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Although it should be added that the Foxbat did accomplish its primary mission. Their existance helped to deter SR-71 flights in a number of occasions, which were both a constant political headache and a legitimate problem to Russia's strategic security by giving the West too clear of a picture...

And the opposite is also against the operator (I refuse to call that poor GI 'pilot'), the noise coming from below you while trying not to crash at night must have been disorienting as hell which is particularly concerning since the plataform was very dependant on the operator use of...

The idea of a mix between stealth and non-stealth planes is for the F-22/F-35s to strike at the enemies air defense units in both land and air and once they're supressed allow the conventional planes to strike at the enemies actual strategic assets. Too many stealth assets with their higher cost...

Only reason I can think of is that the Congress won't approve the sale with the current military systems, plus that way the remaining A-10 fleet won't lose the spare parts for the still active planes. Edit: Plus what Bacle said...

I wonder how slow a plane needs to go for the chips in last gen heatseeking AAMs confuse the plane low speed, low altitude and relatively cold atypical heat source in the front of the plane instead of behind like most turbines and turboprops before they confuse it with a partialy burned flare...

Frankly what is needed to improve is not the R&D, which eventually gave an excellent plane, but the procurement and corporative competition mechanisms.

For what I understand paint serves to protect the very expensive alloys of the plane from the environment, pollution and other factors that may have a negative impact. Plus the F-22 paint is designed to reduce the radar return so despite the stratospheric cost of the special paint used I cannot...

Or at least make the F-35, F-36 and F-37 programs (or whatever number goes after the 35) and ensure that the proper development of one version doesn't delay or have a negative effect on the other two. All in all developing the F-35A and make it operational would have eased some of the political...

To be fair the air combat over Guadalcanal was basically the worst case of an escorted attack run over a defended area, with the japanese bases being at the extreme range of their fighters and crossing several areas where the allies had observers. Every air raid was forced to use exactly the...

Fair enough, either way they made the hunters feel hunted and raised the morale of the bomber crews, which combined with their pathfinder duties increased the effectiveness of the RAF night bombing operations.

But the most revolutionary characteristic was that the combination of the relatively low radar profile of wood, the use of tracking devices attuned to german IFF and radar as well as the occasional use of jammers and 'Window' radar reflective aluminium foils of their own allowed No. 100 RAF...

Add to the Mosquito the characteristic of easing the strain of strategic metals as well. Göring was really envious of a frontline rated heavy fighter/light bomber that used wood instead of light alloys which fit the idea of the prewar Schnellbomber (fast bomber) doctrine better than any german...

That's a 20mm? Frankly from the photo it looked to me like a .50 at best, I suck at judging sizes.

Very nice, although the nose gun looks a little light for strafing, even as an anti-infantry weapon.

I can see the australian SU-27 or their younger brother the Su-30 being a reality if their government had not participated in the development of the F-35, especially since Indonesian Flankers participated in a joint exercise in 2012 so the possibility of examining the craft for a future purchase...

And in the other side of the world it was even more vital for morale. Carriers ransomed downed crews from their rescuing destroyers and submarines (some who did truly heroic efforts to retrieve fallen pilots under enemy fire) with gallons of ice-cream. On a more somber use any marine or soldier...

It might or might not be designed for the gun to be the main weapon but there is no doubt that the fuselage of the plane itself was designed from the ground up to house the GAU-8, including armor designed to protect the ammunition and an offset front landing gear to position the gun in such way...

By the time the sound arrive the enemy is not in a position to appreciate the noise.

Just don't forget that those became obsolete for targeting WWII prop planes at anything but point blank due to the ever increasing speed of aviation and while the A-10 is not supersonic its still far faster than a human operator can locate and target with even a light AA autocannon. If the...

Thing is that despite the victories at Taranto and against Bismark as a torpedo bomber the Swordfish was far too slow for frontline duties, but having a plane capable of taking off almost without the help of a tailwind and with minimal maintenance and repair times made it ideal for escort...