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The War ZoneChina’s “Bohai Sea Monster” Reappears With Apparent Weapo...New details add weight to the idea that the “Bohai Sea Monster” has a kinetic role to play, although the general concept could be supersized for other missions. New details add weight to the idea that

Well played...

Thanks all.

As another poster said, there are a lot of F-16’s that are easily maintainable, fast, loud, and SEXY. Nobody wants to see the T-7…….Its disproportionate, ungainly, and no F-16. I flew -38’s , as all of my heavy driving classmates, it wasn’t a thought to fly in the T-Birds, even when they were flying -38’s. It’s not a horrible idea, Just don’t see it happening. Now, what I always wondered was how come there was never a Tweet /T-6 II and -38 solo Airshow demo flight. Just to show the capabilities of these trainers.

Yeah pardon my naivety but I figured with the geographic proximity to KRND that the schools in TX would be under the microscope That contract is about 83.5 mil a year, at $600 a day per man day that’s 381 man years of orders or 342 man year with a $25k per year bonus, add in the beanie of successful completion of X training sorties and Tricare for Life upon retirement if a an ARC member regardless of traditional or immediate retirement pay status and you would get takers The aircraft could be had quickly if wanted. You could even run this COA at an ARC base ala Project Liberty but that assumes the institution gives a fornication

Sample size of one school (unrelated to AF training) - vast majority of young CFIs suck (and we’ve ran through a lot in the last year, hired from all over the country). Their work ethic and maturity are significantly lacking is the best way to sum it up. Now add in their complete lack of experience and unwillingness to acknowledge that - it’s a recipe for bad decisions and poor instruction. I can only imagine this is plaguing these AF-contract flight schools. UPT is, for all the valid BGCs, vastly superior to a standard flight school, especially when trying to produce military pilots at scale.

Oh boy…

These aren’t the schools in this contract are they? https://avweb.com/aviation-news/us-aviation-awarded-air-force-contraqct/

News Hurjet joining the light fighter market https://theaviationist.com/2026/05/23/hurjet-underwing-weapon-pylons/

Blast from the past!

Probably so but the benefits to the whole force might be worth it, manpower and cost sharing from the other MAJCOMs + Guard/Reserve. A larger formation would be my druthers also, that might negate some that benefit but ultimately this left field suggestion is about an overall cultural change to the Line of the Air Force, this initiative only being one policy change resulting from it.

I wish I could say I'm surprised. I've heard stories going back decades about Arkansas LE planting drugs. My optimistic side thinks that the prevalence of cameras now has made it a little harder to get away with this. Used to be it was the cop's word and that was the end of the story. She was lucky and could have easily been doing 10 years claiming her innocence the whole time. I always wonder how someone or their friends or family with say some military training and a less sympathetic attitude to being setup might react. At this point the system has made it clear the rules are out the window. This to me is big reason I like radar detectors. Aside from not doing things like driving under the influence or other shenanigans, I greatly reduce the chance of an encounter with LE. Like the flight doc no one comes out of an encounter with LE having a better day than when they started.

Yeah.. not holding my breath

I heard someone call it the growler demo(lition). All jokes aside, thank God the pilots ejected safely.

Sincerely hoping this comes to fruition and doesn’t amount to another round of market manipulation

I look forward to watching Iran sign our terms of unconditional surrender on the deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford.

News: https://www.twz.com/air/hunt-for-c-146-wolfhound-special-ops-transport-plane-replacement-underway https://theaviationist.com/2026/04/16/australia-announces-c-27j-spartan-retirement/ This article says they’ll be replaced with commercial aircraft https://australianaviation.com.au/2026/04/raaf-to-replace-c-27j-spartan-fleet-with-commercial-aircraft-mix/ It’s the ramp, if you don’t need it just get an ATR or similar turboprop

Back atcha, Mr Super Duper Unbiased One. Hugs.

Don't you remember Red Dawn? Wolverines!!!

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.

Well yeah obviously, you've demonstrated particularly unbiased judgment of anyone involved with this administration. It should be no surpris that the only ones you like are the ones you agree with. Tulsi is one step away from becoming a Joe Rogan conspiracy theorist. And at this point anybody who brings up Epstein should be disregarded immediately as either too dishonest or too blinded to trust their judgment or assessment of, well, anything. Just another social-mania at its finest.

I had no hope for all 3, and I add Kash and Pete to that list. 3 down, 2 to go. I think Trump is saving Kash til late summer then sacrifices him to appease the election gods. As for Tulsi, perhaps she bought all that, no more wars, campaign bullshit when she decided to join Trump and then saw behind the curtain, called "fuck it, I'm out, peace fingers, bithes!" Or, someone showed her the Epstein files. She is still a Dem, IMO.