wouldn’t be surprised to see that the F-15s, based in Turkey, patrol schedule just happens to coincide with AC-130 or A-10 sortie schedule against ISIS. Ya know, just in case...

can you give us your second paragraph again in lay-man’s terms? thanks.

I went in a flat spin trying to look at the overhead console between the pilot and co-pilot.

Agree. Overgeneralization on my part. Maybe a “shift in emphasis” would have been a better way to phrase it.

the Thai’s have an aircraft carrier?

why not shut down of some those stupid air force bases overseas that only cause us diplomatic trouble.

Jeff, further to your comment. It’s the Navy’s current policy to sink money into boondoggle programs like the LCS and the F-35B/C that makes updating a support fleet for a carrier such an impossibility.

As we have demonstrated, you can’t fight ISIS with carriers.

meh, lease it out to Cypress Gardens in Florida and it can pull 200 waterskiers, 4 people on kites, 2 pyramids and a cute pupply on a boogie board - all at once.

there should be a trade-in program for our allies that lets them trade two F-5s for an F-16. Or four of any Hawker aircraft for an F-15.

seriously? The F-35 can’t effectively operate at an altitude low enough to see which uniforms are on which side of the fence. It can’t fly slow enough over the battle field to allow the pilot to understand the combat situation. It can’t protect it’s pilot from small arms fire. It bloody well couldn’t make a strafing…

Mark, if you haven’t had a chance to read the Libyan Mig story currently on FA, it, and mission tape, explain the situation pretty well.

Spec Ed, I understand that the “new” islands are an attempt to expand Chinese territorial ambitions but currently there’s no rule of international law that lets them put the man-made “pumped from the bottom of the ocean” islands in the same category as a real land mass.

Pale, wasn’t suggesting that making the island disappear was the appropriate political response (actually, I didn’t offer a political idea at all.) I was just responding to all of the whoop-de-doo that seems to be floating around about what a huge military threat that the Chinese have made in creating and fortifying…

If you’ve got it, post it in memoriam to Fred. RIP.

I kind of always thought that the Chinese islands are not worth the worry. They can’t maneuver. They’re pretty much at sea level. Anyone who has access to a Google Earth kind of resource can pinpoint their location to the minute.

The “how” to counter China’s territory claims could get messy. By messy, I mean someone could fuck up and, like the RIO in the F-14 vs Libyan Mig encounter elsewhere on FA, shoot a missile that will escalate things pretty quickly.

Captain, I don’t think folks are rushing to answer your question because the “how” could get messy. By messy, I mean someone could fuck up and, like the RIO in the F-14 vs Libyan Mig encounter elsewhere on FA, shoot a missile that will escalate things pretty quickly.

Northrop Grumman has been selected as the winner

I wonder if the result would be different if they tried today?