website once. A decade later I was still trying to figure out wtf happened :P

There is very little chance these strikes are “pinpoint” in nature. At least not as how we understand the term. Neither the SU-25 nor SU-24 can do anything more than CCIP or CCRP bombing with dumb bombs. While it’s still fairly accurate, CEP is still a few hundreds meter. This skyrockets if conditions are austere. The…

Platypus don’t give a fuck!

Are you agreeing or arguing? Your first sentence doesn’t make sense in this context.

With a comment like that I’d be really careful about calling someone stupid.

And you wonder why people discriminate. Close that cock garage of yours.

“Putin could one day appease the world community by forcing Assad out of power, giving him asylum in Russia, and installing a new provisional government tightly aligned with Moscow in Damascus.”

How do you know? There is nothing in that photo that differentiates it. Both the SM and A model have the same laser designator and target range finder in the nose like that. The only one that didn’t was the now defunct, SU-25T. It looks vaguely different as it had the additional Shkval targeting system (same one the…