In Realpolitik terms Syria is win-win for the West.

the absolute distaste for Obama's incompetence certainly overwhelms anything else...

Russia’s shadowing and intercepting of U.S. drones operating over Syria first appeared as a fluke to U.S. officials, but as they continued to happen it became clear that Russia was actively searching for the defenseless unmanned surveillance aircraft.

ah, you just think that the Cold War is over... it’s just heating up. Not that has any relevance to my comment to you.

Su-30s are 4+ gen aircraft. The updated F-15s are comparable. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if the Israeli F-15s are even more capable than their US counterparts.

You really think NATO would let a member get attacked by Russia and do nothing?

Ramon, I don’t think education level, as you've defined it, plays into an anti-Russian perspective at all.

Somehow I don't think I'd want to be the first person to fly the F-35 into combat. Clearly there's no telling what the first combat pilot is going to find out when he/she gets ready to engage a 4+ enemy plane.

naw, they needed firewood for the campfire. Kill two birds with one stone. Let the reporter play jet pilot and shoot off a few dozen rounds and then gather up the split firewood.

must not be a manpads threat since I didn’t see the Mig punching our flares while he was down low.

that's one way to clean up the gene pool...

the Russians build an air superiority fighter and put a gun in it from the get go. The leaders in the Air Force say that guns are old fashioned, we’ll fight all of our battles BVR with missiles. I think one of these is right.

jeez, now I've gotta go clean my keyboard and screen. You should NOT watch this fucking video if you're eating or drinking anything.

glad to see that the Navy doesn't want to replicate the Marine's PR mistake by declaring the F-35C operational before it's ready.

it won't take long for the local imams to start organizing the young refugees into anti-infidel groups... the shit will hit the fan in about a year...

here’s the loo...

you forgot to mention the toilet and the galley on the flight deck...

Short of the US getting into a shooting situation, the DoD will say, "see, we have enough F-22s"

great article so far. It's long. When you read it, you immediately see how the US has misread ISIS' goals and motives.

re: your points above...