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The difference being you guys will improvise and overcome when it comes down to a no-shit fight. I’ve said it before, but the US military owes most of its success to junior officers and NCOs who will keep the machine running and win fights in spite of the idiocy that often spews from senior leadership. I’ve seen the Chinese work, specifically in the current “zero Covid” environment. I’m confident that when their leadership sends them to certain slaughter, they will dutifully follow one another over the abyss, no questions asked. Don’t sell yourselves short just because someone thinks China is starting to look good on paper. Y’all are still the finest fighting force on the planet & anyone who wants to test that theory is going to find themselves in serious pain. Oh, and happy Veterans Day! 🇺🇸

I'd offer that the biggest item to know going in wrt the RLA is perceived job actions and social media. Someone joining now, where most majors are in negotiations, and a newb goes keyboard Rambo because negotiations cause heated emotions, could result in said newb getting the heave ho and turned into an example by mgmt. A. Year 1. STFU except for asking questions and gaining GK/insight. Understand what a job action is and why its bad. B. Be very cautious with forums/FB. Trolls be living there too and love to bait. Some go straight to HR with their complaints. C. Those unfortunate to get lined up in mgmt crosshairs for online behavior, the Union rep will be standing there right beside you.

Weaponize it, and it will be the FU-2. On that note, funny story: https://theaviationgeekclub.com/how-the-iconic-u-2-got-its-name-test-pilot-tony-levier-gave-kelly-johnson-the-finger-johnson-returned-giving-levier-the-finger-and-yelled-u-2/amp/

it's criminal what was done to the tac recce mission

We're not going to do anything proactively. That's just not how democracies work. If we haven't figured that out by now, then we are supremely ignorant. But it is fun to imagine the unholy shit storm that would befall China in a true war. You have to consider all of the assets in America that are loathe to be associated with any sort of military endeavor. But watching your people die changes things. Everybody in the public thinks China and Russia have an edge on cyber warfare, but can you even fathom what would happen with the full weight of silicon valley suddenly dedicated towards an electronic attack on our foes? What type of weapons could they develop? If the defense contractors dabbling in AI weaponry had even just the open source community, currently creating amazing software that identifies when your dog shits and whether or not it needs to take Imodium, what would that look like? The Chinese are one of the least innovative societies on earth, at least out of the developed nations. Nearly everything they have is stolen or copied, and the recent ban on chip technology proves their inability to build anything of substance on their own. The software being developed in the civilian sector has truly terrifying implications in a military conflict. There must be somewhere around a hundred or so Elon Musk-type innovators currently in the industry. What does it look like when the most dynamic innovators on Earth turn their attention towards slaughtering the Chinese?

It’s a trend item for me, why would you drive anything else!?

And some of these had Side Looking Radar (SLAR)

Rough math: 1.3 x square root of altitude in feet = radar horizon in nautical miles. Since the earth is flat, works at all altitudes.

Good one. What's crazy to me is that every one of them were busted violating their own COVID lockdowns. Ones that the people who voted for them would be arrested for. But hey, go team. BTW, left out CA.

On the Talon when we would drop a bundle to the snake eaters we would insert gifts for them. Always scored a PI. The Shadows never did catch on why we always outscored them on drops.

Chinese on US soil? Eh.... very low probability. US on Chinese soil? Much higher probability but still unlikely. Historically nuclear deterrence wasn't a factor in great state power competition.

Two crowds in here talking past each other: First: We can't beat china right now because of lots of reasons. This is true. Second: The American way of war is to get kicked in the balls and then fight our way to victory through overwhelming superiority of innovation, ingenuity, and inherent individual initiative (oh the alliteration!). Also true.

Does anyone actually believe there won’t be cuts to the military in the next 1-2 years?

I am not advocating for it to be armed, instead I would like to see a host of sensors, comms and edge processing parked in a HVAA cap.

I agree. Doesn't change the fact that Ukraine, despite whatever their desires may be, is subordinate to us in this war. There is no Ukraine victory without our weapons. I don't have to like it, but that's politics. Saying "it's their decision" implies they can do whatever they want. False. If their choice is to lose, then yeah I guess they can do whatever. But they can't win without us, which means their choices are limited to those they can get the US to agree to. Politics and power.

Honestly I'd be shocked if he had anything at all to do with it. More likely the cabinet running the show.

I’m tracking what you’re saying and I don’t necessarily disagree. The one caveat is that stating that the problem is a mass problem only is painting with a broad brush. Yes, mass is one of the problems that must be solved. Are we there yet? I don’t know. I’m sure the same problem seemed quite daunting to guys like Halsey and Nimitz when they were given a similar task seven decades ago. We solved it then, we can solve it now. Once we do, quality will absolutely play a decisive role. Also, let’s not forget that the Chinese face some significant logistical hurdles of their own when planning a Taiwan invasion. Personally, I think the best strategy is continuing to convince them that they will pay too high a price for that choice. A carrier battle group in the straight has filled that role nicely in the past. Convincing Taiwan to become a fortress (which is what we seem to have been doing lately) can have the same effect should we decide we don’t want to involve American assets in a potential conflict.

My point is person for person we may outperform our opponents and that in a lot of cases is true. The problem with the China discussion and whether we would win the China conflict isn't a quality of force question though, it's a mass question. We have the largest military in the world but we do not have the largest military in Asia and we don't have the capability in our immediate future to get there without some very strategic partnerships that are extraordinarily risk adverse and fragile. I get nervous with the overconfidence of "well just make it work" after we just got our ass kicked in Afghanistan by Durkas with Cold War AK's. That was was exceptionally costly and painful and it started with a hubris that we would simply overpower the Taliban to the point they couldn't resist. Turns out we weren't capable of that. Every war has its own considerations and problems but I think simply relegating it to a person to person comparison of an individual unit.

I’m trying to figure out what problem is trying to be solved here. An armed bizjet at 55k in a beam orbit with side radars isn’t going to last very long if someone doesn’t want it to be there.

What's your solution to solving the massive logistical hurdle needed for us to mass forces in the Pacific with very few land holdings and little support from host countries to provide infrastructure for offensive operations?

I only drink the finest when on OC layovers!

While the US has been the largest patron, they aren't the only one...and Ukraine isn't our whore. It's their country - we can carrot & stick all day to compel, but it's still their decision. Those measures are working, as Zelenskyy already (somewhat) walked it back - various reports of some willingness to enter talks with Russia - on Ukraine terms (possibly a post-Putin Russia). https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/08/zelenskyy-talks-with-russia-possible-on-ukraines-terms-00065624 At this point, if Russia stops fighting, the war is over. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine is over (now or later). Aside from trying to provide off-ramps to Putin in an attempt to let him save face (won't work/matter), Ukraine going to negotiating table now is only beneficial to Russia.

True, but if your airplane is dependent on space to do it’s job you’re going to have a shitty time during the war.

we used to have jets for this that weren't biz jets

I agree with your statement about two things being true at one time. I'm just a little tired of hearing how everyone else had it so much worse because they were darker than me. I know racism still exist as I've been callled racial slurs and have heard brown people remind me that "Hey white boy, you're in the wrong neighborhood". I've also heard other whites say racially offensive things. I'm 100% positive that we're the only race that does that (sarcasm). But JFC we aren't living in the Confederate Sates of America last time I checked? Finding a solution to helping people doesn't start with telling them it's not their fault. My brother went through a lot as a kid. I wish that he could have gotten help sooner but I'm not giving him a free pass. He knew what he was doing. The good thing about my brother is that he'll tell you himself that he was a fuck up. As much as I despised him for what he put my parents through I still respect him for owning up to his wrong doings. I want them (America's helpless) to know that they (politicians) are telling you it's not your fault to continue keeping you down. They (politicians) don't really care about your struggle. They care about you figuring out that you're not a victim.

there's one community that already does most of that alone...

Fuck this administration. The dude’s pride and joy company has been launching NRO satellites for years and now that he’s taken over Twitter and doesn’t like Biden an investigation is “standard procedure”. You mean you couldn’t figure out if he was a national security risk before he signed a contract to launch classified satellites? The hilarious thing is Musk isn’t even really a right leaning guy. Not all that long ago the left was drooling over him because he created the most successful electric car company and his personal views align with a lot of their stated climate goals. But now that he’s differed from the party line somewhere else, he’s public enemy number one. So much for the “Unity” message, but we’ve known that’s trash for awhile, and if you don’t toe the line to this administration, you are clearly an extremist.

Dude it’s 2022, everything is Racist. Highways, elections, SATs, pilot training.…you’re even a racist just for posting this!

Well that's where things go south. You got it right there for a second - we should hold individuals responsible for the choices that they made. At that point you should've scrolled up and realized that life choices matter. No assistance for poor life choices. That's my $ going to wrong life choices. The times I got choices wrong hooked a ride. I didn't get any money or sympathy. I got told that I failed the out of that ride and I better get my shit together. See the diff?

The lottery is math (actually a tax on people that are bad at math) and everyone knows that math is racist.

Here’s the video, ignore the screen shot of the airliner. Really tough to watch.

that has to be texas raiders

Is Russia losing the war, or isn’t it? What are we paying for? 1 month ago: Just now:

Did you miss the reporting where the White House has been pressuring Ukraine to open the possibility of negotiations? When your patron tells you to do something, you do it. And you do it with a smile.