Ha, I remember when I first saw Red Dawn and they had old Mi-24 versions, all I could think was “That looks so fake! Couldn’t they have made something that looks a little closer to a Hind??”

No way a structural failure produced a hole like that. Too small and energetic. In fact, if the aircraft was pressurized at altitude when it happened, a hole that small would be a testament to the structural strength of the fuselage.

The Iranians discovered our most powerful weapon!

In the days before self-starting via internal power was available on most tactical jet aircraft, fighters would have to be started via what was known as a “huffer cart,” or in some cases, an expendable explosive cartridge.

I just don’t see this being linked to climate change at all. Sure, a lot of training is focused on the fighting that we are currently involved in, but there is always training going on for every climate in the world. A service member could explain it far better than I, but there are multiple types of training…

Or could it be that Russia is just an icy frozen hellscape most/all of the year?

That’s a terrible comparison. What happened to the Hood could never happen to an LCS. An LCS would need to have ammunition to blow up like that... (zing!)

Yes.

I should specify, successfully defending Pearl Harbor would also likely have dispelled fears of a Japanese invasion of Hawaii or the West Coast. When Pearl Harbor was caught off guard, it was believed in the immediate aftermath that a surprise invasion was also possible. This contributed to several friendly fire…

For the time period, I don’t think so. Clearly US interests abroad prior to the attacks were insufficient to bring the US into war, so we can agree that anything beyond a direct attack would have been immaterial to the public. Sure lives would have been lost, but a prepared Pearl Harbor would have suffered far fewer…

The argument against that is America didn’t just need to be attacked, there had to be a defeat with a large loss of lives to really get the public behind going to war.

Come on guys, look at it again:

It may not be considered official, but a lot of people believe an F/A-18 was shot down by a MiG on a night mission. I think it even got a mention in Viper Pilot if I recall correctly.

Do you know much about missiles deployed at that time? The AIM-7 was always a poor performer. I think the Gulf War gave it its highest performance record, but it still wasn’t very good. I’ve read a couple AARs that sound like pilots could fire one after another and just keep missing.

Because, as is the case with most dictators, Putin has a touch of the Kim Jong Crazy. Any weapon system remotely near them makes them start spouting about World War 3 and raining nuclear fire on their enemies.

That’s a sacrifice that no one seems to really think about, least of all people who only experience video games and movies. I made the foolish mistake of shooting without ears on once when I was younger. Luckily the ringing stopped after 3 or 4 days and swore I’d never be that stupid again. Can’t imagine doing that…

Not even a little? :D

The additional structural strength required to make a carrier plane tough enough for cats and traps costs a lot of weight. If the plane isn’t going to be flying from a carrier, its unnecessary dead weight that could have been gas or weapons. A carrier plane also needs additional weathering protection (expensive)…

Tyler has been doing write ups on how well candidates appear to grasp and be planning for American military matters. Considering they have influence over everything from equipment acquisition to war strategy, all things that Tyler normally writes about, it makes sense to write about them as well. Although, reading…