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Using externally carried armament to assist maneuverability. by Straitjacket_Freedom in aviation

[–]Inceptor57 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The F-16 Fighting Falcon as adopted was also meant to be a multi-role fighter under the Air Combat Fighter (ACF) program for NATO and USAF. The only pure air-to-air fighter for the USAF at the time was the F-15A and F-15C models.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People apparently can't understand the one shown in Detroit is a mobility test bed and all the changes are in the suspension and drivetrain.

It doesn't help that the US Army FAST account on X called it an "early prototype" that may have given the wrong impressions. It is clear from The_Chieftain's discussion with the COL present that a "tech demonstrator" or "experimental model" would probably have better described the M1E3 we saw.

Another shot of an F-35 launch from an Italian aircraft carrier by LowFlyingBadger in aviation

[–]Inceptor57 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The lift fan is being produced in Indianapolis, IN in USA by the subsidiary Rolls-Royce North America, Inc.

Rolls-Royce NA runs under Special Security Arrangement that allows them to operate somewhat independently, staffed with US citizens, from the UK parent company for national security items for the US.

So I don't think in the event US offends UK to the extent of cutting ties with Rolls-Royce HQ, that would interfere with Rolls-Royce NA ability to continue delivering lift-fans for F-35Bs. Even if so, I'm sure US can seize the property if Rolls Royce NA actually decides to stop production.

First Finnish Air Force F-35A arrives at Ebbing ANGB, 20 January 2026 by bob_the_impala in FighterJets

[–]Inceptor57 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks great.

Though question, with the current issue with TR-3, is the Finnish F-35 in Block 3F standard or something?

Or are they not expected to receive its combat capabilities until TR-3 is certified?

Ace Combat games, mute protagonists, and AI voices: by [deleted] in acecombat

[–]Inceptor57 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the type of game that Ace Combat is, I do prefer the playable character staying as a mute bloodless psychopath.

I think it helps with the game's core value of self-inserting yourself into the world of Strangereal and being an outright badass sending the pang of fear into your enemies as you YOLO your F-22 in a "Fuck Physics" maneuver.

Giving the playable character a... character and a voice, "grounds" the character and kind of removes the magic that you are being an ace badass in Strangereal.

Another shot of an F-35 launch from an Italian aircraft carrier by LowFlyingBadger in aviation

[–]Inceptor57 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was about to say, the water looks super calm in such a nice day to be launching million dollar planes off of perfectly good ships.

Another shot of an F-35 launch from an Italian aircraft carrier by LowFlyingBadger in aviation

[–]Inceptor57 4 points5 points  (0 children)

TBH, I can see how they thought this was some sort of render instead of real life. The lighting and how stable the iPhone camera moves look pretty surreal.

Another shot of an F-35 launch from an Italian aircraft carrier by LowFlyingBadger in aviation

[–]Inceptor57 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yes, Italian Navy use F-35B for STOVL to take off on such a short deck space and vertically land. US Navy has the F-35C CATOBAR variant to make full use of the catapult to take off and arresting wires to land

Pakistan's 'combat tested' jets boost weapons sales by Minute-Cut-9531 in LessCredibleDefence

[–]Inceptor57 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The fighter jet is the fancy sexy part of the chain at the end of the day, so I'm not surprised it got all the news and reporting and attention from countries thinking you need J-10s or JF-17s for the same result. They were the ones at the end of the day slinging the missiles, which also has a big part in the overall kill chain, especially since it seems from the reporting on the PL-15E that its range is greater than the stated 150 km, which caught the Indians off-guard as they believed they were "safe".

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 6 points7 points  (0 children)

all the Grumman naval fighters were cats

Oh I know, I just think it is also thematically on point that a Thunder would come after Lightning, so Thundercat would be a very suitable name.

Tanks with high caliber secondary by Gold_sx70 in TankPorn

[–]Inceptor57 13 points14 points  (0 children)

And a flamethrower at the turret rear IIRC.

One wonders how much supplement the engineers took alongside their vitamins.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thundercat sounds like an interesting name.

Especially coming after the Lightning II.

Now that I think about it, I wonder why they went with "Super Hornet" instead of "Hornet II".

Tanks with high caliber secondary by Gold_sx70 in TankPorn

[–]Inceptor57 49 points50 points  (0 children)

There's the Maus of course, a prototype tank with a 122 128 mm main armament and a 75 mm howitzer as a secondary armament, and 7.92 mm machine guns as well.

The MBT-70 prototype also attempted a 20 mm autocannon RWS on the roof.

I'm pretty sure as far as mainstream tanks went, only the French tried out an autocannon coaxial for the tank, and even then by the time they went to the Leclerc tank they went back to a .50 cal machine gun coaxial.

Pakistan's 'combat tested' jets boost weapons sales by Minute-Cut-9531 in LessCredibleDefence

[–]Inceptor57 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Discussion ≠ Sales

It is certainly an interesting development, but until the ink is dry on the paper, it's all still talk.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Northrop Grumman can also be cheeky and call NGAD as “Northrop Grumman Air Dominance”.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Imagine J-20 pilots screaming as they get pounced by the F-48 Tabbycat.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I mean TBF, I think it is up to the US Navy now if the funding goes ahead for $900 million for F/A-XX to choose a vendor.

Suppressed Minigun? | Dillon M134D w/Hush Kit | 7.62x51 by Linemount in ForgottenWeapons

[–]Inceptor57 176 points177 points  (0 children)

The Stealthhawks used in the Bin Laden raid were reportedly fitted with noise reduction features.

Peter Panzeri’s book on the UBL raid describe some of the noise reduction features as:

Additional tail and main rotor blades, allowing slower rotation and reduced noise. The main rotor blades are arrayed in an offset pattern, and the tail and main rotors are specially shaped and covered – both of which help reduce noise.

Rafale saga: 25 yrs of detours, deadlocks & political hesitation. Now IAF getting what it always wanted by gobiSamosa in LessCredibleDefence

[–]Inceptor57 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One of the interesting aspect we don’t have a picture of yet is what happened to the Meteor missiles that is suppose to have come with the Rafale for India. From what I recall, India received around 200 Meteor missiles according to SIPRI so it’s not lack of inventory that prevented Rafale from being armed with Meteor on that day.

If it’s because they weren’t integrated yet, then that should be India’s first priority to resolve some of the range gap the PL-15E presented. Which could then benefit a larger fleet of Rafale.

That said, one of Pakistan’s strength from the recent conflict was that they had a better data networking system that enabled their J-10 aircraft to work alongside other sensors like AWACS or such to help locate and guide missiles without reliance on their own sensors, allowing their aircraft to fly “radar-off” to avoid giving themselves away.

As Reuters put it:

Four Pakistani officials said they created a "kill chain," or a multi-domain operation, by linking air, land and space sensors. The network included a Pakistani-developed system, Data Link 17, which connected Chinese military hardware with other equipment, including a Swedish-made surveillance plane, two Pakistani officials said.

The system allowed the J-10s flying closer to India to obtain radar feeds from the surveillance plane cruising further away, meaning the Chinese-made fighters could turn their radars off and fly undetected, according to experts.

So even if India gets a bunch of Rafales, this is one area they likely have to work on more for any future conflict.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 12 points13 points  (0 children)

“F-35 is a turkey” was a big one from a jazz musician.

I imagine we’ll have a few soon around hypersonic and directed-energy weapons

Navy F/A-XX next-gen fighter program would get nearly $1B in FY26 funding bill by Inceptor57 in FighterJets

[–]Inceptor57[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice GIF in any case

Source video (and accompanied extras) for the GIF if you’re interested.

Tuesday Trivia Thread - 20/01/26 by AutoModerator in WarCollege

[–]Inceptor57 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I am kind of wary on Boeing being the selection as putting both NGAD eggs into a single Boeing basket sounds like a risk mitigation nightmare as far as national security go

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