ClearedHot

Matters not...between the promotion bullshit and this...dude is off his rocker.

He has bigger issues to deal with now that Hegseth just declared Mormonism is not a religion AND that members of the military may not declare themselves Atheist. Dude has to go.

The state with Silicon Valley and they can't count votes in a reasonable period of time.

STILL counting ballots from a primary three days later...what a failure.

PED is obviously more data than ever these days and searching for the diamond in the rough is a heavily AI/Data center reliant business. Given the data volumes and the target sets, I find it hard to believe that PED function can happen with a few more work stations on a dedicated airplane. It is almost certainly going to require BLOS reachback to a JOC/Ops Center with multiple 100GB Fiber Optic cables linked to a data fusion center. While Pacific ops are increasingly leaning on edge processing, that is more target-centric than the SOCOM soak and watch for months on end developing patterns of life concept. With 75 (if they ever get there), A1Ks it will be hard to justify a dedicated "other" airplane for ISR. More likely is the effort and discussion about replacing the C-146 fleet. As for the ANG....they placed their chips on the A1K table, hence they have the school house. While ANG Kung Foo for new airplanes is usually strong, keeping MC-130s in Harrisburg, the A1K school house and a C-146 replacement (for the reserves too), is a LOT of content and having run in the budgeting circles in the HQ and the five sided funny house, I doubt there is any appetite for more content....even if there was NGRIA because SOCOM still has to pay the O&M bill.

Sorry I don't see a need or requirement for such a platform...seems a one off. USAF and SOCOM have moved further and further away from the model you describe because manpower is expensive and they want fewer eyes on screens. While the U-28 had four people it only has two sensors. The PED was federated just like the A1K, but Skyraider has a third (actually could have four), and the flexibility to allow the off-board PED to control the sensor. Guessing you don't know how much processing power and how many radios/video feeds are on A1K. On the topic of Bronder...not fully for this forum but the battles over SCM and his general apathy delayed so much capability. Dude is a snarky arse without vision...enjoying the "rank" of his position. With a little less acid AFSOC would have had a LOT more strike power a LOT sooner.

1. Again, Bronder is a non-rated idiot. 2. What "other missions"? It does ISR, acts as a comm node, acts as a CC node, controls the stack, does CAS, does stand-off strike....truly confused. What is it not doing that the U-28 did? What mission sets do you need a new dedicated airframe to fulfill?

#1 Bronder is a complete buffoon...having dealt with him numerous times we will all be better off when he moves on. #2 The entire purpose of the A1K was to collapse the stack and reduce the need for so many manned assets. #3 I do not agree on your supposition of another requirement. The A1K can do everything the U-28 does and more...that drove the fleet size of 75.

A-1K has much of the same OFP as the U-28 (modernized), with double the range/endurance, a large weapons payload, and provisions for THREE (versus two), sensors. I can't think of a place the U-28 can go that the A-1K can't.

Another example of the pure lunacy of what used to be the far left but more and more in the center of the DNC. Liberals in Oregon have collected over 120,000 signatures for the Peace Act. What is the Peace Act you ask....in short it outlaws ALL hunting and fishing. It ends ALL farming of animals effectively requiring everyone in Oregon to become Vegan. So far 120,000 people (6% of the Oregon population), signed to get this on the ballot. https://www.yesonip28.org/

Well played...

Having grown up in Miami I could write a dissertation but the part primary reason is outlined above given their alliance to adversaries and willingness to host those hostile actors (luckily sans nuclear missiles thanks to Kennedy). Another reason not often discussed is their propensity to create and support instability in the region. Ever wonder why Maduro's protection force was mostly Cubans....? Cuba frequently provides intelligence sharing, operational training, and asylum to leftist radicals, guerrilla groups, and anti-establishment political movements around the world but mainly ones that destabilize Latin America. You might look up the ALBA alliance and Cuba efforts to foment chaos in Boliva. Finally, analysts and regional security forces have long accused the Cuban intelligence apparatus of infiltrating civil society organizations, leveraging state media to fuel anti-Western protests, and backing candidates hostile to U.S. interests. Way to close to home for me having so many Cuban friends growing up, it was a non-stop stories of things done to Cuban families both in Cuba, other Latin American Countries and in the U.S. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has a page dedicated to Cuba and they do a far better and more articulate job of giving details than I can.

On the tanker in a fighter...meh. Take an under-powered Gunpig to the tanker and hold position for ten minutes while you onload 35-40K. Your CG dramatically shifts WAY aft and you fall ever further behind the power curve with the throttles bent forward and bleeds off as you refuel to 10K over max peacetime weight. That is not just a combat situation, that is every ocean crossing...each one is done with a waiver. AR in the Gunpig is no joke and not a pickup game. Does that translate to the six ship diamond pass in review 18" from another jet for a show then march to the crowd line in your overly tight blue or red jumper...probably not. The most precise flying I've ever done was not in formation but was to ten feet of altitude and one knot of airspeed shooting 27M from the friendlies (one knot can make a 10' miss on the ground), basically across the street as the team was about to be overrun. Had another shoot on night three of OEF shooting in nearly 70 knot winds...imagine the defensive egg on its side, going up wind is great as everything slows WAY down and your bank angle gets low, downwind is like riding a bucking bronco, 45+ degrees of bank, maneuvering three dimensionally as you try to put the thing on the thing and push the trigger. Anyway, matters nothing more than a fun conversation, USAF is run by an Eagle dude again and the last thing he will do is surrender ground to the other than the fighter tribe. We have FAR bigger problems to solve right now.

Valid. I've seen the other side of the coin in AFSOC where they moved too much iron to the RTU. Syllabus events are rarely waived and most studs come out (sts), full up rounds. I can't believe we continue to use terms like "buy risk" for things that cost us blood.