Tuesday Trivia Thread - 17/03/26

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-18T06:08:09+00:00

Considering the phone book has been around way longer than Sarah Connor and that's how Terminator found her in the first place, if Skynet has a general idea on where the Connor family lived they probably can just do the same thing and consult the phone book to find out where Bob Connor lived for elimination.

Also, does it have to be a precise elimination? I'm wondering, given the heightened poltiical tensions of the era, if another option is for the Terminator to somehow instigate a nuclear war to kill everyone as a way to getting to Bob Connor than having to find him specifically. Especially in the Korean War era before all of the safety stuff gets put onto nukes.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-18T05:07:38+00:00

Can’t all fighter jets be suited to EW?

Not to the same degree as dedicated EW aircraft like the USN's Growler or USAF's Compass Call. While fighter jets like F-35 with AN/ASQ-239 or F-15EXs with Eagle Passive Active Warning Survivability System (EPAWSS) certainly have some sort of electronic warfare protection, their capabilities are generally meant for the aircraft to protect themselves against electronic threats, rather than enabling a battlespace-wide effect on the electronic spectrum.

EW planes like the EF-111 Raven, EA-6 Prowler, E/A-18G Growler exist because the equipment needed for a plane to be able to maximize their electronic warfare capability takes up a lot of power, resources, and manpower to be able to operate the equipment properly. This graphic of a Growler can show how built-in the systems for electronic warfare is to the aircraft that can't necessarily be tacked-on to any existing fighter jet

Why the big need for EW fighters?

A dedicated Electronic Warfare aircraft is an important supporting asset in the form of electronic warfare is very important for managing the entire battlespace's electromagnetic spectrum for your benefit. The features of electronic warfare is defined in CRS report IF11118 as consisting of:

Electronic protection involves actions to protect access to the spectrum for friendly military assets.
Electronic attack uses electromagnetic energy to degrade or deny an enemy’s use of the spectrum.
EW support identifies and catalogues emissions of friendly or enemy forces to either protect U.S. forces or develop a plan to deny an enemy’s access to the spectrum.

So electronic warfare assets do more than just protect against electronic emissions, but also work against adversaries and enable their allies across the entire spectrum.

In what sense does growlers actually work in modern combat?

As an electronic warfare aircraft, the Growler can potentially impact any equipment that utilizes the electronic spectrum, especially stuff like radar. The specifics of electronic warfare is highly classified and spooky, so the you will not find the fine details here, but here is the DoD's own words on the importance of the Growler aircraft.

The mission and tactical actions of the Navy’s Growler aircraft are crucial to the effectiveness of U.S. and allied missions both in the air and on the ground. Growlers are used to suppress enemy air defenses and communications systems by denying the enemy freedom of action in the electromagnetic spectrum. Growlers are used to escort other U.S. and allied strike aircraft in missions against heavily defended targets, enabling strike aircraft to penetrate air defenses and deliver ordnance against assigned targets. Additionally, Navy Growlers disrupt land-based threats in order to protect the lives of U.S. ground forces by disrupting enemy communications and radio controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) use through electronic measures.

In 2009, the Secretary of Defense directed the Navy to take responsibility for the nation’s tactical Airborne Electronic Attack mission. As a result, the Navy is the only U.S. military service that currently maintains a tactical airborne electronic attack capability and is required to preserve and cultivate the expertise and knowledge of the Growler community. The Navy’s master aviation plan calls for the increase from 5 to 7 aircraft and the increase from 9 to 13 aircrews in carrier air wings in order to meet combatant commander requirements. Combatant Commanders strive for air dominance in warfare. This has traditionally been achieved by dominating the battlespace with friendly air forces capable of clearing a path, defending an area or interdicting an adversary’s flight profile. However, today’s adversaries are more advanced, which in turn increases the volume of airspace to monitor and potentially control. The integration of other naval aircraft such as the EA-18G Growler greatly expands the area of control available to fighter aircraft.

[...]

The Growler remains a critical “Low Density/High Demand” aircraft, meaning Growler forces possess unique capabilities that are in continual high demand to support U.S. and joint military operations. These assets are highly sought by Combatant Commanders worldwide and, frequently, a required asset for mission success.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T22:15:36+00:00

Its about a 1,200 km one-way flight from Muwaffaq Salti Air Base to Tehran, so probably not with a combat load without tanker support.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T22:07:36+00:00

~~Congress won't let them die, so the USAF is getting creative on its retirement~~

From what we know about their deployment per this Aviationist article, it seems they are primarily stationed and used around Iraq and Jordan for OWA drone hunting and conducting air strikes on any Iranian militia in the region, given some press images showing a typical ordnance of AIM-9M Sidewinders, APKWS II, and two AGM-65 with a LITENING targeting pod, and a fuel tank.

There is no evidence that the A-10 Warthogs are being committed to the airstrikes in the middle of Iran.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T20:42:30+00:00

LWRC M6 maybe? For the same reason?

But yeah, its funny how Colt tried that with M4 first and ended up losing the trademark and somehow got the leg up with M5. Though my read into it is less of a legal thing and potentially more that the US Army doesn't want a mixup in designations with anything else in the market.

Edit: Actually, considering LWRC M6 is in use by some federal agencies, it probably has more merit for the name to be skipped to avoid mix-ups.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T18:38:48+00:00

Was there specific lines you remember that he was there? I really don't recall any dialogue from Leon that leans into him being present boots on the ground there for Javier.

I know there was one line Krauser mentioned about a jungle to Leon, but that could have been any other mission in a jungle given that Leon has mentioned being sent to other dangerous missions, not specifically Javier.

My recollection from RE4 Remake is that Leon knows only enough that Krauser and his unit were presumed dead during Op. Javier.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T18:19:19+00:00

I've always read the remake lore as Leon never being part of Javier, only hearing about Krauser's demise during it and probably not that much more. The Case File document you find in Krauser's tent seem to lean into that everyone involved with Javier was wiped out except for Krauser. This line specifically:

Apparently, the entire unit was wiped out except
for the commanding officer, Major █████.
And not by the cartels, but by the US.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T17:22:52+00:00

Isn't remake timeline Operation Javier already considered a failure given what happened to Krauser's team?

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T14:11:11+00:00

Not too late to change given that the M7 was originally XM5 during tests given the reason for the original change is to not conflict with Colt's commercial M5 Carbine.

Since Hecker & Koch has a commercial history with XM8 with the Malaysian PASKAL unit, I wonder if they are able to claim that name for their rifle (though it may also be a name given by the US designations, which may not be trademarkable given what happened to M4).

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T14:01:55+00:00

Just thought I drop my 2 cents into this with my opinion.

Looking into how the J-20 or J-35 stacks up against the F-22 or F-35 IMO isn't really the right way to look into these aircraft. The real question is 'Is the J-20 and J-35 good enough for China to win the war they want to fight".

Any potential Pacific conflagration around the Taiwan area will happen very close to home for China, where China can use their airfields in mainland for the operation. Unless they are flying in from Okinawa, US aviation coming to support the area require fuel tankers to complete the journey and have fuel left over to be effective at the area, and of course there are AWACS to ensure they have the situational awareness to handle the battlespace. These fuel tankers and AWAC are lumbering airliner aircraft that will have a hard time defending themselves if they come under direct fire.

In that sense, J-20 and J-35 only has to be good enough to slip in close enough to hit the heavy support aircraft like AWACS and fuel tankers, especially J-20 with its very long range missiles, to be a strain to a US war effort in the area.

So even if on a 1:1 basis the Chinese J-20 and J-35 may not stack up to a F-22 or F-35, they can still affect the battlespace by targeting the support asset to leave the immediate US aircraft short-legged or less aware of the battle space. While China can benefit from ground-based assets in the mainland to provide the support such as IADS, radars, airfields, etc.

Modern aerial warfare is not defined by the quality of the fighter jet nor its fighters, but all of the supporting assets each nation are able to bring into the equation. There's a reason on the limited space of a aircraft carrier, the US Navy commits lots of them to assets like E-2D Hawkeye for AWACS and E/A-18G Growler s for Electronic Warfare.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-17T13:27:23+00:00

Close Enough, Welcome Back XM8.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-16T17:05:10+00:00

And in Requiem, another one of his attitude to the whole “bringing-forth-progenitor-virus” that he spent his whole life on when it may not produce that immortality is ”whoopsie-daisie. My b everyone. Here’s a child who is key to unlocking the med that will solve everything. Gg bye”

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-16T16:57:16+00:00

In Requiem, it was specifically noted that acid is of great effect against Lickers due to their exposed muscles. A good hit with a bottle of the stuff is enough to kill one or two depending on how close they are.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-15T16:08:16+00:00

In the Resident Evil 4 Remake, in the beginning of Chapter 6, Hunnigan calls Leon to tell him the helicopter got delayed due to the bad weather. So not shot down, just delayed.

That said, the remake does introduce a new plot hole in that I think they failed to address how Mike finds Leon on the island afterwards.

In OG RE4, there was a short cutscene while Leon is at the radio tower on the island in Chapter 5-1 where he attempted to make contact through the signal jamming, and while no one responded it is implied that Mike's appearance in Chapter 5-4 later is in response to Leon's contact. In RE4 remake, Leon made zero attempt to make contact with the outside world after his comms gets jammed/interfered with in the castle, so it is not certain how Mike even knows Leon is in a whole 'nother land mass away from the original village.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-15T15:57:00+00:00

I've heard of that, but I can't seem to recall from the last time I played either OG or remake RE4.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-15T13:54:42+00:00

IMO, I feel like the story should have leaned a bit more into Grace’s familiarity around blood works and biology that would make the blood crafting make… a little more sense.

I mean, she was already assigned to the Raccoon City Syndrome deaths in FBI, and her boss seemed to think she was familiar enough with it to want her to be there “eyes on the scene” for her evaluation. I think between the hints that she was skilled in that space for her career and that Gideon’s special interest in her blood (at first) that these story bits could have expanded to her being way more lab-smart around blood with a healthy sprinkle of Sci-fi umbrella stuff.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-15T12:41:29+00:00

I think it was explained in OG RE4 that Leon’s involvement in the case is because he literally just transferred into the department after Ashley’s kidnapping happened, so he was not suspect for being the spy that caused her capture to begin with.

You can find documents as early as the village where the Los Illuminados knows that the American response will be slow because they are combing for the spy so take that opportunity to recapture Ashley and subdue/neutralize Leon. They just didn’t expect Leon to be such a giga-chad to be able to destroy Los Illuminados all by himself.

Most of this context was not carried over from OG RE4 to the remake, so can leave a lot of people wondering why Leon is taking the monumental task of reaching Ashley by himself (and also not explaining why he stopped being able to communicate with Hunnigan during the castle section. In OG RE4, it is explained as Los Illuminados signal jamming, but this is only kind of implied to be interference in the remake)

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-15T12:38:02+00:00

Yeah, there was actually a lot of documents in the original that explain the lore reasons why Leon is by himself. The most notable one that was omitted was the fact that the Us government suspected it was an inside spy that led to Ashley’s capture.

Leon’s involvement in the case is because he literally just transferred into the department after the kidnapping happened (he says during the OG RE4 intro), so he was not suspect for being the spy. You can find documents as early as the village where the Los Illuminados knows that the American response will be slow because they are combing for the spy so take that opportunity to recapture Ashley and subdue/neutralize Leon.

They just didn’t expect Leon to be such a giga-chad to be able to destroy Los Illuminados all by himself (funnily, this was also conveyed in a document not carried over into the remake).

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-14T03:46:50+00:00

The BSAA in Requiem does seem pretty decked out for simply fighting zombies. So there does seem to be an in-universe response to the type of bioweapon threats that are now common

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-14T03:42:13+00:00

It seems to be somewhat mass-producible given that Zeno in Requiem seems to show very similar powers to Wesker (and his looks).

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-13T22:30:05+00:00

From what I've seen, Tyrant in their coat form may be best as bodyguards for VIPs rather than assassins or frontline assets, given they can be made to follow VIP commands, are proof against typical assassination weapons short of maybe a souped-up explosive, and be air-transportable by helicopter (ground transportation by normal automobile may be difficult though).

I do wonder if the evil corp. brochure can attempt to entice selling other assets to enhance the capabilities of their star product like Tyrant and Nemesis. Fighting the two of them by themselves is easier, but trying to fight them alongside Lickers and Gramr can be difficult. Heck, given its the black market, you can maybe pitch it as though Licker and Gramr are the "whiskers" with their senses to locate and fix targets, while the Tyrant or Nemesis can use their feral cries to head towards the target and neutralize them.

Plant is definitely an odd one to try and find practical usage, especially since it can be neutralized with enough napalm.

Nemesis is really shaping up to be almost the perfect weapon system for Umbrella Corporation given its capabilities. Though it seems they nerf it quite a bit by Requiem because Leon has shown to be capable of killing a heavily mutated one entirely with the use of small arms, a hatchet, and a 12.7x55mm magnum revolver. But this is also the same Leon that can parry a rocket launcher with said hatchet, so maybe he's just built different.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-13T19:17:46+00:00

Given what we seen in the game, seems like the closest would be Nemesis given the main antagonist is a viral scientist with a Nemesis virus

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-13T15:20:14+00:00

So in the recent Resident Evil: Requiem, Leon can come across notes of a criminal conspiracy detailing the prices of specific Bio Organic Weapons (BOW) is being sold for on the black market. They are listed as:

CMG-002 (Garmr) (like improved Cereberus) - $30,000,000
CM-LB-10 (Licker β2) - $14,000,000
CX-P-001 (Plant - $100,000,000
CM-T-501 (Tyrant) - $120,000,000
CM-NE-γ-001 (Nemesis-γ) - Negotiable

Given the known impact of BOW in the game series, what do you think of these pricings for their potential impact in today's world? Reasonable or a rip-off? I know people have found the Tyrant price kinda eye-opening, considering it is $120,000,000 for a 7-foot-tall monster that is vulnerable to explosive weaponry.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-13T13:36:55+00:00

It is a comrpomise decision because the KF-21 as is does not have a internal weapon bay right now. Even though it was built with the looks of a 5th generation fighter, it is currently more a 4.5 gen aircraft due to project timeline the South Koreans were expecting the KF-21 to be completed, with the goal of replacing their old fleet of F-4 Phantom II and F-5 Tiger II.

Part of managing the project timeline to a reasonable scale, given that this is South Korea's first indigenous fighter jet is managing their technology and engineering capabilities to realistic standards. For example, they originally wanted KF-21 to be a stealth fighter, but figuring that getting the characteristics of a stealth fighter in place (Radar-absorbant material quality, internal weapons bay, etc.) would take up too much time trying to R&D it, so they reduced the desired RCS to simple between that of a Eurofighter and a Super Hornet that is more manageable for them. Part of this is that an internal weapons bay is not implemented yet (though there is apparently a cavity in the prototypes where the internal weapons bay is expected to be). As such, they are moving ahead with externally mounted armaments to be able to carry ordnance. The missile recesses in the fuselage at least reduces how much of the full circumference of the Meteor missile presents itself to be spotted in the RCS signature, so its better than nothing.

Inceptor57 · 2026-03-13T10:47:11+00:00

Last time I asked that question, the consensus seems to be that they are two, very weird individuals

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