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Apparently, Israel whacked this asshole too. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad killed

This

Nothing against Clayton, but he is mistakenly cross-walking C-17 issues to the KC-390. BLUF - The requirement is for GAS NOT for cargo. Again, the problem in INDOPACOM is not cargo. Remember the bridge tanker program was to address the gas shortage program for strikers. The KC-390 is much smaller and the intent was NOT to perform cargo and refueling operations at the same time. The KC-390 met the need and broke the models because it did not rely on the bigwing tanker plan...the ability to operate of short and unimproved strips meant you had nearly three times more gas at the edge because you were not limited to the few 8,000 easily targeted runways in PACOM. TGhe KC_390 could easily shuttle FAR more gas out of short strips operating much closer to the rally points. In it's current configuration the KC-390 can do both but that is because it is offloading much smaller fuel loads. To meet the 70K requirement it would be all in as a tactical tanker that can do helos, Tilt Rotor and fast jets via drogue and traditional USAF via the boom. KC-390 was great not only because it brought more gas but it brought more booms/drogues and increased flexibility for the strikers. Think of the increased capability if one jet can cover all three refueling sets at the SAME time without being reconfigured. The company I worked for designed a swap-able ramp that could be replaced in a few hours. Extra tanks were also designed that could be loaded in the cargo bay (think MC-130P). Again this demonstrated how trapped we are in our thinking...bring a new approach means testing new tactics and when we ran the models it was an epic difference but of course USAF was stuck in 1972 thinking.

I believe the co-conspirator was a Marine pilot. Throughout these communications, Brown consistently stated his intent to train PRC military pilots in combat aircraft operations. In the resumé he prepared for his application, Brown wrote his “objective” as “Instructor Fighter Pilot.” A co-conspirator told Brown that he hoped Brown would be assigned to “my base, but otherwise you’ll go where is the local equivalent as the [U.S. Air Force] Weapon School.” Later, he stated to a co-conspirator that, upon his arrival in China, “Now…. I have the chance to fly and instruct fighter pilots again!” In December 2023, Brown traveled to China to begin his work training PRC military pilots. After his arrival, Brown answered question for three hours about the U.S. Air Force on his first day in the PRC and then, on his second day, prepared and presented a brief about himself for the PLAAF. Brown remained in China until he traveled to the United States in early February 2026. The charges against Brown follow similar charges filed against former U.S. Marine Corps pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan in the District of Columbia in September 2017. Duggan was charged with providing and conspiring to provide defense services to Chinese military pilots without authorization in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, as well as for conspiring to engage in international money laundering. Like Brown, Duggan received significant training during his career as a pilot in the U.S. military, then used that training for the benefit of the Chinese military. In particular, Duggan is alleged to have trained Chinese military pilots on the tactics, techniques, and procedures associated with takeoff from and landing on an aircraft carrier. Duggan was arrested in Australia in October 2022 and is currently pending extradition to the United States.

Good point Looked on the web, I couldn’t find anything addressing this, @ClearedHot is there anything publicly released addressing this? Looking at the jet Mounting on the side, either on the tail section or the lower central fuselage, if the sides and gear sponsons were replaced with a new integrated structure, giving up one of the paratrooper doors, might have had to rework the landing gear system The main issue I see with side mounting versus low and center mounting is the extension of the boom, it would be mounted higher and the boom would always be extended near the end of it’s range, maybe still in the range but with less play and without the lateral movement possible to the opposite side it’s mounted on

DOJ press release also includes the F-15 and F-16, but it's unclear if he was pilot or sim instructor in those. Looks like he went to China in Dec 2023, and returned Feb 2026, after which he was arrested. Seems like a pro tip would be, if you're going to go play these stupid games, plan on never coming back to the US. ETA: Press release mentions conversations with a "co-conspirator." Would seem to make sense this guy wasn't the only former US serviceman over there. Have to think the rest of them have taken notice, and plan on not coming back.

One of the unexpected benefits of once again relieving the world of "WMDs and Terror" is that it's also a logistical attack on China.

Well, that happened...the Ayatollah is dead. Seems odd that Iran decided to drone strike civilian airports in response (amongst other strikes). Wonder what's next.

My wife and Khamenei have something in common, today was their last day working for their respective governments. Wife retires from the USAF tomorrow, Khamenei retired from life.

Welp, here we are. Seems to me that we're learning better ways to wield our power.

Back in 95, 8th SOS, I'm getting my clearance refreshed. I had to go see a shrink at Eglin twice. Thought that was weird. Investigator visited me three times. At the end of the last visit he said "Okay, I can make something out of this". I'm still naive about the whole thing. Next thing I know I have some super mysterious clearance. Some mistake somewhere put me in for that. The investigator made it happen. I know, AD vs contractor, but like I said.

Years back I commented on how this expectation was foolhardy, to graft a boom onto the C-17 and now have a combination airlifter/tanker. It could be done, but would come at a cost. Since this -390 has the same two-piece cargo door/cargo ramp setup the C-17 does, the same issues could come into play - the stowed boom has to tuck up against something, and where you mount it to matters - you go with the ramp, well now the ramp can’t lower beyond 90 degrees-ish so not that useful for airlift beyond pallets (for which, any forklift or k/scissor loader to load/unload said pallets now contacts the boom sticking out); if you go with the cargo door, now you have less upper envelope to work with when the doors are open, vehicles/rolling stock and pallets get way limited in how tall they can be, etc. Plus however you route the fuel lines to the boom. I imagine you could scab it onto the side of the aft fuselage, like the Russians with the Il-76 tanker, then it’d at least be out of the way. But unless you do it like the very old C-97 and have the whole cargo door and ramp come out and be swapped for the boom mount plug, there’s issues that really limit use as a cargo aircraft once you add on a boom somewhere.

If true, good news indeed. I was a little surprised this kickoff during the day. I'm guessing Khamenei was a little surprised too...and a little less cautious.

Important safety tip for tyrants, dictators, and theocratic thugs, next time Trump says you have 10-15 days to come to an agreement before something bad happens, round that down to 7 days. Started college in 1979 working on my engineering degree. The Iranians had stormed the embassy earlier that year and had taken hostages. There were also Iranians attending the same college with me and I had 3 or 4 of them in a Physics class and lab. They wore the standard militant uniform fatigue jacket and apparently were adverse to any form of personal hygiene involving bathing so they absolutely wreaked. Times were tense and during a conversation with one of them, he said "How can you allow the CIA to read your mail?" I replied, "They don't read my mail but I'm sure they are reading yours." The startled look on his face was rather amusing.

Both of the handles that are reputable reported it but nothing to confirm from what i can see

Oh God, “The kid” is going to need a lot of therapy if that’s true.

Any links?

Cool, good to know. Now that we’ve established each other’s background and penis lengths, I’ll stand by my statement. Several of the guys I work with have shit on their records or are currently dealing with legalese that I’d have thought (at least when I was on AD) would be a clean kill/revocation or denial of clearance. Yet they’re still working in the cubicles near me. It’s almost like two things can be true at the same time……

A group of MIG-29's met their end against F-35s.

A lot of that depends on the investigator.