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Well, which is the best of the three, the Su-34?You're kidding, right?
Well, which is the best of the three, the Su-34?
How does that compare to the F-111?
Less range, less speed, less load.
In 6 years? I doubt it. The counter to stealth has been known for a very long time - it's called bi-static radar where the transmitter and receiver are located far enough apart that signals reflected by a stealthy aircraft are still able to be collected (basically using the stealth design against itself). The challenge is making such a system work viably in an operational setting, and then to use such a system to get a weapon onto the target. Oh, and it has to be survivable too so fixed facilities are a no-no. The cost and technical complexity of such systems pretty much puts them out of reach for most of the world, and the rest are too busy making money or staying alive to care about such esoteric pieces of military hardware. In short, I think Oz will do very well with the F-35 - it may not be a "Pig" but I think it will do the job it's designed to do.
Actually it's not. I had friends who worked on the mod line at Palmdale in the late 90s and better surface prep processes and materials enabled surface maintenance to be no more difficult than any other composite aircraft. The 117A was "semi-retired" because of budgetary considerations and making room for the F-35. A fleet of -117s are in storage at Tonopah NV and can be placed back in service at any time.The F111 was probably a very tired work intensive bird and thats why shes gone , I'm curious as to how many man hours maintainence for every flight hour on the F111 at the end of her career
Probably why they are in storageHave to say, Joe, I was a little surprised when they announced the 'retirement' of the F-117A. I thought an asset like that would have been highly prized, especially since the F-35 isn't in service yet.
I somewhat have to agree but on the other end Canada will probably have a large offset stake in their purchaseCanada is replacing it's CF-18 fleet with the F-35. A single engine jet has no place in the high arctic where the CF-18 patrols. As for it's stealth capabilities...against what? Caribou!!! I'm not against upgrading the air force but surely the cheaper newest Hornet would be better suited for Canada's purpose.
Geo
"but on the other end Canada will probably have a large offset stake in their purchase".
That's the idea .... keep the aerospace industry moving with the times.