magnkarl Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 19 hours ago, BleedClaretAndBlue said: Ukrainians are great innovators, soon their own long range weapons will be striking deep into russia. This one has already been used AFAIK. It hit that airfield in Stalingrad (Volgograd). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ender4 Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 2 hours ago, villa89 said: What is MANPADS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 28 Share Posted August 28 Man portable air defence systems. Basically a rocket one soldier can fire at aircraft. The rocket has a homing system to track the aircraft and hit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted August 28 VT Supporter Share Posted August 28 48 minutes ago, ender4 said: What is MANPADS? 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidcow Posted August 29 VT Supporter Share Posted August 29 9 hours ago, ender4 said: What is MANPADS? They are for incontinence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted August 29 Moderator Share Posted August 29 21 minutes ago, sidcow said: They are for incontinence. Didn’t realise Ukraine had crossed the Urinals 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 29 Share Posted August 29 (edited) Five left.... Makes you wonder if it would just be easier to let Ukraine fire missiles into Russia instead of sending them planes that are extremely difficult to maintain and have limited value. Edited August 29 by villa89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 (edited) The pilot didn’t survive apparently Edited August 30 by LondonLax Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BleedClaretAndBlue Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 more of this 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 The F-16s have been trying to stop the drones and cruise missiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 2 hours ago, Xann said: The F-16s have been trying to stop the drones and cruise missiles. Seems like a waste. Why aren't they use offensively? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted August 30 Moderator Share Posted August 30 Zelensky sacked the air force chief after the loss of the F16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 30 Share Posted August 30 25 minutes ago, villa89 said: Seems like a waste. Why aren't they use offensively? Conjecture on my part. The attrition rate is unattractive for a resource that keeps Russian aviation honest simply by existing, and also provides a swift response to attempted Russian breakthroughs and unexpected attacks on lesser defended areas. It is a very long front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LondonLax Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 6 hours ago, Xann said: Conjecture on my part. The attrition rate is unattractive for a resource that keeps Russian aviation honest simply by existing, and also provides a swift response to attempted Russian breakthroughs and unexpected attacks on lesser defended areas. It is a very long front. They are also very difficult machines to operate and the pilots have only had an express training course rather than years of combat experience. The plane that crashed was due to pilot error, the pilots are all rookies. It would be too big a loss to risk them on more dangerous combat missions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted August 31 VT Supporter Share Posted August 31 Also radar. The F16 has a good radar that can detect cruise missiles, which are hard to detect otherwise. If VT had anyone who knows about this stuff, that would be great. I wonder if @blandy can think of anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blandy Posted August 31 Moderator Share Posted August 31 8 minutes ago, Anthony said: Also radar. The F16 has a good radar that can detect cruise missiles, which are hard to detect otherwise. If VT had anyone who knows about this stuff, that would be great. I wonder if @blandy can think of anyone. I don’t know which versions of F16s were given to Ukraine, but suspect they would have been older ones. The thing is jets get various mid life upgrades and capability enhancements and such like over time and radar is one of those areas where new techniques and new technology have led to big jumps in capability in recent years. Another area is the cockpit itself where modern jets have 2 or 3 big iPad type displays and the pilots helmet has built in display on the visor, compared to the old style analogue instruments and CRT displays. So how good the Ukraine F16s actually are is dependent on how much they’ve been upgraded over time and when they came off the production line. I doubt though that they’ll be the latest versions with all the tech the USAF versions have - AESA Radar, active cockpits and all that jazz. They’ll probably be mechanically scanned array radar, and 1990s or early 2000s style cockpits - likely better than ancient soviet jets by a distance, but quite a bit down on what some nations have. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 1 hour ago, blandy said: I don’t know which versions of F16s were given to Ukraine, but suspect they would have been older ones. The thing is jets get various mid life upgrades and capability enhancements and such like over time and radar is one of those areas where new techniques and new technology have led to big jumps in capability in recent years. Another area is the cockpit itself where modern jets have 2 or 3 big iPad type displays and the pilots helmet has built in display on the visor, compared to the old style analogue instruments and CRT displays. So how good the Ukraine F16s actually are is dependent on how much they’ve been upgraded over time and when they came off the production line. I doubt though that they’ll be the latest versions with all the tech the USAF versions have - AESA Radar, active cockpits and all that jazz. They’ll probably be mechanically scanned array radar, and 1990s or early 2000s style cockpits - likely better than ancient soviet jets by a distance, but quite a bit down on what some nations have. Those donating the jets have to balance wanting to help as much as possible with the risk the jets might end up in the hands of the Russians to steal all the tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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