It only says that it happened in France. That being said, transfer of first Rafale happened in the AdlA Air Base Mont-de-Marsan, so this might be it.Dassault factory? Too clean to be an airbase.
Dassault factory? Too clean to be an airbase.
New debate in air warfare; does downing drones count towards an Ace, or only downing manned platforms?
I would say drones only count towards an 'ace' standing at the point where they're capable of actually participating in A2A combat as opposed to being A2G platforms that can't really even maneuver defensively.
If the intercept still saves lives, should it not count towards a pilot's kill count?At the very least wait until after drones are no longer mission killed by jamming and spoofing.
And if you stick bigger tires on a Honda it turns into an SUV....The F-16 was not a “pretty old airframe” at the time the F-16XL was developed; General Dynamics started development work on enlarged variants pretty literally before the ink was even dry on the original F-16 contract, with the cranked arrow XL design being finalized by 1980 and subsequently submitted for the Air Force’s Enhanced Tactical Fighter program.
And if you stick bigger tires on a Honda it turns into an SUV....
Overall, is the F-15 superior to the F-16? Or do they serve different roles entirely and that sort of comparison is a bit useless?
So TL;DRThe developmental risk imposed by the obviously extensive physical changes was one of the key factors the Air Force cited in selecting the F-15E over the F-16XL.
The F-15E was marketed as being a relatively easy and inexpensive upgrade of the existing two-seat F-15B, primarily an avionics refit and the semipermanent mounting of new CFTs with multi-station bomb racks for the desired strike payloads. In reality, the entire airframe was substantially reworked and reinforced; the "Mud Hen" has an empty weight of 34,600 lbs and a fully loaded weight of 81,000 lbs, compared to 28,000 lbs empty and 56,000 lbs fully loaded for the superficially identical F-15B.
So TL;DR
Yeah, no.
And you can also use a knife or a fork to open a wine bottle.The difference is that a Delorean is an iconic looking but factually shitty car even before you convert it, whereas the F-16 is an absolutely superb fighter and the modified F-16XL was found to deliver excellent performance. The USAF simply found that the F-15E delivered the same required characteristics at lower expected cost and expected risk, while having greater survivability by being twin-engine.
And you can also use a knife or a fork to open a wine bottle.
But it will not be as effective as if you used a specialized took.
I realize you are autistic and think yourself some type of expert, and that you need to put in the last word.I reiterate, the Air Force's actual, professional not-fanboy evaluation was that the F-16XL was just as effective as the F-15E in meeting the performance criteria specified. Your continued attempts to insist that the F-16XL was a flawed design are simply not supported by any evidence whatsoever.
From the perspective of a Briton, I think both in concept and construction the Eagle and Falcon are both wonderful aircraft (very pretty looking too). As far as fighter jets go they aren’t eye wateringly expensive, they are simple to make, and do their jobs very well. They aren’t the best in the world but they don’t need to be. I think shunting a hundred F-15s to Ukraine would swing the war rather decisively.The difference is that a Delorean is an iconic looking but factually shitty car even before you convert it, whereas the F-16 is an absolutely superb fighter and the modified F-16XL was found to deliver excellent performance. The USAF simply found that the F-15E delivered the same required characteristics at lower expected cost and expected risk, while having greater survivability by being twin-engine.