The US has won nearly ALL of them in the past 50 years. The Gulf war... no contest. Afghanistan... Military destroyed and government replaced. Iraq in 2003, steamrolled and government replaced.

Agreed, I’ve been reading a lot about Praying Mantis lately. Though... that was under Reagan and not the current administration. If you noticed, the International Courts chastised the US for “overreacting” with Praying Mantis.

This is “If you don’t exercise your rights, you lose them” at its finest. The US has been sailing around challenging arbitrary border re-definitions for a very long time. Just like Libya’s “line of death” and Iran with the straight of Hormuz.

Sad part is the missile was probably worth 100X what the drone was. At least.

Or laser-guided mortars... Designate with a drone and pop one off without even having to get line-of-sight!

The question of “who stood to benefit” is absolutely useless. No one would benefit or has benefited from this. The most likely answer is the simplest one: Ukranian “rebels” that had been provided Buk missile systems but not the extensive equipment needed for IFF saw a plane they thought was a military flight, and…

TL;DR: Gun control advocates need to step out of their echo-chambers and check with real sources like the FBI crime data to get a clear picture of the silliness of the whole gun-control movement.

The US actually has a long history of purchasing AK-47s from China to give away, rather than using things built in the US. I’d be surprised if they are dropping American-made weapons. So I think your “Military Inudstrial Complex” conspiracy theory is probably not justified in this particular conversation.

I would think 3 has a lot of relevance to point 8. Reducing the effectiveness of Russia’s nuclear arsenal would discourage them from overreacting to something like assistance to Ukraine from the West. It is doubtful Russia would react that way anyway, but every little bit helps.

I think a good argument could be made that this isn’t stolen property. After all, if someone robs your home and fires bullets at you, can he have you arrested for recovering the bullets from the wall?

They sent the plane in without EW or SEAD support. They sent them via the same route every day. This was pretty careless and I would hope they have learned from that overconfidence by now.

Sometimes when other news agencies are using the story as clickbait and keep people coming back to check up on the situation (by leaving out details that would disprove it), it is a good idea for responsible journalists to cover it with all the facts intact. That is exactly what Tyler has done here. It is more of a…

When I was younger I always wanted the game Silent Thunder, but the PC couldn’t support it.

But then where would they put the AFT and down-looking Missile Launch Warning System sensors?

Someone that knows more can correct if I’m wrong, but I would think an A-10 in ferry configuration wouldn’t be stressing the air frame all that much (at least compared to combat loads and combat maneuvering). I don’t know if they would take the actual loads into account when considering flight hours for maintenance…

That was more to extend what you said, as you didn’t mention the need for compressed air for engine start.

I don’t know what you’re getting at, but the F-15E can carry almost the same load (about 3,000lb short), has a longer combat radius, better Thrust to Weight ratio, higher service ceiling and speed (though these aren’t all that relevant for a strike aircraft).

Does it look like a cartoon duck from the front to anyone else?

I have always felt the Mig-21 was one of the ugliest fighters ever made. I’ve started to change my mind more recently though. It appears in the same sort of way as the B-52 or A-10

I love the look of an F-14 Tomcat with its wings fully swept...