The problem was the Japanese resolve towards unconditional warfare. Their civilians fought tooth and nail. Their military members on various islands had to be rooted out at great expense in terms of men lost. They would have gone on to fight until the absolute, most bitter end. Yeah, you can pose it as a false…

Well, we had to nuke them. There wasn’t a better option. Sure, we could have just forced them back to their island and put them under a months or years long siege. Sure, we could have invaded. Both would have been horrendously costly to in terms of lives lost and money. None of the options were humane, and none…

Should the US have just pushed them back to their mainland, done no damage to their infrastructure or population centers, and just left them to their own devices to re-arm and attack again in ten years?

So, you’re saying that, in war, we should only fight if the other country is playing by the same rules and with the same weaponry? That’s like saying that because Assad used chemical weapons, we should go drop a shit ton of VX on his palace.

They were also working very diligently on a nuclear weapon, and while they hadn’t produced a working atomic pile, it’s unlikely that they would not have, except that the end of the war ended any research efforts.

There have already been GT350 mules running around with a supercharger, photographed in the wild. The GT350 successor (probably not a GT500) will be supercharged, not turbocharged. Packaging is a serious issue in the S550 engine bay, and would be even worse with turbos.

I’d hit it.

Just because the bore spacing and deck height is the same, doesn’t mean it’s a Modular engine. A GEN V LS 305 is not the same engine as a GEN I SBC 305, despite having the same displacement.

That would not have conformed to class rules. Point invalidated.

The Coyote is not a Mod motor.

From what I’m told, this guy works in the same building as me, though I don’t believe I know him...

EXACTLY! For every failed or over budget program, you can find massive requirements changes, late in the process, failed management, and scope creep. It’s usually not the contractor, it’s usually the government just not knowing what the hell they want!

So, then, not people like me.

I agree with you on all points, and he and I discussed that, at length, via emails. He wanted me to write a post on what it’s like to work within the defense environment, developing systems, but each time I tried to write something, I realized that I was giving too much away, or that the entire thing would need to be…

Cry fowl? Because I’d like to read a relatively impartial article about technology or a military system? I’m not a Republican, nor would I consider myself to be any form of conservative or neo-con, just a Libertarian who wants news, and to read a cool article about cool shit.

This is also why the B-52 is hailed as a model of flexibility, as its role and mission has changed so many times throughout its history. They’re so big, and have so much room aboard them, you can constantly change their avionics, weapons packages, and sensors, and throw more and more capabilities onto them. That…

Agreed, and honestly, I don’t mind policy articles, but I prefer policy articles without an injection of opinion. I know Gawker media is about as left-leaning as website/communities come, but I don’t need a personal injection of why something is good or bad, based solely on the author’s political leanings. Tyler had…

This is a very well researched and well written article, something that is sorely missing from FA, these days, especially since Tyler left. Thanks for bringing attention to this aircraft, Gary. As someone with a lot of knowledge about SIGINT, I didn’t even know this aircraft existed! Hopefully, we’ll see more great…

NO MENTION OF FLEA?!?!?!?!