Agreed - The fact they have kept the F-14 *Flyable* let alone Air-Combat capable over the years is really impressive. From what I have read, the F-14 was never a Maintenance dream to begin with, so just the fact that they can take off is amazing to me.

Oh - Totally agree. If you did field ‘Missile Trucks’, the issue goes away. With superior sensors and high off-bore missile capability, the swarm issue is probably non-existent.

So, you think they just sit around and do nothing all year? They do train you know.. And during Training, doing a Flyover is alright with me.. Even if it was specfically just for a flyover, it still takes a shitload of training to execute that, which makes these guys sharper. I’m OK with it.

Whats truly amazing to me of all this is just how out-classed that battlegroup would be in 2015 against a group 1/4 the size of that.

Meh, building a airframe is one thing. Building the Avionics, Sensors, etc is another. A totally different concept is the engine as well. Their is only a few countries that have the capability to truly build a high performance jet engine suitable for modern (or even somewhat modern) fighters. Go look up the WS-10…

I’m *HIGHLY* Skeptical of SA’s ability to fight any sort of Air war. Just because they have the equipment doesnt mean they have the ability. I think the Iraqi’s proved that in Desert Storm.

Remind me who won that war? :)

Doubt that highly. :) They have F-14A’s from the late 70’s.. Still a great warbird, but if they could have reversed engineered it and built more, they have had 35 years to do it and havent.

Hah.. Yeh, 7, but not 200 of them.. F-22 runs out of ammo after awhile. :)

Also makes you wonder about things, like Swarm attacks. I am by FAR the least capable person in thinking about Dogfighting tactics, however, I can imagine buying 7x Scorpions for the cost of a F-35.

Good luck getting a carburetor for a ‘55 Mig-17. I hear those things burn oil like a bitch..

I get it - I just question if the alliance would actually hold in terms of a real war. IE, are we willing to lose New York over Tallinn? Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, which i’m sure 99.9% of people dont know.

This is true, but I would say the same thing about the rest of NATO as well. Honestly, at this point I question the value of the alliance... What does Estonia, or Lithuania have to offer?

How about hold up your commitment to NATO, and not let the U.S. do all the heavy lifting? :)

Nope, they are not dumb. That artillery is buried into mountain sides, and well camouflaged. You would never get all (or most) of it before it decimated Seoul.

Stuff like this makes me alright with my tax’s, and my want to see the LRS platform.. :)

Probably F-16’s or F-15’s.. Not MiGs. That would be... War. :)

Uh, no.. Just no.. F-22 was discontinued because it was expensive, and designed as a Air Superiority fighter when most of our combat was ground attack (which the F-22 can do now as well). Real reason is it was simply expensive.

Didn't know, my assumption was since it was a Spanish colony they spoke Spanish. I'm good with being told otherwise!

Oh - Trust me, No disrespect to them. From what I have heard/seen, they seem to be a fearsome fighting force. The conditions they need to fight under are not easy, so hats off to them. Was just curious why they were speaking English. I guess my assumption of Spanish is off.