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Remember this? If my mama said she was going to whip me up one side and down the other. Chuck Norris couldn't survive that.

If I had to guess…. Like all the other aircraft we have that can deploy a weapon within feet of a point on the earth, but can’t be trusted to fly a GPS approach. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

OA-1K can't fly IMC yet so they aren't ready to be a tanker...

We could try the elemental approach: Air, Space, Water, Ground Force. Tolstoy: War Force and Peace Force. Spear method: Kill Force and Support Force. J method: Personnel Force, Intel Force, Ops Force, Logistics Force, Strategy Force, C4 Force, Training Force, Medical Force, Cats and Dogs Force. Mental abilities: Normal Force, Special Force. Morality: Good Force, Evil Force. Miller: Tastes Great Force, Less Filling Force, aka Eat Shit Force and Fuck You Force.

Not sure this has been posted in the thread but Victory Aviation in a modified Thrush 510 doing AR https://www.victoryspecialmissions.com/military Is there any proposal or capability to do this with the OA-1K?

Nope, we’re thinking of the exact same scenarios. I understand how to get sensors in range to accomplish jobs while staying within ALR if it’s aggressive enough. You keep referencing WW3; does your scenario stop short of the point where multiple orbits have been attacked with nuclear weapons? If America has built an asymmetric (but vulnerable) advantage in space and is using it to attack, only economic interests are stopping a nuclear-armed dictator from letting them fly. Personally, I don’t believe in nuclear winter or EMP that much and plan on fighting after the exchange. I hope we still have something PMC with a chair in it or else I’ll be relegated to third string KP duty. China also believes in non-LO airplanes; that’s why they keep building them. They also have a luxury we don’t: they can actually build stuff on timelines and deliver capabilities before they’re OBE. The real issue with the E-7 is that regardless of funding we still wouldn’t deliver one (and it’s just one) for 2 more years still even though it’s a 20 year old existing jet.

I do have some inside info, a sim site manager is being hired at the end of this year, instructors spinning up in 2026, and they should start getting their jets around then. Look at UPT drops to be 2029-2030 (I thought it would be less than that).

Been happening for many years in FL.

I’m curious what differentiates manned ISR from UAS in the “zero game” assessment. What difference does one having a human in it vs. the other not make? Attritable assets don’t have more game; they’re just cheaper to lose. And once you invest in making something ‘survivable’ in the way I think you’re using the term, it is likely not attritable anymore. UAS also introduces a data logistics tail (assuming you want to task and receive the collect) that is as costly to guard as it is to create; it’s been a long time since we’ve shot down or lost a manned airplane because the pilot refused to listen to commands like ‘come home.’ Agree though, maybe we’re all thinking about different scenarios… but this is a VERY common trap people fall into, usually precipitated by somebody saying “you have a problem you don’t know you have. Don’t worry I have a solution, at cost plus.”