Clark Griswold

The answer/work around may eventually be an LO Sniper Pod like the weapons pod on an International Roadmap Hornet or an LO UAV wingman who gets to carry ATP & VDL making himself more of a target instead of the manned platform. Who knows and it may be as Brabus said a non-issue as it will just have to be accepted as the way it is since it was not a specifically CAS designed aircraft, just like 16s, 15Es, etc... What keeps fueling criticism, doubt and general distrust of the whole thing is the constant dribble of all these pesky details. Makes me think that there are bigger limitations that no one wants to admit.

So no VDL, no IR pointer and it may need to carry a pod to do this as there are no plans to add this. Nice. Is The F-35's Targeting System Really 10 Years Behind Current Systems? Newest U.S. Stealth Fighter ‘10 Years Behind’ Older Jets

Agreed. The technique of Command Presence has been misconstrued, we don't wimpy cops but we don't want bullies either.

Excellent article. Ranges on several points to come down pretty hard on how the modern military has evolved into what it is now. The Tragedy of the American Military The American public and its political leadership will do anything for the military except take it seriously. The result is a chickenhawk nation in which careless spending and strategic folly combine to lure America into endless wars it can’t win. James Fallows JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Prepare for this counseling / down-day fun in your future... just a matter of time

Glad to see the tanker finally flying, still skeptical of the 3D boom system, seems a bit Rube Goldberg but whatevs, it's a done deal.

If you've got 15 minutes this is a good summary of why Russia is the way it is. Understanding the Russian mindset

No disagreement there, I don't see our rich uncle cutting the USAF a bigger check anytime soon so a good solution aircraft to a lot of missions is better than a perfect solution aircraft to just one or a couple. But I should like a candle and not just hate all over the F-35. From BreakingDefence.com : New F-35 Prices: A: $95M; B: $102M; C: $116M

TLAR They didn't mention LO characteristics that could help keep the price down (maybe) but a price tag at $20 million or below and $15K per hour to fly seems very hopeful. Just my opinion, if a dedicated attack platform is ever going to happen again it will have to happen in conjunction with another acquisition or a serious foreign military sales. Maybe selecting the KA-50 Golden Eagle as the T-38 replacement then trying to get the TA-50 Light Attack variant is a possibility but remote at best. Hate to be so pessimistic but so many GOs, Cols, and their brothers have sold the F-35 as the solution to replacing aging 10s & 16s that admitting to needing a dedicated CAS platform is admitting that either they lied or made a mistake. The bureaucracy is not known for issuing mea culpas.

Could do that or move to the next Attack platform. Sounds like some A-10 guys have started working on it but I think the F-35 has sucked all the oxygen up for itself. Pilots Plan Tomorrow’s A-10 If the AF changed it's mind (doubtful) and decided that the F-35 would be at least complimented with a dedicated attack aircraft in the inventory, I think the only thing that would have a snowball's chance in Clovis would be an F/A-18 optimized for the AF like the proposed F-18L was. Minus the stuff necessary for carrier ops, you had more capacity for stores, fuel, etc... you could take an Advanced Super Hornet and optimize for CAS and have a good 4.5+ dedicated, capable, survivable platform. 0.69% chance of happening, that's optimistic. Edit: redundancy removed.

Probably. Russia is remaking itself as the leader of the anti-Western world

Lets gift them as many JDAMS, Hellfires, and 30mm via Air Express Delivery as we can, got clear the shelves now and then But that article was little slice of the shit sandwich that Congress makes occasionally for the DoD to take a big bite, I get fighting for your district and jobs there (to a point) but at some point it's just too much parochialism and you have to let it go.

Thread restart on a related procurement/acquisition/corruption fiasco, forced on the US Army by Congress. Not a new system but definitely not wanted. Congress Again Buys Abrams Tanks the Army Doesn't Want From the article: "Turner's office did not respond to several requests for comment on why Congress went against the recommendation of Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, to suspend tank production." The CSUSA tells you he doesn't want them, don't buy them.

Anybody breaking out their UAV time in individual lines or just summarizing it? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nyet on flying with transponders on for Russian jets... 'Foreign military aircraft' nearly collides with passenger plane over Sweden and intercept of Su-34s from a Dutch F-16...

Yep - not for torture or EITs as an SOP for any run of the PUC but the biggest problem is that we know about it. I have no doubt that during WWII which is generally the least morally ambiguous conflict we reflect on, intel was gathered in tactical and controlled environments in ways that then and now we would find distasteful but was necessary, like bombing civilian population centers, it is an unfortunate aspect of conflict to be kept to a minimum and used with great discretion and then to not be discussed openly. Not to subvert democracy or the general principle that as a rule we should treat others, even our enemies with some restraint, but some of our enemies by their actions have foregone that restraint. Torture, coercive interrogation, EITs, whatever you want to call it can be justified not against uniformed military personnel nor the average jihadist but when it is determined by people we trust with knowledge and access that there are prisoners that don't wear a uniform, who don't conform their operations to recognized LOACs, and/or do not make ANY attempt to not target non-combatants then the limits of treatment are pretty much void as they have no limits on their behavior. We don't lose our values by fighting with seldom used tools/methods/weapons against those who have no values.

Not as good as the movie, The Pentagon Wars, but a step in that direction, The Jet that ate the Pentagon. For all the relevant critiques of the trying to get a multi-service, multi-nation, multi-role fighter right this time, the worst flaw has been concurrency. Buy then fly then fix has left us and others committed to it no matter how many problems, technical or financial, come. Concurrency’s Costs: An F-35 Example

True - but just relaying a semi-amusing anecdote. But we only paid $148 million a pop for the F-35A model, did we really think we could go so cheap and get a plane that operate in hot conditions? Analyst: F-35C to Cost $337 Million Apiece in FY15

A work around for this back in the day during hot day launches was to have a fire truck spray the wings. Fire truck behind following very slowly spraying the wings. Day time desert launches were rare but when they had to happened this kept it cool enough to launch during the ground cycle which was kept as short as possible. Another technique was to cool the fuel truck for hours with a HUGE ac unit in a closed hangar prior to the daytime (desert) launch. Fuel the vehicle just a couple of hours prior to launch and hose it down on the way to the runway. Not elegant but worked to keep a Block 10 cool enough.

Damn it... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another straw for the camel's back. The F-35 Can't Run On Warm Gas From A Fuel Truck That Sat In The Sun

Yep - you are right, I've seen Logbook Pro but will give LogTen a look too

Thanks - as I suspected, our HARM chief is sharp but just to be methodical I had to ask this learned audience. I am a bit aways from actually putting my app in (going to finish a set of orders then apply) but just to lead the turn, I started on the logbook. I built my own Excel but Logbook Pro 10 was touted as the best by one of the guys in our unit, TR and airline guy. Do most people keep their own spreadsheet or get a logbook program?

A few questions: I'm in the process of building my logbook and was wondering if anyone knew if any AF office maintained flight records past the previous 12 months? My local HARM office said that the AF only kept the last 12 months now but just for the sake of asking is there any main central HARM office with longer records? I have my yearly FHRs with individual sortie lines, is it necessary to build a log with each sortie annotated or would a summary by type and hours be acceptable? In different aircraft, I was more diligent than at other times keeping records.